A new partnership between AGD Systems in the UK, AGD Pty Australasia, and Hyperion Technology – a leading integrator of innovative products, systems and services throughout Australia – is bringing the benefits of above-ground highways monitoring to Australia’s roads.
Australia has one of the world’s highest rates of motor vehicle ownership per 1,000 inhabitants. Around 51% of households have access to two or more vehicles, and car ownership has grown by about 25% in the past decade.
Despite year-on-year improvement, the country still has a high rate of RTA fatalities, and transport authorities are understandably keen to focus on bettering Australia’s road safety record.
Natural Progression
With ambitious plans for international growth, AGD Systems – part of The Traffic Group – has strengthened its ITS portfolio to encompass highways monitoring solutions. The new AGD343 highways monitoring radar is based on AGD’s proven enforcement technology, which is deployed all over the world.
Ian Hind, AGD’s commercial director, explains: “It was a natural progression from enforcement to the monitoring of traffic flow via a radar. The AGD343 is a highly flexible solution that can be used almost anywhere for better-informed decision-making and optimised traffic flow.”
The AGD343 has been designed both for UK MIDAS deployments and international highways, where space at the side of the road is often at a premium. It can be mounted as close as 2m from the inner edge of the inside lane and will still provide information for the lane immediately below the radar, as well as the lane at the farthest point of the carriageway, monitoring up to ten lanes of traffic.
Successful Partnership
A team from AGD in the UK visited Australia, Thailand and Malaysia in early 2019 to demonstrate the capabilities of the AGD343 solution to representatives of key government road authorities throughout Australia and South East Asia keen to identify an alternative to invasive road loop systems. “The AGD343 has had immediate sales along the Eastern Seaboard in a variety of solutions ranging from highway installations to mid-block arterial roads and overlength warning signs,” explains Stuart Douglas, managing director of AGD Systems Pty Ltd.
AGD Australasia partnered with Hyperion Technology Pty Ltd to integrate the solution into the various road authority software operating systems. “Our current focus is on integrating into the SCATS and STREAMS systems, which will allow significant coverage throughout Australia and New Zealand,” explains Stuart.
Hyperion is a leading ITS integrator and is the engineering and construction division of Hi-Vis Group, which has provided ITS products, LED digital signs and machine vision technology for over 50 years. Hi-Vis Group and AGD Australasia have a long history of working in partnership, having recently developed a data management system utilising the Microsoft Azure platform that can provide data access to councils, smart city hubs and government authorities.
“We’re delighted to partner with Hyperion for the rollout of the AGD343 radar,” continues Stuart. “With AGD’s focus on safer, greener and more efficient solutions and Hyperion’s focus on saving lives through innovative solutions, it’s a natural fit. Hyperion has the expertise to complete software integration along with type approvals with all government jurisdictions, which gives us an end-to-end solution for the implementation of the AGD343 radar. Our clients will see a cost saving as well as time savings on their projects.”