Transport Scotland has published its new intelligent transport systems (ITS) strategy for its trunk road and motorway network, providing a framework for the next 10 years.
Its ‘core aim’ is to provide clarity on ITS priorities in ensuring the safe and efficient operation of Scotland’s trunk roads and motorways.
The layered strategy identifies three key needs, four specific objectives, and six strategic themes all of which will be underpinned by successive five-year action plans and annual costed delivery programmes.
The action plans will identify where additional resources might be required or where previous approaches can be modified, while the annual, costed delivery programmes aim to maximise delivery in the most efficient ways and allow financial transparency.
Humza Yousaf MSP, minister for transport and the islands, said: ‘ITS is a rapidly evolving field, with developments taking place in a wide range of areas, not least in communication of information to travellers via mobile devices, both at trip planning stage and during the journey itself.
‘In recognition of such rapid change, this Future ITS Strategy sets out our overall approach based on six strategic themes. It will assist in informing procurement, deployment, and maintenance of ITS equipment and services for the next 10 years and beyond, building upon our successes and lessons learned to date, and guided by the views of the public as well as transportation professionals.’
He added that the layered system employed ‘affords the flexibility to align our specific initiatives as novel techniques and approaches and changing customer needs emerge’.
Three key needs are:
– To ensure the Strategy has a distinctly Scottish context, aligned with the Scottish Government’s Purpose, national strategic priorities and reflecting the diverse nature of the strategic road network and the geographic and socio-economic landscape of Scotland.
– To ensure the Strategy is customer focussed and investments contribute to a safe and efficient road network and are informed and driven by user needs
– To ensure that decisions on investments in future ITS provision and operation align with Transport Scotland’s established investment hierarchy and are objective-led by contributing to one or more of the specific objectives we have set for the Strategy.
The four specific objectives for the strategy are:
• Objective A – Innovation and Horizon Scanning: On-going engagement with relevant governmental, national and international organisations to inform wider understanding of how innovative and beneficial ITS can be deployed in Scotland.
• Objective B – Customer Focus: Through various methods, regular engagement with users of both our network and data and information services Transport Scotland provides, inform prioritisation of resources, systems and services that will have most effective benefits to users.
• Objective C – Planning and Adaptability: Working collaboratively to set out how Transport Scotland and our partners will adapt to technological changes such as the growth in Intelligent Mobility, connected and autonomous vehicles, big data and the Internet of Things
• Objective D – Asset Management and Delivery: Present an informed context for annual reviews of our investment priorities that will deliver effective services aligned with our Investment Hierarchy and Transport Scotland’s Road Asset Management Plan (RAMP).
The six themes are:
Theme 1: Asset Management and Operational Services
Theme 2: Quality traffic and travel information
Theme 3: Environment and Sustainability
Theme 4: Intelligent Mobility, including Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
Theme 5: Economy, Connectivity and Freight
Theme 6: Data, Innovation, and Collaboration
