Western Extension Zone (WEZ)

Background

TfL ran a procurement and a technical design evaluation.  In September 2005 a contract was awarded to Siemens Traffic Controls Ltd to supply enforcement infrastructure (cameras and ANPR systems, communications equipment and associated instation).  This involved 680 cameras and ANPR processors at 137 sites with a contract value of £60M for supply and operation over 10 years.  The scheme went live in February 2007.

Requirements

• Advise on most appropriate technology and architecture
• Draft Statement of Requirements
• Assist in evaluating bids
• Design and run technical design evaluation
• Project manage implementation
• Assist transition to operations

Business Challenge

TfL faced the challenges of:

• Knowing if the technology would work (roadside ANPR and SDSL comms for RUC in an urban environment)
• Obtaining good ANPR performance in London’s traffic conditions.
• Integrating the WEZ system with an existing back-office system.
• Maximising readiness for future upgrade with “tag and beacon” technology.
• Implementation in a sensitive streetscape, with many historic and listed buildings.
• Different suppliers (Siemens, comms, power) involved in roadside system, and a complex sequence of events. Difficulties in coordinating this sequence of events at each site.
• Difficult ground conditions with numerous obstructions, services etc.
• Very short implementation timescales for a project of this scale, with very big consequences of any delay.

Our Approach

• Thorough research and extensive background knowledge of ANPR systems to minimise risk.
• Recommending a ‘no moving parts’ outstation
• Setting up a groundtruting operation and conducting extensive ANPR tests under different traffic and lighting conditions.
• Designed and conducted laboratory ANPR sun blinding tests.
• Extensive environmental tests to prove ruggedness of roadside equipment.
• Close integration design between new and existing systems, with a high resilience queuing systems between the two.
• Extensive forward planning on internal TfL approval processes so that contract was authorised to the suppliers on time.
• Weekly inter-supplier forum to coordinate on-street activities
• Very close project management, following PRINCE2 principles.
• When activities fell behind schedule, immediately taking mitigating action, prioritising critical path activities, and increasing resources to bring the project back on track. 
• Putting progress monitoring mechanisms in place to be able to track progress in between Project milestones. 

Business Outcome

The design and technical evaluation process happened to timetable, and the process not only informed TfL of the state of design, but the partnership with the suppliers helped develop their designs for urban RUC systems.

The Enforcement Infrastructure for the WEZ  was all operational on go-live day, and has continued to perform well, with the roadside equipment proving resilient, reliable and accurate.   

The system has been effectively handed over to the client operations team, including operational and design documentation, Escrow deposits, detailed design documentation, as built drawings etc.

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