Spanish transportation technology developer and consultancy Indra has been awarded the contract to supply all the traffic management technology, intelligent transport systems (ITS), communications and toll systems for a major new highway in South America.
Indra has been awarded the EUR10.5m (US$11.8m) contract by the Ruta del Cacao Concessionaire company which is leading the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the BBY Highway (Bucaramanga-Barrancabermeja-Yondó) in Colombia. The new 94.5 miles (152km) long route will connect the capital of Santander Department in the country’s northeast region with its main oil production centers and ports on the Magdalena River. Due to be one of the most advanced toll roads in Colombia, the BBY Highway will reduce the connection time between Bucaramanga and the oil port by one hour, meaning a journey of less than two hours for private vehicles and under three for heavy-duty transport.
Indra will be deploying its Mova Traffic, Mova Collect, Mova Protect and Mova Comms portfolio of systems, which will cover all the technological requirements needed to run the operation and financial management of the roadway, in compliance with the strictest international standards of safety and service quality. The company will create a new control center that will fully supervise and control all the smart transport, safety and toll collection systems for the highway, both along the outdoor section of the roadway and its two tunnels, 34 viaducts and four toll stations. This will all be operated through Indra’s Horus integrated traffic and tunnel management platform and the range of Mova Traffic systems, which will provide operators with real-time information and a single view of everything occurring on the highway, in order to optimize operations and decision making.
The combined Horus and Mova system also has an Automatic Incident Detection System (AID), which integrates information from cameras and sensors, and automatically sends alerts to the control center in the event of an incident or emergency, to help reduce time to resolution and increase user safety. The system also includes variable message signage (VMS) for increased safety, which will provide drivers with real-time information on road conditions, the safe distance between vehicles, speed limits or current incidents.
Indra will also provide the highway with its Mova Collect electronic tolling system that will allow vehicles to pass through without stopping, at speeds of up to 50mph (80km/h), and manual payment systems with toll collectors. The integrated weighing systems will make vehicle classification easier, while the back-office system provides quick and secure management of collections and income tracking. Indra will also be supplying: its Mova Comms communications systems; Mova Protect security systems; and ITS equipment that includes closed circuit television systems (CCTV), traffic counters, road signage, SOS posts, incident detection, lighting control, a loudspeaker system, and ventilation control, with anemometers, luminance meters, opacimeters, and CO/NO/NO2 detectors inside the tunnels.
In Colombia, Indra has already deployed its integrated and centralized traffic and tunnel management system in the two-lane Bogotá-Villavicencio highway and the Parques del Río tunnel in Medellín, as well as the city’s integrated urban mobility system, and has implemented tolling systems on the Los Llanos, Café, and Devisab highways.
