Amey worked with Kent County Council and Staffordshire County Council to deliver a series of projects to introduce digital innovation across SMART mobility, transport, highways, maintenance, data, energy and communications.
OVERVIEW
The Live Labs programme in Staffordshire was designed to test new innovations that could radically improve mobility and air quality across the county. Micro mobility is seen as a key addition to the future of shared transport services and a means to enable people to connect more easily and sustainably.
The programme in Kent was focused on the need for innovation and asset management on the local road network, looking at the creation of a centralised digital hub alongside
a data-led service re-design.
BENEFITS
- An e-scooter trial started in Staffordshire in September 2020. With bays deployed in Stafford and Newcastle-under-Lyme, there have been over 18,700 rides taken so far, covering a total distance of 93,676km - that’s twice around the circumference of the earth. The rides taken, when compared with car journeys, has saved an estimated 13,066kg of C02.
- We trialled drone technology in Kent to monitor road defects. The use of pothole detection devices placed on the windscreen of highway’s inspectors is currently being validated to evaluate the feasibility of rolling this into business as usual. Whilst inspectors are driving around the country on other jobs, the devices track potholes and road defects. The data captured from the devices is then fed back into a Route Reporting dashboard to enhance data evaluation.
- To improve road designs and scheme work, the team successfully trialled traffic monitoring cameras at eight locations across the county. Using 32 cameras, the team captured data that can help to share future road planning by evaluating the types of vehicles used on the network, vehicle movement and any near miss collisions. These devices are being used daily across Kent.
- As part of the Smart Winter project, we installed 120 road surface sensors to provide information to a centralised hub in Kent, enabling more informed gritting decisions to be made. The accuracy of the gritting success rate leapt from 50% to 98% in some areas.