City settings and mobility challenges

Situated in Tyne and Wear, in the north-east of England, Newcastle has a population of approximately 295,000, within a wider metropolitan area of approximately 1 million. The area has significant issues with congestion at peak times and consequent issues with air quality. Newcastle City Council is the lead authority for the Tyne and Wear Urban Traffic Management Control centre (UTMC), which includes Gateshead, North and South Tyneside and the City of Sunderland as well as the City of Newcastle. The city has a good mode share of public transport. However, the bus service often experiences delays at peak times, reducing attractiveness. Emergency services, freight and taxis also experience delays that impede their effectiveness. The city wishes to be at the forefront of innovative transport investment and sees C-ITS as part of the solution.

C-ITS services

The equipped locations in Newcastle city are the Gosforth Corridor and the Chillingham Road zone (former Compass4D). The Gosforth Corridor is an important arterial route north from Newcastle city centre; the Chillingham Road zone covers part of an easterly arterial corridor and a north-south suburban route.

Newcastle offers both ITS-G5 and cellular (4G) service bundles.

4G service bundle: this includes RWW/RHW which are region-wide services (i.e. not restricted to equipped routes but available anywhere in the Tyne and Wear region) utilizing DENM messaging, and IVS (speed limit information), restricted to the Gosforth Corridor, and utilizing IVI messaging. The City Council and Siemens (systems integrator) have recently added GLOSA 4G to the cellular bundle at one intersection, with the potential to add further intersections in the future.

ITS-G5 service bundle (GLOSA/GP) are currently available on the Gosforth Corridor, having been deployed as part of a previous project. These services utilize Siemens roadside infrastructure, Dynniq OBUs and a bespoke Zircon HMI. The service has been developed for Arriva express buses to enhance journey reliability. The old Compass4D routes (Chillingham Road zone) is now scheduled for upgrade to ETSI 2019 standard by Siemens. Taxis and local authority vehicles will be equipped with Cohda OBUs.

Probe vehicle data from the Gosforth Corridor is also provided for the benefit of the city’s urban traffic manager (UTMC).

The main focus of the C-ITS services in Newcastle is network efficiency and operational efficiency for specific fleet vehicle types. An added benefit comes in the form of eco-driving from these service bundles which is expected to lead to carbon savings.

C-ITS infrastructure

The RWW/RHW services are derived from existing region-wide data sources converted into DENM messages and delivered to users via app (NeoGLS). The IVS service is a static speed limit information service on one route, Gosforth Corridor, converted to an IVI message format and then delivered to users via the same app. In order to ensure stability of these services for ultimately many users, Zircon (a contractor to Newcastle City Council) has developed a robust cloud-based server and bridge to the NeoGLS geo-messaging server. The Newcastle systems integrator, Siemens UK, also aims to deliver GLOSA services on selected routes via 4G later in 2020. These services are interoperable with other cities.

The GLOSA/GP services are currently delivered to Arriva express buses on the Gosforth Corridor:

18 RSUs have been deployed by Siemens UK. The route includes pedestrian crossings as well as standard priority traffic lights. It uses the signal plan and the speed / location of the vehicle to work out what the optimal speed would be to get through a green light, then communicates this to driver. GLOSA can be used with or without green light priority. A further 21 roadside units exist on the Chillingham Road zone but are to be upgraded to ETSI 2019 standard.

Data is generated from the Dynniq OBUs and the Zircon HMIs. Work is currently underway to deliver the appropriate CAM format in line with common specifications.

C-ITS App

The main app used in Newcastle that is interoperable with other cities is the NeoGLS app to deliver road works warning, road hazard warning and in vehicle signage. GLOSA will also ultimately be delivered via this app.

The first beneficiaries will be North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) non-emergency vehicles (so-called patient transfer vehicles) that take people to routine appointments at hospitals. Eventually the app will be available to any user with an Android device who downloads the app from Play Store, including all fleet users, and potentially any member of the public.

End-users engagement

C-ITS services in Newcastle are targeted at fleet operators as part of the City Council’s policy to prioritise public transport and emergency services ahead of private traffic. This approach informed the legacy C-ITS projects in Newcastle which are centred on ITS-G5 technology. Beneficiaries include Arriva express buses, North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) non-emergency vehicles, and NODA taxis.

Individual drivers are engaged via operators: currently 140 bus drivers (35 vehicles), 20 non-emergency ambulance drivers (13 vehicles).

Newcastle is also interested in the potential of C-ITS solutions for VRUs, particularly pedestrian safety. This is to be a focus of proof of concept and feasibility studies.

C-ITS services via cellular communications are targeted firstly at the NEAS, with some university and local authority drivers also engaging. However, the development of cellular services is regarded as a ‘game changer’ for delivery of key services to many users. These services are available through the NeoGLS app (CTD), and anyone with an android device can download the app from Google Play Store.

Local partnerships

Newcastle enjoys collaboration between many partners.

• Newcastle City Council: Local Authority and responsible legally for the management of roads within the city. Manages the C-ITS projects and provides an interface between local partners. Traffic Signals Group is a beneficiary at NCC.
• Tyne and Wear Urban Traffic Management Centre (UTMC or TMC): Responsible for the technical back-office including cloud hosted open data platform that provides RHW/RWW services. Responsible for network management within the wider sub-region (population 1 million)
• Newcastle University: Acting as deployment site leader to support the Newcastle City Council in the provision of data management and evaluation
• North East Ambulance Service: Key beneficiary for its non-emergency patient transfer service vehicles
• Arriva Buses (Deutsche Bahn): Beneficiary of C-ITS services
• NODA Taxis: Beneficiary of C-ITS services
• Siemens: Developer of the Roadside Units and the majority of traffic services infrastructure in the North East. Overall systems integrator.
• Dynniq UK: Supplier of On-Board Units (OBUs)
• Zircon: Contractor engaged to develop HMI for previous project to equip Arriva buses; now working with Siemens to integrate cellular services
• NeoGLS: Provider of Geo-Messaging and App-based cellular services for Newcastle
• Highways England: National and regional road operator engaging with the City regarding future C-ITS