The results of a government review into easing road traffic
congestion could present a formidable challenge for IT departments
in utility companies and the public sector, writes Nick Huber
A Department for Transport review aimed at reducing the disruption
caused by roadworks by streamlining the flow of information between
utilities and public authorities has been broadly welcomed. But
while the review has the potential to reduce road rage among
drivers, its ambitious agenda could raise stress levels among the
IT staff that will have to make it work.
Few doubt the need for an improvement in the current situation.
There are at least four million ongoing roadworks in the UK,
exacerbating traffic congestion. And with congestion charges in
central London due next year, the Government is keen to improve the
quality of data about the nation's roads.
A common electronic system for sharing information on roadworks
could improve the efficiency of road development and safety
standards. Utility companies, which have welcomed the review, could
also pass on cost savings to their customers.
The review marks the first high-level attempt to tackle the chaos
caused by roadworks since the collapse of plans for a national
street works register more than five years ago (see below).
The review, due to report next summer, will examine the electronic
systems used by utility companies and highway authorities to
distribute information about roadworks. It will also consider the
feasibility of providing a national framework to reduce disruption
from roadworks, and also the possibility of introducing a national
scheme of records pinpointing the location of apparatus related to
street works - underground pipes and cables etc. In addition, it
will identify systems that could be used to support the new
infrastructure.
Currently, most utility companies apply to council highway
authorities for permission to conduct roadworks electronically via
File Transfer Protocol. However, there are different software
packages on the market to ease the transfer of roadworks
information, and motoring organisations such as the RAC argue that
the application of new technology and national data standards could
reduce the disruption caused by roadworks.
"At the moment everyone is in the dark and the flow of information
is extremely poor. Utility companies need to co-operate with this
and embrace the new technology," said a spokesman for the RAC
Foundation, an independent body that represents the interests of
motorists.
So what kind of IT shake-up is the Department for Transport review
likely to suggest? And what will be the implications for local
authorities and utilities?
Option one, according to sources close to the review, is a
Web-based portal, possibly using XML data transfer technology.
Licensed suppliers could provide data services for organisations
involved in roadworks, along similar lines to how the electronic
National Land Information Service operates.
A second, possibly interlinked, option is to build a national
database to register the exact location of roadworks. This would
use map references to give the geographic location of roadworks. If
a council knows work is going to be conducted on a busy stretch of
road it can ask the company to do the work at a time when there is
the minimum traffic.
Achieving this up-close view could prove tricky, as it will require
changes to another huge information system - the National Street
Gazetteer.
The quality of street information in the gazetteer, which is
maintained by local authorities and is hosted by the Ordnance
Survey, can be on three levels. The first, most basic level, gives
the start and end of a street. The third, most sophisticated level,
is when a gazetteer can give a complete geographic representation
of a street on screen, including its shape.
An easy-to-view national database of roadworks will require a
level-three quality of information from the street gazetteer,
according to industry experts. However, an Ordnance Survey
spokesman said most councils only have a level-one street
gazetteer, and there is no timetable for reaching level three.
Industry observers warned that updating the National Street
Gazetteer could also be a drain on the time of council staff.
"The software technology is there at the moment but the most
important [challenge for councils] is the human resources needed to
identify the streets on a map base," said Ken Hickson, managing
director of Symology, a supplier of land asset management systems.
The main option for technical reform is to develop a national
scheme for utilities and local authorities to exchange records
about the location of underground apparatus, such as pipes and
cables. Again, this could entail developing a huge database and
present a formidable data consolidation exercise for the utility
companies.
"You want to get away from duplication of systems and find a
cost-effective way of sharing data in the interests of increased
safety," said an industry source.
"If someone [such as a cable company] does not have a record of the
road and take the recommended precautions, the worst possible
scenario is that you go in with a JCB and hit a water main."
The overall cost of the possible changes the review will examine is
unclear but, using similar national infrastructure projects as a
yardstick, it is likely to run into millions of pounds.
The Department for Transport review has rightly been welcomed, but
it could pose some formidable problems for IT departments if it
recommends a national framework to co-ordinate the flow of data on
roadworks plus a national database of pipes and cables.
It should also be noted that the last attempt by a government to
create a national system for roadworks got stranded on the hard
shoulder. Councils, the Government and the utilities will have to
work more closely to avoid a repeat performance.
An old idea
Plans for a national roadworks system were
first mooted in 1992. The streetworks project was initiated by
former prime minister John Major.
The streetworks system aimed to co-ordinate roadworks through a
central computerised database and end the problem of the same
stretch of road being repeatedly disrupted by roadworks. However,
the project, spearheaded by a Digital Equipment-led consortium,
fell behind schedule and was abandoned five years ago.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks was achieving a consensus over
the make-up of the system among more than 4,000 users in 500
different organisations.