UK invests £8 million on new transport technology research
Filed under: Transportation Alternatives, Legislation and Policy, UK
FREEFLOW, Foot-LITE and User Innovation. These three items make up the UK's Department for Transport short list of ways to "improve transport services." To varying degrees, each of the three tries to green up transporting people while making the transport easier and more comfortable. The three programs are part of a huge new £8m investment by the DfT into a joint initiative by the Technology Strategy Board, Department for Transport and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Here's a brief description of the programs:
- FREEFLOW will make traffic information better and easier to access. Finding a way around a traffic jam is just as important as knowing that there's one around the next bend, just after the off ramp.
- Foot-LITE is kind of like a broadening of the eco light you find in some cars. If you talk to a Prius driver, you've probably heard about how that realtime MPG screen can affect driving styles. Foot-LITE hopes to develop more and better indicators for drivers to tell them not only how to drive greener but also, like FREEFLOW, avoid congestion.
- The User Innovation project looks as communication between people when they aren't in their cars - better ways to organize carsharing clubs, for example - as well as tapping citizens' ideas for other ideas on how to make getting around an easier proposition.
There are more details available after the jump.
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