Information technology services

Tender description

Highways England are looking to work with a company who has access to crowd sourced traffic data to better understand how by accessing this data it might enhance its awareness of network performance. By formally trialling this in its Regional Operations Centres (ROCs), Highways England will be assessing if, by having access to this data: • incidents are identified more quickly; • incidents are managed more effectively with access to more information and/or customer sentiment; • relevant push notifications can be sent to and received by customers in-vehicles. Background The recently announced Roads Investment Strategy (RIS) 2 sets out a challenging programme and performance framework for Highways England and for the Operations Directorate in particular. We need to achieve high levels of customer service, deliver a much larger programme of renewals, maintain an ageing asset, deliver more efficiencies and all whilst maintaining flat opex. The benefits of meeting this challenge are self-evident in how it will improve our customers experience, the environment, and our own satisfaction. To create the capacity and efficiencies needed to deliver our targets we will need to transform the way we work internally, with other directorates and importantly with the private sector. To help drive forward this change, we have established a 5 year transformation programme aimed at optimising operations, with one of the strands of this tasked with enhancing our control of the network. Current situation If we are to better control the network, it is important that we understand how it is performing in near real-time. We already have roadside infrastructure that gathers invaluable information on vehicle movements (volumes and speed) and an extensive network of Closed Circuit TeleVision (CCTV) cameras. There are, however, parts of the network where we have less infrastructure, resulting in reduced visibility. The technology landscape has changed significantly over the past 15 years, with ownership of mobile devices in particular now being at record levels. The movement of these devices is routinely tracked through their in-built GPS functionality, resulting in increased opportunities for mobile companies and sat nav providers to derive income from the selling of this anonymised data. Our objective We want to run a formal trial to understand how by accessing additional data this might positively influence the service we provide to customers by reducing delays caused by congestion and reduce the time it takes to clear up following incidents. Our requirements Our Traffic Management colleagues operate safety critical roles, from the setting of signs to indicate lanes on the network are closed, to the answering of calls from customers at the roadside through the Emergency Roadside Telephones (ERTs) network and dispatching of Traffic Officer crews to help customers and clear up incidents. It is not practicable for them to presented with masses of data that they have to firstly understand and then translate into meaningful information that benefits their role. Instead what we are asking is that the data is presented to them in a way that enables them to: • see at a glance the road conditions in their region, and • be accessible through a standard web address and interface. For the purpose of being absolutely clear, we don’t want any proposal to be premised on data being taken into Highways England’s systems. In terms what data is presented, this might include but not be limited to: • travel times, • speed, • flow data, highlighting in particular where the traffic isn’t moving. We are also conscious that the increase in crowd sourced traffic data applications have included a move to gathering information from customers about what they see on the ground. If this improved granularity of information is available and can be included within the data presentation, this would greatly aid decisions on how to respond to an incident and we would be interested in understanding how this might be made available. Details of the trial Lasting for a minimum of 6 months from the early part of 2021, the trial will look to assess the value of being able to access this new information source, measuring it against a series of critical success factors which will be agreed at the start of the trial.