SRL launches UK’s first remote mobile signal solution for flexible short-duration deployments

SRL Traffic Systems has launched a new service designed to promote road worker safety on short-term projects.

REMOS is believed to be the UK’s first scalable remotely operated mobile signal solution and was initially created to facilitate off-site operation of portable traffic signals in multiple locations on medium to long-term schemes. It is now also available to highway authorities, contractors and traffic management organisations requiring flexible deployment on shorter-termschemes.

The provision of two service solutions – the original REMOS Max and the new REMOS Flex – reflects feedback generated by the product’s 2024 trials and a series of live local authority market familiarisation schemes that commenced earlier this year across Greater Manchester and the Midlands.REMOS was designed to enable customers to minimise the number of personnel stationed on site in live traffic lanes, supporting road worker safety.

Over 2,300 personnel reported verbal or physical assault by road users in 2023, with over 50% claiming weekly abuse. On average, seven construction workers die each year because of accidents involving vehicles or moving plant and 93 are seriously injured.As well as protecting road workers from accidents and roadside abuse, the remotely operated signals (REMOS) allow one person to manage several sites simultaneously, efficiently making interventions to prevent and eliminate bottlenecks.

There is no scope for human error caused by on site fatigue or inability to see the full system and the solution performs even in poor weather conditions that may deter on-site personnel. Its single-person control facilitates reliable operation, even in the face of the frequent staff shortages that characterise the sector and cause roadwork delays.

The environmental benefits of the solution are significant: SRL estimates that REMOS can save contractors in the regionof 3,564 kg CO 2 pa per operative no longer required on site. Comprising portable traffic signals equipped with built-in radar sensors and CCTV cameras that detect vehicle movement and stream footage of the approaching traffic, REMOS captures and transmits data from remote traffic management control (RTMC) boxes to SRL’s Solihull Control Centre, wherededicated staff analyse it in real time and efficiently make interventions to ensure optimal traffic flow.

The newly created, short-term REMOS Flex solution is available for long-term lease in two-, three- or four-way packages. Customers need only provide SRL with two hours’ notice to commence remote operation and can decide how to allocate up to 12 hours of remote monitoring and control per day, with additional hours available via surcharge. They may switch off the REMOS facility wheneverrequired.

When the solution is not being remotely operated, it automatically reverts to SRL’s patented Multiphase Advanced Detection System (ADS), the UK and Ireland’s only multiphase adaptive detection system for portable traffic signals, which has been proven and independently verified to reduce queue length by up to 50% during peak periods.

A high-precision radar collects real-time data on traffic volumes and speeds and transmits this to signals, an algorithm dynamically adjusting green times to optimise traffic flow.REMOS Flex also incorporates SRL Solar PLUS, SRL’s patented solar traffic signal technology along with absorbed glass mat (AGM) batteries that may be easily and efficiently charged onboard. Said SRL’s REMOS director, Iain McDonald: “Following many months of product development and intensive market familiarisation trials, SRL is excited to be able to offer the versatile REMOS Flex in addition to REMOS Max, putting improved road worker safety, operational efficiency, reliability and environmental sustainability within the reach of customers operating short-term as well as longer-termprojects.”