Catapult outlines new modelling facility

The first designs for the Transport Systems Catapult’s new National Transport Systems Modelling (NTSM) facility will be published by autumn 2012, delegates heard. The pledge came from chief operating officer  Daniel Ruiz in the first of a series of workshops planned to run all summer to optimise industry input.

The facility, said Ruiz, will not be a new ‘supermodel’, nor a one-off; it will integrate existing models and be open to new input during its life. The concept, he stressed, reflects industry demand, with over 500 organisations already consulted on its development.

Its remit will extend beyond journeys (though there will be emphasis on modelling these rather than networks) to take in environmental and behavioural issues, and future workshops could involve economists and sociologists. “Smart modelling is key”, stressed Ruiz, “and we aim to bring about integration at all levels”.

Specific areas highlighted include adjoining and overlapping networks. 

Invited to put forward issues they saw as being critical for success, delegates named free access (by law, if necessary) to existing public service providers’ databases; a review of standards; intellectual property rights in models being integrated; data uncertainty; the need for GIS-based data for location-specific modelling; the crucial roles of software developers; long-term operation and maintenance (with a requested commitment of up to ten years); and allowance for current and future sociological changes.  

The Catapult, one of seven launched by the Government-funded Technology Strategy Board (TSB) to drive economic growth, will also create an independent integrated test environment (iTE) – another industry wish list priority.  This will take in existing complexes such as MIRA’s innovITS centre of ITS excellence; and build on experience gained from the 2012 Olympic Road Network, the Highways Agency’s managed motorways programme, the TSB’s own electric vehicle initiative, university research programmes, and London Underground’s Digital Railway concept.