A strategic collaboration between two of the UK’s leaders in intelligent mobility (IM) aims to further accelerate the deployment of advanced transport systems in the country, using new and emerging technologies to create a smarter, greener and more efficient movement of people and goods.
Established and overseen by the UK’s innovation agency Innovate UK, the Transport Systems Catapult (TSC) will collaborate with the country’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) on IM projects. The move follows the launch of the TSC’s Technology Strategy for Intelligent Mobility, which outlined plans for the development of a UK Integrated Test Environment (ITE) to accelerate the development of new transport technologies.
The agreement builds on TRL’s longstanding experience in the area of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) and will see the company combine its UK Smart Mobility Living Lab in Greenwich, London, with the TSC’s expertise-developing capabilities in areas such as modelling and visualization, and information exploitation. It will enable large scale demonstrations of advanced transport technology in both the physical and virtual worlds, and help develop advanced transport systems and mobility services for the UK and beyond.
The organizations are currently working on two of the highest profile driverless vehicle projects in the UK. TRL is leading the GATEway project, developing and testing a range of automated vehicles in Greenwich, while the TSC leads on the LUTZ Pathfinder project in Milton Keynes. The three core aims of the collaboration are:
to ensure the UK’s IM research and evaluation base is aligned and working toward a common vision;
to attract and develop the workforce skills necessary to implement next generation transport systems;
and to work together to attract further investment to the UK transport industry.
“The UK Smart Mobility Living Lab @ Greenwich provides a safe and effective real-world test environment for new transport technologies and related mobility services,” explained Rob Wallis, CEO of TRL. “There is already a growing community of world class organizations committed to delivering work in the Living Lab, and our collaboration with the TSC will only encourage further research and development in this area, reaffirming the UK’s position at the forefront of intelligent mobility. By aligning our unique urban testbed facility within the TSC’s Technology Strategy for intelligent mobility, we can create a cohesive and compelling proposition that encourages further national and international research programs in Greenwich.”
Steve Yianni, CEO of the TSC, commented, “Intelligent Mobility is not an incremental advance that supports the status quo; instead it represents a radical overhaul of the entire transport market. Our agreement with TRL brings together two of the UK’s leading organizations in IM under a shared vision to address this change, and ensure the UK can reap the benefits. TRL’s connected and autonomous vehicle testbed in Greenwich is one of the most advanced facilities in the UK intelligent mobility market. By combining our unique streams of work, we can complement and advance each other’s research and development programs, creating an environment that makes the UK a world leader in transport systems innovation.”
