The Tees Valley Traffic Digital Twin won the Technology & Digital Transformation Award at the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) annual awards in London.
Led by Tees Valley Combined Authority, the Digital Twin is supported by Aimsun to monitor live data from the road network, predict traffic conditions across the region and automatically cut journey times.
The AI-powered system, which is part of the Urban Traffic Management and Control Centre, has already delivered impressive results – with its initial six-month pilot slashing all delays by 13.7% on roads – including Hartlepool – where the system was deployed.
Buses also recovered more than 11mph in their average speed within 15 minutes of the project’s intervention.
Now the project has been recognised for its impact by taking home the top prize in its category at the CIHT awards, which showcases the best projects from around the world.
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “This award is fantastic recognition for the cutting-edge work we’re doing to make journeys quicker and more reliable for drivers and local people using our roads. We lead the way when it comes to taking on and adopting new technology to solve problems, and this further proves it. I’m incredibly proud of the team behind this project and we’ll keep pushing forward to make our transport network one of the smartest in the country.”
Jonathan Spruce, Director of Infrastructure at the TVCA, added: “This is a great system which is already yielding exciting results – and it’s wonderful to see this recognised.
“The whole Digital Transport team should be very proud of its efforts and we look forward to seeing more positive results from the wider work taking place at the Urban Traffic Management and Control Centre.”
Anyone wishing to find out more about the Digital Twin, can read a report on phase one of the project here and a look to the future on the project here.
