M50 VMS signage live?

darkman2

M50 signage to update drivers on journey times

TIM O'BRIEN

REAL-TIME OVERHEAD messages advising drivers of travel times to their destinations are to be in place on Dublin’s M50 within a matter of weeks.

The overhead “variable message” signs will be in place before every junction by the end of next month.

They will be used to advise motorists of expected travel times to a range of selected destinations such as regional cities, Dublin airport, the Border and destinations within Northern Ireland.

The system operates by using automatic number plate recognition to track vehicles as they pass various points along the motorway network.

It then calculates the resulting journey times and flashes this information on overhead gantries to motorists.

While it is possible to signal travel times as far as Galway or Cork, it is understood the emphasis will be on shorter destinations along the M50 and radial routes from it.

The extension of real-time information follows a successful cross-Border trial since 2008 on the M1 between Dublin and Belfast.

It also follows an EU directive on the use by member states of intelligent transport systems.

Intelligent transport systems are also to be the subject of a one-day conference in Dublin today, organised by the Intelligent Transport Systems Association of Ireland.

The measure is just one of a number of technological improvements that such systems are set to bring to Irish roads over coming years.

The National Roads Authority is planning a control centre based in the Port Tunnel control centre in Dublin. It will gather information that may be of use to drivers across the motorway network. This will include weather conditions, temperature, possible diversions, traffic congestion, travel time and the speed of individual cars.

The speed feature operates using automatic number plate recognition to advise a driver of their speed, flashing both the vehicle registration and the speed on the overhead gantry.

While the system has considerable potential for gardaí, a spokesman for the roads authority said information collected would not be used in motoring prosecutions and would be collected purely for statistical purposes.

In addition to 22 variable message signs to be installed on the M50, 24 similar signs have been installed on major routes across the country.

The automatic vehicle recognition cameras are aimed at the centre lanes only; they will exclude the extreme left auxiliary lane and the extreme right overtaking lane.

The authority said if the calculated travel times were quicker than the speed limit, times would not be displayed.

The system is due to go live at the end of next month.

Artical is from Febuary. Is it live and have they put up the lane control signage on the gantries yet?

L1011

Some of the new signs on the M50 are in use, obviously the ones on the western section have been active for maybe two years. No timings are yet displayed.

No lane control signs have been erected anywhere.

Davy

The cameras were adjusted to the correct lanes about 2 weeks ago

Cookie_Monster

They just say wear you "seatbelt" at the moment

There's one on the N11 at Eglington Service Station at Cabinteely too. Hasn't been used yet as far as I've seen

The J Stands for Jay

They've been working on the M1 for a few years now, showing times to the airport, drogheda etc.

hmmm

If they're just going to be showing "wear your seatbelt", "tie your shoelaces" and "don't eat yellow snow" they should be turned off rather than distracting drivers. It also means that currently they are training drivers never to look at the signs.

Chris_5339762

Funny how the Gaelgeori had a go at all the Bus Timers in Dublin yet have never mentioned anything about these Garda messages not being in Irish...

Alun

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Funny how the Gaelgeori had a go at all the Bus Timers in Dublin yet have never mentioned anything about these Garda messages not being in Irish...

SSSSShhhhhhhhhh! They're everywhere, you know! :pac:

L1011

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Funny how the Gaelgeori had a go at all the Bus Timers in Dublin yet have never mentioned anything about these Garda messages not being in Irish...

I suspect they're exempt from the OLA the same way that roadsigns are, being, erm, roadsigns of a sort.

On that note, I do hope the NRA got the idiot who went sticking "gaelige!" stickers on English-language only SAFETY WARNING SIGNS on roads prosecuted for vandalism. They should never be put up in minority languages, they're generally even in English in the Netherlands and other countries ffs.

sdanseo

MYOB wrote: »

I suspect they're exempt from the OLA the same way that roadsigns are, being, erm, roadsigns of a sort.

On that note, I do hope the NRA got the idiot who went sticking "gaelige!" stickers on English-language only SAFETY WARNING SIGNS on roads prosecuted for vandalism. They should never be put up in minority languages, they're generally even in English in the Netherlands and other countries ffs.

Aren't almost all roadsigns biligual though? Which ones aren't?

L1011

sdonn wrote: »

Aren't almost all roadsigns biligual though? Which ones aren't?

Safety/instructional signs often aren't and aren't required to be; although the NRA usually puts Irish on the non-driving side of the carriageway or on a second sign behind these days.

NFD100

Why don't they put the following up?

KEEP LEFT UNLESS OVERTAKING

oh and.... Switch your fog lights off, you muppet!

csd

The VMSs on the M50 are now showing travel times to two forward junctions. The actual junctions shown depend on where you are on the motorway. Rather than one time (like the M1 VMSs show), they give a range example:

J14 (N31) 6 - 8 mins
J16 12 - 15 mins

/csd

jack presley

I passed one today which said that I was 9 minutes from the M1 interchange and 22 minutes from some junction (it used a number)on the M1. If you're like me and only know junctions by the their name and not their number, this is bugger all use.

Davy

jack presley wrote: »

I passed one today which said that I was 9 minutes from the M1 interchange and 22 minutes from some junction (it used a number)on the M1. If you're like me and only know junctions by the their name and not their number, this is bugger all use.

In some of the signs it will say J5 (N3) 8 minutes. N4, N7 etc.

jack presley

Davy wrote: »

In some of the signs it will say J5 (N3) 8 minutes. N4, N7 etc.

Yeah, I saw that but the M1 info it gives out only has a junction number. I suppose there's no room to put Balbriggan or Drogheda or whatever.

I wonder to many people pay attention to a junction's number. I know I don't. I've been driving the M1 and M50 for years and couldn't tell you the number of any junction.

runway16

I know that not an awful lot of cash has gone into this, seeing as the signs were in situ anyway, and that a control centre for the motorway network was needed anyway, but I cant help thinking that installing lane control signs would have been more worthwhile!