| Title: | Cars in the UK |
| Notice: | Please read new conference charter 1.70 |
| Moderator: | COMICS::SHELLEY ELD |
| Created: | Sun Mar 06 1994 |
| Last Modified: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 2584 |
| Total number of notes: | 63384 |
When driving round the M25 and along the M4 recently, I noticed that
most of the overbridges have acquired some kind of device which is
attached directly above the third lane. It looks like some kind of
light, camera, or sensor of some kind.
Does anyone know for sure what these are for ? Someone suggested that
they might be to do with the in-car congestion avoidance system that
you can now subscribe to.
Trevor
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1414.1 | 45538::CHRIS | Wewease Wogah | Wed Apr 17 1991 14:51 | 6 | |
I just thought they were part of the tracking systems used to monitor
traffic flow (!!!), they're also used for some of the on-board map
displays that are available, I think. Not too sure about this though.
Chris.
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| 1414.2 | Its called TrafficMaster | WELCLU::BOTTOMLEY | Dave Bottomley, CSO Support, UK | Thu Apr 18 1991 09:06 | 20 |
Indeed they are traffic flow sensors - they belong to a company called
General Logistics for a system called TrafficMaster (you can see a
Tm trademark on some of them).
They occur around every 2 miles and report traffic flow of less than 30
mph. Those reports get retransmitted to a map in the car that gives
you a picture of traffic flow around the M25 and adjacent motorways
(something like within 25 miles of London).
I actually have one of these, most probably considered an extravagence
but I hate sitting in traffic jams, and it is significantly faster and
more reliable than the radio - you can tell the difference between
normal slow traffic and an accident. I like knowing what's happending
on the road around me - it's certainly proved its worth (to me) on more
than one occasion.
Still that's all IMHO as they say
DaveB
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| 1414.3 | Do you need a dish on the roof? | SEDOAS::TILLING | Thu Apr 18 1991 12:39 | 5 | |
Dave,
Gimme Gimme !! How much and where can I get one?
Simon.
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| 1414.4 | Here's the info | WELCLU::BOTTOMLEY | Dave Bottomley, CSO Support, UK | Fri Apr 19 1991 08:58 | 19 |
Simon,
Have a look at note 1254.*,
General Logistics are at 0582-450188 (Luton).
If I remember the prices correctly, the unit itself costs something like
350 pounds, but by the time you've paid for installation, connection,
VAT, etc it's more like 500. There's also a monthly fee (something like
18 pounds a month).
As I said its not cheap but for me worth every penny.
The aerial is a box that fits on one of the windows on the back of the
car, on mine (BX Diesel Turbo) it fits high up on the tailgate on the
nearside.
DaveB
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| 1414.5 | SEDOAS::TILLING | Tue Apr 23 1991 10:58 | 3 | ||
Cheers.
Simonf
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