UK traffic safety and enforcement system provider SEA has been awarded a contract by Bristol City Council to support the implementation of its clean air zone (CAZ), which is due to launch in September this year.
The agreement will see the installation of 49 ROADflow Fusion cameras, SEA’s intelligent traffic enforcement solution, at key locations in the city.
The ROADflow Fusion camera has been selected to detect vehicles that don’t meet the zone’s emission standards by performing live identification via automatic number plate recognition (ANPR).
The camera incorporates multiple detection devices to operate in different lighting levels and weather conditions. A hosted back office then rapidly examines information such as a vehicle’s, engine type and Euro rating to identify if it is compliant.
The system can also integrate with multiple third-party systems, such as payment providers and penalty charge notice processors, to enable effective enforcement for local authorities.
Read more: Bristol CAZ added to national vehicle checker ahead of summer launch
Alastair Cobb, head of transport at SEA, said: “Our traffic enforcement technology enables customers to change driver behaviour to improve the environment and road safety, and to reduce congestion.
“SEA is well placed to support organisations, such as Bristol City Council, through the implementation of clean air zones thanks to our innovative traffic enforcement systems, including ROADflow Fusion.
“This intelligent technology offers the flexibility to support a wide range of clean air and low-emission zone designs and enables schemes to be changed or repurposed over time as requirements evolve.”
A daily charge applied to older and more polluting vehicles driving in the zone will reportedly be reinvested into the local community, supporting individuals and businesses to switch to cleaner vehicles, ongoing work to make it easier to walk and cycle, and improvements to public transport.
David Bunting, head of traffic and highways maintenance at Bristol City Council, said: “The clean air zone will not only reduce air pollution but also help people change how they travel, delivering a cleaner, greener and healthier city for years to come.
“SEA’s ROADflow Fusion technology will allow us to effectively enforce the zone when it starts operating later this year.”
A number of local authorities in England have already implemented CAZs including Bath, Birmingham and Portsmouth. Bradford will join Bristol in introducing a CAZ this year.
Find out what Mayor of Bristol Martin Reevs had to say about the city’s challenges in introducing a clean air zone in the March 2022 issue of CiTTi Magazine:
