SVS and SWARCO deliver Blackpool traffic information project

British value added reseller Smart Video & Sensing has announced the completion of a major traffic information project in the English seaside resort of Blackpool working with SWARCO and the local council.

SVS says the system is designed to keep traffic flowing freely within the town especially during the busy holiday season and “when the famous Blackpool illuminations are in full splendour”.

It has installed 27 Bliptrack bluetooth units at strategic traffic locations throughout Blackpool along with 19 CCTV cameras. The installation compliments a comprehensive SWARCO parking guidance and driver information system.

The bluetooth units provide journey time information on major routes to the council’s highways department via the customised Bliptrack portal and the CCTV is linked in to a public facing website developed with Qvision in the United States providing video images of traffic flows on the various routes in the town.

The US-patented Qvision software offers frequently-updated video clips of roads rather than the more widely-used static jpegs but, because it is not live streaming, uses a comparatively tiny amount of data to transfer the images, saving bandwidth for the authority and for users who don’t eat up data on their smartphones.

All of the CCTV cameras are housed in protective stainless steel enclosures to counter the effects of the salty atmosphere in the seaside resort.

(Editor’s note for openness, SMART Highways editor Paul Hutton worked on this project as a consultant to Qvision.)