Remote drone keeping traffic moving in Walsall town centre

A remotely launched drone has been installed on Walsall Bus Station rooftop to give transport managers a birds-eye view of the town’s roads and traffic congestion.

The drone flies over the town several times a day and feed back live images of key junctions and commuter routes to the Regional Transport Coordination Centre (RTCC).

It is part of a two-week trial launched by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), in partnership with drone technology company Skybound Rescuer. It is the first time this type of drone has been used in a built-up urban area.

The RTCC is run by TfWM, which is part of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), in partnership with local authorities, emergency services and transport operators and manages the road and key transport network during major incidents and events. It has access to more than 2,500 CCTV feeds covering major roads and public transport networks.

The drone will now be able to feed in live views of bus and car movements around Walsall town centre – ensuring transport managers are acting on the very latest information – which can then be shared with partners as well as the travelling public via social media. It could also support the emergency services if police incidents are captured on camera.

The drone’s route is automatically generated based on SkyBound Rescuer’s algorithms for optimised drone flights. The drone will then fly the mission automatically, overseen by a qualified remote pilot situated in SkyBound’s Southampton-based control room. To comply with current legislation the drone will also remain within visual line of sight of an onsite remote safety pilot throughout the trial.

Cllr Mike Bird, WMCA portfolio lead for transport and leader of Walsall Council said: “I know traffic congestion can be both frustrating and damaging to our air quality and environment so this trial is welcome – more so because it is taking place in Walsall.

“If it proves a real help to our traffic managers, giving them access to the latest information and keeping the town centre moving I would be happy to see this drone technology become a more permanent fixture in future.”

Gemma Allcock, CEO of Skybound Rescuer said: “We’ve conducted hundreds of test flights in preparation for this trial to optimise performance and safety, which is at the very forefront of each and every flight.

“Also, we at SkyBound Rescuer focus solely on drone use cases that can improve society, so we’re looking forward to using drone technology to benefit the Walsall community by enhancing the estate of fixed CCTV cameras.”

Kerry Blakeman, head of transport safety with TfWM said: “Earlier this year we launched a drone team to allow us to fill in the many gaps in the region’s fixed CCTV network.

“We have already used them to good effect to give people early warning of traffic jams as they build up and guide diversions.

“This trial of an automated drone, launched from the top of our bus station is the next step. Our control room now has access to even better information and images to improve the quality of advice and information and keep the region moving.”

TfWM’s CCTV control room is independently assessed annually to ensure compliance with the Surveillance Commissioners Code of Practice to British Standard 7958.