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Traffic Scotland enables the collection and distribution of real-time traffic information relating to incidents and events currently taking place on the Scottish trunk road network.
Road users on Scotland's trunk roads are provided with information about road conditions with the aim of ensuring that best use is made of the existing Scottish trunk road network and to improve the safety and the efficiency of the network.
By displaying messages on variable message signs, drivers are given advance warning of problems on the Scottish trunk road network. These may include roadworks, accidents, events, bad weather conditions and road closures.
On part of the trunk road network, overhead lane signalling improves road safety by telling drivers of lane closures and speed restrictions. This information can help drivers make the best response - from slowing down and changing lanes, through to selecting the best alternative route. When there are no known traffic incidents, safety messages are displayed.
Traffic Scotland collects information about roadworks, accidents, congestion and weather events and is used to improve the operational efficiency of the Scottish trunk road network. Traffic Scotland provides users with information on current Scottish trunk road traffic conditions that will assist users to make informed decisions as to the timing, routing and travel mode choice regarding current or proposed journeys. This information helps by reducing the disruption caused by incidents, minimising the effects of congestion and thereby improving the safety and efficiency of the road network
Traffic Scotland is operated by the Traffic Scotland Operator (Amey) from the Traffic Scotland National Control Centre (TSNCC). The TSNCC operates 24-hours a day and is open every day of the year.
Information about current road traffic conditions is either automatically detected by equipment installed on the road network or via CCTV cameras, the Police or the trunk road maintenance companies. Traffic information is entered into Traffic Scotland, which then calculates the response to be displayed on Variable Message Signs and the lane control units located in the overhead gantries. In addition the information can also be distributed using the Traffic Scotland web site and mobile website. The Traffic Scotland Operator Service also provides information directly to various radio stations and other organisations that subsequently provide traffic broadcasts.
Traffic Scotland covers the entire Scottish trunk road network. Information covering Northern England is also available for some types of incidents.
The Trunk Road Network is the strategic road network of motorways, primary routes and major A-roads that covers Scotland, providing long distance links between Scotland's major cities and towns, the English Trunk Road Network and Ferry Ports (see map below).
Trunk roads covered by Traffic Scotland are listed below:
For further information on trunk road coverage please see the Transport Scotland Official Trunk Road List.
For more information on Traffic Scotland visit the About Us page
Traffic Scotland provides real-time Traffic Information including information on incidents, roadworks, weather and congestion. Information is also provided about future roadworks and events. Additionally, live traffic camera images of traffic conditions on a limited selection of locations can be observed on the web site.
By default, information for England is not shown. When data is available from Highways England (North of England), a link will appear at the bottom of the lists available in the List Views. Highways England (North of England) information is currently available for Current Incidents, Roadworks and Planned Roadworks. Currently, only North of England data is displayed to provide strategic cross border information. Further information for the rest of England can be obtained from the Highways England web site - Traffic England.
When Highways England (North of England) data is being displayed, regional flags are shown to make it easier to distinguish between Scottish and English information.
Events for Northern England, including Current Incidents, Roadworks and Planned Roadworks, are being received by the Traffic Scotland Datex II receiver from Highways England. These events will be updated approximately every minute providing that the data being published by the Highways England have changed since they were last checked. Highways England events that are displayed on the Traffic Scotland website correspond to the geographical area of Northern England visible within the Traffic Info map.
The views of the public are always welcome and will help to ensure that Traffic Scotland is as responsive as possible to the needs of travellers. If you wish to write to the Traffic Controller Unit with comments, or to seek further information our address is:
Transport Scotland 8th Floor (North Wing) Buchanan House 58 Port Dundas Road Glasgow G4 OHF
Also, please feel free to email us at info@trafficscotland.org.
Yes. You can email us at the following email address info@trafficscotland.org or alternatively contact the Traffic Customer Care Line. The feedback we receive keeps us informed of how you use the Traffic Scotland web site, what you think is useful and what you would like to see, and helps us to determine the best way to deliver our traffic information to you. For further information view the Traffic Scotland feedback page.
While Traffic Scotland is not responsible for the maintenance of the trunk road network you can find links for reporting road defects via the Feedback page. Alternatively details of road defects can be reported by calling the Traffic Customer Care Line.
Electronic variable message signs (VMS) are signs located at strategic points throughout the Scottish trunk road network that display traffic information/messages to alert drivers to incidents on the network, their likely impacts and appropriate action to take. The messages are updated as appropriate and removed once the traffic disruption has ended.
Safety messages or messages that support national safety campaigns are shown on the signs when real-time traffic information is not being displayed.
In areas where there are no CCTV cameras or traffic monitoring equipment, the Traffic Scotland system relies on feedback from the Police and road maintenance companies. It can take time to establish the cause of an incident and feed it back to the Traffic Scotland Operator Service.
