Bull HN Information Systems and Oracle UK claim that their recently launched road management system, RoMis, (CI No 1,465) goes a long way to filling the management vacuum identified by the Audit Commission in its 1988 report on the condition of Britain’s roads. The Commission looked at the management of roads and came to the basic conclusion that often, local authority managers know much less than they should for road planning and maintenance. Inadequate inventory, and poor use of information available are the problems tackled by the system. The system is completely based on personal computers and runs under Unix. Bull says that it can be integrated with authority’s existing databases, so that information can be shared across systems and between authority departments. This information can therefore be easily updated, and is accessed on a colour-coded map interface. RoMis is based on Oracle’s relational database and uses Bull’s digital mapping facilities. As well as displaying information, the maps are used to extract information from the database which sits behind the map and is accessed by placing the cursor near features. Queries can be triggered automatically or can be user-defined, using the spatial search facilities. The system is modular and optional modules are planned, such as traffic modelling and accident analysis. Including Bull’s SPS personal computers and set up support, a system costs around UKP100,000 for eight users, rising to UKP750,000 for 150 users.
BULL, ORACLE RECKON THEY HAVE COMPLETE ANSWER TO IMPROVING BRITAIN’S ROADS
