Resolving incidents on provincial roads faster

Part of the road network in North Holland is managed by the provincial government. In order to limit delays on these provincial roads, North Holland wants to deal with incidents as quickly as possible. The province has road inspectors for this purpose. Determining which inspector can get to an incident the fastest, however, can be difficult, because inspectors are often on the move. That is why the province was looking for a system to solve that problem automatically and in real time.

Geodan’s IMS turned out to be the ideal solution. Suppose that a report is received at the North Holland traffic control center via the 112-control room or Rijkswaterstaat (Public Works and Water Management). The location of the accident is entered into the system. The road inspectors’ vehicles continuously update where they are and what their status is. Based on this data, the navigation systems developed by our partner, TomTom, can determine the travel time for each of the inspectors to the location of the incident, taking traffic into consideration. The IMS then combines that travel time with the estimated time that the inspectors still need for their current job and uses timetable information to determine which inspectors can handle the incident within their shift. As soon as the fastest solution has been established, the inspector in question will automatically receive a notification that he or she can confirm. This confirmation is immediately visible to all other parties involved, such as control center operators and managers, saving time on communication.

The biggest advantage of the IMS is that it automates an otherwise complicated process with many different parties and factors. Moreover, the IMS not only determines who can deal with an incident the fastest, but also helps that person in the process. Depending on the type of incident, the system follows a resolution scenario and guides the inspector through the necessary steps. By checking off the steps, an automatic report is generated immediately, which the province can then use to inform road users and to evaluate the incident. Now, the province of North Holland can better deal with incidents and do so more quickly.