This can occur where roadworks are taking place and no CCTV coverage is available and the party responsible for the roadworks has not yet advised the Traffic Scotland Operator Service of the delay time or roadworks finishing.
This is due to several reasons; the sign could be switched off for maintenance, the sign is still under construction or due to a technical failure. The actual sign on the roadside will be blank.
Images of cameras located along the Scottish trunk road network, collated with localised maps. When the cameras are being actively used by the Traffic Scotland Operator Service and/or the Police to manage incidents the images are not made available in the Traffic Scotland web site.
Live traffic camera names are based on their location on the trunk road network. Camera names are assigned according to the junction name or road feature at the cameras location. For example, the Kingston Bridge camera focuses on the section of the M8 that crosses the Kingston Bridge and the Straiton camera is located at Straiton Junction. There are however some exceptions to the rule.
The Hilton camera is named after the Hilton hotel as the camera is fixed to the side of the hotel building and cameras in the Highlands and the Borders are commonly named after the nearest settlement to the cameras location.
Cameras are positioned so that they provide the best coverage of the road as possible.
To select a camera firstly zoom into the required area by clicking on the displayed camera icon (), then click on the appropriate camera icon to view the 'live' image for that camera.
Occasionally live traffic cameras are unavailable due to technical reasons. This may be due to short or long term faults with the cameras or associated camera infrastructure. There are mechanisms in place to alert the Traffic Scotland Operator Service to these faults which are passed onto our maintenance contractors. Due to the location and configuration of weather station cameras they are more susceptible to temporary loss of service. These sites are continually monitored and when a loss of service is identified all efforts to restore camera availability as quickly as practicable are undertaken. Please be assured that we strive to fix these faults quickly in order to maintain a high level of service for the live traffic cameras and all elements of the Traffic Scotland Web Site.
Operators also have the ability to apply customised messages to cameras where the image is unavailable for a period of time. These messages will tend to provide more detailed information on why the camera image is not being displayed.
If a camera is taken under manual control by the Police or Traffic Scotland staff then the image is automatically barred from public view and the following image is displayed on the web site:
This is to avoid showing images of accidents or a car's number plate. In some instances a number of cameras may be taken offline.
Remote linking occurs when an unauthorised party is accessing Traffic Scotland live traffic camera images. Our filters automatically block this access to the web site. It is possible, however, that you are using a personal firewall which acts like a proxy server and triggers our filters as remote linking. Generally you will have to add Traffic Scotland to the allowed list on your personal firewall which may resolve this issue. In addition Internet browser settings relating to sender referring may trigger our remote linking filters. See below for further information on how to resolve browser and firewall configurations.
Internet Explorer
This can be done from the computer's Control Panel > Internet Options, or from within the browser Tools > Internet Options.
This has only altered settings for your website and this does not otherwise affect your browsing.
Firefox
Reset Firefox by
Opera
To restore Opera default settings.
If you have any further questions e-mail us at question@trafficscotland.org.
The data protection act does not allow for the public transmission of camera images that can identify people or their car number plate. Therefore, the camera images are set at an appropriate level of detail.
In the Edinburgh & Glasgow areas the images are updated approximately every 5 minutes. In some instances cameras may be taken off line for maintenance. In these cases only camera images less than 30 minutes old will be displayed. In all other areas the images are updated approximately every 20 minutes.
Where provided, the camera direction (e.g. N, E, S, W) is displayed underneath the camera name in the top left of each image. Also, each camera is displayed with two example images taken at a previous date with the direction that the camera was facing at this point indicated underneath. Web site users are able to compare the current image with these to determine which way the camera is currently pointing.
The live traffic cameras by Route tool allows users to view camera images along Trunk Road routes. These routes can either be viewed manually or can be "played" automatically using the play controls. When using the play controls the page will automatically move to the next camera on the route every 4 seconds. Routes can be viewed or played in either direction. A route being played can be stopped using the stop button.
The automatic "play" option will only be available if your web browser has JavaScript enabled. If this is not the case then you can still scroll through the route cameras using the manual controls.
Traffic Scotland Operations do not routinely record any CCTV or video footage from any of our camera locations anywhere on the network unless specifically asked to by Police Scotland or other Road Policing Forces and only on the instructions of Transport Scotland.
Each live traffic camera image that appears on our website is captured from the video stream coming from the camera, as a static image, and held for approximately 5 minutes before being overwritten by the next image captured.
The following categories of traffic information for the road network are currently displayed on Traffic Information:
Traffic Information displayed on the web site is automatically updated every 3 minutes. By selecting the 'Automatic Refresh' button, the map will update every 3 minutes.
The window updates once every minute with a timestamp displayed at the foot of the window. If a user alters the order of any of the headings within the window then the window will revert to the default order after 5 minutes of inactivity by the user.
Traffic monitoring equipment required to generate congestion data is only installed on specific sections of the Scottish trunk road network. These are currently limited to roads around Glasgow and Edinburgh.
