Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021 by Landor LINKS

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021 DATA | MODELLING | ANALYSIS | VISUALISATION | DESIGN

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FOREWORD

Landor LINKS are pleased to announce the new Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021. First published 10 years ago, the directory has become an essential guide to all software applications used across the industry to plan, model, test, design, analyse, review, appraise, cost and visualise. As we emerge from national lockdowns, there has never been a more important time for accurate, business critical and up-to-date information on the modelling software, design and operational tools that keep the transport system running.

The challenge for movement and place professionals is to help make viable plans today for an uncertain tomorrow. Movement, living, working and leisure patterns have shifted significantly as a result of the pandemic. Over the 70 pages you will find innovative suppliers of products and services who are specialising in modelling what the future may look like, and who provide clients with informed, evidence-based and scientific advice that is also adaptable, flexible and cost-effective. We hope you enjoy this edition of the Yearbook. Please request additional copies (print and digital) if you would like to circulate them to colleagues. Electronic copies will be made widely available online and via email to our complete local government and consultancy databases working in the UK, Australia & New Zealand, India and the Middle East. Daniel Simpson Commercial Director Landor LINKS E: daniel@landor.co.uk T: 020 7091 7861

Modelling World International 2021 The publication of the Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021 coincides with the successful launch of our first Modelling World International conference, which took place online from 19-22nd April. For the first time data and modelling practitioners from around the world came together to discuss and debate the challenges and opportunities facing our industry. View the on-demand recordings here: https://bit.ly/3hGgc9k Modelling World UK will take place on the 5-6 October in Edgbastson, Birmingham. Save the date, and we look forward to finally seeing you in person again! https://bit.ly/3unF6Ns

CONTENTS 1:

TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION MODELLING

CONSULTANCY SHOWCASE

HIGHWAY MANAGEMENT

ACCESSIBILITY PLANNING

DATA MANAGEMENT, ANALYSIS & VISUALISATION

DATA AS A SERVICE FOR INTERNET OF THINGS

DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS

URBAN MOBILITY TOOLS

PEDESTRIAN MODELLING & CROWD SIMULATION

ECONOMIC APPRAISAL TOOLS

10: JOURNEY PLANNING & TRAVEL MANAGEMENT

Published by: Landor LINKS © Landor LINKS 2021

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Tomorrow‘s cities rely on sustainability in mobility. For 40 years, PTV Group provides software solutions for transport planning and logistics optimisation The PTV Transport Planning Software Suite consists of The following products: • PTV Visum for transportation planning • PTV Vissim for traffic simulation • PTV Viswalk for pedestrian simulation Our software helps over 2,500 cities model, simulate, plan, analyse, and predict traffic and transport to optimize the flow of movement. Join the Conversation at www.ptvgroup.com or contact us at info.uk@ptvgroup.com

1: TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION MODELLING

Sponsored by:

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

40 years of transport modelling software and support Transport starts taking place the moment you leave your doorstep or order your goods. It is a fundamental need and human activity, and is mutually related to other important activities such as socialising, trading and having fun. Any significant changes in such activities can have a dramatic impact on transport and vice versa. As a result, the transport industry has become one of the most important industries in the world, and one that all of us are directly involved in. Considering the importance of transport in our lives, one would expect transport planning to be one of the most respected, popular and rewarded professions; the kind of profession that our mothers and fathers would be proud for their children to enter. Unfortunately, we are still far from this and, dare I say, at times we have been heading in the opposite direction. In my personal experience, people outside the relatively small world of our profession that touches so many people’s lives, are still completely unaware of what we do. Transport modelling is an even more difficult concept to explain. Due to its intricate nature, which involves

being able to help answer complex transport questions, it is often misunderstood or even avoided due to lack of understanding, skills or budget. In my opinion, and I appreciate some may think it is biased, transport modelling is the most exciting tool that can help transport planners with analytical thinking and support both planners and decision makers in robust decision-making. One way or another, transport planners and transport models have improved the lives of many people around the world. For example, many famous landmarks in the UK and around the world have been redesigned into people-friendly places by transport planners with the help of transport models. Looking back at my own career, I am happy to have worked in well-respected consultancy firms promoting sound and sustainable transport projects. I worked with amazing mentors, teams developed transport models for projects that were implemented to improve the lives of thousands or, in some cases, millions of people. I have been practicing transport modelling from day one and my current position at PTV Group, a global leading

company in transport modelling software, has helped me appreciate our transport modelling community even more. A few bright researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology set up PTV Group 40 years ago. Over the years, the PTV Group team created the amazing software tools and technology that is being used by transport planners and modellers all over the world today. The PTV software portfolio is presented in this directory, but each piece of software has its own story to tell, and we wish each software tool could talk to us and tell us stories of how it was used by talented transport planners on amazing projects around the world. Sadly, it would not be possible to fit these stories into this or any other directory. The same could also be said for many other software suites featured here, but I can only talk about PTV. The role of transport modelling software is to enable planners to develop digital replicas of the transport system to use as a tool for analysis and decision-making. Having such software available ‘off the shelf’ offers many benefits including lower costs and quicker model development, transparency and consistency in sharing results, transferability of skills within user communities, support from a professional maintenance and training team, continuous future development and much more. PTV software also allows bespoke extensions via user defined data layers and attributes, and interfaces with powerful external programming software. This PTV philosophy provides all the advantages of specialist off the shelf transport modelling software and maximises the flexibility with advanced interfaces with other software and programming tools. Each PTV software incorporates a wide range of tools and features embedded into its code, created by transport planners and software developers from PTV Group with

TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION MODELLING

feedback from software users among the public and private sector. Those of you not involved in the process can imagine the passion, effort, and endless discussions that have eventually shaped and resulted in the toolset and features in the software code. Every piece of code has a purpose, and collectively provides a holistic tool for transport planners. The main motivation of the founders, and of everyone at PTV Group, is to empower transport professionals with the right tools to create a cleaner, smarter and better future for everyone. If in any doubt, check PTV Group’s website or ask my colleagues, you can put them on the spot with this question and I believe they will all say the same thing. At PTV Group, even though we are proud of what we have created, as you can clearly see from reading so far, we also appreciate and acknowledge that software is a tool, and it is people that make the difference. As professionals in our industry develop their careers, from practicing transport modelling to management and leadership positions, they are often unable to practice transport modelling handson, or on a day-to-day basis. This natural progression in our careers creates a need to replenish the profession and its ranks with new highly skilled practitioners. The organisations we work in, whether consultancy or software developer, public sector authority or private sector, university or academic institution, all have an important role to play in creating the right environment to enable the acquisition and training of the transport modellers of the future. We all need to do our share, and to personally invest in winning new talent for our industry. In PTV Group we invest our time and software into collaboration with academic institutions, and help introduce transport planning and modelling to students as a research tool and a career option. Hundreds of university students and MSc/PhD researchers every year in the UK and Ireland use PTV software. We

organise lectures and special training courses to help students learn transport modelling and simulation. Our investment pays off every time as new talent is brought into to our profession; recently this is happening much more often. We have also set up a scientific advisory board to ensure that we do not overlook key trends in academic research from across the globe. The academic roots of the company played an important role in setting up and maintaining this culture over the years, and placing it firmly within our future vision. If software developers do not pay attention to the needs and requests of the users, they cannot remain successful. Innovation is important and it requires an investment not only from the software developers, which we do via internal research and development, but also from users and clients. We are happy to have the chance to collaborate and co-invest on innovative transport modelling applications together with our clients and their clients. We work on a collaborative project between the transport and energy industry creating an integrated transport and electricity planning capability for electric vehicles. We work on projects with a collaborative effort of transport modellers, ITS engineers and policy makers in creating a real-time transport model to aid decision- making in traffic control centres. We are also working on many other innovative applications of our software, together with our users and clients across the public transport sector too. Such

effort and investments help us to incorporate and share the innovation with all PTV software users. For us innovation does not mean re-inventing the wheel, or creating something from scratch. We are creating the software tools of the future, in collaboration with our clients and partners, by researching and constantly developing new features and capability. This includes modelling Mobility as a Service, electrification, active modes and micromobility, automotive technology, activity-based modelling, enhanced transparency and visualisation, intuitive cloud-based solutions, software as a service and many more technological innovations and improvements. We provide the tools for transport modellers to collaborate, innovate and create a better world. n

Devrim Kara, Director UK & Ireland, PTV Group

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

EVR is helping light commercial fleets switch from combustion engines to plug-in electric vehicles.

Software: Cadence Cadence is an award-winning suite of data management and modelling tools for transport planners and modellers. The solution comprises: l Award-winning data visualisation and stakeholder engagement l Rich, curated data layers relevant to the needs of modern transport strategies, including support for active travel, electrification and decarbonisation l Version-controlled data management for robust transport model and plan development l Web-based simulation and scenario testing l Visualisation and analysis of demand flows, travel times and accessibility l Support for road, public transport and active travel data Cadence can provide additional support for modelling workflows through data pipelines and APIs to an extensive library of modelling algorithms. Contact Laurence Oakes-Ash info@cityscience.com www.dat-stats.cityscience.com

By knowing the key factors that affect battery life, EVR removes range anxiety by accurately routing electric vehicles to ensure they have enough energy to return on one full charge. With the ability to compare all engine types, EVR provides detailed financial and emission savings giving you the confidence to switch your fleet of vehicles to electric. Simply go onto the website and input your vehicles, depot location, drop off addresses, parcel weight and dimensions to see optimised routes. These full routes can be downloaded and loaded straight into many modern route guidance devices and phones. EVR has a free tier which can be accessed by all. Contact Shereine Swindon info@evrouting.com 01483 688 470 www.evrouting.com

TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION MODELLING

Software: Emme Emme is used around the world to implement mobility models which allow planners a virtual laboratory in which to test the impacts and interactions of transport policy, demographics and urban geography on available transport infrastructure including roads, traffic, public transit, fares and other modes of travel. By modelling the people, places, processes and options involved in travel, transport planners can forecast transport system performance, accessibility and equity, and evaluate any number of virtual scenarios or interventions to better inform real world planning decisions. Contact Steve Perone steve@inrosoftware.com +15143692023 www.inrosoftware.com

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

Software: Paramics Discovery

Software: Paramics Microsimulation

Paramics Discovery is state of the art traffic modelling software to enable transport professionals to design, evaluate and present amazing solutions. Simply put – it is built on 20 yearsʼ experience of software development and microsimulation modelling, but in a brand-new modern interface, making it incredibly easy to learn and use. Paramics Discovery offers fast network construction, fewer parameters for calibration than other products, streamlined workflow and easy to understand outputs. The ʻdynamic assignment featureʼ reflects real-life route choice behavior and will enable you to develop large robust microsimulation models. Our transport planning heritage and the experience gained by our modelling team is utilized to shape the ongoing development of Paramics Discovery and ensure it truly meets the needs of transport planners. As principal users of our own products, our transport consultants are ideally placed to offer a range of services to our customers including support, training and auditing.

Paramics Microsimulation is state of the art traffic modelling software to enable transport professionals to design, evaluate and present amazing solutions. Paramics Microsimulation has been at the forefront of microsimulation since the 1990s. It has been used on thousands of transport planning projects including; the design and testing of major motorway extensions to the M74 and M8 in Scotland, the testing of innovative ATM schemes on the M25 around London and the planning of major events including the 2014 Ryder Cup. SYSTRA Ltd's Paramics Microsimulation modelling team are second to none. Their transport planning heritage, and the expertise acquired using S-Paramics and Paramics Discovery for over 20 years, to successfully deliver hundreds of projects, ensure that they consistently surpass the expectations of their clients with innovative, robust and deliverable solutions.

