AI cameras set to be used in rural road assessments

Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to be used to survey the conditions of rural roads.

Gloucestershire County Council has been working with the Department for Transport( DfT) to implement the AI-based camera assessment on the road networks.

It comes as councillors raised concerns over a lack of data from the last two years on unclassified routes in the county, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reports.

The scheme is currently under development, according to the council.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on June 18, Minchinhampton councillor Chloe Turner said the data is "crucial" for motorists using rural roads.

Conditions on larger unclassified roads were previously assessed with a specialised scanner vehicle every three years.

"Since the last assessment period in 2023 when DfT removed both the reporting requirement and standard by which to measure unclassified roads, all authorities have been working with DfT to implement an AI based camera assessment of their networks," Mr Harris said in a written response to Ms Turner.

"This remains under development, but is likely to be the agreed method to be implemented in 2026," he added.

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