A special occurrence that may cause significant traffic disruption on the road network e.g. T in the Park, Open Golf, Air Shows.
A snow gate closure is shown whenever a snow gate is currently indicated as being closed. At other times no information is shown on the map and the regional weather page shows 'no snow gate closures in region'
Future Roadworks are planned roadworks that are due to commence during the next week to month and are likely to cause disruption on the Scottish trunk road network.
Traffic News provides details of additional current incidents, future roadworks and planned events, which may have a significant impact on your journey.
Roadworks will not be displayed on the web site when they are not predicted to cause disruption to traffic nor if the roadworks occur on roads not forming part of the Scottish trunk road network.
The Traffic Scotland web site includes Park and Ride information for a number of sites in Scotland. The information provided on this web site includes location and onward travel details. For further information on Park and Ride sites users are advised to visit the specific web sites of each scheme (included in the List View table for Park and Ride) or visit the Traveline Scotland web site.
The Traffic Scotland Park and Ride page uses iconography to represent the facilities that each Park and Ride site offers. For a description of what each icon represents see the table below:
Information for the rest of the UK and Europe can be found by clicking here.
Traffic Scotland mapping utilises the Google Maps API. The Google Maps navigation controls you see on the map are shown below. Navigation controls include:
Traffic Information is displayed on a series of map layers that can be individually switched on and off using the check boxes under Layers.
To view incident, road work or other feature type details click on the icon with the mouse cursor. The details are then displayed within an information box. If there are multiple overlapping icons these will be separated allowing the selection of the specific icon of interest.
Areas with high traffic information density require higher resolution mapping in order to aid interpretation.
Tabular views of all traffic information are available by selecting the appropriate link under List Views.
Journey times represent the time it takes to get from one location to another. Traffic Scotland provides users with the ability to view journey times between selected locations, referred to as Routes.
First select a starting point from the 'Starting Point' drop down list. Then select the 'Show Destinations' button.
A journey time table will then be displayed showing the current journey times between the selected starting point and various destinations.
At present journey times are only provided for particular sections of the Scottish trunk road network, where we have access to journey time monitoring equipment. It is our aim to increase this coverage in the future.
Journey times provide current travel time information for the trunk road network. Using journey-times it is possible for road users to plan their journeys more effectively.
The road network model is constructed from individual sections of road (e.g. junction to junction), each with their own specific journey times for both directions. A journey time represents the current (or recently calculated) time taken to travel along a road section. Route journey times between two locations (major junctions) are calculated by aggregating the journey times for all the road sections between the start and end points of the route.
Journey times are calculated using a combination of historic and real time data from various data sources. Current data will always be used in preference to historic data. The journey times from the different data sources are fused to give the current journey times for individual sections. Current journey times are also compared with historic (normal) journey times and may cause a journey time alert to be generated.
Journey times from the various data sources are updated frequently, typically every 3 to 5 minutes.
Route journey times represent the current journey time between the specified start and end locations on the road network. A number of predefined routes between major junctions in the Glasgow area have been setup.
Journey time data is assigned a confidence value based on how accurate the system believes the journey time to be. This value is determined by assessing the extent to which the data was reliant on historical values, particularly when no real-time journey time data is available.
If a journey time shows 'No data' there is insufficient current journey time data to be able to estimate an accurate route journey time between the two locations.
Weather stations are road weather monitoring stations which provide localised road related weather information. There are a number of weather stations located across the National Trunk Road Network.
Weather stations provide the following real-time information for the weather station location:
Weather station data provides a localised real-time information specific to the weather station location on a regular basis. Regional forecasts are provided by the MET Office twice daily (06:00 & 18:00) and provide a general forecast for the whole region. It is therefore possible that local weather station conditions may at times be different to the regional forecasts. In addition weather station data should not be confused with advice on prevailing weather conditions shown on Variable Message Signs which relate to a particular route on the motorway and trunk road network and not to a single point.
Weather station data may not be available due to either a sensor malfunction, the malfunction of the weather station itself, or due to weather station data having not been received for 3 hours or more. In addition, not all weather stations record the same weather data. So, for stations where a particular weather sensor does not exist, 'not available' is displayed.
Weather station data provides a possible indication of localised road conditions. It is therefore important to note the following effects of severe weather conditions:
The Gritters and Winter Salt Treatment pages provide details of planned precautionary winter salt treatment for the Scottish trunk road and motorway network. This information is published daily, throughout the winter period, following the mid-day forecast for the next 24 hour period. Route information is broken down by region and includes details of planned salt treatment and the number of gritting vehicles that will be in operation. Routes can be viewed via a Google Maps interface with users able to view all routes, or just those that are scheduled to be treated.
