£1.5m government funding boost in tech to cut congestion given the green light

Tech to cut congestion will get a £1.5 million boost through a government fund for councils and SMEs to promote trial projects.

The funding forms part of the Govtech Catalyst, a £20 million fund to help solve local transport issues through tech. This could help reduce the huge cost to the UK economy resulting from congestion, by calming rush hour traffic and improving air quality and road safety for drivers.

Whether commuting long distances or using public transport for the school run, the 3 winning projects will trial new ways of using data generated by transport in towns and cities to improve driving conditions for thousands of people.

Driving in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole could soon be much safer thanks to new software developed by Vivacity. The transport company’s sustainable software monitors traffic, flagging incidents in real time, allowing traffic control operators to respond quickly and stop traffic jams forming.

Working closely with Oxfordshire Council, Technology SME IM23 is creating a tool which predicts and tackles congestion by helping traffic controllers understand how to keep traffic moving while making efficient improvements to their road network.

Based on York, INRIX’s plans to use vehicle tracks to map vehicle ‘paths’ optimising and improving traffic signals in the city. This will allow traffic to flow more freely, reducing journey times, red lights and stress for drivers.

The projects will be managed by the Department for Transport for 12 months.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Congestion isn’t just bad for our environment, productivity and communities – it also has a huge impact on our national economy. That’s why, as well as our multi-billion-pound investment in rail and buses to improve connectivity, we are opening up city centre, transport and traffic management to new digital innovators.

“Transport technology is a growing global sector with the potential to help reduce congestion, emissions and improve connectivity."

He added that the competition winners "show how world class UK transport tech companies are helping millions of people in our towns and cities every day”.