Contact Malcolm Calvert mcalvert@systra.com 0131 460 1847 www.paramics.co.uk

TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION MODELLING

Software: Visual-tm

Visual-tm is a complete transport modelling software suite that is fully integrated into one comprehensive User Interface (UI) for building, calibrating, validating and running transport models, and for analysing their output. It can be used for industry-standard models or the new agent and activity-based models. It automatically connects supply with demand, iterating between them until convergence – itʼs all set up for you. It includes all the tools transport planners need to develop effective transport plans to make sure transport ideas really work in practice. It has a simple-to-use, fully visual, Windows-driven UI to improve efficiency, wizards to guide you through setting your model up, a manual and help options. It outputs to spreadsheets and csv files so you can connect it to your reports and processes. Its designed-in connectivity ensures model consistency. It is now in its third decade of successful use. Visual-tm comprises the following fully-integrated modules: l Visual Networks for highway and public transport assignment, with capacity restraint including the method of successive averages (MSA), junction delay and overcrowding. It has all the usual features you would want for transport network modelling, display and analysis. It has a special Park & Ride (P&R) assignment which couples with our P&R choice model to provide coherent P&R modelling. It is connected to the demand model with intelligent skimming, which takes account of whether modes are used or not. Prepare, view and analyse your networks with Google or Open Street Maps. l Visual Choice for multi-mode variable demand modelling using industry-standard choice nests of hierarchical logit models. Its simple yet powerful UI lets you define your demand model in minutes, displaying all its calculations transparently so you are in control. It is properly structured to carry the logsums up the nest, disable alternatives that arenʼt available, match workers to jobs and car drivers to parking spaces. Its logit model estimation lets you estimate: multinomial, nested, cross-nested, mixed and latent class logit. Its stated preference lets you measure peopleʼs decisions with fractional factorial or efficient designs. It covers all the TAG choices: trip frequency, time-of-day, mode, destination and peak spreading, plus many more. l Visual Agent for Agent and Activity Based Modelling. This is a complete system for modelling every individual agent within a whole population, including the hierarchy of dependent choices they each can make, so as to represent peopleʼs actual activity behaviour. Models include: Population Synthesiser, Activity Generator, Activity Scheduler, Tour/ Trip Generator and generic choice models. It acts at fine levels of geography, down to individual buildings with building and car park choice, and even down to individual parking spaces. It even does agent-based assignment. And itʼs still fast – very fast Contact Adam or Peter mail@peter-davidson.com 01442 879 075 www.peter-davidson.com

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

PTV Group provides software solutions and services that integrate all aspects of transport and logistics planning and optimisation, to create and promote a smarter and more sustainable future. Customers in more than 120 countries and 2,500 cities rely on state-of-the-art PTV software that enable planners, engineers and decision-makers to improve transport networks and spaces, reduce congestion and emissions, improve safety and protect the environment. With headquarters in the city of Karlsruhe, Germanyʼs technology region, and offices in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, PTV Group is innovating globally since its foundation in 1979 as a Karlsruhe University of Technology (KIT) spin-off. With 900 employees worldwide working on powerful, future-oriented solutions, the latest developments in science, technology and research are continuously incorporated PTV Software development to help create intelligent and ecofriendly mobility for everyone. Contact Devrim Kara devrim.kara@ptvgroup.com 0121 585 6633 www.ptvgroup.com/en/

With more than 40 years of experience built in, PTV Visum is the worldʼs leading transport planning and modelling software incorporating demand modelling, highway assignment, public transport assignment, GIS capability and much more, all in one software. It offers a multiresolution modelling capability with built-in dynamic traffic assignment on macroscopic and mesoscopic levels. PTV Visum can utilise multicore and distributed computer processing with advanced capability of OD matrix estimation, emissions modelling, traffic signal optimisation, toll modelling, advanced public transport demand, timetable, rolling stock capacity, revenue and fares, activity-based modelling and much more. PTV Visum offers a digital replica of mobility, land use and socio-demographics for gaining a deeper insight into the transport challenges of today, and for studying future ʻwhat-ifʼ transport scenarios at a strategic level for cities, regions, countries or even a continent. It is a connected data hub for fusion, analytics and embedded GIS that can be used to plan strategies for future mobility and to inform cost-benefit appraisal for new infrastructure, land use development, public transport operations, and shared mobility. PTV Visum integrates with PTV Vissim for the generation of microsimulation models, has an intuitive user interface, comes with extensive selfstudy material and has a continuously growing community of users worldwide in public sector, consultancy, transport operators, researchers, universities and students worldwide. Contact sales.uk@ptvgroup.com 0121 585 6633 www.ptvgroup.com/en/solutions/products/ ptv-visum/

TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION MODELLING

PTV Vissim is the leading microscopic simulation software for modelling multimodal transport operations. It is used by transport planners and traffic engineers for quantitative assessment, visualisation and optimisation of road geometry, traffic control, public transport, active modes, airports, automotive, and many more. It is used in more than 2,500 cities globally, with many transport projects and improvements benefiting from itsʼ powerful capability. With its unique links and connectors concept, PTV Vissim can map a network and geometry in detail. With its scientifically-proven traffic flow, lane-changing and merging behaviours, it can simulate complex vehicle interactions realistically on a microscopic, mesoscopic and hybrid level. PTV Vissim offers dynamic and static assignment and interfaces for external signal controllers, emissions models and vehicle-actuated programming. Its multi-modal simulation capability of vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians, and the extensive quantitative data and 2D/3D visualisation output, make it a powerful tool for transport project engineering and consultations with decision-makers and the public. PTV Vissim integrates with PTV Visum, Viswalk and Vistro, is quick and easy to use, comes with extensive self-study material and has a continuously growing community of users in the public sector, consultancy, automotive, research organisations, universities and students worldwide.

PTV Viswalk is the leading software for pedestrian simulation, based on the scientifically proven ʻsocial forceʼ model. It reproduces a realistic representation of human walking behaviour and crowd flow movements. It is used by transport planners, architects, building and event managers and fire engineers for analysis, visualisation and optimisation of pedestrian movements and space. It is particularly wellsuited for urban and construction planning, pedestrian safety planning, evacuation measures, public transport stations and interchanges, major events and numerous other project applications for the planning and design of smooth flow of pedestrians and crowds. PTV Viswalk can be used on its own for pedestrian and crowd flow simulation, or it can be combined in the same software environment as PTV Vissim for a multi-modal simulation of vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians, including interactions between modes. Contact sales.uk@ptvgroup.com 0121 585 6633 www.ptvgroup.com/en/solutions/products/ ptv-viswalk/

Contact sales.uk@ptvgroup.com 0121 585 6633 www.ptvgroup.com/en/solutions/products/ ptv-vissim/

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

PTV Vistro is a complete traffic analysis solution, giving you all the tools necessary to complete traffic engineering and transportation planning studies and evaluations of isolated intersections and networks of intersections with priority, roundabout and signal control. With PTV Vistro, you can evaluate development impacts, optimise and re-time traffic signals, evaluate intersection levels of service and generate report-ready tables and figures. This makes it a useful tool for many different types of traffic and transportation studies, saving you time through its allencompassing functionality. With PTV Vistro you can also evaluate the impact of new developments, test mitigation options, manage multiple scenarios, visualise results in a 2D network representation or graphical output, create report ready templates, export to PTV Vissim microsimulation, evaluate the need for a new traffic signal junction and much more. Contact sales.uk@ptvgroup.com 0121 585 6633 www.ptvgroup.com/en/solutions/products/ ptv-vistro/

PTV Optima is a traffic management decision support tool that combines advanced traffic modelling techniques with real-time transport data. PTV Optima fuses the transport model developed in PTV Visum with real-time data such as traffic flows, vehicle speeds, queues, journey times from any type of sensors such as inductive loop detectors, number plate and image recognition cameras, floating vehicle and GPS data, mobile phone data and much more. PTV Optima can accurately predict the real-time traffic state every 5-minutes, and can simulate in a rolling horizon of 5-minutes, to identify the impact of incidents and the extent of the queues and the delays in the next 5, 15, 30 or 60 minutes. Simulations can also be run to test the effectiveness of selected mitigation scenarios for dealing with planned and unplanned incidents such as accidents and roadworks. The real-time traffic state estimation by PTV Optima is more accurate than observed real-time data or statistical methods alone. The transport model helps propagate the real-time data geographically, to locations and times of the day when there is no real-time data available. PTV Optima also allows the testing and evaluation of what-if scenarios, which may not be possible with data and statistical methods alone. Contact sales.uk@ptvgroup.com 0121 585 6633 www.ptvgroup.com/en/solutions/products/ ptv-optima/

TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION MODELLING

VISTAD PTV Vistad is a tool that can store, validate, visualise and analyse traffic accident data on a map. It can map and filter the accident data geographically and according to numerous characteristics of the accident dataset, and can even store and visualise the digital schematic of each accident. It has standard and configurable accident data importers for the automatic import of accident datasets, and offers safety experts all the necessary functions for local accident investigation. Analysts can search for thematic accident clusters that can be pre-sorted and ranked based on the accident severity or vehicle type. The standardised data interface is well-suited for collaborative working between local, regional and national transport authorities and the police and emergency services attending accidents. The central data storage allows the concurrent access and analysis of up-to-date accident data by all users, with individually configurable access rights. PTV Vistad also offers an extensive set of configurable print-ready reports which can be used to detect trends and quickly assess the success of measures taken.

MAAS MODELLER

PTV MaaS Modeller is a cloud-based solution combined with a PTV Visum transport model to assess Mobility as a Service concepts and scenarios. It can help calculate the performance of a MaaS fleet from the operatorʼs business case perspective against pre-determined performance indicators such as fleet size, passenger occupancy, journey time and fares. It can also quantify the impact of the MaaS fleet from the transport authority perspective in terms of its interaction with the rest of the multi-modal transport system, congestion, competition with other modes and societal and economic impacts. Contact sales.uk@ptvgroup.com 0121 585 6633 www.ptvgroup.com/en/mobilitynext/

PTV Vistad is integrated with PTV Visum, offering the opportunity for a combined analysis of the transport model and accident data, which can offer additional insights and the ability of predictive safety analysis. Contact sales.uk@ptvgroup.com 0121 585 6633 www.ptvgroup.com/en/solutions/products/ptvvistad/

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

Software: SPATIAL

PTV Epics and PTV Balance are adaptive traffic signal control software tools that continually optimise the switching of traffic lights at single intersections and across entire networks. They react to the live traffic conditions on the roads and manage capacity efficiently with the most appropriate signal timings, thus reducing delays and improving road safety for all modes of transport. PTV Epics is for isolated intersections optimising traffic signal settings every second, for the next 100 seconds, based on detector data, queue lengths, cyclic flow profiles and public transport, pedestrian, and cycling priority requirements. Many features of PTV Epics, including mode priority, is user configurable. PTV Epics is ready for the future of mobility and the next level of traffic management by providing vital information for V2X-enabled traffic lights, taking V2X-equipped vehicles as data sources, and offering pre-emption to emergency vehicles via V2X-messages. PTV Balance utilises a macroscopic traffic model that estimates network traffic flows in accordance with detector data, a control model and a mesoscopic traffic flow model, to calculate the effects of a specific signal plan and, most importantly, different optimisation algorithms. PTV Balance measures current traffic conditions to then adjust and optimise green time splits, offsets and cycle times for entire networks every five minutes – preventing long queues and blocking back at junctions. Contact sales.uk@ptvgroup.com 0121 585 6633 www.ptvgroup.com/en/solutions/products/ptvepics-and-ptv-balance/

VLC Spatial is a robust yet simple land use model that integrates readily with existing strategic transport models. By embedding microeconomic models in a simplified general equilibrium setting, VLC Spatial predicts the behavioural choices of people and firms; considering transport costs, wages and rents, and amenities such as access to schools. Less data-intensive than most land use transport interaction models, key parameters are readily estimated using local data from the Census and the relevant strategic transport model. Together, these features give VLC Spatial robust economic foundations that link to appraisal, while remaining efficient to develop, maintain, and apply. VLC Spatial has been used to support strategic long-term planning, such as preliminary business cases for major programmes and projects, especially those that seek to shape the urban form. Contact Tom van Vuren tom.vanvuren@veitchlister.com www.veitchlister.com

TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION MODELLING

Software: Immense

Software: Zenith Zenith is Veitch Lister Consultingʼs suite of strategic transport models. We have developed Zenith models for all major metropolitan regions across Australia. They have been used by state and local governments for more than 30 years in the planning of public transport, major infrastructure projects and land use changes. Zenith models are multi-modal and demand responsive, based within the Emme software platform. Spatial model transferability is an underpinning feature of Zenith, maximising data efficiency and robustness, but also allowing us to re-use previous code and subroutines to build models quickly. Zenith makes extensive use of readily available national data sources such as the Census. We are proud of our in-house developed public transport and toll-road assignment methods, which have been proven to give excellent forecast results. Contact Tom van Vuren tom.vanvuren@veitchlister.com www.veitchlister.com

Immense is a turnkey and highly-scalable mobility simulation platform. It supports decision-making by enabling the assessment of mobility scenarios on-thefly using intelligent digital worlds. Immense is trusted by global automotive manufacturers, fleet operators, transport authorities, and energy providers that are navigating uncertain futures. Contact collaborate@immense.ai www.immense.ai

Software: SATURN

SATURN is the de-facto standard highway equilibrium modelling software in the UK. It has been continuously developed over the last 40 years by Atkins, Dr Dirck Van Vliet and the University of Leeds. SATURN continues to set industry-leading performance for both model convergence and runtimes. Contact Mara Hunt mara.hunt@atkinsglobal.com 01372 756 755 www.saturnsoftware.co.uk

AIMSUN Product: Aimsun mobility modelling Contact: Nadia Feddo nadia.feddo@aimsun.com www.aimsun.com

ANYLOGIC Product: AnyLogic – Road traffic simulation software Contact: aanand@dseconsulting.co.uk www.anylogic.com/road-traffic

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

AUTOTURN

DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT

Product: AutoTURN – Vehicle swept path analysis Contact: support@transoftsolutions.com www.autoturnonline.com

Product: DIADEM Contact: Tara Tanoz-Sargeant tasm@dft.gov.uk www.tagsoftware.co.uk/link-page/DIADEM

BENTLEY SYSTEMS Product: CUBE Contact: Oliver Charlesworth oliver.charlesworth@bentley.com www.bentley.com/en/products/brands/cube

DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT Product: TEMPro Contact: Tara Tanoz-Sargeant tasm@dft.gov.uk www.tagsoftware.co.uk/link-page/TEMPro

BOX5 TRANSPORT CONSULTANTS Product: Mimas Contact: Reynold Greenlaw reynold.greenlaw@oxfordcc.co.uk www.mimas.services

JCT CONSULTANCY LTD Product: LinSig Contact: Anthony Gerundini sales@jctconsultancy.co.uk www.jctconsultancy.co.uk

CALIPER Product: TransCAD – Americaʼs most popular transportation planning software with traffic signals, TIA, modelling and visualisation Contact: sales@caliper.com www.caliper.com/tcovu.htm

CALIPER

PARAMICS Product: Paramics Microsimulation – Traffic modelling software to design, evaluate and present solution Contact: Malcolm Calvert or Fiona Denoon mclavert@systra.com | fdenoon@systra.com www.paramics.com

Product: TransModeler – Microscopic, mesoscopic and hybrid traffic simulation software Contact: sales@caliper.com www.caliper.com/tcovu.htm

PARAMICS

CITI LOGIK LIMITED

Contact: Malcolm Calvert or Fiona Denoon mclavert@systra.com | fdenoon@systra.com www.paramics.com

Product: Mobile Network Data Contact: Mark Hawkins mark.hawkins@citilogik.com www.citilogik.com

DAT Product: OmniTRANS – Multi-modal transport modelling Contact: Stefan de Graaf sdgraaf@dat.nl www.dat.nl/en/solutions/transport-modellingomnitrans

Product: Paramics Discovery 24 – 3D Traffic Simulation

TRICS CONSORTIUM LIMITED Product: TRICS Database Contact: Nick Rabbets nick.rabbets@trics.org www.trics.org

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INNOVATION IS AT THE HEART OF EVERYTHING WE DO. Bringing 35 years of international experience to the UK, we leverage cutting-edge data sources and technologies to provide expertise and custom solutions to complex transport problems. OUR EXPERTISE:

› › ›

Transport analytics and forecasting Economics, policy and planning Future mobility

› Spatial analysis and visualisation › Out-of-home advertising audience measurement › Software and data science

OUR SOLUTIONS: Planwisely A cloud-based mapping platform designed to help planners, analysts, policymakers and stakeholders produce more informed outcomes for their cities and communities.

Zenith

Spatial

Our suite of strategic transport models, used by governments for over 30 years are multi-modal, demand responsive, leverage spatial model transferability and based within Emme.

A robust yet simple land use model that integrates with any existing strategic transport model and its economic foundation provides a natural link to appraisal.

www.veitchlister.com

London | Sydney | Melbourne | Brisbane

CONSULTANCY SHOWCASE

Sponsored by:

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

The Department of Transport and Main Roads in Queensland is moving the patchwork of current models into standardised frameworks, leaning on and developing open source software where possible

Open source transport models – not a free ride Many of the original transport modelling software packages emerged from individual efforts at a time that commercial tools did not exist, and when computing power was very limited and expensive. Says Tom van Vuren, VLC’s Regional Director UK & Europe: “I started modelling in the early 1980s with what was at the time known as the FHWA suite of models, originating from the United States, delivered on magnetic tapes and run on the mainframe of Delft University. Later, this software morphed to TRIPS, which itself became the starting point for CUBE. The SATURN ME2 matrix estimation from counts subroutines stem from Luis Willumsen’s PhD dissertation, and some of SATURN’s capabilities in signal control optimisation are the results of mine. AIMSUN, EMME and many of the PTV products also have their origins in universities, and were only later commercialised.” It wasn’t surprising that models contained bugs, had poor or no user support, were updated infrequently and in some cases disappeared altogether – which Millennial has heard of, let alone used, CONTRAM or TRAFFICQ? And woe be the organisation that relied on such tools that became obsolete through often a single point of failure; this is where commercial vendors have played a key role in establishing confidence in practice, providing quality-controlled, documented software supported by sizable teams of experts that we can trust will still exist in years to come. It’s not unreasonable to require and also pay for that support, considering

the decisions that rely on the numbers that we produce with these software tools. (As an aside, even bug-free software leaves enough latitude for quite different errors, in network coding, other base year input data such as counts or demand matrices, and particularly future year representations – but that’s a different story.) Inevitably, these commercial solutions are less agile (development costs time and money, and introduces risk to both vendors and users). And there are further impacts on practical innovation, including the problem of organisations and locations ‘locking in’ to software products, associated training and ending up with staff resources skilled in the application of tools rather than development and understanding. Says van Vuren: “Although there are exceptions, a further frustration to me has been the slow transfer of new academic insights to practice, and even a lack of attractiveness of modelling as a career to mathematical modellers and data scientists, compounding the reliance on what commercial products can do – no more and no less.” Recently, and certainly in academic circles, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) has been mooted as the way ahead – often supported by arguments not dissimilar to these above – increased agility and wider ownership. The “free” part relates to unfettered access to use and modify software (rather than there being no costs), whilst the “open” part articulates the values of a joint and

collaborative development effort. Robin Lovelace, John Parkin and Tom Cohen go a step further and argue in a recent Transport Policy paper for what they call open access models, which they define as models that are both developed using open source software and are available to be used by the public without the need for specialist training or the purchase of software licences. This would encourage the questioning and sensitivity testing of model assumptions and ‘hardcoded’ parameters; and support public participation in the planning system. “FOSS provides more room for enterprise,” says Alex Dawn of CityScience. “Red Hat Inc, for example, make billions in revenue from providing support for their ‘free’ software. FOSS provides insight within the black box and allows you to customise it to work for your needs, rather than your talented employees working around the limitations of your software licences”. One question often pondered is whether open source models can be trusted. Key to trust is development of software that is bug-free, well documented and works as expected. This does not happen without structure and organisation. Whilst tools like GitHub have made it easier to introduce good software development practice, to collaborate with others and share code, it is ultimately the people that are the key. Crowdsourced, altruistic and parttime software developers can only get you so far. Funding is a serious issue, Pedro

CONSULTANCY SHOWCASE

A good example of modularity is work recently completed in Sydney, where VLC’s own public transport assignment algorithm was built into an operational public transport planning tool

Camargo, lead developer of the AequilibraE open source modelling platform, says: “FOSS has grown tremendously since Linux’s early days, and tools like Python, R, QGIS and Biogeme have become essential tools in any modeller’s tool-belt. A few things still hinder the use of FOSS and the technical development of our professionals, however. The two most important are: we think we are special, so our tools are kept under wraps and unchecked; and we are free-riders, as we believe that we do not need to fund FOSS even if it serves us well. I believe it will be up to government bodies to start funding the relevant projects.” Most serious efforts (like the MATSIM and ActivitySim activity based modelling frameworks) have one of two key sources of funding. The first, as in the case of MATSim, is through very strong links to academia, with plenty of research funding across multiple universities powering development of the software. The second, as in the case of ActivitySim, is through investment in open source projects from public authorities. The platform has secured long-term funding through a consortium which pools funding from a number of Metropolitan Planning Organisations in the USA. This trend of moving away from volunteer developers alone, with other organisations supporting and funding development, is termed “Community Source”. This a direction which VLC is also increasingly seeing in Australia. Says Jamie Cook, a Principal Consultant at VLC: “A good

example is the Department of Transport and Main Roads in Queensland, where the patchwork of current models developed using different standards for coding and sometimes software is being moved into standardised frameworks, leaning on and developing open source software where possible.” Of course, the benefits of joining forces to increase the availability of both funds and skills are not restricted to open source development. The most successful commercial software vendors already effectively pool funds from a wide base of thousands of end users to invest in new functionality and to drive innovation. And those users also benefit from the widespread testing taking place by others using this software around the world, identifying bugs early, and

establishing and sharing good practice. Market forces, when working correctly, have acted to create value for the community of users. Open source is also not a cheap option, especially if we want good outcomes. It can, however, be a way to harness pooled funding to achieve goals that are more directly related to the exact needs of those funding software improvements, who rely on their outputs. Taking a step back, however, what about those organisations that do not have deep pools of specialist expertise to manage the more complex projects or the time to wait for development? Open source could prove to be a poisoned chalice for local authorities and smaller transport organisations that are expecting too much, too soon. MATSIM, for example, has

Most serious open source efforts have very strong links to academia, with plenty of research funding across multiple universities powering development of the software

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

Making outputs from transport models far more accessible is most likely through tools like VLC’s web-based visualisation platform, Planwisely, developed specifically for that purpose

been in development since 2006 and only recently has become more widely used after features and ease of use reached a critical mass point. Says Ali Inayathusein, VLC’s National Director Future Transport: “To me, it is clear that open source, whilst offering huge opportunities, is neither a free beer nor a silver bullet. My guess is that from a software perspective we will benefit from a continued role for commercial software providers, where increasing competition from open source alternatives will drive innovation and retain a focus on what each tool does best. Increasing modularity and better access to software functionality through APIs (already a trend that all the major software providers are embracing) will allow modellers to pick and choose the best bits of software to combine, whilst adding bespoke elements as needed themselves. “One great example of modularity (if not open source) in action is work VLC recently completed in Sydney, where our own public transport assignment algorithm was modularised and built into a tool for operational public transport planning.” We can expect to see an increasing number of community source projects and, alongside that, crossfertilisation and funding of ideas across cities and countries that turn good ideas into practical software at more regular intervals. Open source software will exist alongside, interface with and enhance the commercial packages we are familiar with. Will

transport modelling become more accessible to non-modellers, as Lovelace, Parkin and Cohen advocate? “This is not just a question of access to open source software, but also one of understanding of the complexities of transport and travel”, says van Vuren. “I am adamant that some basic understanding of the theory is essential, how that is represented in any model, plus an awareness of the importance and impact of assumptions, buried in parameters or hardwired in the functionality. Simplified modelling interfaces will enable access (although masking complexity and uncertainty could cause more issues than it solves). More likely this can be achieved through making outputs from transport models far more accessible, through tools like VLC’s web-based visualisation platform, Planwisely, developed specifically for that purpose.” “The discussion about open source software is also incomplete without mentioning open data, says Inayathusein in conclusion. Despite the early promises of Big Data, the costs of data supporting transport modelling still generally outstrip the costs of the actual software products. I am disappointed that access to data sources generated by the general travelling public, such as by using mobile phones, ride-hailing services like Uber, travel apps or map services has not improved markedly. Here’s probably where the real opportunities lie for opening up.” n

Ali Inayathusein is National Director Future Transport at Veitch Lister Consulting and Tom van Vuren is Regional Director UK & Europe at VLC Europe, and Visiting Professor at the University of Leeds.

