The Department for Transport has a morning of updates at the Transport Technology Forum in Leicestershire.
Follow our live blog of key points here:
9.36
Darren Capes of the DfT thanks Clearview Intelligence for its sponsorship of the event.
He gives a history of the TTF and its importance in the sector, and hints on more detail on the £70 million signals funding tomorrow.
He plans to set up regional groups around traffic signals to bring the signals community together, to allow government and signals suppliers and signals owners (local authorities) to work together.
More on signals numbering, and a national database of traffic signals will be published shortly.
TTF has launched the Supplier Directory – to build a list of innovators to matchmake between those who want to innovate and those who can innovate.
9.45
Michael Dnes of DfT talks about the National Parking Platform.
He points out how many people have multiple parking apps on their phones. The implementation was “quite chaotic” where people needed different apps to park in different places which users find frustrating. He explains how the NPP is a hub that sits in the middle of all the parking apps. This lets users pick their app, reduces procurement requirements. The NPP is not an app, but is linking up existing apps and existing parking in a new and better way.
He points out this was used yesterday.
This is already running in seven locations as early access pilots with more to come.
This will help people make new interfaces for users, such as a parking app for disabled motorists.
It has one data stream joining everything up to be plug and play.
Tolling, clean air zones, EV charging etc can also interface in the NPP – so it becomes a platform to pay for driving costs.
Full operation planned for October, in time for the TTF Autumn Update in November.
10.00
Paul Chandler from DfT and Gareth Tilley of PA Consulting update on Digital Traffic Regulation Orders.
This is all about centralised digitisation of traffic orders – they are the rules of the road, which will need to be digitised for future technologies.
Currently beta testing D-TROs.
The legislation is the Automated Vehicles Bill which should be passed next month, and this makes it a legal requirement for TROs to be submitted into the central platform, with it coming into law from 1 April 2025, with organisations needing compliant software to send permanent and temporary orders into the D-TRO service.
A small group of authorities will test the software during the summer, with the D-TRO service will be opened up to Traffic Regulation Authorities by the end of the year.
The legal requirement is for new orders, but old orders can be included too.
10.11
Matt Coleman of the DfT talks about transport data.