Digital Twin drives award success

A Tees Valley transport technology project designed to reduce congestion and improve journey times has been recognised with a leading industry award.

The Tees Valley Traffic Digital Twin has won the Technology & Digital Transformation Award at the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) annual awards in London.

Led by Tees Valley Combined Authority and supported by transport software specialist Aimsun, the AI-powered system uses live traffic data to monitor the road network, predict traffic conditions and help reduce delays.

Part of the region’s Urban Traffic Management and Control Centre, the Digital Twin has already delivered significant results during its initial six-month pilot.

According to project data, delays on roads where the system was deployed fell by 13.7 per cent, while bus services recovered more than 11mph in average speed within 15 minutes of intervention.

Using a digital replica of the road network, the system helps operators anticipate congestion and manage traffic more effectively in real time.

Its success has now been recognised on the international stage, with the CIHT awards celebrating some of the most innovative transport and infrastructure projects from around the world.

Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen said: “This award is fantastic recognition for the cutting-edge work we’re doing to make journeys quicker and more reliable for drivers and local people using our roads.

“We lead the way when it comes to taking on and adopting new technology to solve problems, and this further proves it. 

“I’m incredibly proud of the team behind this project and we’ll keep pushing forward to make our transport network one of the smartest in the country.”

Jonathan Spruce, director of infrastructure at the Tees Valley Combined Authority, added: “This is a great system which is already yielding exciting results – and it’s wonderful to see this recognised.

“The whole Digital Transport team should be very proud of its efforts and we look forward to seeing more positive results from the wider work taking place at the Urban Traffic Management and Control Centre.”

To learn more about the Digital Twin, read the phase one project report and explore the plans for its future development, here.

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