CONSULTANCY SHOWCASE ARUP Contact: Chris Bruce chris.bruce@arup.com www.arup.com Veitch Lister Consulting was founded in 1986 with one objective: to provide tools and insights that help our clients plan the cities of the future. This remains our purpose, driven by a culture grounded in transparency, the pursuit of excellence and the desire to innovate. In 2021 we extended this purpose to the UK and Europe, opening up a London office and making VLCʼs expertise available to a wider market. Today we are one of the largest specialist transport planning consultancies in Australia. We have a reputation for providing high quality work, focusing on solutions that are both practical and technically robust. Our team of transport planners, engineers, modellers, software developers, economists and analysts deliver solutions that facilitate sustainable growth and prosperity for our clients and communities. We work with a clientʼs models using our expertise to help develop their capabilities and tools - or we use our in-house Zenith models, covering all major metropolitan areas in Australia and transferable worldwide. Our Future Transport Lab provides research, analytics and expert advice to clients seeking to inform their decisions with data-driven insights and solutions. Contact Tom van Vuren tom.vanvuren@veitchlister.com www.veitchlister.com

ATKINS Contact: Tim Gent Tim.Gent@atkinsglobal.com www.atkinsglobal.com

GOOD JUDGMENT Contact: Warren Hatch hatch@goodjudgment.com www.goodjudgment.com

JACOBS Contact: Thomas Piechota thomas.piechota@jacobs.com www.jacobs.com

MOTT MACDONALD Contact: Duncan Lockwood duncan.lockwood@mottmac.com www.mottmac.com

SYSTRA Contact: Duncan Irons dirons@systra.com www.systra.co.uk

WYG Contact: Gabriel Davis gabriel.davis@wyg.com www.wyg.com

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2: HIGHWAY MANAGEMENT

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

APPYWAY

TRANSOFT SOLUTIONS

Product: Appyway PLATFORM – Parking and traffic Contact: www.appyway.com/smart-parking-solutions

Product: autoTURN – The leading vehicle swept path analysis and turning simulation software Contact: info@transoftsolutions.com www.transoftsolutions.com/emea/vehicle-sweptpath/autoturn-select/autoturn

BUCHANAN COMPUTING Product: TraffWeb – Data portal providing live online access to published data Contact: admin@buchanancomputing.co.uk www.buchanancomputing.net

BUCHANAN COMPUTING Product: ParkMap – Map-based inventory for parking and moving traffic regulation Contact: admin@buchanancomputing.co.uk www.buchanancomputing.net

BUCHANAN COMPUTING Product: ACSMap – Road casualty analysis Contact: admin@buchanancomputing.co.uk www.buchanancomputing.net

BUCHANAN COMPUTING Product: SignPlot – Highway sign design software Contact: admin@buchanancomputing.co.uk www.buchanancomputing.net

BUCHANAN COMPUTING Product: LinePlot – Line making design and inventory management tool Contact: admin@buchanancomputing.co.uk www.buchanancomputing.net

TRANSOFT SOLUTIONS Product: Signdesign Pro – Streamline the traffic signing plan process Contact: info@transoftsolutions.com www.transoftsolutions.com/emea/signagemarking/sign-design-pro-dubai

TRANSOFT SOLUTIONS Product: Line Design Pro – Highly efficient road marking software Contact: info@transoftsolutions.com www.transoftsolutions.com/emea/signagemarking/line-design-pro-dubai

TRANSOFT SOLUTIONS Product: ParkCAD – The CAD software for parking design projects of any size Contact: info@transoftsolutions.com www.transoftsolutions.com/emea/sitedesign/parkcad

TRL Product: ARCADY – Roundabout assessment Contact: software@trl.co.uk www.trlsoftware.com

TRL CALIPER Product: TransCAD – Americaʼs most popular transportation planning software with traffic signals, TIA, modelling and visualisation Contact: sales@caliper.com www.caliper.com/tcovu.htm

Product: PICADY – Non-signalised junction design Contact: software@trl.co.uk www.trlsoftware.com

TRL Product: OSCADY – Evaluation and optimisation of simple isolated signalised junctions Contact: software@trl.co.uk www.trlsoftware.com

HIGHWAY MANAGEMENT TRL Product: TRANSYT – Signal design for network and junctions Contact: software@trl.co.uk www.trlsoftware.com

TRL Product: PCMOVA – Controlling traffic signals at isolated junctions. MOVA - Microprocessor Optimised Vehicle Actuation Contact: software@trl.co.uk www.trlsoftware.com

TRL Product: iMAAP – Web-based accident analysis software Contact: software@trl.co.uk www.trlsoftware.com

TRL Product: streetaudit / PERS – Software suite for accessing and reporting streetscape. Modules for pedestrian, cycling freight environments Contact: software@trl.co.uk www.trlsoftware.com

TRL Product: HDM 4 – Highway design and maintenance management Contact: software@trl.co.uk www.trlsoftware.com

3: ACCESSIBILITY PLANNING

Sponsored by:

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

Can new developments support 20-minute cities? Transport accessibility is imperative for sustainable urban growth. Considering society, the economy, and the environment for the creation of jobs and essential services for all Sustainability is all about making decisions that do not have negative consequences for either current or future generations. With the government planning on building hundreds of thousands of new homes a year, they need to be built sustainably. The ethos of a 20-minute city encompasses this vision. A 20-minute city is where everything we need is close to home. Where we can buy fresh groceries, go to work, go to a sports facility or a GP surgery and hospital, all within 20 minutes of our homes. The fundamental way in which we shape our cities is to facilitate, enable and encourage the kind of humanity we all want to enjoy. Striving to ensure the air is clean and promotes active travel for everyone. In building whole new communities, we have a unique opportunity to create and structure the cities in a way that is cleaner, safer, healthier, and more inclusive for all. Achieving this is imperative for a long-lasting impact affecting generations to come. The most important component to planning sustainable developments is to remove an over-reliance on cars for access. This decreases high emissions and increases active travel options for everyone. Without sustainable developments, we will suffer from increased car usage, resulting in increased traffic and emissions. When any new housing is approved it should be checked to ensure it is accessible via public transport, walking or cycling. If such access is insufficient, then developers need to be encouraged to improve transport links for the site. Wider than this, if a point of interest such as a school or GP surgery does not have capacity, or is out of reach, collaboration needs to happen with local government about improving the infrastructure for that area. To do this analysis, a reliable and authoritative approach is required. Allowing all sites to be analysed consistently is vital when comparing

different site locations for development. Within sustainable development we need to consider three main areas: 1. Economic development to enable the movement of people, jobs, and goods, and to support the functioning of the economy. 2. Environmental objectives to reduce air pollution by using active, shared and public modes of transport. 3. Society and equitable access for all socio-economic groups to core services such as healthcare and the ability to assess multimodal route options. Encouraging active travel whilst minimising conflicts between traffic, cyclists, and pedestrians.

The importance of using software for analysis Software allows for much of the heavy lifting to be done externally. Historically, a planner may need to manually look up bus timetables, or workout travel times using crude methods in a GIS. Now analysis software, the latest transport data,

and authoritative data from Ordnance Survey can be utilised giving extra confidence in the results, crucial when making important decisions that will stand up to scrutiny. One such piece of software is Basemap’s Travel Time analysis Software (TRACC), enabling the user to make a rapid analysis of accessibility by different transport modes. Importing either the latest or historic public transport timetables, road and footpath networks, and demographic data for detailed origin/destination calculations. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Potential destinations include: Employment locations Schools and colleges Universities Hospitals and GP surgeries Grocery stores Town centres Green spaces and leisure hubs

These can be analysed against different transport modes, including public transport, walking, cycling and car, to give an indication of accessibility for new developments. This can be used at local level as well as nationally and internationally. TRACC can identify differing patterns of accessibility across various towns

ACCESSIBILITY PLANNING

In summary

and regions by different modes of transport and can be compared to the car. TRACC allows the underlying data to be edited, essential for looking at making changes to the network to facilitate improvements to accessibility. Improvements can include changing the network to merge or create new bus routes, create a new foot or cycle path, or even look at demand responsive services such as taxis and minibuses. Users can find the optimal location of a new school or another destination. All of this can be measured using demographic data to ascertain the real change in population access when these options are modelled. TRACC modelling assesses whether investment and development are viable in potential areas, and reviews the impact of any changes made to transportation within the specific area. Bryan G Hall provide specialised consulting services to the construction industry to help with new build developments. They have been using TRACC for several years to demonstrate multi-modal site accessibility as part of the planning process. Nick Calder, a Senior Engineer at Bryan G Hall, says that: “TRACC gives us the flexibility to edit the underlying network which is very important for us.” The planning team at the consultancy, work on hundreds of projects a year using TRACC to show that proposed sites are accessible to key services by walking, cycling and public transport. Based on the new site, the team draw up plans to see what can be reached within appropriate catchments, then look for deficiencies. Nick also said:“If you are looking at a site on the outskirts of a town and looking at public transport accessibility, if it shows you can’t get into the city centre within an

Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs Gro Harlem Brundtland, leader in sustainable development and public health, and served as Director General of the World Health Organisation appropriate travel time, we would look at potentially improving or extending a service closer to the site.” This type of analysis and planning is already being utilised at Staffordshire County Council, using TRACC to drive sustainable development and produce accessibility appraisals to support their district councils in delivering housing and employment development. The functionality of TRACC enables the council to calculate accessibility for public transport and travel time analysis. Joanne Keay, a Strategy Officer, said: “Using TRACC has allowed us to get much more accurate results; we can put in the whole of our regional bus, rail and road networks, and now we can put in paths as well to show walking routes.”

Developments should be located and designed to ensure we make sustainable travel a more attractive option, to not only reduce emissions but also improve residents’ health and wellbeing. This is not only key when planning sustainable developments but also infrastructure and amenities, keeping essential services such as hospitals or GP surgeries well located. Plans and decisions should ensure that developments are located where the need to travel will be minimised, and where the use of sustainable transport modes can be maximised. Transport accessibility plays a fundamental role by prioritising mixed-use sustainable developments which is essential for 20-minute cities where walking, cycling and public transport are more attractive options of travel than driving. This is not a case of “build it and they will come”. Sustainable travel requires breaking habits that are years in the making, but once we are set on a sustainable path, the benefits will be seen by future generations for years to come. n

Shereine Swindon, business development and research executive, Basemap, delivering transport data and analysis solutions

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

Basemap are experts in processing and utilising transport data. They have been helping companies with their data and software solutions for more than 20 years, combining the latest data and market-leading algorithms.

TRACC is a desktop or browser application that runs multi-modal accessibility calculations, generating travel times using public transport, walking, cycling or driving.

Our products facilitate fast and accurate transport analysis by creating and collating the latest public transport and highways data, accessed with data purchasing tool DataCutter.

