UK’s Department for transport releases a report on future mobility

The Transport Technology Forum (TTF), sponsored by the Department for Transport in the UK, has published a report to help meet the need for action to deliver future mobility by driving more efficient and effective management of existing and new road networks.

The report states that the UK government sees connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) as an important strategic opportunity and continuous to invest in their developments and introduction. However, less visitble is the government-funded work to connect existing vehicles and the roads they use, largely led by local road authorities with support from the UK industry. The UK is a leader in this field and is already demonstrating the benefits of connectivity.

Delivering a future of smart mobility strongly supports the Government’s aims for decarbonisation and will unlock reductions in road casualities and help in improving public health and social inclusion. The Department for Transport (DfT) and a wide range of local authorities have already invested over £8m in 43 projects across the UK looking for ways where Co-operative Intelignet Transport Systems (C-ITS) coucld contribute to this. This co-operation is between road authorities, industry and users. This advantages and benefits all road users through smarter parking, by using new data to reduce emissions and congestions and the road provision of better information and intelligence. These projects have the potential to show how C-ITS can boost productivity, increase safety, help revitalise high streets and reduce real-world costs for local authorities. The projects took place in different cities, large and small and on rural and urban networks. They made use of public and private data from new and old vehicles and new in-vehicle and existing cellular communications.

The DfT has also invested £1m in order to promote the opening and sharing of local authority transport data and improvements in traffic management platforms. This comprises of the support of a new consensus-based standard developed by the Alliance for Parking Data Standards (APDS) which covers parking payment and availability.

The DfT has widened its support to smaller towns and cities with practical projects that enhance and extend the life of current assets, including training in making the most of existing investment. The Department is working with the Cabinet Office and Government Digital Service to deliver GovTech Catalyst Congestion Challenge projects. These will support the development of new products and solutions to help manage congestion.

To read the full report, please click here.