Kildare Traffic Signals Innovation

Funded by DRCD Digital Innovation Fund 2018
Funding awarded: €41,250

Contact details:
Kildare County Council
E: customerservice@kildarecoco.ie
P: 045 980200

Who: Kildare County Council

Kildare is the 24th-largest of Ireland’s 32 counties, serving a population of 246,977 as of the 2022 census. The seventh-largest in terms of population, its northeastern region has oftentimes boasted the highest average per-capita income in Ireland outside County Dublin. Commuter pressure to and from the capital has increased sixfold since the mid-1990s, and Kildare County Council is keen to modernise all aspects of their transport provision.

Objectives are to:

• swap out old style modems with digital supported modems
• reconfigure the sites with IP addresses on the RMS system
• carry out a cost benefit analysis of operating cost of Digital with Telemetry dial up technology

What: Presently, all remote traffic signals installations, for example signalised junctions and pelican crossings, connect to a Remote Monitoring System (RMS) based in the Traffic Management Centre (TMC) in Kildare County Council Headquarters. The Remote Monitoring System alerts staff in the Traffic Management Centre of faults that occur on-site in order to rectify faults in a safe and timely manner. The current system uses the old GMS Telemetry, but this method of communication has become unreliable.

Why: Service providers have indicated that they will no longer support the old GMS Telemetry network, and this method of communication will become obsolete. Kildare County Council is therefore using the DRCD digital innovation fund to upgrade this critical Traffic Signals communications infrastructure. This is an issue that will become increasingly relevant to other local authorities, but also gives us an opportunity to make street furniture, such as traffic lights, 5G ready. This project will serve as a proof-of-concept initiative, improving the quality of connectivity to traffic lights, so that other county councils benefit from learnings and insights gained.

UN Sustainable Development Goals: