case study

The impacts of road closures on travel times

Look at how UK council Halton Borough used connected vehicle data to analyse the effects of road closures on drivers.

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Halton Borough Council in the UK closed the Daresbury Expressway for road works in September 2023 and wanted to know how these closures affected drivers. Using a combination of custom data science services and the Road Intelligence platform, they were able to see:

How the closure impacted journey times
Alternative routes used by drivers and
Confirmation of increased congestion.

Daresbury Expressway showing no data points during the closure.

The origin-destination study on the platform analysed data on the section of road outside of the detour (i.e. Mersey Gateway and Chester Road).

Where the origin and destination sites were chosen on the Road Intelligence platform.

Data showed that the closure of the expressway increased journey times to 10 minutes (i.e. an 8-minute increase). The reopening of the trips was also analysed and data showed that speeds decreased to 1 minute and 40 seconds.

The O-D study also showed most drivers taking the same alternative route.

Where all the drivers through Mersey Gateway to Chester Road travelled. Data showed this was the road most taken.

Custom data services also showed how trips were distributed before and after the closure. In the image, you can see that trips through the expressway during the closure are almost non-existent.

Before the closure of Daresbury Expressway.

After the closure of Daresbury Expressway.

Use cases

How our customers are using Connected Vehicle data

Applications of vehicle-generated data for use cases across state-wide freight modelling, origin-destination studies, VMS signage effectiveness, road safety, and local area traffic management.