In addition to this, a high level summary of the number of vehicles planned to be in operation across on trunk roads is also provided. This includes the number of gritters involved in planned precautionary winter salt treatment, those providing a winter patrol service, and also the number of footway locations planned to be treated. Please note that this information is indicative only. The Winter Service decision makers continually monitor the weather forecasts and actual conditions. The actual treatments provided will be amended as forecasts and conditions change but this page will not be updated to reflect operational changes.
Planned winter salt treatment information by route can be accessed on both the Traffic Scotland website and through the Traffic Scotland mobile service with information presented via either a list or map view. List view route information is provided in tabular format with a separate table for each region - these being North East, North West, South East, South West. On the map view separate treatment route layers have been provided for treatment routes and patrol routes with routes displayed based on whether treatment is planned, no treatment is planned or where there is no treatment information available. The visibility of treatment and patrol route layers can be toggled between as desired. Clicking on a route within the map window will also provide further details including treatment start and end times and associated winter salt spread rate information. This information can also be accessed via the list view.
Winter patrol routes are sections of the trunk road network that are patrolled by gritters during periods of forecasted snow to ensure that in the eventuality of winter salt treatment being required there is a resource available on or close to site to carry this out. Patrol routes cover longer stretches of the network than treatment routes.
Planned precautionary winter salt treatment information is updated on a daily basis following the publication of the mid-day forecast. Planned treatment information is updated by 15:00 each day and relates to the following 24 hours. Please note however that this information is indicative only. The Winter Service decision makers continually monitor the weather forecasts and actual conditions. The actual treatments provided will be amended as forecasts and conditions change but the information on the Gritters & Winter Salt Treatment page will not be updated to reflect operational changes.
Gritters complete planned precautionary winter salt treatments for the individual treatment routes within a 2 hour period. Treatment times are planned such that the salt is applied in advance of freezing conditions. Depending on the weather forecast more than one treatment may be planned within the 24 hour period.
Winter salt treatment spread rates are measured in "gm/sqm" which stands for "grams per square metre". Higher spread rate values represent larger amounts of salt being applied to the road surface as part of the treatment.
The map view provides two interactive layers for treatment and patrol routes that can be toggled on or off as desired. These routes are displayed based on whether daily treatment is planned, not planned, or for which no treatment information has been made available. Please note that patrol and treatment routes cannot be viewed on the map simultaneously.
All trunk road and motorway slip roads receive winter salt treatments as per the main carriageways, however only the main carriageways sections of routes are visible in the map view.
‘No data’ is displayed if the planned treatment information for a route has not been successfully uploaded.
Gritters & Winter Salt Treatment information is available on a daily basis from 1st October until 15th May. Winter patrols typically operate from 1st November to 31st March.
The daily treatment plan required for a region is dependent on the severity of weather conditions as this impacts on how much grit is required per square metre. Some regions define their sections of the road network as two separate sets of treatment routes, 20gm/sqm and 40gm/sqm. These routes are defined based on the distance of road a single gritter can treat before it needs to return to the depot and resupply. On 20gm routes a gritter will be dispersing no more than 20gm of salt per square metre, meaning that it can grit longer routes before requiring resupply. On 40gm routes a gritter vehicle will be dispersing up to 40gm of salt per square metre, meaning that compared to a 20gm route the gritter will spread up to twice as much grit and will therefore run out of grit more quickly. This means that 40gm routes are in most cases shorter than 20gm routes. It should be noted that as 20gm and 40gm routes will overlap, and so on the mapping so priority is given to display the 40gm route if a treatment is taking place over the 20gm route.
Traffic Scotland Radio provides national and regional broadcasts covering traffic and travel information across Scotland. The National broadcast is provided daily with three broadcasts an hour during peak times and two broadcast an hour during off peak. The Regional broadcasts are provided once per hour Sunday to Friday. Each broadcast contains information on the latest network conditions direct from the Traffic Scotland National Control Centre (TSNCC) including incidents, congestion, roadworks, events, severe weather warnings and public transport information. The service is continually available for users to dip in and out off
This new service complements the information provided on the website, on smartphone devices and on social media and is designed to ensure that users are provided with a comprehensive overview of travel conditions for the duration of their journey. To help achieve this goal Traffic Scotland Radio also provides information for strategic routes that, while not the responsibility of Transport Scotland, have a key impact on the trunk road network. Traffic Scotland Radio will also deliver from time to time other relevant driving messages such as advice for driving in poor weather conditions, events related information, safety campaigns etc.
The national broadcast is provided daily with information updated three times each hour during peak times and twice an hour outside of peak times. Regional broadcasts are provided Sunday to Friday at a frequency of one per hour. During events such as extreme winter weather, broadcasts will be delivered with higher frequency ensuring people get the latest information in a timely fashion.
The national broadcast cycle is typically between 3 – 5 minutes in length. Each Regional broadcast cycle is between to 1 to 2 minutes in length. During events such as extreme winter weather national and regional broadcast cycle times may be longer.
