Friday, 18th March 2011 - 16:00

ITS United Kingdom makes awards for excellence in Intelligent Transport Systems

ITS (UK), the Intelligent Transport Society for the United Kingdom, has made three Awards for excellence in ITS:
The Rees Hills annual award for personal contribution has been given to Ian Catling of the Ian Catling Consultancy.
The Scheme of the year award went to Welsh Assembly Government and Atkins for the use of variable speed limits on the M4
The Forward Thinking award for innovation was made to Mouchel and the Highways Agency for the through junction hard shoulder running scheme on the M42
The awards are open to any organisation or individual with a UK business office and that has a significant UK telematics or other ITS content.

The nominations were judged by an eminent panel of ITS professionals chaired by ITS (UK) President and former Transport Minister, Steven Norris. The Panel Members were:-
David Bonn, Mott MacDonald
Kevin Borras, h3b media
David Cowell, Highways Agency
Dr Alan Stevens, TRL
Janet Cooke, London TravelWatch
Neal Skelton, ITS United Kingdom
The awards were presented by Steven Norris at the ITS United Kingdom President’s Dinner at Watermen’s Hall in the City of London on 3 March 2011 in London.
Ends
Photos show Sheena Hague of Atkins and Darren Smith of Techspan with the Scheme of the Year Award

More details about the award winners:

Forward Thinking Award – to the Highways Agency and Mouchel for Through Junction Hard Shoulder Running on the M42

The implementation of Through Junction Hard Shoulder Running (TJR) in December 2009 was the culmination of work undertaken since April 2008; this flagship commission with the Highways Agency developed TJR from concept to delivery.
This is the first time, on an English motorway, that drivers are able to drive through a junction on the hard shoulder. To enable this, the project team challenged existing design assumptions and demonstrated a safe method of operation; this is an innovative UK technological first extending the congestion busting benefits of Managed Motorways on the M42.
As part of this scheme, Mouchel has developed, and successfully implemented, the use of innovative electronic lane designation legends on MS4s. The associated legends provide clear and unambiguous information to the driver about the status of the carriageway. The DfT needed to be engaged and convinced of their suitability before providing the appropriate authorisations. Successful driver simulation and factory testing was also undertaken to confirm the technical feasibility and legibility of the associated legends.

Scheme of the Year Award – Welsh Assembly Government and Atkins for the M4 Variable Speed Limits scheme

The Newport mandatory variable speed limit (VSL) scheme improves safety and journey time reliability across the busiest motorway section in Wales. Atkins’ unique design and implementation programme has delivered huge reductions in costs when compared with equivalent Managed Motorways schemes, as well as cumulative savings by maintaining equipment throughout its useful life.
Historically, the number of nose-to-tail collisions around Newport has taken the Personal Injury Accident rate 70% over the UK average. VSL uses demand-led motorway management techniques to reduce accidents, minimise traffic flow breakdown, improve journey time reliability, and reduce carbon emissions, generating estimated savings of approximately £40m over the next 30 years. Improvements to journey time reliability, congestion levels and visibility of signals will reduce accidents by an estimated 13%.

Rees Hills Award for Outstanding Personal Contribution – Ian Catling of the Ian Catling Consultancy

Ian is a respected and influential thought leader in ITS. As a key international ITS pioneer he helped establish the UK’s position as industry leaders. He played a vital role in the development of both travel information and electronic fee collection services in which he is recognised as a World authority.
Establishing the Ian Catling Consultancy in 1983 he implemented the Hong Kong Electronic Road Pricing project, coordinated the London Autoguide Demonstration scheme, helped shape the European Commission DRIVE programme and played a leading part in the PROMETHEUS programme.

He has remained a prominent international figure in ITS ever since, and coordinated successive European projects including TARDIS, SOCRATES, LLAMD, TABASCO and INITIATIVE. His work in international projects provided significant benefits for UK Government and for many local authorities who gained EC funding, knowledge and from his guidance.
Ian helped shape and establish ITS UK (and remains a keen supporter), POLIS, ERTICO, IBEC and was a founding member of ITS America. He edited the 1993 “Advanced Technology for Road Transport: IVHS and ATT” book (the first real reference handbook on ITS).
Ian has made an outstanding personal contribution, been an excellent and influential ambassador for the UK, and is a worthy recipient of the Neville Rees and Peter Hills award (having worked closely with them on Autoguide and Road Pricing).

ENQUIRIES:
For further information, please contact:
Jennie Martin
ITS (UK) Tel:
+44(0)20 7709 3003
Email:
mailbox@its-uk.org.uk

Notes to editors:
ITS UNITED KINGDOM, the UK association for the promotion of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), is a not-for-profit public/private sector association financed by members' subscriptions, and provides a forum for all organisations concerned with ITS. We work to bring the benefits that ITS can offer in terms of economic efficiency, transport safety, and environmental benefits to the United Kingdom - and at the same time expand the ITS market.
The membership, over 160 UK organisations, comprises Government Departments, Local Authorities, Police Forces, consultants, manufacturing and service companies, and academic and research institutions.
Members benefit from ITS United Kingdom activities including seminars, workshops and regular news dissemination. ITS United Kingdom encourages discussion on issues such as public/private co-operation, standards, legislation, information provision and new technology.