Siemens Mobility and Transport for London (TfL) have announced the launch of Sitraffic FUSION, an all-new adaptive traffic control solution.
FUSION is part of London’s Real Time Optimiser (RTO) system, which will provide a completely new way of managing roads across the capital.
The new adaptive FUSION system is set to enter trial operation over the coming weeks, where it will control a number of ‘living laboratory’ sites in London.
Until now London's traffic light management technology had been based on the SCOOT system, which relied on information gathered from inductive loops buried in the road that can detect vehicles approaching.
Developed by Siemens Mobility in collaboration with TfL and supported by the University of Southampton, FUSION uses data sources from a variety of transport modes, including connected vehicles, and enables all modes of transport to be modelled.
'With flexible, policy-driven adaption techniques, FUSION improves on the SCOOT philosophy of minimising vehicle delay and stops, by optimising signalised junctions and pedestrian crossings based on all road users’ needs,' Siemens said.
This helps urban authorities respond to challenges such as air pollution, greater active travel demand and delivering a reliable and sustainable public transport system.
Under the upcoming trials, Siemens Mobility will test increasingly complex functionality and verify its enhanced performance at existing traffic intersections in a live environment.
Glynn Barton, TfL’s director of network management, said: 'We're working to overhaul the way we manage London's road network as we tackle some of the biggest issues London faces, such as poor air quality and congestion, ensuring that the capital has a green, healthy and sustainable future.
'This ground-breaking new adaptive control system, part of our Surface Intelligent Transport Systems programme, has the potential to make our road network more efficient and responsive to people’s needs and movement. We’re very much looking forward to seeing the results of our first trial sites.'
Wilke Reints, managing director of Siemens Mobility’s Intelligent Traffic Systems business in the UK, said: 'This trial marks a major milestone in the development of this ground-breaking traffic management solution, and I know its progress will be followed closely by industry colleagues around the world.
'While London is using our hosted UTC solution for the first time to provide FUSION with connectivity to the street, the system is designed to work with a range of UTC systems. Although this is just the first manifestation of the new system, we are enormously excited by its potential and the degree of control that it will give transport authorities.'