Traffic Scotland Radio broadcasts cycle through the following content:
During events such as extreme winter weather the content of broadcasts may be revised.
Traffic Scotland Radio is also available on mobile devices and smartphones via the Traffic Scotland mobile web service as well as the joint Traveline Scotland/Traffic Scotland smartphone apps on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry platforms. We also provide some advice for users trying to access the service on their smartphones:
Drivers are reminded not to use mobile phones or other devices whilst driving.
Please note that Traffic Scotland Radio is a data streaming service. Depending on your internet or mobile phone service provider Traffic Scotland Radio will impact on any data usage allowances within your contract of service. Alternatively, you can listen to the latest Traffic Scotland Radio national and regional broadcasts via an automated message service through the free-phone Traffic Customer Care Line.
National Traffic Scotland Radio broadcasts can also be accessed through the Traffic Customer Care Line via an automated message service together with regional bulletins. Smartphone and mobile device users can also access the service using the free third party Tunein mobile application while desktop users can also listen via the desktop version.
Yes you can link to our radio service with our range of Traffic Scotland Radio banners. These free to use banners can be added to your website as a link to the Traffic Scotland Radio page. Banner images are provided in all standard web banner sizes and are hosted by Traffic Scotland. To use them simply copy the code provided and paste it into your website.
Emergency Roadside Telephones or ERT's are free to use telephones strategically placed across the major trunk roads for you to use in case of an emergency breakdown.
Planned roadworks relates to all currently proposed roadworks which are likely to cause disruption on the Scottish trunk road network.
Events that may cause significant traffic disruption on the road network e.g. T in the Park, Open golf and Air Shows. Events that are happening today are listed as 'Current Events' and are indicated by the red icon. All 'Planned Events' are shown with a yellow icon.
The Interactive Map is a new service (April 2015) which will provide geo-located information relating to possible impacts to the trunk road network during the user specified time period.
Information is provided (where available) up to 6 months in advance of the current date. Information is valid on the date which the map is utilised and can be subject to change. Information may also be changed, added or removed over the course of the 6 months, which makes it important that you check the map on a regular basis for anything which may impact your journey on the Trunk Road Network.
The interactive map provides the ability to view information relating to:
Icons representing each of these separate pieces of information are represented below:
The interactive map will locate the specific icon on the location which relates to the specific piece of information.
The date which this information can be supplied over is also manageable via the sliding date range bar at the bottom of the map:
My Traffic Scotland is a personalised service that allows you to view traffic and travel information for specific journeys that are of interest to you. For example, if you make a regular commute, you can use our interactive mapping to create the specific route you travel and save it as a journey of interest. The My Traffic Scotland service will then present you with traffic and travel information specific to your defined route to assist you in planning your journey, all of which can be toggled on or off as desired. This includes details of incidents, roadworks and events affecting your selected journey, current journey times and delay (where available), as well as traffic camera images, weather alerts and other information for the route. My Traffic Scotland will also allow you to set up email alerts to notify you of incidents or events affecting your saved journeys. In addition, any content you bookmark will be available to you on any other desktop or mobile device that you log in to.
At present, using My Traffic Scotland, you can register an account and import your existing bookmarks to your account. The My Traffic Scotland service will be rolled out progressively during 2017.
To access My Traffic Scotland you will either need to register a My Traffic Scotland account or log in using a supported social media account.
All accounts must be confirmed via email before the registration process is completed. Confirmation must be completed within 24 hours of the account being registered. If you require a new account registration email, you can follow the instructions on our account registration help page.
If you have forgotten your password, you can set a new one by following the instructions on the account log in help page.
If you are having trouble logging in using a third party social media account this will need to be resolved through the relevant social media providers account support.
Information regarding Traffic Scotland data protection and privacy can be found on our privacy page.
My Traffic Scotland uses the Open Authentication protocol to securely log you in using a third party social media account. Traffic Scotland will not store log in details for your social media account and will not have access to your social media account or password.
The existing bookmark service stores your bookmarked content within a cookie file. The cookie file is local to the device you are using. For example, content you bookmark when browsing Traffic Scotland on your desktop computer will not be bookmarked on your mobile phone. If you are not logged in to My Traffic Scotland these will continue to work as normal. Once you log in to My Traffic Scotland, cookie based bookmarks will not be displayed as the service does not use cookie files to store bookmarks.
In order to help you retain your existing bookmarks, My Traffic Scotland provides a bookmark import tool that identifies if any cookie file based bookmarks exist on the device you are using. If the cookie file does contain bookmarks then you will be given the option to import all of these to your My Traffic Scotland account. Importing your bookmarks means they will be available to you on any device you log in to.
Yes. To view the web site on your mobile device, simply browse to my.trafficscotland.org on your device.
Please remember, do not use a mobile phone whilst driving.
Traffic Scotland currently provides weather bulletins.
