Canary Wharf Contractors Ltd (CWCL) will be the first company to implement technology from PIE Mapping to help construction HGV drivers take alternative routes, reducing pollution and congestion, and protecting cyclists.
CWCL has reached an agreement with freight routing company PIE Mapping, one of the participants in Canary Wharf Group’s recent smart cities Cognicity Challenge, to develop HGV routing technology for the construction of the new mixed use Southbank Place development.
The contract award for the new development on London’s South Bank comes days after the unveiling of London Mayor Boris Johnson’s radical plans to force HGVs delivering materials to large building sites to follow specific routes and to avoid specific left turns in order to reduce the number of collisions with cyclists.
The development of PIE Mapping’s product for CWCL and Southbank Place will draw on the expertise and experience it gained during the 2012 Olympic Games (Games Family Journey Planner & TfL freight Journey Planner) and PIE’s current compliant HGV night-time routing service (www.londonlorrycontrol.com). With these platforms and routing technology it will create workable routes which will minimise road sharing between HGVs and cyclists so that they avoid each other during peak periods.
The platform already handles all re-routes for HGVs based on the planned roads, tunnel and bridge closures, major road-works and live incidents. Testing and careful modelling of all left turns coming into London is currently underway, and the platform will impose time based restrictions on busy routes for HGVs. These will be in place initially for the morning rush hour peak Monday to Friday. The software will guide and navigate HGV drivers differently based on the time of day.
Cormac MacCrann, Managing Director, Canary Wharf Contractors Ltd said: “We are delighted to be the first London construction company to implement this technology on our Southbank Place project. Our Cognicity Challenge programme gave us a huge opportunity to mobilise the latest technological advances so it is very pleasing that we are already seeing the benefits of the programme. It’s critical that the construction industry rises to the dual challenges of reducing pollution and congestion, as well as protecting a wide range of road users, particularly cyclists. We are sure that our collaboration with PIE Mapping will help to improve safety for London cyclists and we would be delighted if other major contractors adopted this HGV routing system.”
Freddie Talberg, CEO of PIE Mapping said: “All road users benefit from efficient journey times and realised ETAs, and we know drivers prefer to share the roads safely with cycling commuters; I hope our service goes part of the way to give safer routing. What we do need is for the industry to stand up and get involved to fully enable us to make our city smart. We have the technology and we need to work it so it can work effectively for all.”
The platform is being developed at the moment and Canary Wharf Contractors will roll it out as the Southbank Place development gets underway.
