An Anglo-West German consortium including Plessey Co, Siemens AG, CAP Group Plc and the Automobile Association is expected to tender for the ambitious traffic management system contract that is on offer from the UK Department of Transport. The contract is for the Auto-guide system, designed to guide the harassed motorist through the congested traffic of the 1990s will operate from a central computer relaying information to regional roadside beacons. These in turn will update the passing motorist by sending infra red signals to a keypad situated inside the vehicle, which will have been programmed with details of the driver’s destination at the start of the journey. An initial pilot will run between Central London and Heathrow Airport, and is planned to be extended nationally by the early 1990s. Plessey said that it has been involved closely with the AA in development work for some time and has been reponsible for rallying the possible team although it said that no final decision has been made. The UK and West Germany lead European efforts in this field of research with one pilot already operating in West Berlin. Plessey and Siemens would provide the in-car and beacon hardware, CAP would do the software development and the AA would provide the information on traffic and road conditions
