Gridlock-spotting drone unveiled in bid to keep traffic moving on region's roads

The Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) scheme will see drones drones fly over congestion hotspots and queuing traffic at accident scenes or road closures to provide live footage, enabling transport bosses to plan diversions and keep the public informed.

It features a DJI Enterprise M30T – which cost £11,000 and is capable of flying at up to 40mph – and two smaller drones, which can all be deployed to the skies at a moment's notice by a team of five pilots.

Bosses say the images, which are relayed back to the Regional Transport Coordination Centre (RTCC) in Birmingham, help to fill "gaps in coverage" that can occur during busy periods.

They say up-to-the-minute information can be shared over social media, with the scheme costing "a fraction" of installing and maintaining static CCTV cameras.

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, said the scheme built on the existing provision of hundreds of CCTV cameras covering the region's road, rail and tram networks.

He said: "Having a wider aerial view of various scenarios that can be beamed back to the RTCC will enable our traffic managers to make better and faster decisions about how best to deal with incidents – enhancing the travel experience for local people right across our region."

The Mayor said the scheme was part of an "overall response to traffic congestion" and would allow motorists to access "the best, most up-to-date advice possible".

And he said that while billions of pounds was being invested in getting people out of cars and onto public transport, he was a "huge believer" that the car was still a "critical part of how we move".

"We will never completely remove congestion and you will always get incidents occurring on our roads," he added.

"But if you can get information to road users that tells them what hotspots to avoid, it really helps to deal with people's frustrations."

The gear was tested on locations around the region including the Black Country New Road and Walsall town centre before going live.

A drone has also been deployed at during Aston Villa matches to spot traffic issues, with images shared with Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Police.

The team is also set to launch the first urban trial of a remote operated drone system in the UK, with one set to be placed on the roof of Walsall Bus Station.

Kerry Blakeman, drone manager for TfWM said: "We are constantly looking to develop the capacity and improve the quality of information available to our transport coordination centre which is why we have launched this trial at Walsall Bus Station."

The DJI Enterprise M30T drone is equipped with a thermal image camera and can fly for up to 35 minutes in rain and strong winds.

The drones will also be made available to the emergency services on request. Footage of all drone flights can be viewed at dronesafetymap.com.