Highways England has awarded French information technology services company Sopra Steria the National Traffic Information Service (NTIS) contract to provide round-the-clock real-time traffic information about England’s busiest roads.
The service is a vital tool to help Highways England’s operations teams and the emergency services to keep traffic moving and respond to incidents as efficiently as possible.
It helps road users plan their journeys, avoid delays and stay safe on England’s motorways and major A roads by providing the latest information to journey-planning website TrafficEngland.com and to the electronic message signs on the network.
Meryl Roberts, Highways England’s operations and performance team leader, says: “It is very important that drivers have the right information to help them to make choices about their journeys and reduce congestion. Sopra Steria will develop the already excellent service for everyone who uses our roads.”
“We’re delighted to be working with Highways England on the development of the National Traffic Information Service,” says Adrian Fieldhouse, MD of Sopra Steria’s Government Sector. “We’ll be leveraging our road traffic management and digital transformation experience from London, Singapore and around the globe to tackle some of today’s biggest infrastructure challenges – including pollution, road safety and congestion.”
Sopra Steria will run the service for an initial five years, with an option for the £41.85 million contract to be extended for a further two years. The traffic information service forms part of Highways England’s customer service strategy to provide better information to road users.
