Perfect score for Essex highways

A long term partnership contract between the Siemens/Atkins SA2000 joint venture and Essex County Council has achieved a perfect score against performance indicators for its Intelligent Transport Systems.

It is the first time the partnership, which manages the design, supply, installation, maintenance and operation of ITS in the county, has achieved a perfect score - up 27% on last time.

The indicators measure factors such as delivery to time and budget, reducing congestion and lowering the incidents of people being killed or seriously injured on the county’s roads.

Lee Woodcock, contract director for SA2000 and service director for knowledge management within Atkins’ highways & transportation business said: ‘I am delighted by this year’s results; we’ve worked hard to deliver a safer, more reliable network for Essex road users.

"Traffic journey times in Essex are improving with a one minute, two second reduction in annual journey times during 2010/11, and, given the excellent performance of Essex ITS in 2011/12, we expect to see a further improvement in journey times when the latest data is analysed next year.’

Paul Bird, director of highways and transportation at Essex County Council said: "The SA2000 contract has always been one of our best performing and most valued contracts but this year’s achievements surpass our expectations by some distance. It just goes to demonstrate the benefits of partnership working and what can be achieved by truly committed people."