Joining Forces And Technology To Get Traffic Moving
Keeping Auckland’s traffic flowing is a huge task. Auckland's four city councils: North Shore City, Auckland City,
Waitakere City and Manukau City and Transit New Zealand have formed a joint operation, the Traffic Management Unit, to
manage congestion, improve information, travel times and safety on the city’s streets and motorways.
The initiative is part of a concerted effort to address the region’s transport challenges, said to be costing between $1
and $2 billion a year in lost time, access difficulties, fuel and stress. Around 660,000 cars, 93,000 trucks and
approximately 3,000 buses were registered in Auckland last year. The resulting growth in traffic needs action if the
city’s main roads are to be used with ease and efficiency.
The proposal to coordinate traffic flow management between councils was initiated in late 2000 as one of the projects
under the Auckland Regional Shared Services initiative. The unit itself will be managed by Transit at an operational
level, but for policy and direction, reports through to a Joint Executive Group made up of a representative from each of
the five participants. The governance process is based not on proportional voting or mandating, but on resolving issues
through mutual interest. Joseph Flanagan, chairperson of the Joint Executive Group, says keeping the city moving is
critical to its economic health, especially when the regional population - about 1,3 million at present – is headed
towards around 1,7 million by 20211. Looking to manage this growth and keep traffic moving, Auckland, Manukau, Waitakere
and North Shore City Councils have formed a joint operation with Transit New Zealand.
“Our vision is for an innovative traffic management strategy that brings together a range of sophisticated traffic
light, road management and web based information systems, overlaid with smart technology and staff to monitor and manage
traffic flow,” explains Joseph Flanagan. “The City Councils and Transit have already formed partnerships with Police and
are working to provide an integrated incident management process.”
"Our aim is to improve traffic management through partnerships and technology” says Paul Hambleton, manager of the new
TMU. “We want to provide drivers with timely information to enable them to make informed choices and make the motorways
and roads safer for everyone.”
Cooperation between the partners will see the motorway Advanced Traffic Management System (known as ATMS) and four
separate SCATS (Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic Control System) traffic light systems linked for traffic flow
optimisation and monitoring from one central location, the Traffic Management Centre (known by radio listeners as
ATTOMS, Auckland’s Total Traffic Optimisation Management Service) at the New Zealand Police Harbour Bridge Head Quarters
in Northcote.
From this centre, planned incidents such as roadworks and motorcades or unplanned incidents such as vehicle crashes and
breakdowns will be monitored and managed by a team of 14 specialist operators and managers.
Transit’s ATMS pilot project, using tilt, pan and zoom cameras with images transmitted by fibre optic cable to the
centre, has been covering parts of the Northern, Northwestern and Southern Motorways since late 1999. The dedicated team
have acquired extensive experience of operating the cameras to get close up and wide view shots of traffic, shown on a
bank of screens at the centre. The new initiative builds on Transit’s pilot project by combining four city SCATS
systems, the ATMS technology and expert staff of all the partners.
“Our staff are watching the traffic 24/7 and making decisions based on what they see,” explains Paul Hambleton. “With
the combined systems, they are able to monitor a much broader area. This enables them to make decisions that have more
far-reaching outcomes in terms of the city’s traffic management.”
Scope of the challenge The objective of linking the systems is to optimise the safe and efficient movement of people,
goods and services in the Auckland metropolitan area’s transport network in a way that is synchronized with regional and
district strategies.
It’s no easy task when the traffic figures are considered: 200,000 vehicles a day use the country’s busiest section of
road – Central Motorway (Spaghetti) Junction 150,000 vehicles cross the Harbour Bridge daily 113,000 vehicles travel
along the Northwestern Motorway 81,000 vehicles use the Southwestern Motorway daily
"Our research has shown a key barrier to efficient transport in Auckland has been the fragmented and geographically
dispersed nature of existing traffic monitoring services. We are moving towards solving that problem by bringing it
together in one place at the Traffic Management Centre in Northcote, North Shore City. The union of the systems means
local roads feeding into the main arterial roads and motorway corridors can be managed more efficiently,” explains Paul
Hambleton. SCATS & ATMS systems There are 565 SCATS signals or traffic light intersections in the Auckland area shared between: Transit -
64 Auckland City - 286 Manukau - 120 North Shore City - 81 Waitakere - 52
SCATS: runs on five powerful Windows based server computers, while 10 networked PCs are used for the ATMS system. The
system allows authorised staff to make rapid adjustments to light phasing time to expedite traffic flow.
covers a total of 35 kilometres of motorway from Central Motorway (Spaghetti) Junction to the Western Springs on-ramp,
and on the Northern Motorway from Lonely Track Overpass down to SEART on-ramp on the Southern Motorway.
was designed for managing Sydney’s massive traffic flows. It has been used successfully by many authorities round the
world and can be easily customised to meet local needs and adapts to changing traffic flows.
SCATS signals contain about 25,000 bulbs, changed every four, six, eight, twelve or twenty-four months depending on the
bulb type.
