Traffic Group Signals and The Traffic Group awarded Finalist in the 2020 Highways Awards.

The RadioConnect2 with AutoGreen was a finalist in the Highway Industry Product of the Year category, alongside tough competition from the likes of Chevron, Tarmac and Solar Gates UK.

It may not have been at the Royal Lancaster in London, but Highways Magazine held a great virtual evening and ‘Happy Hour’ to celebrate everyone’s ingenuity, hard work, resilience and pride in the traffic industry, which was well attended by over 500 industry professionals.

The first ever virtual Highways Awards on 28 January was a major success with a record audience, great humour from host Colin Murray and a huge buzz on social media. After a hard year, which forced the 2020 awards to be delayed until now, it was an emotional night but still an upbeat one, full of good humour thanks in no small part to Mr Murray, returning by popular demand after his champion performance for the 2019 Awards.

Our entry for the Highways Awards, the RadioConnect2 with AutoGreen, was put forward due to it’s revolutionary patented technology that can improve vehicle efficiency at road works by up to 50%. To date, it is the only proven system to control traffic in a safe and efficient way, and has won the trust of the leading names in traffic management and the utilities sector.

The winner in the Product of the Year category went to HRS and Chevron Traffic Management with their Smart Sign, an innovative digital technology for smart motorway projects.

More than £40,000 has been seized and 32 arrests have been made in a multi-police force operation in Kent, London and Essex to tackle drug supply and associated violent crime.

Yesterday (July 22), officers from the Met worked alongside colleagues Kent, Essex and British Transport Police in a joint operation to apprehend violent criminals using the roads and rail networks to transport drugs in and out of the three areas,

A range of officers from the Met were involved, including Operation Venice, the Violent Crime Taskforce, South East Violence Suppression Unit, Dogs Support Unit, Roads and Transport Policing Command, as well as Specialist Crime officers.

British Transport Police also conducted intelligence-led patrols on the trains in and out of London as well as transport hubs at key routes as part of the operation, to target those using the rail network to transport drugs.

Officers also used Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras at fixed sites around the Dartford Crossing, and targeted vehicles believed to be linked to violent crime.

The operation resulted in:

– 32 arrests for offences including possession of an offensive weapon, being concerned in the supply of class A drugs and drug driving.

– Seven offensive weapons recovered

– More than £40,000 cash seized

– 14 vehicles seized for motoring offences and 3 stolen vehicles recovered

T/Detective Superintendent Shaun White, of the Metropolitan Police Service, said: “Through joint partnership working with our neighbouring forces, we have seen some fantastic results, with 32 individuals being arrested, and more than 1kg of class A drugs, knives, an imitation firearm and other drug commodities being seized from around London’s borders. This is in addition to 27 arrests which were made last month as part of the same operation.

“We know that drugs are a driver of violent crime, and teams across the Met are using a range of tactics to tackle the supply of them on the streets of London. Officers are working hard to stop Organised Crime Groups importing drugs into the UK; specialist teams are targeting those managing the supply – exploiting young and vulnerable people to transport the commodity across the UK – and operations like this are identifying those responsible for distributing these substances on the streets. There is often a fine line between suspect and victim in these circumstances, and specialist officers supported us throughout this operation.

“We will not tolerate drug supply and the violence which can come with it, and our work does not stop here – we will continue to use tactics such as ANPR and all other lawful powers available to us to target violent crime in London.

“I would like to thank each and every officer who worked on this operation, and showed their commitment to bringing those involved in violence and peddling drugs to justice.

Detective Superintendent Mike Worrall, of the Kent Police Chief Constable’s Crime Squad, said: “The dismantling of class A drug supply networks is a shared responsibility, which is why it is so important that police forces work together on operations such as this to target those intent on committing serious criminal offences.

“Drug dealers do not recognise county boundaries or care which force is responsible for policing a particular area. All they care about is making money from the supply of crack cocaine and heroin to some of the most vulnerable people in society, and taking whatever extreme measures they deem necessary to protect their harmful brand.

“We do not stand for it and have teams of experienced officers who are dedicated to removing drug networks from the streets of Kent, and we will continue to work with our partners to ensure those responsible are brought to justice.”

Detective Superintendent Gareth Williams, of the British Transport Police, said: “Since December, our County Lines Taskforce has been carrying out operations across England, Wales and Scotland, often with the support of local forces. Each operation tackles gangs who use the railway network to move drugs and, in the process, exploit vulnerable people and children.

“This is a national issue and one that we deploy against almost every day.

“While local forces combat it in their own jurisdictions, my team is the glue that binds all their efforts together, ensuring that gangs who operate in London, and transport drugs into Essex and Kent through the railway, are threatened every step of the way; in London, at the stations and trains they use, and at their target location in another county.”

Kent arrests
2 x Possession with intent to supply Class B

1 x Wanted for GBH

1 x Section 5 Public Order Act and assault on police

1 x Drug drive and possession drugs

1 x Possession cannabis

1 x Possession of class A drugs

Source: Isle of thanet news

At a time of global challenge, it is important to identify the ways in which we can help our local and national businesses.

MAV have taken a number of steps to mitigate the affect that the coronavirus is having on our manufacturing and engineering activities as we plan to continually meet the needs of our partners. With a sensible approach to safety, and with preparation planning, we are able to meet the technological demands that are as yet unchanged.

