The City of Ghent, Belgium, has plans to implement a new, dynamic traffic control system by the middle of 2022. The system will inform visitors in real time about the current parking situation, the occupancy rate of the various car parks, serious traffic disruptions and accidents, along with other useful information – such as connections to public transport.
A consortium made up of Jacops, Be-Mobile – which works with smart traffic solutions – and Q-lite, a manufacturer of LED displays. Jacops, which specializes in the installation of intelligent traffic infrastructures, will lead the consortium.
The City of Ghent will replace current digital information displays that show occupancy in parking garages with new full-color, LED displays in 50 locations throughout the city. These will have the ability to share additional traffic information, such as roadworks and events, or real-time travel times. The new traffic control system will consist of a completely new central management system that will communicate with the displays according to the current traffic situation.
The Be-Mobile software for the new management system will combine various traffic applications – such as parking and traffic control. This will enable the city to share its own city and mobility information, as well as link information from third parties into the system. The most relevant parking and traffic information will be automatically distributed to the road user or other interested parties via the digital LED screens from the Q-lite. The info on the new displays will be available via open data so that parking apps and route planners can incorporate it within their platforms.
“With the traffic guidance system, we reduce search traffic and can indicate in advance which car parks are full,” says Filip Watteeuw, Alderman for Mobility at the City of Ghent. “This way people can decide more quickly to use park-and-rides and we limit unnecessary car traffic in the city.”
The total investment of this new traffic control system, including maintenance and all software developments, is expected to total €2.7m (~ $3.05M US).