Anyone know how much these things have cost so far? and who is responsible for them?. Like a lot of things they could be useful if used correctly.
Unfortunately it appears they mostly don't seem to be, and are used to display inane nanny state messages about taking a brake or keeping left. Often they are "accidentally" left displaying old news like fog when morning fog has long gone, or queues / delays from the previous Friday nights rush "3" hours early on Saturday morning.
Would it really be that hard to pay someone to permanently monitor & reset them considering how much they must have cost to install?
Also why are they never used, (or at least I've never heard them used), for amber alerts like in the USA?
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What's an amber alert?
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I beleive he's refering to the National Security rating.
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Sorry, should have explained amber alert..
www.chp.ca.gov/html/amber-en.html
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Oh, I was wrong then. Sorry.
Can't spell either :-(
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At the moment they usually say "think dont drink and drive" or "think dont drive tired"
If you are drunk or tired you wont be reading the damn things anway.
When the tories get in they will be showing paid for adverts.
These things should be on when there is something to say and ONLY then.
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RF - Da DAA. < changes in phone box > Its TOURVAN man
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What like queue after next junction "bought to you by Tescos" :D
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If you feel the need, you can view these messages around the country at www.highways.gov.uk/trafficinfo/ & select your area of interest. Once the map appears hover over the yellow sign & the message will pop up. Road works info also given. If you go to the new Scottish site at www.trafficscotland.org/ & select "Live Eye views" snapshot pictures from cameras alongside motorways & other roads are available - look at the 2 on the tops of the Forth Road Bridge piers.
Tony
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coo - can you edit them from yor home PC? :-)
Maybe for a fee you could put your own message " Colin is 50 today" etc ,it would save painting it on a bed sheet and putting it on a roundabout.
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Each one costs a staggering £348,000.
I have no idea how many they now have insrtalled, but hundreds if not thousands I guess. They include active CCTV cameras, which is probably their real reason for existence. These are linked to a national monitoring system, which will probably be used for road charging or 'enforcement' or whatever but the cost of implementation will be hidden in 'Active Signs - Information Systems for teh Motorist"
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Each one costs a staggering £348,000. I have no idea how many they now have insrtalled, but hundreds if not thousands I guess.
I actually bothered to trawl (it took five minutes) through the link, and it's hard to tell exactly because there are a lot close together, but i counted 94. So less than a hundred?
They include active CCTVcameras, which is probably their real reason for existence.
Paranoid?
These arelinked to a national monitoring system, which will probably be used for road charging or 'enforcement' or whatever but the cost of implementation will be hidden in 'Active Signs - Information Systems for teh Motorist"
Funnily enough, at the time of writing, most of them are displaying actual information such as "debris on road" or "A34 delays after M40" and "M25 J9-11 Delays". Quite useful i would have thought.
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Far too simple. How about:
Advance warning of delays at the next junction? Priceless.
For everything else, including a big breakfast at Tescos with unlimited coffee, there's Mastercard.
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Don't Drink and Drive
Brought to you by Tesco, now open 24 hours...
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On the day of the July 7 bombs they were showing "avoid central London". How many people do you suppose actually derived any benefit from this information bearing in mind that the sign showing this was on the M60 in North Manchester?
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I think you're all being very cynical. These signs often display information that is relevant to your journey.
Like when you're driving past Watford, and it says "M1 severe delays..." and then underneath you read, "...J29 - 30"
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Like you KA I do a bit of a double take at this sort of long range info. Today I got "Delays on A34 after M40" shown on M1 between Leicester and J20 but nothing of the 25 min delay between J20 and 19 that got trafficmaster chirupping (and me diverting via A426/A5).
But then if I was headed for Southampton instead of Northampton I'd have had SWMBO looking for diversionary routes - M1/M25/M3 is not that much slower than M1/A43/M40/A34.
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Whatever - 0/10 for value for money.
Maybe they should spend the money stopping the problems in the first place? like by widening bottlenecks, or creating buffer roadspace so that stationary traffic isn't always queing across thoroughfares.
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I wasn't really suggesting they are pointless but like so many things seem to be miss used. I've been sitting in a long jam under one having past two others all of which a showing nothing about the 2 mile tail back due to an accident, and conversely I've thought about getting off because they say queue after next junction when it's just because someone forgot to reset the damn things from the night before!.
Now I never know whether to believe them or not, so hence my point they are a waste of money if they are mismanaged especailly at 300 - 400 K a shot!! may as well spend another 50 k to have a team to watch a bank of them like thier lives depended on it so the signs are giving us upto date reliable information.
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I understand they cost about £100,000 each to buy and install.
I belive they are eventually to be used in a similar way to the traffic management systems on the German autobahns, but given that the UK Highways Agency will be involved it will almost certainly not work properly !
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Anyone know how much these things have cost so far? and who is responsible for them?. Like a lot of things they could be useful if used correctly. Unfortunately it appears they mostly don't seem to be, and are used to display inane nanny state messages about taking a brake or keeping left.
Actually, were the culprits to actually pay any heed, the keep left is one that I think would actually be useful.
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On the Highways Agency site it gives the number of them on the M4 and the cost which equates to £348,000 each.
As I have said they aren't primarily their to provide information, they host a covert CCTV network.
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Brilliant, isn't it. The M6 at J4-3 recently had a load of hold-up roadworks justo so that they could build the concrete block.
I don't think they had signs warning of delays of their own making.
Agree with IL about the "Queue after next junction" messages mostly being due to traffic backing up onto the motorway. J2 northbound on the M69 and J2 London bound on the M6 are particularly dangerous.
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The signs host a system called NGANPR they monitor vehicle movements using ful motion ANPR, and vehicle occupant recognition. The system is in 'Learning' mode at present, and is learning to recognise occupants from one camera to the next using ANPR as benchmark verification. The idea is to have a national NGANPR network with two year data retention. The system will also carefull monitor vehicle dynamics and develop alogarythms for predicting events such as congestion and will automatically display warnings to reduce this, it will then monitor the results and this will be used to automatically hone the system. ACPO are pressing for 7 year data retention instead of the current 2 year.
Very clever, but very Orwellian also, I would post some screenshots but we can't post images.
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Post some links up from Photobucket or Imageshack.
7 year retention? That's scary, but sadly not suprising.
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A "24x7 national vehicle movement database" that logs everything on the UK's roads and retains the data for at least two years is now being built, according to an Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) strategy document leaked to the Sunday Times.
www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/15/vehicle_movement_.../
Gives more info...
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Ah...so what use will this be in catching those with fake plates, no licences, fraudulant vehicle details?
Oh yeah, it won't, just honest motorists like us who will always be the ones caught out.
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The older style ones here have been set to show '70'. Very useful.
Theres also one on the A195(M) that is still declaring the inside lane is closed - it isn't, and it never was as far as I can see!
The problem is now I tend to ignore the information on them as it seems to be inaccurate about 80% of the time.
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I think you're all being very cynical. These signs often display information that is relevant to your journey.
Like when you're driving past Watford, and it says "M1 severe delays..." and then underneath you read, "...J29 - 30"
Some of us live in the frozen north and when coming from Dover ,as fast as possible through darn sarf, the messages are very useful. Especially if you live in Chesterfield.
We've got a crooked spire you know.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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