UK puts £90m into three ‘future transport zones’

The UK government has pledged £90 million to three 'future transport zones' to test new ways of transporting people and goods. 
By Ben Spencer April 3, 2020 Read time: 2 mins
The tourist hotspot of Bath is one of the cities involved in the UK government's 'future transport zones' (© Claudiodivizia | Dreamstime.com)

In essence the money will go towards enabling local authorities to introduce such things as app-based transport services, some of which contain Mobility as a Service (MaaS) or driverless elements.

For instance, the West of England Combined Authority will receive a share of the fund to introduce booking platforms that allow people to book one journey across multiple modes of transport. 

The zone will also aim to use autonomous vehicles to transport people between Bristol Airport and the centre of neighbouring city Bath.

Meanwhile, Portsmouth and Southampton in the south of England will assess how technology can improve travel in car-dominated areas outside major cities and allow people to plan journeys through apps. 

It will also trial new options for last-mile deliveries including e-cargo bikes in cities.

Additionally, Derby and Nottingham in the north of England will use £15m to invest in new mobility hubs that integrate and encourage more uptake of public transport, bike hire, car clubs and electric vehicles.

“Decarbonising transport is key to ending our contribution to climate change,” says Alok Sharma, secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy.

“This review could drive down transport emissions by making greener ways to travel available to more people. Future Transport Zones will also help to spur low carbon innovation by providing our best and brightest researchers with testing facilities for the clean transport technologies of the future.”

Alongside the investment, the government has launched a consultation to make journeys smarter and greener through new technology as part of the Future of Transport regulatory review. 

The review will consider how people make small changes to their everyday travel decisions and whether it is possible to replace driving with walking, cycling or using the bus.

It will include a consultation on the impact of electric scooters on transport, with safety requirements relating to minimum age, vehicle standards and insurance. It will also consider if local authorities should have extra powers to manage the impact of where e-scooters can be parked.

UK transport secretary Grant Shapps, says: “This review will ensure we understand the potential impacts of a wide range of new transport modes such as e-scooters, helping to properly inform any decisions on legalisation.” 
 

Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • Tech advances create MaaS without compromise
    August 29, 2019
    Advances in technology make it possible for authorities to compile and maintain MaaS platforms cheaply - and without relinquishing control to third parties. Colin Sowman finds out more… It is increasingly clear that local authorities’ reluctance to implement Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is based on politics and finance. However, the technology underpinning MaaS is evolving rapidly and is presenting new solutions. At its heart, the political resistance comes down to the divide between the ethos of public
    Read More
  • Emissions reductions targets to have major impact on transport
    October 28, 2015
    As bold moves aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions have been introduced in California, David Crawford looks at the ramifications for transportation. California Governor Jerry Brown’s recent dramatic raising of the bar on emissions reduction policy for the state has won him praise from Japan, Australia, Europe and the secretariat of the critical UN conference on climate change being held in Paris in November/December 2015. His April 2015 executive order aimed at bringing emissions to 40% below 1990 lev
    Read More
  • EC transit wishlist: face masks, distancing, cleaning, contactless
    June 3, 2020
    European Commission also recommends Covid-19 isolation facilities at transport hubs
    Read More
  • How MaaS and AVs can cut Oslo traffic
    June 17, 2019
    A new study shows that on-demand AVs and MaaS together could make a significant difference to traffic in Oslo, Norway – but only if ride-share is involved too If you replace today’s traditional private car ownership with a mixture of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and on-demand autonomous vehicles (AVs) running door-to-door, you could make dramatic cuts in city traffic. That, at least, is the view of researchers from COWI and PTV, who have modelled a variety of future scenarios based on the morning rush h
    Read More

Highlighted Content