Aberdeen energy group Wood appointed to help deliver hi-tech York transport project

Authorities in the historic city are aiming to reduce congestion, emissions and journey times. Picture: Peter Austin/Getty Images. | other

Aberdeen-based energy services giant Wood has been appointed by the City of York Council as a lead partner in delivering its Smarter Travel Evolution Programme, billed as the first project of its kind in the UK, and which is supported by the UK government's National Productivity Investment Fund.

Authorities in the city are aiming to reduce congestion, emissions and journey times, as well as improve reliability of the network, create better public spaces and enhance safety.

Wood will design and deploy a live model of York’s traffic network, in a dynamic digital representation fed from a wide range of real-time data sources. "As well as providing real-time digital traffic optimisaton through the live model, a strategic model will inform long-term decision making including the local transport plan, development planning decisions and business case applications," the Scottish firm said.

Wood will also provide training and maintenance for the predictive models during the seven-year contract.

Joe Sczurko, chief executive of Wood’s technical consulting solutions business, said: “This state-of-the-art programme will help the City of York provide a transport plan which enhances its citizens’ lives and helps protect the environment.

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“This appointment demonstrates Wood’s technical expertise in sustainable infrastructure and ability to partner with our customers to deliver innovative digital solutions to create more future-ready, urban environments.”

Wood will work in partnership with independent strategic transport modelling consultant Relative Gap and multimodal transport planning software expert PTV Group.

The real-time model will also provide predictions of traffic responses to planned and unplanned events using live and historical traffic data, "ensuring the best possible strategy can be implemented quickly and efficiently".

James Gilchrist of City of York Council added: “Through the Smart Transport Evolution Programme we are pioneering new, intelligent systems to build upon the city’s great connectivity and history of transport innovation.

“We are excited to begin working collaboratively with Wood and PTV to deliver this ambitious project.”