Having taken steps to safeguard our workforce and, in turn, their families, friends and neighbours, our next objective was to safeguard the needs of our partnerships ensuring they can continue to function to their individual capacities. We understand that businesses, sectors and the economy as a whole are facing unprecedented challenges that could not have been foreseen. That is why we strive to support our partners in any way we can, discussing short, medium and long-term requirements that we can plan for, commercial options and consistently providing updates on manufacturing capabilities and the options for expedited production.

Britain is amongst the most resolute and resilient countries in the world because we work together and support each other in times of difficulty. We continue to support our local businesses in the knowledge that by doing so we add to a foundation from which progress can be made whatever turmoil is faced in the coming weeks and months. We know that all businesses in Britain will be working together to support mutual productivity and long-term success and we aim to be another cog in the wheel that drives through to the other side of these challenges.

Whilst we realise that some of our partners may have to make some difficult decisions, if we can provide any support to reduce the impact of these difficulties faced please contact us for an honest and open discussion.

Stay Safe!

From all at MAV Systems Ltd

The Traffic Group and its’ companies has been closely monitoring the situation regarding  COVID-19,  and felt it important to provide visibility of our business continuity plans.

 Firstly, I would like to assure you that we have a full business continuity plan in place. This is reviewed on a weekly basis to incorporate changes in the current guidance and ensures continuity of service across the group.

We take the health and safety of our staff very seriously and are supporting all Traffic Group employees with regular communication and increased measures to reduce infection risk. We are enabling those to work from home who can and introducing shift patterns to protect our production staff.

Our primary concerns are to:

1. Safeguard employees, family, associates and business stakeholders
2. Preserve business operational continuity – Operation with Caution
3. Provide updated, relevant advice on how we are responding to the crisis

By way of assurance, The Traffic Group is a well-financed business with no debt and sufficient financial reserves to see the business through extended periods of uncertainty.

We will endeavour to serve our customers throughout this period, however we anticipate lead times to be impacted, particularly as it pertains to products being returned and undergoing quarantine. This is to be expected as we manage disruption to our workforce and supply chain.

If you have any questions and concerns, please do not hesitate to contact myself or a member of senior management.

Best wishes

Pete Hutchinson

Director of The Traffic Group

AGD Systems, leading manufacturer of ITS product solutions, will exhibit at this year’s ITS European Congress, 2-6 June, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

ITS European Congress is the largest event entirely dedicated to smart mobility and digitalisation of transport. At this year’s show, AGD will showcase its new suite of pedestrian solutions for 2019, and will share a stand with ITS (UK) and Videalert, a leading provider of CCTV enforcement solutions.

Later this year, AGD will be replacing its entire popular traffic portfolio with a new family of high-performance pedestrian and vehicle detectors for urban crossings and junction control.

The AGD 326 will allow optimisation of the crossing phase, giving back more green time to traffic. Suitable for UK and international deployment, it will feature dynamically adjustable range for new site designs. The 641 will offer a 4 x 2m zone for monitoring the pedestrian wait area and 3D stereo vision with self-IR illumination of zone for enhanced night-time detection. Both solutions will offer safe, easy remote setup via a smart phone or tablet with AGD Touch-setup.

Ian Hind, AGD’s commercial director, says:

“Customers will benefit from the ease, convenience and safety offered by WiFi AGD Touch-setup across the whole range, and a complementary suite of solutions that have been designed using valuable customer feedback for international as well as UK deployments.”

AGD Solutions

As part of this comprehensive solutions suite, visitors to ITS European Congress can see AGD’s WiFi-enabled, IP-capable 645 Pedestrian Detector – now with 10m x 3m detection zone, and the non-intrusive, loop-replacing 318 Traffic Control Radar.

The 645 now has volumetric capability as part of the standard build, which allows monitoring of the level of pedestrian occupancy in the wait zone for safer, smarter pedestrian crossings. The 318 includes an important new function: the ability to detect stationary or queuing traffic. This, together with WiFi AGD Touch-setup technology and an enhanced user setup GUI, will facilitate MOVA installations and other strategic applications.

AGD will also present its new 343 Highways Monitoring Radar at the show. Developed using the company’s experience and expertise in designing radars for highway speed enforcement, the AGD 343 is an easy-to-integrate traffic flow monitoring solution that provides real-time data on multi-lane highways.

The 343 can be mounted as close as 2m from inner edge of the inside lane of the carriageway and will still provide information for the lane immediately below the radar, as well as the lane on the farthest point of the carriageway – looking across both carriageways to detect vehicle travel in approaching and receding directions. It can be used almost anywhere for better-informed decision-making and optimised traffic flows and combines well with AGD’s enforcement solutions to offer a full product suite for UK smart motorways as well as international highways.

AGD can be found on stand 0.74 at ITS European Congress 2019.

Existing users of the Pike EVO® UTC system will already be familiar with this cost-effective solution which facilitates a simple method of deployment and use of UTC connected temporary signals without the need for cables. This innovative approach of putting temporary signals under UTC control was pioneered by Pike in 2015 and helps keep traffic moving efficiently during disruptive road improvement schemes.

This market leading technology for temporary traffic control solutions has now been formally granted patent status.

System Patent GB2534294 ‘Temporary pedestrian or traffic signal controlled by a UTC System’

• Allows the user to deploy standard Pike EVO® mobile Traffic Signals under UTC control with wireless technology
• Uses Pike’s robust Radio Communications systems for fast deployment and removal without wires or cables
• UTC Controller can be deployed with existing EVO® heads saving asset costs
• UTC connection compatible with UG405 protocol
• Simple to use push-button design
• System can provide control up to 34 Heads, 9 Traffic Phases and 8 Pedestrian crossing points