The Challenge

With its striking granite skyline, Aberdeen combines an historical old town with a busy, cosmopolitan city.   In its position as 'oil capital of Europe',  Aberdeen enjoys a buoyant economy which has led to significant increases in traffic.   Aberdeen City Council's traffic manager's needed to respond to this challenge with an initiative which would improve traffic conditions for both the resident population and the city's increasing number of visitors.

 

The Solution

Following a detailed investigation, the Intelligent Transport Systems Unit at Aberdeen City Council (ACC) concluded that a parking guidance system, taking advantage of the flexibility and scalability of UTMC, offered significant benefits. Working with external specialist advisers ACC prepared a detailed specification which set out their requirements.

 

The Outcome

The first phase of the system comprised a UTMC-compliant common database from Tenet Technology and variable message signs from Techspan Systems.  IDT supplied car park occupancy counters and a GPRS communications network to link the on-street equipment (car parks and signs) to the instation.   The open architecture of UTMC means ACC can extend the system by adding signs and other roadside devices or take advantage of future communications technologies without risking the investment they have made to-date.

 

The second phase covered the expansion of the system with further variable message signs supplied by Siemens Mobility. Implementing their system around the UTMC technical standard gave ACC considerable scope in procuring these additional signs. GPRS routers were supplied to Siemens who installed them in their signs. IDT configured these new signs on the Aberdeen network enabling ACC technical personnel to see them working on their system before the signs even left Siemens' factory, 600 miles away.