Active Traffic Management

Cambridge Consultants has played an active role in the team led by MouchelParkman to implement the Active Traffic Management (ATM) project for the M42 near Birmingham, UK.

The key feature of ATM is the introduction of hard shoulder running during peak periods. This project breaks new ground for the Highways Agency, as it was the first to require a safety case that takes account of risks introduced by intelligent transport systems (ITS) and their associated operational procedures, rather than just civil engineering matters.

Our role has been to devise and implement suitable methodologies for identifying the hazards, assessing the risks, mitigating the risks, defining the safety target and structuring the safety case. We developed a novel new approach for comparing risks, which was able to demonstrate that the new scheme will be at least as safe as the previous motorway. The methodologies that we have developed and piloted on this project are now set to become the basis of future standards for HA projects.

In support of this activity, we also developed an on-line hazard log tool, accessible to all project partners. This database stores the results and manages the workflow of all hazard analysis and risk mitigation activity, and has become central to the management of all safety-related issues on the project.