Skip to main content

New digital technology puts London transport at a tipping point, says think tank

In a new report, UK policy think tank The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) argues that London is at a crossroads between two futures. One where the transport network is increasingly gridlocked, the air grows ever dirtier and the cost of accessing good transport increases. Or one where all can harness the best of digital technology, reducing journeys and air pollution, and opening up new opportunities to make London a more attractive place to live. The report investigates how new technology co
March 24, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
In a new report, UK policy think tank The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) argues that London is at a crossroads between two futures. One where the transport network is increasingly gridlocked, the air grows ever dirtier and the cost of accessing good transport increases. Or one where all can harness the best of digital technology, reducing journeys and air pollution, and opening up new opportunities to make London a more attractive place to live.

The report investigates how new technology could help or hinder efforts to effect more sustainable forms of travel behaviour and are already having a tangible impact on the way that Londoner’s move around the city. New private hire technology like 8336 Uber and new delivery patterns driven by companies like Amazon are just a first glimpse of the size of the revolution that digital technologies will unleash on London’s transport system. Future technologies, like autonomous vehicles and Mobility as Service platforms, promise even bigger and more rapid change.

There are potentially many positive effects of including these services into London’s integrated transport network; IPPR argues that Mayor of London Sadiq Khan needs to seize the opportunity, saying that car clubs such as 6452 DriveNow and 3874 ZipCar should be a key part of his vision for London’s transport system. It also recommends developing a framework for new travel markets, setting out a set of positive outcomes for the transport system and appointing a chief digital officer for the capital, as well as making 1466 Transport for London the central hub for travel data.

Related Content

  • August 15, 2019
    IBTTA Summit: satellite tolling is the future
    IBTTA members met in Florida to consider the technological changes that will impact their businesses – including satellite tolling. Colin Sowman reports from Orlando Over decades, the technology employed in toll collection has been honed to near perfection – automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are easily within a couple of per cent of infallibility even at highway speeds. However, technical innovations beyond the confines of the toll road cannot b
  • October 25, 2012
    Electric minicabs to debut in London
    Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD and London green minicab company greentomatocars have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create London’s first fleet of all-electric minicabs. BYD will supply greentomatocars with 50 of its pure electric e6 models for trial use in the capital. The cars are expected to be available for customers to use from the second quarter of 2013.
  • January 25, 2018
    Hurdles to MaaS adoption highlighted
    Jack Opiola talks to some MaaS advocates in the US. Cities will accommodate almost 60% of the world’s population by 2025 and technology is outpacing transportation plans and planners - putting extreme pressures upon planners and transportation systems alike. Big data, digital payments, ubiquitous communications, smartphone applications, on-demand travel and autonomous vehicles are all shredding existing transport plans. Never before has the pace of population growth and the tools to address this problem
  • August 21, 2017
    Cost benefit goes under the microscope
    Conventional cost benefit analysis (CBA) of plans for urban smart mobility initiatives needs serious rethinking, according to a recently-completed European study. The three-year Evidence Project (the Project) emerged in response to concerns about the availability and quality of documented research – including CBA – required to prove that investment in sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMPs) can be economically beneficial. Covering 22 sectors ranging from electric vehicles to shared spaces, the Project clai