Information on travel times can be found on the journey times section of the website. The journey times section can be accessed from the page header menu or alternatively by clicking here.
Information on public transport can be viewed on the Public Transport Information page, while the Further Travel Information contains links to real-time public transport information. Public transport information can also be found at the Traveline Scotland web site or alternatively you can ring Traveline Scotland's Call Centre on 0871 200 22 33.
This tool displays information for the closest 10 items for each item type within 50 miles of a given location. This includes current incidents, current roadworks, route journey times, live traffic cameras and planned events. Depending on your browser you can either choose to share your location with Traffic Scotland, please see our Cookie Policy page, or you can enter a desired location or postcode using the 'add new' location text box. Select search to find items that are nearby.
No, the search radius is automatically set to 50 miles. The tool does however present items by proximity with the items displayed nearest to the furthest to your given location. The results are also colour coded based on their distance from your given location.
Yes, each time you enter a location that location is saved as one of your favourites. Clicking on your favourite location will automatically search for items near to that location. Favourites can be removed by clicking on the remove button.
The tool will also remember the last location you searched and will automatically return results for that location the next time you visit the site.
Please note that in order for Traffic Scotland to save your favourite locations and last location searched your browser needs to have cookie files enabled. For further information please see our Cookie Policy page.
Your favourite locations are stored in a cookie file. The cookie file is used to populate the What's Near Me page each time you revisit the website. In order for Traffic Scotland to save your favourite locations and last location searched your browser needs to have cookie files enabled. For further information please see our Cookie Policy page.
The carbon calculator uses the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) official carbon conversion factors to determine carbon emission values. These carbon conversion factors were developed and revised by AEA Energy & Environment and agreed with the Department for Transport (DfT). The carbon conversion factor is a value modelled on mode of transport that represents engine size and fuel type. Public transport conversion factors also represent vehicle occupancy. The formula for calculating carbon emissions is:
Car = (Distance*carbon conversion factor)/vehicle occupants
Motorbike = (distance*carbon conversion factor)/vehicle occupants
Public Transport = (Distance*carbon conversion factor)
The classification of large, medium and small vehicles is predefined by DEFRA and agreed by the DfT based on engine size (in litres). For further information click here.
The Traffic Scotland carbon calculator should not be deemed an instruction on how to travel but rather as an aid when deciding which mode of transport to use for your journey.
There are two possible options provided for calculating carbon emissions, calculation by route or by specific mileage. To calculate carbon emissions for a particular route select a start and end location from the relevant drop down menus. Ensure that the same location has not been selected for both. To calculate by mileage enter the desired distance in the available text box. Please note that the mileage entered must be no longer than four characters in length. Text box values will also override any specific route that has been selected. The text box must be cleared before emissions for a specific route can be calculated.
Once a calculation method has been selected the mode of transport and associated details must be selected from the lower left menu. The carbon conversion factor used for calculating coach and rail transport accounts for engine size, fuel type and occupancy so these values will not be selectable for these transport modes. Instead, you can select the fuel type, engine size and number of occupants to ensure a fairer comparison between public transport options and car or motorbike travel
Once all the necessary details have been entered select "calculate" to determine the carbon emissions for your selected route.
To use the Carbon Calculator with Javascript disabled use the 'Go' buttons to update the dropdown lists. For example, once a Transport Mode has been picked select 'Go' to update the list of Fuel Types available. Once a Fuel Type has been picked select 'Go' to update the list of Engine Sizes available. Each time you pick a new type of transport or fuel select 'Go'.
The carbon emission results are displayed in a graphical format. The graph represents the carbon emissions as a percentage of the worst case scenario (usually large petrol car with one occupant). The carbon emission value represents the total CO2 emissions for the journey. Carbon emissions for alternative modes of transport are also provided for comparison. The graph is coloured using the energy efficiency ratings recommended by the Vehicle Certification Agency.
When calculating carbon emissions for selected routes we try to provide an accurate comparison between car travel and existing public transport which can result in different distances between road and rail travel in the calculation. If you are interested in comparing transport modes over the same distances then the 'specific mileage' calculation method provides this information. As the occupancy of a car is increased, it's carbon emission value decreases. This is due to the assumption that by increasing the number of occupants in the car you are saving on carbon by preventing those occupants from undertaking their own additional journeys. If you wish to view the actual carbon emissions from your vehicle regardless of occupancy then calculate CO2 emissions for 1 occupant. The carbon conversion factors for public transport are based upon the assumption that public transport operates regardless of whether you travel or not. Car journeys are in most cases an avoidable form of transport that could be made using public transport. These therefore are viewed as journeys that could have been avoided. These assumptions were taken into account by DEFRA
At present DEFRA only provides carbon conversion factors for the fuel types and engine sizes featured. For example, at present there is no carbon conversion factor available for small hybrid fuel engines. As DEFRA research further conversion factors for alternative fuels, engine sizes and modes of transport these shall be added to the carbon calculator. For further information click here
Each possible start and end location was selected to provide comprehensive coverage of urban areas across mainland Scotland. It is hoped that this will provide a diverse range of possible carbon calculations for routes across Scotland, both on the road and rail network. These locations are continuously reviewed as are the distances between them.
