Oxfordshire County Council has £1.4 million waiting for the company that can help it solve its transport conundrum, using the Internet of Things (IoT).
The council seeking tools to help develop a new “Oxfordshire Future Strategic Traffic Model” amid development plans that could see up to 100,000 new homes built in the county by 2031, ratcheting up the pressure on its transport infrastructure.
The existing Oxfordshire Strategic Model (OSM) was developed in 2013. It was one of the first models to exploit Mobile Network Data (MND).
“Whilst this has been used to great effect over the last four years, the data within the model is now reaching the end of its useable life,” the council said, opening procurement on a European tenders page. “We now require an update.”
The new contract will be for 72 months.
“IoT, Big Data, Modelling Capabilities Please”
“Since 2013 the state of the art in transport model has evolved significantly, underpinned by the explosion of IoT, big data and modelling capabilities,” the council said.
It added: “Historically the OSM has only been used to support strategic investment decisions. Technical advancements across the industry now open up the possibilities to evolve towards combining the strategic elements with real time operational scenarios.”
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The contract’s estimated value is £1.4 million, with the council’s basic requirements including “robust, evidence based decision making; input agnostic and dynamic; persistent, real time capability; historical, current analysis and predictive — “what if” capabilities and the ability to test scenarios digitally with 0 risk.”
See also: BT Wins IoT Flood Response Deal
Council leader Ian Hudspeth, in an earlier report for the council [pdf], noted: “We have a huge challenge to enable people to make the journeys they need to as the population grows, and avoid damage to the economy caused by severe congestion.”
He added: “So there needs to be a significant shift away from dependence on private cars, towards more people using forms of transport that use less road capacity and damage the environment less – where possible walking, cycling, and/or using public transport…”
“Our aim is to make this happen by transforming travel, supported by innovation.”
Traffic models can be as simple as a diagram of predicted traffic flows but more often involve the use of specialised computer programs to assess large geographic areas, complex interactions or a range of demand responses
The council said: “We have continued to develop our transport modelling capabilities and can [already] offer comprehensive modelling services, including wide-area network assignment modelling and micro-simulation techniques.”
“We have extensive experience in developing models using SATURN, VISUM, DIADEM, Paramics, AIMSUN and VISSIM software. The options we use for transport modelling include single and multi junction modelling; spreadsheet-based assessment; microsimulation; area-wide highway and PT assignment.”