TRACC is trusted by local councils, the NHS, private sector and national governments all over the world to give accurate and consistent results that are used to plan national and local infrastructure projects.

TRACC and Highways Analyst allow for detailed journey time calculations; managing, modelling and improving congestion throughout the road network or measuring accessibility through multimodal journeys. TRACC allows users to monitor the effectiveness of their public transport network and create ʻwhat-ifʼ scenarios. It is trusted by the NHS, private sector and local and national governments all over the world to give accurate and consistent results. In 2018 Basemap launched their new Electric and Autonomous Vehicle Router Software (EVR). EVR is designed for electric vehicle and mixed fleets, in collaboration with UK leading experts in battery efficiency. This unique route optimisation software, powered by AI, solves range anxiety by ensuring there is sufficient charge, while creating optimised and cost-effective routes. Contact Lester Chine sales@basemap.co.uk 01483 688 470 www.basemap.co.uk

TRACCʼs powerful algorithms allow roads, public transport or sites such as hospitals to be edited, giving the ability to quickly look at ʻwhat-ifʼ scenarios. TRACC is commonly used to monitor access to essential services, promote modal shift, plan new bus routes, optimise the transport network, look at optimal site locations, plan office relocations or simply produce travel time maps. TRACC allows detailed reports to be exported, and demographic data can be added to show areas of non-accessibility in order to help users plan different scenarios. Contact Lester Chine sales@basemap.co.uk 01483 688 470 www.basemap.co.uk/tracc/

ACCESSIBILITY PLANNING BENTLEY SYSTEMS

PROSPECTIVE

Product: CUBE Access – Mapping and analysis tool for measuring community accessibility to employment opportunities, public services etc Contact: Oliver Charlesworth oliver.charlesworth@bentley.com www.bentley.com

Product: FlowOS – Near time, travel demand and travel conditions predictive tool for operations management Contact: contact@prospective.io www.prospective.io/solutions

SPACE SYNTAX REPLICA Product: Replica is a data platform that makes complex, rapidly-changing urban ecosystems easier to understand Contact: https://replicahq.com

Product: depthMap X – Open-source spatial network analysis tool Contact: otp@spacesyntax.com www.spacesyntax.net/software

SPACE SYNTAX AGILYSIS Product: Active Streets – Active streets assessment tool Contact: www.activestreets.uk

Product: Qgis Space Syntax Toolkit – Front end for depthMap X Contact: otp@spacesyntax.com www.spacesyntax.net/software

TRAVELTIME HOLISTIC CITY Product: Streetscape 2 – Small sections and plan diagrams for street designs Contact: info@holisticcity.co.uk www.holisticcity.co.uk/services/streetscape

MOOVIT Product: Urban Mobility Analytics – Urban mobility analytics tool Contact: www.moovit.com/maas-solutions/urban-mobilityanalytics

PASSENGER Product: Passenger Premium Contact: Bethan Hopkins bethan.hopkins@passengerteam.com www.discoverpassenger.com

Product: TravelTime – Travel time search and analytics tool Contact: sales@traveltime.com www.traveltime.com/serch

TRAPEZE Product: DRT Solutions – Planning tools for simulating pedestrian and crowd dynamic Contact: info.uk@trapezegroup.com www.trapezegroup.co.uk/demand-responsivesocial-transport

TRAPEZE Product: MaaS – Mobility as a Service (MaaS) that empower communities to utilise the full range of local transport services Contact: info.uk@trapezegroup.com www.trapezegroup.co.uk/mobility-as-a-servicemaas

CADENCE POWERING THE WORLD’S MOST INTERACTIVE AND ENGAGING TRANSPORT STRATEGIES Cadence is an award-winning suite of webbased data management and modelling tools for transport planners, modellers and decision makers FEATURES: • Rich curated data layers relevant to the needs of modern transport strategies and local planning • Version controlled data management for robust and secure custodianship of transport models • Visualisation and analysis from complex data (e.g. demand 昀ows, travel times and accessibility) • Web-based access, insights, visualisations, simulation and scenario testing

www.cityscience.com

4: DATA MANAGEMENT, ANALYSIS & VISUALISATION

Sponsored by:

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

Supporting transport planning through a changing world With plans to reach net zero by 2050 now set in law, a step change will be required to ensure that transport plays its role in decarbonisation. By Simon Lusby, Head of Transport Planning, City Science When we started City Science five years ago, we were motivated both by the potential for technology to enhance general tools and processes, but also by the growing need to urgently respond to the climate emergency. Over the past five years, the importance of this issue has grown significantly. Transport is now the largest contributor to carbon emissions in the UK and, in an average local authority, represents 35% of emissions. With plans to reach net zero by 2050 now set in law, a step change will be required to ensure that transport plays its role in decarbonisation. Within our Cadence toolkit, we provide a range of tools to help plan for the required changes. Through our research partnerships with a number of the UK’s leading universities, we adapt to this change by continuously updating the tooling within the Cadence suite to ensure that practitioners have access to the insights to help address the greatest challenges facing the industry.

City Science Decarbonisation Policy Tool

answers: investing in active travel to catalyse a modal shift; incentivising electric vehicles; changing the way freight is delivered; or changing planning guidance around new developments. In order to provide a quantified approach and support Local Authorities in developing their strategic thinking, City Science developed a transport

decarbonisation tool. This tool is a robust starting point to help understand the overall decarbonisation challenge, and acts as a useful solution to help initiate the strategic thinking across a region. The tool itself enable users to understand the key drivers of transport carbon emissions within their region, to set decarbonisation targets and to progress the strategic

Decarbonisation Strategies The first question decision makers face when considering the fundamental carbon reductions required is: where to start? While over two thirds of local authorities have declared a climate emergency, the approach to developing decarbonisation targets or strategies varies considerably from place-to-place. This is because if you were to stop and ask a person in the street what the most effective measures to decarbonise transport would be, you would likely get a wide range of

Cadence: difference in travel times from simulated reallocation of road space

DATA MANAGEMENT, ANALYSIS & VISUALISATION

Cadence: Electric Vehicle data, WPD South West

interventions most appropriate to their area. Interventions can be grouped together to provide a full pathway to net zero carbon. At each stage, the tool allows users to clearly quantify and articulate the impact of strategic interventions, identifying any gaps that may need to be addressed further. With integration to annuallyupdated open data and APIs, the tool can be regularly updated to track progress over time, and can thus form a core component of your region’s decarbonisation approach. The tool is free to access and can be provided to all authorities, even those without a Cadence license: please get in contact via the details at the end of this article.

Active travel Having developed a decarbonisation strategy, local authorities are then likely to develop strategies for active travel such as Local Cycling and Walking Innovation Plans (LCWIPs). Cadence includes a bespoke LCWIP toolkit, which has been designed with features specifically to support planning for active travel. These include data layers covering active travel propensity, active travel networks, query-able road safety data, journey times and other specialist analysis such as mesh density. But Cadence also allows web-based simulation and ‘what-if’ analysis, going way beyond simple visualisation. This enables multiple stakeholders, including nonmodellers, to collaborate in identifying and testing potential active transport interventions. Specifically, Cadence can be used to simulate the impact of road or lane closures. For example, in the graphic

(bottom right) we have simulated the impact of a lane closure enacted to improve road safety within the town centre. The analysis runs end-to-end (outside of the transport model), immediately providing outputs to help users identify and quantify the potential impacts on other road users. Journey time analysis using our tables and isochrones helps dynamically filter to understand the areas most affected and how significant an impact is likely to be. This rapid and robust analysis can be instrumental in helping support engagement with stakeholders and conducting early sifting of options as part of scheme development.

What’s next? As we emerge together from the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s clear we are in a period of significant change. City Science is committed to building tools that evolve with the changing needs of transport practitioners to address new challenges as they emerge. We’re continuously adding to the capabilities of our products to deliver just that. If you’d like to find out more about how Cadence and our wider team can support you, both now and in the future, please visit us at www.cityscience.com or email us at info@cityscience.com. n

Electrification Electrification of transport is a further area of intervention that is likely to be key to achieving decarbonisation goals. Cadence is therefore configured to consolidate data and analysis to support the interaction between transport and energy networks. To achieve this we combine data from the regional transport model with data on l local electrical grid capacity and

headroom,

l electric vehicle charging networks, l electric vehicle uptake projections

for a range of different consumer scenarios, l and delivery of charging infrastructure.

Combining this data with our models allows a range of future demand and uptake scenarios to be tested to inform the key infrastructure needs to support electrification and decarbonisation of transport.

In order to support Local Authorities in developing their strategic thinking, City Science developed a transport decarbonisation tool to help understand the overall decarbonisation challenge

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

City Science is an independent firm of software developers, data scientists and infrastructure experts. Founded out of the need to respond to climate change, and data-led in everything we do, we are committed to advancing our customersʼ understanding of the systems they operate, and to helping them reduce waste, improve efficiency and support a better world. Contact Laurence Oakes-Ash loa@cityscience.com www.cityscience.com

DATA MANAGEMENT, ANALYSIS & VISUALISATION

Software: notanotherapp

DataCutter simplifies access to large national datasets, taking the heavy load of querying and cutting data up for its users. DataCutter is a powerful website that offers access to free data such as the 2011 census and simple road networks, through to paid subscriptions offering access to public transport timetables, premium road networks such as Ordnance Survey Highways and detailed Points of Interest data. Draw or upload your own map boundary, or use one of our preselected areas and download datasets for anywhere in Great Britain. Contact Lester Chine sales@basemap.co.uk 01483 688 470 www.basemap.co.uk/datacutter/

The notanotherapp plugin works in direct companionship with the Open Parking Platform. The naa system allows for multi-vendor cashless app providers to be seamlessly integrated into multiple MaaS sites across many networks. The naa system also brings together historically fragmented communication between multiple vendors allowing for real time tariff updates, occupancy data and site information adjustments. As well as providing the multi-vendor service, the naa system also brings together high level analytical and statistical information. This data is in turn supported by the input360 software to allow for modelling and machine learning programmes. These programmes will assist in all future development and policy changes. Contact Tim Pryor info@notanotherapp.co.uk 0333 240 1062 www.notanotherapp.co.uk

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

Software: Input360

Software: Planwisely

Unlock the power of your data with interactive dashboards and reporting that inspires smarter economical and environmental decisions. Input360 is the latest software evolution from Solutionlabs which brings together rich analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence from global service providers in MaaS and DaaS, including the Open Parking Platform and notanotherapp.

Planwisely is a new cloud-based mapping platform designed to help planners, analysts, policymakers and stakeholders produce more informed outcomes for their cities and communities. Developed by VLC, the platform is used by local, state and federal governments around Australia to help shape our cities and regions.