While the majority of rail connections between available locations are featured within the carbon calculator some were excluded as they were deemed unrealistic, both as a real world route and for the purposes of carbon comparison. For example, a rail connection exists between Fort William and Inverness, however to travel by rail between these two locations would take roughly seven and a half hours to complete at a distance of 248.2 miles. The distance by road between these points is only 66 miles and as a result rail travel was deemed an unrealistic option, especially considering there is an existing coach route.
The road network between certain locations may be affected by a number of carriageway restrictions and route differences resulting in variations in distance between each direction.
Low Energy Light Bulb: The Carbon Footprint website reports that the average low energy light bulb produces 11kg CO2 annually when used for 4 hours per day. Using this value it is possible to calculate the CO2 per hour: Using a low energy light bulb for 1 hour = (11 kg CO2 / 365 days = amount of CO2 emitted for 4 hours a day) / 4 = 0.0013 Kg of CO2 per hour
Kettle: According to the Guardian report 'Keep your kettle in check' from March 2008, the average kettle creates 0.015 Kg of CO2 each time it boils to make one cup of tea.
Cycling: A study by the European Cycling Foundation reported that cycling emits on average 21 grams of carbon per kilometre which is the equivalent to 33.796224 grams per mile. Therefore cycling produces on average 0.03380 Kg of CO2 per mile.
Television: The Carbon Footprint website reports that the average household uses their LCD television for 6.5 hours a day, creating 215 Kg of CO2 annually. Using the following calculation it is possible to determine the amount of carbon an LCD television creates an hour: Powering a television for 1 hour = (215 Kg of CO2 / 365 days = amount of CO2 emitted for 6.5 hours a day) / 6.5 = 0.0906 Kg of CO2 per hour.
Laundry: The Carbon Footprint website reports that the average household washes 187 loads of laundry per year at an output of 51kg of C02. Using this value it is possible to calculate the C02 per load: 1 load of washing = 51 kg of CO2 / 187 loads = 0.2727 Kg of CO2 per load
House: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) report that 1 Kwh of electricity equates to 0.4815 Kg of CO2. The National Statistics publication, 'Energy Trends' from 2007 reports that the average household electricity consumption for a year in Scotland was 5300 Kwh. Using this value, it is possible to determine the average amount of electricity used to power a house for an hour by performing the following calculation: Powering a house in Scotland for 1 hour = (5300 Kwh / 365 days / 24 hours = amount of energy used per hour) = 0.6066Kwh of energy per hour (61% of 1 Kwh) Based on the above, powering a house in Scotland for 1 hour = 61% of 0.4815 Kg of CO2 per 1 Kwh = 0.29372 Kg of CO2 per hour.
Motorbike does not appear as a mode of alternative transport if you have selected more than two occupants as the majority of motorbikes will not support a larger number. This ensures that there is a fairer comparison between different modes of transport.
Every effort has been made to ensure the Traffic Scotland web site is usable by the majority of visitors.
A modern web browser like Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer or Opera will give the best browsing experience for the dynamic portions of the site, but the content should be accessible to any browsing device.
To get the full functionality of Traffic Scotland, it is best to have cookies enabled or put Traffic Scotland in your exceptions or allowed sites for cookies. You can normally alter these settings under the options or tools menu in your browser.
No, you do not need a plug-in to view the mapping.
No. You do not need a plug-in to view the cameras.
No. As the accesskey attribute implementation typically uses the same technique (Alt key) as the browser's built-in user interface, access keys have not been used as they may mask out some basic functionality with which users might be familiar. For more information, please see our accessibility page.
Specific pages have been designed for printing ease where appropriate and print version links are proved where applicable.
You may need to refresh your page.
For example, some people may experience live traffic camera images, which are out of date or see the maintenance page after the scheduled completion date and time has been reached.
We have extensive checks to ensure that data is up to date. You may find the problem is that the page you are viewing is a cached page.
A cached page is a temporary copy of the page you have requested from the web server. Your browser can either cache this locally on your computer or it can be cached on your Internet Service Providers server (ISP).
ISP's use caching to reduce network bandwidth and improve performance.
Please refer to your browser help or ISP for assistance in clearing the cache.
Yes. The site map details all the current pages and features on the Traffic Scotland web site.
Yes.
The Scottish Government retains the full copyright of all live traffic camera images. Traffic Scotland users may not hyperlink directly to the traffic camera images. Users identified as actively hyperlinking directly to the traffic camera images may be banned from accessing the site.
