The Traffic Control Centre
The Traffic Control Centre sits within the heart of the Traffic & Safety service area and effectively manages the City’s highway network in accordance with its’ statutory function, the City Council’s priorities and approved Transportation objectives.
The Traffic Manager and Traffic & Safety meet the obligations of the Traffic Management Act 2004 to facilitate the expeditious movement of traffic on the highway network. This role requires us to manage and monitor the network efficiently and reduce congestion.
In order to meet and manage these demands, an holistic approach has been taken to manage the highway network through the Traffic Control Centre (TCC) who manages the UTMC which is an Urban Traffic Management & Control system. It informs network uses, key stakeholders and the media of traffic conditions, and allows manual adjustments to signal timings to manage flow changing conditions on the highway network ranging from planned works and emergencies or events.
The Role of the Traffic Control Centre
The TCC, originally established in 1975, offers specialist experience on the design, installation, operation and control of traffic signals, which includes both junctions and pedestrian crossings.
It currently manages approximately 800 sets of traffic signals which include 350 pedestrian crossings (puffins, pelicans, toucans and pegasus). It also monitors traffic on the major network through a system of 88 closed circuit television cameras.
What do we do?
Key services provided by the Traffic Control Centre include:
- Development, operation, control and maintenance of all traffic signal junctions and pedestrian crossings for the Authority and developers.
- Management of the traffic signal network for greater Nottingham on behalf of the Highway Authority and Nottinghamshire County Council.
- Fixing of traffic signal faults and the management of the traffic signals maintenance contract.
Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) monitoring of the highway network.
- Management of the City’s Parksmart Car Park Guidance & Information System (PGI) in the city centre.
- Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) for emergency vehicles and bus priority at key junctions, Electronic School Warning and Vehicle Activated Warning signs.
- Information gathering – the TCC database extracts quality, real-time data from the system for presentation to the public and manages detector flow, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and count sites.
- Manage the Nottingham Travelwise web site online for the general public and network users.
Fault Management
The Traffic Control Centre manages faults on the highway network (in the region of 5000 each year). Many are reported to the centre automatically to the UTC system and through Remote Monitoring Systems (RMS). For other signal faults we rely on the public and other network users to inform us by telephone or Report a Problem online.
Nottingham Travelwise & Incident Manager
Nottingham Travelwise - Nottingham’s Traveller information system established in October 1999 as the U.K.'s first Mobility Centre – provides extensive real time traffic and travel information for both residents of Nottinghamshire and visitors to the area who wish to explore and use alternatives to travelling by car. The information includes: roadworks, parking and car park occupancy, general travel links, bus and train timetables, cycle maps, congestion data, promotions & initiatives and is made available via the Internet, local radio broadcasts, and various publications & leaflets.
Travelwise has recently improved the link to the networks CCTV cameras and introduced the Incident Manager which provides real-time information on Nottingham’s roads and is linked to Twitter allowing the control desk to ‘tweet’ real-time information for web users. You can join us here at @NottmTravelwise
The Control Desk
The Control desk is manned and deals with faults between the hours of 7am to 6.30pm weekdays and 9am to 5pm on Saturdays. Additional hours are introduced to cover special events and the lead up to Christmas. Outside these hours, cover is provided for by Woodlands CCTV Control Room.
For further information please contact us on (0115) 941 7878, or use the online contact form.