Input360 aims to provide a real-time interpretation of the data you're seeing. It provides you with learnt predictive models that will build the basis for all future policy changes and environmental impact reporting. Bringing together data from across all MaaS networks, as well as global stat providers, the input360 engine will give you realtime insight into proposed changes across your network. The universal data contained within Input360 is supported by our unparalleled service, built on a secure and proven cloud infrastructure, that is scalable to support any size network. Contact Tim Pryor info@solutionlabs.co.uk 0333 240 1062 www.solutionlabs.co.uk/input360

The platform includes access to hundreds of preloaded spatial datasets, satellite imagery, dynamic accessibility analysis and demographics filtering. In addition, Planwisely has been set up to enable easy access to third-party data including traffic counts, transport modelling outputs for multiple scenarios, 3D buildings and many more. Most importantly, the platform helps those without extensive GIS data interact with spatial data and analysis through a user-friendly interface, providing access to all the spatial data and tools needed for evidence-based planning. Planwisely makes it easy for technical teams to share mobility data and analysis with colleagues. Contact Aliasgar Inayathusein aliasgar.inayathusein@veitchlister.com.au www.planwisely.io

DATA MANAGEMENT, ANALYSIS & VISUALISATION AGILYSIS

LIFTSHARE

Product: CrashMap Pro – Online mapping solution Contact: Lyndsey Owen lyndsey.owen@agilysis.co.uk www.agilysis.co.uk/portfolio-item/crashmap-pro

Product: Liftshare Platform – Car sharing platform Contact: Ali Clabburn a-clabburn@liftshare.com www.mobilityways.co.uk

AGILYSIS

LIFTSHARE

Product: Route Risk Analysis Contact: Lyndsey Owen lyndsey.owen@agilysis.co.uk www.agilysis.co.uk/portfolio-item/route-riskanalysis

Product: MobilityWay – Average commuter emissions level tool Contact: Ali Clabburn a-clabburn@liftshare.com www.mobilityways.co.uk

AGILYSIS

MATATIKA

Product: Speed Compliance Dashboard – A powerful yet easy-to-use solution providing access to information about speed limits and average speeds on roads across Great Britain Contact: Lyndsey Owen lyndsey.owen@agilysis.co.uk www.agilysis.co.uk/portfolio-item/speedcompliance-dashboard

Product: Matatika Mobile Contact: Aaron Phethean aphethean@matatika.com www.matatika.com

CALIPER Product: TransCAD – Americaʼs most popular transportation planning software with traffic signals, TIA, modelling and visualisation Contact: sales@caliper.com www.caliper.com/tcovu.htm

ONETRANSPORT Product: Data Platform – The oneTRANSPORT Data Marketplace is a modern, neutral smart city data solution that enables Smart City data to be fully exploited across multiple applications and services, by both public and private organisations Contact: info@onetransport.io www.onetransport.io

OPENDATASOFT CHIPSIDE Product: Oppidatum – City data modelling Contact: Simon Cheung simon.cheung@chipside.com www.chipside.com/oppidatum

Product: Data Platform – Opendatasoft is the data sharing platform teams use to access, reuse, and share data that grows business Contact: www.opendatasoft.com

TRANSPORTAPI ITO WORLD Product: ITO Transit Data – Transit data platform Contact: info@itoworld.com www.itoworld.com/ito-transit-data

Product: Data aggregation platform underpinning managed services Contact: info@transportapi.com www.transportapi.com

5: DATA AS A SERVICE FOR INTERNET OF THINGS

Sponsored by:

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

Introducing Data as a Service for Internet of Things The future of Data delivery in MaaS A modern hub should be far more than a delivery service consolidating data for a single use. Today’s generation of data hubs should aim to deliver… simply more! Our new generation of data delivery services form a connected network of data hubs featuring rich analytical tools and multi-channel streams. They are built on secure and proven cloud infrastructure that is scalable to billions of devices and trillions of messages, and brilliantly designed to seamlessly bring together noisy and fragmented data.

The first of these data hubs is the all-in-one Open Parking Platform The Open Parking Platform receives and visually presents real-time data from the Internet of Things (IoT)

connected to all digital parking sources, such as Pay & Display machines, Pay on Foot machines, Parking Permit Systems, bay sensors, cashless apps and more. How does the Open Parking Platform work? Our cloud-based service unites data management and rich analytics to make noisy, fragmented data scalable to billions of devices and trillions of messages. But, what does that mean? The platform encourages communication between multiple ‘things’ in real time. This is all thanks to an easy-to-use portal in which users can customise their experience and reporting tools to quickly become the go-to resource for operational data. The platform, whilst providing qualitative data in varying degrees of frequency and complexity, is also seamlessly presented in a user friendly and easy to navigate user interface (UI). Simply stated, our visualisation involves presenting your

fragmented data in such a way that users can understand the data, as well as its underlying relationships, through IoT. How do we keep your data secure? We are continually driving innovation with our solutions that are designed for continuous platform evolution. However, we are aware that many people are apprehensive about “big data” because of concerns over possible data breaches. Security is not something we take lightly, which is why the Open Parking Platform is built to use the minimal amount of data required to provide the insights you need. The key security features of the Open Parking Platform: 4 Will not hold private customer data 4 Will not store or process payment card information 4 End users will always remain with the payment vendor The Open Parking Platform is built from the ground up on a secure and proven global cloud infrastructure that allows vendors to safely bring together high-level analytical and statistical information. The platform acts as a basis for a new digital ecosystem, which enhances vendor-to-vendor collaboration - both quantitatively and qualitatively - to transform parking management and put the customer right at the heart of the service. What about stakeholder reporting? As we have touched on above, the Open Parking Platform enables individual users and groups to acquire custom access permissions and report functions adapted to their job role. We understand that human cognition plays a major part in a user’s relationship with data. A person’s attention, memory, learning, reasoning, production/understanding of language, problem-solving and

DATA AS A SERVICE FOR INTERNET OF THINGS

We aspire to deliver a forgettable parking experience…

decision-making all play a key role in their relationship with data. Therefore, we make it easy for every user to define their dashboard in a way that works for them. Customisation tools called “widgets” allow a user to pick and choose the visualisations that are relevant to them/their role.

What if you have multiple suppliers offering the same data set? Introducing the naa platform (notanotherapp) notanotherapp (“naa”) is a direct companion to the Open Parking Platform and enables motorists to pay for their parking anywhere using their preferred app, instead of having to use multiple apps in different locations. This creates a powerful incentive for app developers to innovate their services, because the customer experience becomes the key performance indicator. With the naa two-way communication and seamless integration into multiple MaaS sites, fragmentation becomes collaboration. Traditionally, the parking sector has been fragmented and segregated, which has deterred innovation. The naa system resolves this by enabling multiple vendors to communicate more effectively, empowering them to make their parking management more customer-centric. naa empowers motorists to initiate effective change by choosing the vendor that best suits their requirements. We all know how emotive parking is. The motorist parking experience should be forgettable, but it isn’t. The motorist should be able to pull into the location and use their preferred payment method and get on with their day. But they can’t - why? For many years, Solutionlabs has been driving towards an empathetic approach to its own innovation. We believe there is greater universal success to be had from changing traditional thought processes.

Traditionally a company or brand will take an idea, build a commercial product or service, and then a user experience results, positive or negative. We strategically place the user and their experiences first. This provides a deeper understanding of how you can deliver your products and services. This ethical and empathetic approach to our innovation means that Solutionlabs and naa aspire to see beyond their own world view. We aspire to deliver a forgettable parking experience. Allowing motorists to make informed decisions relating to their journey At its very core this is what naa is designed to do: Give the customer the power to make informed decisions and initiate effective change. Why dictate to a customer which cashless app provider they should use? Instead, give customers the power to make informed decisions and let their user experience drive the “most popular” payment service forward. Through this empathetic approach you allow the motorists to drive innovation from the providers. The naa system is not only integrating with payment systems and pre-booking software providers, but travel management applications, automotive technology, EV charging services and more.

including, but not limited to, its sister products: the Open Parking Platform and notanotherapp. Input360’s universal data is supported by our unparalleled cloud infrastructure - secure, proven and scalable to support any network size. Use your data to inspire effective change. Support new economical and environment policies. Ensure your future readiness. As with all our platforms, you can unlock the power of your data with interactive dashboards and reporting to inspire smarter economical and environmental decisions. Through our data learning methodology, Input360 aims to provide a real-time interpretation of the data you’re seeing. It provides you with learnt predictive models that will build the basis for all future policy changes and environmental impact reporting. Bringing together data from across all MaaS networks, as well as global stat providers, the Input360 engine will give you realtime insight into proposed changes across your network. The Input360 team will work closely with you to create custom models and reporting workflows to ensure you are maximising your data potential. n

Data is important. But what will you do with it? Introducing Input360 Applying data learning methodology to stored data is often a difficult exercise. The speed and complexity of machine learning methodologies means keeping up with new techniques, and can be difficult even for data scientists. Our latest software evolution, Input360, unites rich analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence by applying a number of robust and long-standing methodologies. Input360 pulls stored and live data from a number of areas

Duane Hodges-Stubbs, Technical Director, Solution Labs

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

Basemap have the most detailed speed limit and average speed data available on the market. The speed limit is attached to the road network and shows the speed limit on all GB roads. The average speed that is used and trusted by Highways Analysts can either be purchased based on 6 time/day periods, or can be customised for a specific project, with dates, days, vehicle types and area adjusted to meet a userʼs needs. This is very popular for looking at journey time analysis on key routes. These datasets can be used to: l Calculate congestion or where traffic is flowing freely at specific times of day l Identify where people are speeding l View where restrictions are in place, for example outside schools l Accurate and immediate drive-time analysis l Plan emergency response routes in command and control system Contact Lester Chine info@basemap.co.uk 01483 688 470 www.basemap.co.uk

Software: The Open Parking Platform The Open Parking Platform (OPP) provides a data hub that receives and visually presents realtime data from all digital parking sources, such as: Pay & Display Machines, Pay On Foot Machines, Parking Permit Systems, Bay Sensors, Bay Monitoring, Notice Processing Systems, Multi-Vendor Cashless App Providers, Digital Transport Management Systems and Camerabased monitoring systems. The Open Parking Platform encourages communication between multiple ʻthingsʼ in realtime. The OPP is the only cloud-based service that brings together data management and rich analytics in an easy-to-use platform designed for noisy and fragmented data. The OPP is built on a secure and proven cloud infrastructure and is scalable to billions of devices and trillions of messages. The rich analytical tools provided by the OPP allow users to bring together an omni-channel experience inside an easy-to-navigate user portal. For stakeholder reporting, each user/user group has custom access permissions and has the ability to build custom report functions specific to their job / role. The OPP offers hosted reporting functions as well as an open API for third party integration. The OPP aims to deliver Data as a Service for IoT. Contact Tim Pryor info@solutionlabs.co.uk 0333 240 1062 www.openparkingplatform.co.uk

The leading transport recruitment website, established, proven and most trusted since 2007 The site comprehensively lists jobs in the ﬁelds of: l Transportation Planning l Transport Modelling l Transport Engineering l Passenger Transport l Parking l Rail l Road Safety l Highways & Traﬃc l Travel Planning For all your recruitment needs contact Jason Conboy on: 020 7091 7895 or email: jason@landor.co.uk

The Tracsis Conduit Dashboard is a multi-functional data platform to store, view and utilise a range of data sources.

