Lancashire switches to Videalert on bus lanes

High-definition cameras used to detect contraventions in Burnley, Preston and Lancaster

A Videlert bus lane camera view

A Videlert bus lane camera view

Lancashire County Council has switched to using Videalert systems for the enforcement of bus lanes. The decision to standardise on Videalert’s hosted CCTV enforcement platform gives the council the ability to manage multiple contravention types using a single platform.

Peter Bell, parking and regulation manager at Lancashire County Council, said: “The single platform approach coupled with significant uptime demands meant our old cameras were seriously impacting on the effectiveness of our bus lane and ongoing parking enforcement strategy.

“Bus lanes improve travel times for people using public transport, and the Videalert system enables us to meet our compliance objectives by delivering a consistently higher level of performance, as well as providing the highest availability.

“The platform also delivers better value as future-proofing is built-in and additional camera assets and enforcement applications can be cost effectively added as required.”

Videalert and sister company NSL were selected to deliver the new enforcement solution. NSL and Videalert are members of the Marston Holdings group.

The council initially installed ONVIF-compliant, digital HD cameras at 15 locations in Preston, Burnley and Lancaster during December 2019.

Cllr Keith Iddon, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “The bus lanes are there to give priority for buses, and enforcing them helps to ensure that everyone follows the rules, and the system works as it should. I hope that we don’t make a penny from penalty notices once the cameras are working, as it will mean that people aren’t abusing the bus lanes.”

The council has a strategy to roll out the new system to the other locations. It is also considering other applications, including red routes and mobile enforcement vehicles, to add to Videalert’s digital video platform, which can simultaneously support multiple traffic management and enforcement applications, such as clean air and low emission zones using the same infrastructure.

Mark Hoskin, business development director at Marston Holding, said: “The award of this contract demonstrates how Videalert and NSL can jointly deliver complete solutions that streamline every aspect of the traffic and parking management process from enforcement and penalty charge notice (PCN) processing through to collections. This integrated approach helps increase efficiency and maximise compliance in short timeframes.”

Captured evidence packs are stored on the Videalert hosted video platform, where they can be accessed and reviewed securely over the internet. Validated evidence packs are sent to the council’s back office system to issue penalty charge notices. This means the council has not required the installation of any IT at its offices.

Tim Daniels, sales and marketing director at Videalert, added: “This is a continuation of a general trend whereby Videalert’s enhanced performance and functionality is causing local authorities to re-evaluate what represents best value. As a result, we are currently replacing an increasing number of legacy systems and enabling enforcement to be extended to further improve compliance without incurring major additional capital expenditure.”