Innovation
A guest at the Leverkusen traffic control center
Roads in NRW are notoriously busy. It is therefore essential to keep an overview. Straßen.NRW uses modern information systems and relies on a control room solution from Jungmann Systemtechnik (JST) in Buxtehude. On July 8, 2022, I was able to take a look at the newly built Leverkusen traffic control center together with my colleagues on the Executive Board and the managers of our associated company JST. JST designed and built the central control room there. This is the largest and most modern facility of its kind in Germany.
The head of the Traffic Management department, Dr. Anja Estel, and the head of the Traffic Control and Operations department, Dr. Thomas Wietholt, first introduced us to the wide range of tasks performed by the Leverkusen traffic control center. The traffic flows on all the highways in the Rhineland and Westphalia are monitored and controlled there. In total, 2,200 km of the 13,000 km of highways in Germany are managed there.
Afterwards, we were able to visit the new control room. Here, up to eight operators work around the clock to control traffic flows on the highways. From here, they monitor and control the route control systems, the temporary hard shoulder clearances, the inflow control systems and the dynamic variable message signs with integrated traffic jam information.
The visit gave us a highly informative and exciting insight into a piece of critical infrastructure. We are proud that our associated company JST was able to contribute innovative solutions in the field of digitalization at such a central location.
Warmest regards
Your Dr. Johannes Schmidt
Cover photo, from left to right: Axel Meyer (INDUS Board of Management), Dr. Jörn Großmann (INDUS Board of Management), Dr. Anja Estel (Head of Traffic Management at the Straßen.NRW Traffic Center), Dr. Johannes Schmidt (Chairman of the INDUS Board of Management), Dr. Thomas Wietholt (Head of Traffic Control and Operations at the Straßen.NRW Traffic Center) and Rudolf Weichert (INDUS Board of Management).
Dr.-Ing. Johannes Schmidt
Dr. Johannes Schmidt studied applied mathematics and obtained his doctorate for Dr.-Ing. in the department of mechanics. He has been a member of the Board of Management of Indus since 2006 and has taken over the chairmanship of the Executive Board by July 1, 2018.