In a ‘first for the UK’, a wireless transmitter using smart technology has been installed on a bike-bus route in Glasgow to send a signal to hold traffic at a busy junction, allowing groups of schoolchildren on bikes and scooters to cross safely.
The Ultra-Smart Cycle System, mounted on the Shawlands Bus Bike lead rider’s bike, uses a reportedly military-grade encrypted signal that, when pressed on approach to the junction, initiates a specially timed traffic light cycle that holds traffic for 45 seconds, a sufficient period to let cyclists pass.
The signal is only accepted by the control unit, which is mounted on a traffic pole, on a pre-programmed day, during an agreed period. This makes it well-suited to a weekly bike ride full of schoolchildren which occurs between 8:30am and 9am each Friday.
The Shawlands Bike Bus collects children from the local area, who are travelling to school by bike, and escorts them along a pre-determined route that finishes at Shawlands Primary School.
Part of the route includes the busy Shawlands Cross junction and involves a right turn into Kilmarnock Road. The large group had encountered problems, including not being able to cross the junction in time, resulting in frustrated drivers moving too close to the children and some using their horns.
The council’s Road Safety Unit had provided support in the form of hi-viz vests, cycle helmet cameras and banners along the bike bus route to inform drivers of the Friday event. Police Scotland have also ridden with the children.
However, it was the Glasgow City Council’s traffic management service that finally found a solution to ensuring the children’s safety.
The smart system is based on technology used to sense the presence of bikes at certain junctions in Glasgow, but it has been adapted to allow the signal to be emitted from a ‘wireless button’ or remote control attached to a bicycle.
Preston-based tech firm Sm@rt Technology developed the prototype, which was then 3D printed to create the wireless button. With development and testing over the summer, the Ultra Smart Cycle System was recently used by the Shawlands Bike Bus for the first time.
Steve Pearson, CEO of Sm@rt Technology, said: “We’re happy to have helped Glasgow City Council with the development of a solution that benefits the community with what is undoubtedly a great initiative.”
Following the first test run of the technology, the council is reportedly in talks with parents from six other schools looking to develop safe cycle routes.