Underground electric cables (known as ‘loops’) every 500 metres measure vehicle speed so average traffic flow can be
monitored. This information is relayed back to the centre via fibre optic cable.
CCTV 66 closed circuit television cameras and variable message signs (VMS) are operable from the traffic management
centre through a fibre optic network.
The cameras come into their own when a close-up view is required of an incident or when a large overview of a traffic
stream is needed. In each case, the camera can either zoom in for a close up, or the operator in the centre can
synchronise a number of cameras for a wider scenario view.
Staff can monitor the entire network in real time following traffic on a massive bank of television screens. For
example, if a container falls off a truck, the cameras allow the centre to see how the flow is affected and enables them
to direct assistance to the incident quickly and safely.
Paul Hambleton explains that around-the-clock coverage of relevant sections of the regional motorway and arterial
network will mean more efficient traffic management. Traffic can be controlled by monitoring the flow into intersections
and changing the timing of traffic lights he says.
“Giving traffic in one direction five seconds longer on a green light, for example, frees up the routes either before or
after the junction. Likewise, making traffic stop for longer on red will allow the traffic direction with the heaviest
flow more time to pass through the intersection. At peak times, operators are able to tweak the Scats system at the
entrance to the Southern and Northwestern motorways by making changes to the lighting phases as they observe the
flow. With integration of the systems in this way, potential problems can be spotted and avoided earlier.”
He uses another example to illustrate: “An unexpected incident (such as a collision) occurs on a road two kilometres
from a major motorway exit. While the incident itself might be minor, it can have a huge impact on traffic if it occurs
during peak hours, or takes longer than expected to rectify.”
Nothing on the roads happens in isolation, he says, so even if the incident is a broken down car on the side of the
road, it will affect traffic because people will slow down to look. In a similar vein, if an exit road from the motorway
is blocked, then an immediate concertina affect occurs as the traffic backs up onto the motorway. The Traffic Management
Unit can now manage that better by pre-warning or redirecting motorists.
“We gain a greater throughput of vehicles (over 2,200 vehicles per lane per hour) when they all travel at the same speed
in a range between 50 and around 80 km per hour. When cars travel at high speed, they tend to separate more, reducing
the actual throughput. By gradually slowing traffic from 100 to 70 km per hour or less, before it reaches a partially
blocked lane, flow through the constriction is actually improved, as motorists are able to merge more smoothly.”
Future Developments “We intend to extend the variable message signs (VMS) on the motorways to warn motorists and improve
flow. We have been trialling portable message signs to direct motorists away from incidents,” says Joseph Flanagan.
Over the next few years, more CCTV cameras will be acquired so that we monitor more road and motorway intersections and
improve accessibility. This includes access for pedestrians, giving buses priority, improving truck freight and commuter
flows.
Also in the pipeline is a website which will show direct video images. A trial site will be launched to offer real time
updates on traffic to all radio and television stations. This will supplement existing broadcasts to radio stations,
giving the public more access to information on traffic conditions to allow motorists to plan their journeys more
efficiently.
Communication The Traffic Management Unit will inform the media who in turn will broadcast to the public so drivers can
plan a different route or delay travel until the incident is resolved. The unit is also able to contact agencies like
the police for on-site traffic management or clean up teams if there is debris to remove.
The integrated computer system enables staff to post messages to the seven VMS on the Central and Northern motorways to
advise drivers of road conditions. Messages of up to 54 characters can be displayed over three lines and changes can be
made very quickly as traffic conditions alter. A code system prevents rogue messages from being posted.
The 84 lane control signals on 20 gantries located between Wellington Street in the south and over the Harbour Bridge to
Esmonde Road are also managed from the centre.
Better traffic management improves predictability of travel times - something users want according to Joseph Flanagan:
“Aucklanders tend to view travelling as a time rather than a distance issue and for individuals and businesses time is
money.”
Productivity Joseph Flanagan says it makes sense for the councils and Transit to resolve traffic issues together.
Cooperation will not only help ease some of the financial and social problems that arise from traffic congestion, but
also allow easier access to and exit from the motorway system. With the systems unified there is now a regional overview
offering seamless links between roads and motorway.
“If the system enables a truck carrying goods to get across town 10 minutes quicker, and if that is replicated for all
goods vehicles across the city, there are productivity and profitability benefits to be had by all,” explains Joseph
Flanagan . He says the extra five or 10 minutes saved an hour adds up over a day or week. All those involved in the
transport chain become more efficient and experience less ‘downtime.’
“Making these savings available across the region means a huge saving. It also means a more strategic use of funding if
smart thinking is applied to make better use of what exists already.
”We still need to construct more capacity to complete the network, but before this we can increase capacity on existing
roads. “Our staff are watching the traffic and making decisions based on what they see,” he says. We are talking
non-stop traffic surveillance with an immediate, real time reaction.
“It is integration between technology and people, using the information generated to manage any situation that arises to
move Aucklanders - bus travellers, motorists and public transport around the city in a smarter, safer and quicker way.”