Clearview Intelligence

One platform, connecting multiple transport data streams delivering defendable evidence and proving impact

For many years local authorities throughout the UK have been told that the future of transport management lies in ‘smart cities’, in the next generation of roadside sensors, or in yet another dashboard that promises to simplify an increasingly complex world. The reality tells a different story. Most authorities today are navigating more data and more scrutiny than ever before. Yet their systems remain fragmented and siloed. 

Mac Needham from Clearview Intelligence’s Data Services Team explains how his 20-strong team has listened to these challenges and developed Insight, an intuitive and trusted transport data platform that is continually improving.

Across the UK, local authorities are responsible for operating and maintaining complex multi-modal transport networks that must remain safe and aligned to social, economic and environmental policy goals. But their tools often struggle to keep pace with the level of detail and integration now required. The challenge isn’t a lack of data. It’s that data rarely speaks to each other in a meaningful and decision-ready way. Traffic signal data sits in silos, as does parking data, active travel counters sit on their own systems and bus performance is monitored separately through on-board systems owned by the bus operator. Almost every local authority and often departments within each authority have their own monitoring system, and therefore their own view of reality.

This fragmentation is costing local authorities both time and money. Many are losing out on funding opportunities as they don’t have clear data that can stand up to political and financial scrutiny. What’s missing is not another sensor or another siloed dashboard. What’s really missing is the evidence layer that unifies all their existing data. 

Local authorities have been telling me for a long time that they need accurate and defendable data because their political leaders expect clear evidence of performance before approving a scheme or signing off on spending. That need is compounded by funding bids that now demand auditable KPIs.

An evidence layer that sits above all existing systems connecting all data sources regardless of the hardware or system type and normalises everything into a single coherent dataset is exactly what’s needed. This thinking underpins Insight, Clearview’s multi-asset integrated transport data platform, but it’s also the direction any local authority can move towards, regardless of which systems and sensors they currently use. 

Authorities are now stewards of mixed, evolving digital cloud-based ecosystems and they need a platform that understands that reality, not one that relies on ripping out existing tech or buying into a single data supplier’s system. Insight doesn’t replace the monitoring tools and equipment that authorities already have, instead it makes what they have more useful.

Every authority and transport operator knows that attributing delay is one of the most contentious issues in the industry. What’s causing delay? Is it congestion, roadworks, poor scheduling or signals? Or is it something else entirely? The truth is usually buried somewhere in incompatible datasets that don’t align to each other. This is where an integrated evidence layer proves its worth. Insight gathers data from disparate sources, including air quality sensors, AI video analytics, on-board GPS, traffic signal timings and cycle counters and then normalises the data into consistent and interpretable formats. It provides authorities with defensible evidence to support better decision-making across everything from active travel to BSIPs and much more in between.

The authorities best positioned for future funding will be those who can quickly produce an accurate evidence base and the auditable KPIs required by central government. When local authorities unify and normalise their data, patterns start to emerge and duplication of effort across departments disappears. Conflicting departmental stories instead turn into shared understanding. And let’s face it, local authority officers can move towards more proactive transport management. 

Local authorities need clarity. One of the biggest misconceptions in the transport technology world is that authorities need to keep buying new hardware, in reality most authorities already own loads of valuable kit, but that kit just needs to be connected and correlated. 

If it produces data, we can absorb it 

Insight’s value lies in its ability to connect and bring everything together into a single configurable platform, from established monitoring systems to emerging big data sources. If it produces data, we can absorb it. Authorities throughout the UK, including the Welsh Gov, Worcestershire County Council, Hull City Council, are already using Insight to gain much richer, more reliable evidence without needing to upgrade their assets. The platform supports the level of accountability and granularity that all political leaders and central government now expect.

The next decade of successful transport management belongs to those local authorities who invest in connecting existing infrastructure and data sets. And, importantly not in silos, but in unison as a collective authority led approach. The authorities that embrace the shift now will be the ones that will be shaping the transport networks of the future. 

To find out more about Clearview’s Insight and how we can help your Local Authority deliver the evidence needed to support your funding applications, please contact Mac Needham mac.needham@clearview-intelligence.com today