United Kingdom — The technology, which uses highly accurate Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to calculate speeds of vehicles over set distances, was first implemented in the U.K. in Nottingham in 2000, and the company’s latest landmark scheme has now been delivered in Bedford, a town in the County of Bedfordshire, which is 60 miles from the center of London.
Jenoptik’s solution monitors the number plates of vehicles as they pass fixed points on the road, then calculates the time taken compared with how long it should take if the vehicle was driving at the speed limit. Vehicles taking less time can therefore be shown to be going too fast.
The average speed solutions have been used on more than 750 miles of roads across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland enforcing speeds from as low as 20mph all the way to national speed limits. The latest Bedford scheme, which is the 18th of its type in that borough alone, is on the town’s Embankment and is intended to regulate vehicle speeds to reassure walkers and cyclists in the area that they can travel safely.
“From the U.K’s longest scheme totalling 136 miles on the A9 in Scotland to locally targeted schemes like the 200th in Bedford, our average speed cameras deliver accurate and fair enforcement on all types of roads,” explained Geoff Collins, Deputy Managing Director of Jenoptik Traffic Solutions U.K. “When installed as part of a casualty reduction scheme, statistics show they are startlingly effective, cutting the number of killed and seriously injured people by an average of 70 per cent. They are also shown to lead to reduced emissions, meaning better air quality and have the support of drivers, with anecdotal evidence suggesting average speed schemes are far more accepted and popular than spot-speed cameras.”
Cllr Charles Royden, Portfolio Holder for Highways at Bedford Borough Council said, “Bedford Borough Council introduced average speed cameras on residential roads back in 2012 to help tackle speeding, a really common concern for local residents. Since then, we have installed average speed cameras at various locations to make our roads safer for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, with this latest installation on the Embankment set to improve this popular and picturesque route for all road users.”
“Having taken 17 years for us to reach a hundred schemes, the fact we have delivered another hundred in just five years shows how accepted the technology is,” Collins continued. “Jenoptik is far and away the leading supplier of average speed enforcement solutions in the U.K. — we are the go-to supplier because we really understand how to deliver them, and in the process deliver safer, smoother, greener and fairer roads.”
About Jenoptik
Optical technologies are the very basis of our business: Jenoptik is a globally active technology group and is active in the three photonics-based divisions: Light & Optics, Light & Production and Light & Safety.
The Light & Safety division provides road traffic solutions for safety and public security. Its extensive product portfolio includes comprehensive systems for traffic law enforcement by speed and red light monitoring systems and customized solutions for identifying other traffic violations including the measurement of average speed (section control). The division also provides extensive services that cover the entire support chain including automated data processing and analysis. Special expertise relates to automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) including applications for the police. These systems capture, analyse and help to act against public safety threats such as serious organised crime and border control violations through the use of real-time predictive data analysis. Furthermore, the Light & Safety division offers technical solutions for road user charging. For these applications, the division developed innovative monitoring pillars that combine various digital sensor technologies such as stereo image processing and axle number detection in a single system. With global experience based on more than 30,000 delivered systems worldwide, in-house engineering and design along with local know-how supported by a strong partner network in more than 80 countries, the division helps to make our roads, journeys and communities safer.