If you believe that use of the live traffic cameras may benefit your internal network, intranet or company then please e-mail us explaining who you are and why and how you would like to use the traffic camera images.
All maps on the Traffic Scotland Web Site are developed from Ordnance Survey (OS) data. These maps are for use only on the Traffic Scotland web site. The following acknowledgement and copyright to the Ordnance Survey is included:
'The Maps on this web site are produced on behalf of the Scottish Government, from Ordnance Survey material with the permission of the controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Crown Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown Copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. License Number 100020540.'
'The Maps on this web site are produced on behalf of the Scottish Government, from Ordnance Survey material with the permission of the controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Crown Copyright.
Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown Copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. License Number 100020540.'
For more information on OS copyright please visit: www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/business-and-government/licensing/direct-customers/internet-use
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a format for syndicating 'news'. Many websites provide up-to-the-minute news; it can become time-consuming and difficult to go to each website for the latest information. RSS readers provide a way of collating all of the latest information you are interested in, in one place, thereby doing the hard work for you.
The BBC, for example, provides an RSS feed for the latest headlines. Rather than having the user open the BBC website every time they want to check for new headlines the RSS feed will monitor the BBC site for new headlines and then alert the user when one is added.
Websites that provide RSS feeds usually display one of the icons shown below.
A range of different news readers are available with new versions are appearing all the time.
Different news readers work on different operating systems, so you will need to choose one that will work with your computer.
You can find information on the most popular RSS Readers at RSS Aggregator (Wikipedia).
Modern browsers such as Firefox, Internet Explorer 7 and Opera have RSS feed readers built into them. When visiting a page that has an RSS feed attached, the RSS icons will display in the browser's address bar as shown below.
At the present time, we offer the following RSS feeds:
If you would like RSS Feeds on any more of the information we have on Traffic Scotland, please contact us with your suggestions.
Where possible, each RSS feed contains geographic data based on the emerging GeoRss format. This information can be read by services such as Google Maps and Live Search Maps to overlay the RSS feed information on a map.
To view the feed information on Google Maps, visit the site at http://maps.google.co.uk. Type the feed address into the search box and click on the 'search' button. Google will load the feed and display the contained points on a new map.
On Live Search Maps, the feeds can be added through the 'Your Collections' tab. Simply click on the 'Import' link and follow the on screen instructions.
Please note RSS item coordinates may only be indicative of actual location.
RSS feeds are available from Traffic Scotland at www.trafficscotland.org/rss. Traffic feeds may be freely used on commercial sites subject to the following conditions:
No guarantee is given as to availability or uptime of the RSS feeds but we use our best endeavours to make the information available at all times.
Twitter is a social networking / micro-blogging service that enables its users to publish short 140 character messages, known as tweets, for other users to view. Traffic Scotland currently tweet details of all current incidents, with the exception of queues, as they appear on the Traffic Scotland web site. You can view and follow Traffic Scotland at www.twitter.com/trafficscotland.
Please note that Twitter is a third party website and Traffic Scotland offers no guarantee regarding the availability of this service. We will however endeavour to ensure that information is published to the Twitter service at all times.
For further information and help getting started with Twitter click here.
For any queries related to this service, please contact info@trafficscotland.org
Altitude data is periodically gathered, on behalf of Transport Scotland, by a fleet of Road Assessment Vehicles (RAVs). These vehicles assist in providing road-related data, including alignment and altitude data, for the purposes of asset management.
Traffic Scotland allows users to bookmark a range of items from across the website so that they appear on the bookmarks page. This feature means users are able to quickly access information from one central location for items that are of regular interest.
You can bookmark the following items featured on the Traffic Scotland website:
To add an item to your bookmarks page select the 'Add to your bookmarks' icon or link .
The bookmarks page provides the ability to re-order your bookmarked items. To personalise, click on the title heading of your bookmarked item and drag it up or down to a new location.
At present you cannot bookmark content that will only appear on the website for a short period of time. This includes content such as current incidents, weather incidents and roadworks.
When you bookmark an item from the Traffic Scotland website this information is stored within a cookie file. The cookie file is then used to populate the bookmarks page each time you revisit the website.
Further information on cookies and how to remove them can be found on our Cookie Policy.
There are a number of reasons why bookmarked items may not be appearing on the bookmarks page.
If cookies are not enabled within your browser then bookmarked items will not be stored and consequently will not be displayed on the bookmark page. If you wish to use the bookmarks service please ensure that cookies are enabled within your browser.
Cookie files are also managed by individual web browsers. Unless you manually import cookie files from one browser to another, bookmarked items will only be available when using the web browser originally used to bookmark them.
Lastly, the cookie file that stores bookmarks is saved to the device you bookmarked them on. If you switch to a different desktop or mobile device, your bookmarks will not be available unless you add the bookmark again on that device.
If you delete the Traffic Scotland cookies used for storing bookmark information from your computer, you will lose your current bookmarks.