Historic Data module to ﬁnd and request existing data sets to plug gaps during disruption Web-based Data Hub to host any data set, including live data from sensors or air quality monitors through API Bespoke dashboard development for speciﬁc reporting requirements Third party data module for additional insight e.g accident/ weather Public facing information module with website integration

Contact: tads@tracsis.com

6: DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS

Sponsored by:

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

Data search and supply service The Tracsis Conduit Dashboard is thought to provide the most comprehensive list of traffic surveys ever compiled in the UK, with an historic data module to help deliver projects throughout the pandemic. By Nick Mather, Business Development Director & Group Marketing Lead, Tracsis With traffic data from 2020 providing a potentially useful benchmark for the future, but not much in the way of “normal” traffic flows, Tracsis is supporting modelling on ongoing projects throughout the pandemic by using its extensive historic records. Set up in June 2020 in response to COVID-19, the Tracsis Conduit Dashboard is a multi-functional data platform to store, view and utilise a range of data sources. Potential users of the historic data element of the dashboard can log in, filter the data by the period of time and type of traffic data - for example manual classified counts or automatic number plate recognition information – identify the area they are looking for historic data by selecting any potential sites displayed on the map, and then make a request. “Essentially the platform enables the easy search and supply of previously collected data to keep projects moving which would otherwise stall,” says Nick Mather, Business Development Director at Tracsis. Ewan Anderson of SAJ Consultants says his company used the data to model the operation of a junction (the Caldecotte Interchange). “It was invaluable, given the current circumstances, and allowed us to proceed with certainty without having to seek to agree a traffic flow adjustment factor with the local authority and Highways England. The junction model was accepted by both parties and neither are objecting to the planning application for a new commercial warehouses development.” The dashboard helps display the available data sets and organise them, and further functionality is available through different modules. For instance, if a client wanted to host live, ad-hoc, or their own previously collected data, that functionality is available through Conduit Data Hosting, rather than have data sitting across multiple servers in spreadsheets. Mather adds: “As Tracsis

The dashboard presents data by survey type

occupy about half of the total market share in traffic and transport data collection, the historic data database provides a robust route to the search and supply of historic data. “The platform has opened up many commercial avenues for Tracsis. First of all, any historic data requests that are successful and end up with the data being released to the user, have a fee attached to the transaction. It is not the case that we are reselling the data, but applying an administration fee for the

Data is plotted to site level

facilitation of the process. These revenues are crucial to us at a time where there is little no actual data collection work being undertaken. “Secondly, we have seen a broad interest in companies and government bodies wanting to use the platform to host their own data and make it available for others to use. This concept will be the phase 2 development for the data hosting module, where the system will move from being a search tool to a search

DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS and hosting tool where the client can download the data directly from the system. “Lastly, and in more of an overarching concept, the interest in the platform has opened up many lines of communication with our customers, elevated our presence in the market at a time where many data collection companies are dormant, and this in itself has generated further enquiries for related work and proposals for new data collection into the new year.” The formulation of the database was a simple but effective work plan. Tracsis logs all ‘enquiries’ - quote requests - for traffic surveys and, after being granted permission from the client, it will share all the data it collects. But it also goes a step further – it follows up on the contracts it didn’t win and shares any public data from those projects too, if this is possible. Mather adds that the database contains every enquiry since 1 Jan 2017. The company has been through the records or enquires, and manually split out every data set contained within each enquiry by site, as previously each survey information was logged as a single latitude longitude or postcode. “There are still some enquiries to go through and break down to a site level, but the current number of data points in the database is 21,005, which will increase as this task continues,” says Mather. Tracsis updates the database periodically, for instance on 20 December last year it received data from over 100 permanent AI sensor locations. n

Any data from sites of interest can be added to the "basket”

Once data is requested the Administrator responds promptly

Case study Buckinghamshire County Council recently acquired data for use within the redevelopment of its new strategic countywide transport model. A Buckinghamshire Council spokesman said: “In 2019, Buckinghamshire Council decided to update its countywide strategic transport model. The model was around six years old and required an update to assist the new unitary council to develop their forthcoming local plan and other strategic policies. “The new model was to use 2020 as a base year and traffic flow data collected from on-street surveys. As a result of the pandemic, the 2020 base year would not provide a satisfactory level of normality for modelling future years. “Although Bucks Council had a wealth of traffic flow data from various years, the council needed to fill a number of areas where data was lacking. Generally, this was because the data was outside of Buckinghamshire or was required to add to the available data on transport road links or

specific traffic junctions, or was needed to validate earlier traffic data that Buckinghamshire Council held.” As a result of this, Buckinghamshire Council turned to Tracsis to “plug the gaps”. Tracsis helped validate and calibrate the model and thereby provided greater confidence in the future forecast outputs. This provided confidence that the model’s assessment of likely impacts of key planning developments and highway improvements in, say, 10 or 15 years’ time are realistic. The benefits to Buckinghamshire Council were: l There was a wide range of data available to assist filling areas within the model highway network. l The data was acquired quickly and at a reasonable cost. l The turnaround and quality of service offered by Tracsis was excellent. l Undertaking new surveys was difficult due to COVID impacts on the “norm”, and more effective than extrapolating earlier data that the council held.

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

Operating throughout the UK and Ireland our network of operational bases allow us to deliver the largest and most complex data collection projects alongside individual local surveys. We utilise the innovation and skills Tracsis are known for including AI Video Analytics, Bluetooth, WiFi, Radar and Pneumatic Tube ATC and our inhouse data analytics and reporting skills. Contact Nick Mather nick.mather@tracsis.com 01937 833933 www.tracsis.com

Software: Conduit The Tracsis Conduit Dashboard is a multifunctional data platform to store, view and utilise a range of data sources. l Historic Data module to find and request existing data sets to plug gaps during disruption l Web-based Data Hub to host any data set, including live data from sensors or air quality monitors through API l Bespoke dashboard development for specific reporting requirements l Third party data module for additional insight e.g accident/weather l Public facing information module with website integration Tracsis Conduit can bring all of your data into one, accessible front end dashboard, improving its usability to make informed decisions. Contact Nick Mather nick.mather@tracsis.com 01937 833933 www.tracsis.com

DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS GAIST Product: Spatial Deterioration Simulation Program Contact: Marc Tite marc.tite@gaist.co.uk www.gaist.co.uk

Software: SwiftMetrics Fully understand and improve the performance of your bus network with SwiftMetrics, a powerful online reporting dashboard that delivers bus network analysis at scale. SwiftMetrics seamlessly integrates with existing transport technology systems to instantly visualise and automatically report detailed reliability, efficiency and demand metrics – enabling informed decision-making for network development and growth. Contact philip@cityswift.com + 353 (0)91 393 255 www.cityswift.com/platform#swift-metrics

GOODVISION LTD Product: GoodVision Video Insights Contact: Daniel Stofan daniel.stofan@goodvisionlive.com www.goodvisionlive.com

RINGGO PHONE PARKING Product: RingGo cashless parking Contact: Anne Snelson sales@park-now.com www.RingGo.co.uk

THE FLOOW LIMITED Product: MobilityIn Contact: Dr Sam Chapman sam@thefloow.com www.thefloow.com/our-solutions/mobilityin/

Choose NDC for Quality, Reliability and Unrivalled Experience

Transportation Data Collection Services

Nationwide Data Collection (NDC) provides specialist data collection services for transport planning, traffic engineering and market research. We have unrivalled experience in conducting manual & automatic traffic counts, roadside interviews, pedestrian surveys, ANPR, video, radar speed surveys and parking surveys. Contact Gerard OʼRegan gerard.oregan@nationwidedatacollection.co.uk 01926 485 504

Manual Traffic Counts

Public Transport Surveys

Roadside Interview Surveys

Automatic Traffic Counts

Pedestrian Counts & Interviews

Parking Surveys

Video Surveys, ANPR & Infrared

Market Research

Journey Time Surveys

Bluetooth & WiFi Surveys

Scotland Peter Rohwer

North Peter Rohwer

Tel: 01355 221363

Tel: 01924 288040

London & South East Damien Wilson-Pulley Tel: 0207 833 2999

Midlands & South West Rhod Jones Tel: 01926 485504

Email: enquiries@nationwidedatacollection.ie Website: www.nationwidedatacollection.ie

Ireland (Dublin, Athlone & Belfast) Paul Murray Tel: +353 (0) 1 633 4725 Email: enquiries@nationwidedatacollection.ie Website: www.nationwidedatacollection.ie

Netherlands Olaf Seinen Tel: +31 (0) 88 254 2001 Email: olaf.seinen@ndc-nederland.nl Website: www.ndc-nederland.nl

www.nationwidedatacollection.co.uk

7: URBAN MOBILITY TOOLS

Sponsored by:

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

The data-driven bus operator

The public transport industry has made leaps and bounds in embracing new technologies. Today’s fleets are teeming with the very latest tech, and operators collect huge amounts of data on a daily basis. There’s a great deal of potential uplift in punctuality, profitability and driver/passenger satisfaction that can be gleaned from this data, but making sense of it all is a daunting task. If interrogated at all, the data is often interrogated on a fairly basic level by employees for whom ‘data analyst’ is neither their official job title or main priority. And even if transport operators manage to unlock 5% of the value of their data, by the time they’ve unlocked it, it’s out of date. This is where machine

learning and artificial intelligence come in. By implementing machine learning and AI, modern operators can take full advantage of the value of their data. They can create better, more efficient schedules; quickly adapt to disturbances such as traffic incidents and emergencies; and predict shortand long- term demand for their services.

CitySwift: The specialist data engine driving modern bus networks At CitySwift, we have worked tirelessly to create a specialist data engine that can increase and enhance the performance and

efficiency of public transport networks, while also boosting service reliability. Its development has been driven by a team with more than 40 years’ in-depth experience of the bus industry, which gives us a unique understanding of the operational challenges bus operators face. We’re passionate believers in what the bus industry can achieve when given the right tools to do the job, and by combining our experience with big data, machine learning and AI, we have created a suite of products that can digitalise bus networks and revolutionise service delivery for operators. The CitySwift bus data engine seamlessly integrates with existing public transportation systems and technologies. This enables it to augment existing IT infrastructure investments, cleaning Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL), scheduling and ticketing data and combining it with a vast array of big data sources in order to create highly relevant datasets that are tailored to each network and location. Our cloud technology platform currently consists of three modules: SwiftMetrics, SwiftSchedule and SwiftConnect.

SwiftMetrics: Bus network analysis at scale SwiftMetrics provides bus operators with a full understanding of their networks by placing performance closely under the microscope. It enables them to instantly visualise and automatically report detailed reliability, efficiency and demand metrics. This provides an immediate picture of what’s happening across the network, empowering operators to react rapidly to sudden changes in demand or emerging mobility patterns. SwiftMetrics can help ensure operations are as efficient as possible, while also significantly boosting performance. “The future is going to be very challenging,” comments Andy Foster from National Express Bus. “SwiftMetrics will help us deliver the

URBAN MOBILITY TOOLS up to two weeks in advance. This helps them make informed decisions about when to travel, improving passenger comfort, safety and peace of mind. There are significant benefits for operators too, because SwiftConnect helps to spread demand peaks and stimulates off-peak demand by encouraging travel on quieter buses. “I think it could be the most powerful use of big data yet in terms of aiding local bus networks and customer service,” says The GoAhead Group’s Martijn Gilbert. “That’s a bold statement, but we are really excited about it.”

Powering a revolution for bus networks

best possible service because we can quickly analyse trends and probe demand, vehicle speeds and identify problem locations.”

SwiftSchedule: Rapid bus timetable optimisation SwiftSchedule builds optimised timetables that intelligently balance vehicle supply with passenger demand. It instantly calculates runtimes, dwell and layover based on schedule requirements, operating conditions and passenger demand; significantly reducing network review timescales, while increasing confidence in the efficiency and reliability of schedule changes. SwiftSchedule can accurately predict bus journey times. Want to know what effect the opening of a new school or leisure facility could have on your network? SwiftSchedule can provide the answers by allowing you to evaluate and compare multiple scenarios while also examining the likely impact on timetables and operational costs. “SwiftSchedule enables us to complete analysis of running times in hours rather than days or weeks,” comments Andy.

given date and time. This information is continually updated based on actual bus loads and provided to bus users in a dynamic colour-coded format – in other words a simple traffic light-style display. We originally developed SwiftConnect to encourage on-board social distancing in response to Covid-19. However, the technology has some serious benefits for both operators and passengers alike in the post-pandemic world. Its real strength is as a preplanning aid; bus users can view accurate ridership predictions for any bus, at any point on its journey,

This is just the beginning. Our team of bus data experts continues to work closely with transport operators around the world to enhance our existing technology suite and develop new ideas – our rapid development and deployment of SwiftConnect during the first Covid-19 lockdown is a case in point. The post-Covid world will bring new opportunities to unlock the potential of public transport, especially as towns and cities across the world look to move to a more sustainable way in which they approach mobility. We believe data-driven operators will be best placed to take advantage of this transition. n By Brian O'Rourke, co-founder and CEO, City Swift

SwiftConnect: Accurate stop-bystop bus capacity predictions SwiftConnect uses AI to predict capacity levels for every bus on any

