The Challenge

TfL is committed to reducing congestion and improving the frequency and reliability of transport services across the City. The Capital’s most important roads, known as the Red Routes, form the TfL Road Network; together they accommodate one third of all road journeys made in London. Under a special services agreement with TfL, Metropolitan Police personnel patrol 580km of the network each day with a brief to ensure that traffic can move freely without impediment.

The on-street enforcement staff had previously used a paper-based communications system, which was labour intensive and slow. To improve travel conditions and enforce traffic regulations more effectively on London’s Red Routes, an electronic information solution was required, allowing for real-time communications between personnel on the move and control office staff.

With 850 people requiring access to the system, training was a key factor in the success of any solution.

The Solution

As part of a contract which will run to the end of the decade, AMT-SYBEX has provided a turnkey solution for “on-street” activity. Based on AMT-SYBEX’s Field Data Collection System (FDCS), it uses wireless GPRS infrastructure technology from T-Mobile to enable real-time flow of information to and from the streets.

On-street enforcement staff are now equipped with a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).  Weighing a maximum of 300g, the T-Mobile MDAIII devices have built-in cameras and are supplied with Brother MW140BT, Bluetooth-enabled printers.

With the cooperation and support of TfL’s Transport Policing and Enforcement Directorate and the Metropolitan Police, a phased training and roll-out programme has been successfully delivered to 850 users. AMT-SYBEX’s ongoing managed service provides onsite repair, plus replacement and restocking of consumables to more than 25 bases throughout London.

Results

Pre-loaded with TfL map data, the PDAs enable personnel on the streets to deliver real-time information back to supervisors at the TfL Control Centre via a hosted data warehouse. This can include vital management data on areas of congestion, broken down vehicles and damage to road signs and Red Route markings. Integration with TfL back office systems has also improved the previously manually-intensive notice processing method.

Photographic evidence of contraventions, captured with the PDAs, now assist in the event of a representation being made and the PDAs allow the Police to issue Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs). The AMT-SYBEX solution enables personnel to deliver accurate information as incidents occur, which means radical improvements in efficiency can be achieved. The Police are now able to monitor Red Routes more effectively, and the TfL Control Centre has the most up-to-date information possible when trying to ensure that the routes, which are the lifeblood of London, are kept clear.