Can we really do more at less cost with the UK road network?
Taking transport funding decisions usually means trying to balance many different pressures including:
- Supporting the economy with reliable and efficient transport;
- Reducing congestion;
- Improving safety;
- Minimising environmental impact and energy consumption;
- Sustaining and extending accessibility;
Road safety
The European Commission estimated that intelligent technology in cars and trucks deployed across the EU could help prevent more than 5,000 deaths in road accidents each year and therefore save billions of pounds to the economy. A number of technologies have been implemented to assist the driver in difficult situations.
- Devices can automatically detect if vehicles are overweight, have poor tyre pressure, poor tyre tread depth and hot or cold brakes. Those technologies can help to reduce breakdowns, accidents and subsequent congestion caused by HGVs on major roads.
- Automatic lane departure detection, blind spot detection and safe headway detection all help the driver to stay within lanes and change lanes safely.
- Automatic driver behaviour devices for detecting tiredness and warning the driver to pull over and take a break by monitoring the driver’s eye movement and blink rates.
As this paper shows, more can be done at less cost with the UK road network, to achieve transport policy objectives such as reducing congestion, road traffic accidents and emissions.
The targeted application of technology can provide effective improvements in shorter timescales to transport networks, whilst helping to boost the economy and support policy objectives. New methods of procurement need to be implemented so that new technology not only performs its function but also offers further benefits from integration with existing systems. This will secure real community wide benefits at less cost.
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