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

At CitySwift, buses are in our blood. Our team has more than 40 yearsʼ experience across the bus industry and a unique understanding of the operational challenges that bus operators face. Weʼre passionate believers in what the bus industry can achieve when given the right tools to do the job. By combining our deep public transportation domain knowledge with big data and AI, we have created a specialist data engine that can increase and enhance the performance and efficiency of public transport networks, while also boosting service reliability. The CitySwift platform augments and seamlessly integrates with existing transport technology systems, providing a deeper understanding of network performance and enhanced network planning with significantly reduced timescales. CitySwift is institutionally backed. Our investors include Ryanair co-founder Declan Ryanʼs Irelandia Investments, ACT Venture Capital and former CarTrawler Chief Executive Mike McGearty. Contact Philip Lavin philip@cityswift.com www.cityswift.com

Software: SwiftConnect SwiftConnect offers accurate bus capacity predictions. It improves comfort and safety for bus users and spreads demand peaks using an AI-powered vehicle capacity prediction tool, aiding social distancing by helping passengers choose to travel on quieter buses. SwiftConnect seamlessly integrates with existing transport technology systems and uses AI to predict capacity levels for every bus, at every stop, for any specific date and time. Information is continually updated based on actual bus loads, and shared with passengers in an easy-tounderstand ʻtraffic lightʼ format. Contact philip@cityswift.com + 353 (0)91 393 255 www.cityswift.com/platform#swift-connect

URBAN MOBILITY TOOLS AIMSUN Product: Aimsun Live – Real-time traffic flow predictions Contact: www.aimsun.com/aimsun-live

BENTLEY SYSTEMS Software: SwiftSchedule Optimise your bus timetables with SwiftSchedule, an AI-powered schedule planning technology that intelligently balances vehicle supply with passenger demand. SwiftSchedule seamlessly integrates with existing scheduling systems to instantly calculate runtimes, dwell and layover based on schedule requirements and operating conditions, significantly reducing network review timescales, while increasing confidence in the efficiency and reliability of schedule changes. Contact philip@cityswift.com + 353 (0)91 393 255 www.cityswift.com/platform#swift-schedule

Product: Streetlytics – Real-time population movement (USA only) Contact: www.bentley.com/en/products/brands/streetlytics

BENTLEY SYSTEMS Product: OpenCities Planner Contact: www.cityplanneronline.com/site

ESRI Product: ArcGIS City Engine – 3D modelling Contact: sales@esriuk.com www.esriuk.com/en-gb/arcgis/products/arcgiscityengine/overview

ESRI Product: ArcGIS Urban – Smart city planning Contact: sales@esriuk.com www.esriuk.com/en-us/arcgis/products/arcgisurban/overview

HOLISTIC CITY Product: CityCAD – Conceptual city-informationmodelling platform Contact: info@holisticcity.co.uk www.holisticcity.co.uk/services/citycad

HOLISTIC CITY Product: Streetscape 2 – Small sections and plan diagrams for street designs Contact: info@holisticcity.co.uk www.holisticcity.co.uk/services/streetscape

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

HOLISTIC CITY

TRAPEZE

Product: City Design Library – Urban design database tool Contact: info@holisticcity.co.uk www.holisticcity.co.uk/services/city-design-library-2

Product: DRT Solutions – Planning tools for simulating pedestrian and crowd dynamic Contact: info.uk@trapezegroup.com www.trapezegroup.co.uk/demand-responsivesocial-transport

MOOVIT Product: Urban Mobility Analytics – Urban mobility analytics tool Contact: www.moovit.com/maas-solutions/urban-mobilityanalytics

PASSENGER Product: Passenger Premium Contact: Bethan Hopkins bethan.hopkins@passengerteam.com www.discoverpassenger.com

PROSPECTIVE Product: FlowOS – Near time, travel demand and travel conditions predictive tool for operations management Contact: contact@prospective.io www.prospective.io/solutions

SPACE SYNTAX Product: depthMap X – Open-source spatial network analysis tool Contact: otp@spacesyntax.com www.spacesyntax.net/software

SPACE SYNTAX Product: Qgis Space Syntax Toolkit – Front end for depthMap X Contact: otp@spacesyntax.com www.spacesyntax.net/software

TRAVELTIME Product: TravelTime – Travel time search and analytics tool Contact: sales@traveltime.com www.traveltime.com/search

8: PEDESTRIAN MODELLING & CROWD SIMULATION

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

BENTLEY SYSTEMS

SIMWALK

Product: CUBE Voyager – Macroscopic movement of people and vehicles Contact: www.bentley.com/en/products/product-

Product: SimWalk-360 – Permanent interchange pedestrian model Contact: www.simwalk.com/simwalk360/index.html

line/mobility-simulation-and-analytics/cube-voyager

SIMWALK BENTLEY SYSTEMS Product: LEGION Model Builder & Simulation Contact: Oliver Charlesworth oliver.charlesworth@bentley.com www.bentley.com/en/products/brands/legion

INCONTROLSIM Product: Pedestrian Dynamics – Pedestrian simulation environment Contact: siminfo@incontrolsim.com www.incontrolsim.com/software/pedestriandynamics

MOTT MACDONALD Product: STEPS Contact: Tony Kivistik tony.kivistik@mottmac.com www.steps.mottmac.com

OASYS Product: MassMotion Contact: oasys@arup.com www.oasys-software.com/products/pedestriansimulation

SIMWALK Product: SimWalk Transport – Leading simulation solution specialising in passenger operations, safety and comfort in rail, metro and bus stations Contact: www.simwalk.com/simwalk_transport/index.html

SIMWALK Product: SimWalk Pro – Simulations for traffic, architecture, urban, evacuation Contact: www.simwalk.com/simwalk_pro/index.html

Product: SimWalk Airport – Airport terminal model Contact: www.simwalk.com/simwalk_airport/index.html

9: ECONOMIC APPRAISAL TOOLS

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

AGILYSIS

CERC

Product: Active Streets – Active streets assessment tool Contact: www.activestreets.uk

Product: ADMS - Urban RML – Automated system for nesting ADMS-Urban in regional air quality models Contact: enquiries@cerc.co.uk www.cerc.co.uk/environmental-software/ADMSUrban-RML.html

AGILYSIS Product: CrashMap Pro – Online mapping solution Contact: Lyndsey Owen lyndsey.owen@agilysis.co.uk www.agilysis.co.uk/portfolio-item/crashmap-pro

BEIS Product: National Household Model – Open-source scenario planning tool for projecting the effects of policy and other legislative changes on the energy and emissions of the UK domestic housing stock Contact: Joshua Thumim joshua.thumim@cse.org.uk www.data.gov.uk/dataset/957eadbe-43b6-4d8db931-8594cb346ecd/national-household-model

CERC Product: ADMS - 5 – Air quality model Contact: enquiries@cerc.co.uk www.cerc.co.uk/environmental-software/ADMSmodel.html

CERC Product: ADMS - Roads – Comprehensive road traffic pollution modelling Contact: enquiries@cerc.co.uk www.cerc.co.uk/environmental-software/ADMSRoads-model.html

CERC Product: ADMS - Airport – Air quality management for airport Contact: enquiries@cerc.co.uk www.cerc.co.uk/environmental-software/ADMSAirport-model.html

DAFNI Product: DAFNI 2.0 Platform – National infrastructure data and analytics model Contact: info@dafni.ac.uk www.dafni.ac.uk/release-2

DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT Product: COBALT Contact: Tara Tanoz-Sargeant tasm@dft.gov.uk www.tagsoftware.co.uk/link-page/COBALT

DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT Product: TUBA Contact: Tara Tanoz-Sargeant tasm@dft.gov.uk www.tagsoftware.co.uk/link-page/TUBA

DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT CERC Product: ADMS - Urban – Urban air quality modelling Contact: enquiries@cerc.co.uk www.cerc.co.uk/environmental-software/ADMSUrban-model.html

Product: WITA Contact: Tara Tanoz-Sargeant tasm@dft.gov.uk www.tagsoftware.co.uk/link-page/WITA

ECONOMIC APPRAISAL TOOLS IBASE

WILSON PYM MAY

Product: Envirohub – Streetscene monitoring recycling and street cleansing Contact: info@ibasesystems.co.uk www.ibasesystems.net/envirohub

Product: HIRAM – Highway Infrastructure Resilience Assessment Modelling Tool Contact: info@wpmsolutions.co.uk www.wilsonpymmay.co.uk/hiram

MDS TRANSMODEL Product: GB Freight Model – Freight modelling owned and operated by MDST Contact: web.enquiries@mdst.co.uk www.mdst.co.uk/models

PROVING SERVICES Product: Options Analyser (Access Edition) – Multiuser application supporting multiple portfolios with complex assessment criteria Contact: Andy Perrin a.perrin@provingservices.co.uk www.provingservices.co.uk/tools/options-analyser

PROVING SERVICES Product: Options Analyser (Excel Edition) – Compact and portable version of the above Contact: Andy Perrin a.perrin@provingservices.co.uk www.provingservices.co.uk/tools/options-analyser

PCT Product: Propensity to Cycle Tool – Cycling investment prioritisation tool Contact: pct@pct.bike www.pct.bike

UTG Product: Metropolitan Bus Model – Bus patronage scenario modelling tool developed by WSP for UTG Contact: Tom Ellerton tom.ellerton@urbantransportgroup.org www.urbantransportgroup.org

Sponsored by:

Organised by:

In partnership with:

Modelling World International Uncertainty and innovation emerge as key issues at first Modelling World International Uncertainty in the context of the global pandemic and the behavioural responses to it was not surprisingly one of the key topics for discussion at the first Modelling World International event held online last week. But some of the 400 attendees were surprised that grappling with the longerterm implications of climate change within modelling processes did not have a higher profile. Read the full event report here: https://bit.ly/3f5eb4N

View full conference session recordings here: https://bit.ly/3hGgc9k

2021

Modelling World has been organised in Europe for the last 15 years and is highly regarded as the essential meeting place for practitioners working in all areas of strategic modelling.

5 - 6 October 2021

Modelling World International will return in 2022.

Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham

Express interest in taking part by emailing Daniel Simpson - daniel@landor.co.uk

10: JOURNEY PLANNING & TRAVEL MANAGEMENT

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

IBASE Product: Transhub – Travel Plan monitoring, reporting and project management tools Contact: info@ibasesystems.co.uk www.ibasesystems.net/transhub

LIFTSHARE Product: Liftshare Platform – Car sharing platform Contact: Ali Clabburn a-clabburn@liftshare.com www.mobilityways.co.uk

LIFTSHARE Product: MobilityWays – Average commuter emissions level tool Contact: Ali Clabburn a-clabburn@liftshare.com www.mobilityways.co.uk

ZIPABOUT Product: Zipabout – Journey planning platform Contact: www.zipabout.com

Organised by:

Sponsored by:

Supported by:

2021 Save the date! 5 - 6 October 2021 Edgbaston Cricket Ground Birmingham

We’re back in Birmingham! At Modelling World 2021, we’ll be able to meet in person again – or join virtually if you prefer. Modelling World is the UK & Europe's best attended, longestrunning and biggest annual exhibition and conference for transport and pedestrian modelling professionals, advisory and strategic modellers, data scientists and transport economists. This must-attend annual fixture is the highlight of the modeller's calendar. Exhibition and sponsorship opportunities Contact Daniel Simpson on: 020 7091 7861 or email: daniel@landor.co.uk

Challenging the regime is what we do at Modelling World. In thinking about tomorrow – its uncertainty and the need for innovation – we must consider both the modelling required to forecast what new futures may look like, and the robust framework needed for supporting decisionmaking today... Tom van Vuren, Chairman of Modelling World and Regional Director, UK & Europe, VLC, and Visiting Professor at the University of Leeds

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

Data & Modelling Yearbook 2021

Articles inside

4: DATA MANAGEMENT, ANALYSIS VISUALISATION

CONSULTANCY SHOWCASE

7: URBAN MOBILITY TOOLS

3: ACCESSIBILITY PLANNING

1: TRAFFIC TRANSPORTATION MODELLING

6: DATA COLLECTION ANALYSIS

5: DATA AS A SERVICE FOR INTERNET OF THINGS