Intelligent Transport Systems

Transport Scotland makes use of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) that help us manage our trunk roads more efficiently and keep traffic moving.

We use a range of new technologies to collect, process and output information to road users to allow them to decide how best to use our trunk roads.

Scotland’s ITS system is operated and managed on our behalf by Traffic Scotland and makes us of:

• Automatic Number Plate Recognition
• Average Speed Cameras
• Variable Message Signs

Our ambitions for ITS based managed motorways are set out in Project 9 of Transport Scotland’s Strategic Transport Project Review.  This states that a variety of ITS based approaches, such as variable speed limits, ramp metering and hard shoulder running, should be applied across the most congested parts of our trunk roads.

Within our current programme, managed motorways principles using ITS are being designed into the M74 Completion, M80 Stepps to Haggs and the Forth Replacement Crossing.

In addition to the above, we have been looking for potential short term, or ‘quick win,’ opportunities that could be delivered while more detailed proposals for delivering Project 9 are being developed.

Current ITS equipment employed across the network includes:

• 145 variable message signs
• 6 mobile variable message signs
• 499 overhead lane control signals
• 38 combined lane control signal/single line variable message signs
• 60  motorway access control units
• 3 rotating prism signs
• 789 emergency roadside telephones
• 388 hazard warning flashers
• 131 CCTV cameras
• 661 traffic monitoring sites
• 1 ramp metering sites
• 15 journey time monitoring sites
• 2 journey time monitoring signs.

If you have any suggestions on how we might improve the ITS system, or any comments on Transport Scotland’s ITS Action Plan, please contact us.