Consulting firm Sweco and contractor Heijmans will deliver full traffic management for the next 20 years for the municipalities Almelo and Enschede. This contract is aimed at steering on performance: traffic flow as a service.
Enschede and Almelo want traffic within their municipalities to flow as smooth hand efficient as possible as this supports building safe and healthy living environments for their citizens. Next to that there is the ambition to become the most innovative region of the Netherlands. To achieve these ambitions, Sweco and Heijmans won the contract to deliver traffic management for four times 5 years. The contract that the parties have signed is unique in the Netherlands. It encompasses more than just delivering a solution: deliver the performance of the network.
Coen Bresser, senior advisor Mobility and ITS at Sweco:
“This contract’s purpose is to be able to steer on performance. We are allowed to use everything we deem necessary. Examples are variable message signs and smart control of all 110 traffic lights in the area. Only actual changes of the physical infrastructure are excluded. These changes remain the responsibility of Almelo and Enschede.”
Traffic Flow as a Service (TFaaS, in Dutch: DaeS) requires starting and maintaining intensive cooperation between Almelo, Enschede, Heijmans en Sweco. Within this cooperation Sweco and Heijmans have the responsibility to convert the policies of Almelo and Enschede into actual on-street performance. To reach this objective the available budget and desired performance are discussed beforehand. Sweco and Heijmans can subsequently employ all their resources and knowledge to achieve this desired performance.
Hugo Smuling, director Mobility of the municipality Enschede:
“For us this way of contracting and working is the future. It is of importance to us that the result of optimal and effective traffic flow is achieved. It is up to the experts to decide on how to achieve this.”
Early 2020 the first performance measurement will be performed to kick-off the process to start steering on performance.
Source and photo credit: Sweco
