£2.5m project set to revolutionise city commute

A £2.5m transport project is set to revolutionise the way commuters travel around Coventry.

The Intelligent Variable Message Systems (iVMS) project, led by Coventry City Council, is intended to cut down commuting times.

The first of its kind in the UK project, draws on cutting edge technology to enable people to plan their daily commute using an innovative mobile phone app.

The app, which is in development, will seek to provide advice on when commuters should start their journey in order to avoid congestion or increase journey time reliability, as well as providing live in-journey information to give advice on the most appropriate route.

The iVMS project will also offer benefits to road users and network operators as peak traffic congestion can be reduced – leading to a reduction in delays, congestion and pollution in the city.

The project is being funded by Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) and is part of the £89.4m Growth Deal package for Coventry and Warwickshire.

The technology is initially being trialled on three key routes into Coventry from the M6 – Binley Road; Walsgrave Road and the A444, as these are the most congested routes if there is an incident between Junction 2 and Junction 3 of the motorway.

If the project is successful, the app could then be rolled out to further key routes in the city to support growth, inward investments and Coventry City Council’s traffic management obligations.

Coventry council anticipates the new technology will be ready for public use in late 2017.

As part of the project Siemens Sapphire – a complete journey time measurement system for traffic monitoring using Bluetooth technology – is being installed on the routes. The project is also drawing on expertise from Coventry University’s Centre for Mobility and Transport in collaboration with project partners HORIBA MIRA and Serious Games International.

Serious Games International is to ‘gamify’ the app so that an online community can be created who can travel at the most suitable times. Users will be able to score virtual points for different sustainable driving traits such as driving styles, route choices and journey times.

Leader boards could also be created for people who saved the most fuel, adjusted their travel time the most to help the city or travelled the most suitable route and commuters could be offered incentives if they travel at less congested times.

Cllr David Welsh, lead for transport at Coventry City Council, said: “We are on the edge of making some great new technology available to drivers in the city.

“Coventry is once again leading some fantastic, cutting-edge technological advances that will change how we use and think about transport.

“We’re pleased to be working with Siemens and other partners on this project that will help to cut journey times and reduce congestion and pollution, and will also have economic benefits for the city.”

The CWLEP secured Government funding through the Growth Deal to launch the two-year project.

Jonathan Browning, chairman of the CWLEP, said: “This is an exciting project which has the potential to be a game changer for how people travel using busy routes in and out of Coventry.

“We are pleased to have secured government funding though the Growth Deal to make the project possible and look forward to the system being operational for the public.”