exploring intelligent mobility

IMPACT
E XPLORING INTELLIGENT MOBILIT Y
R E V IE W 2 014 -2 015
Navigating
the future: How
autonomous
vehicles will
benefit business,
mobility, and the
environment
Just the
ticket: Can a new
rail franchising
programme
transform the
passenger
experience?
Cleared for
landing: The
real-time data
initiative that is
slashing delay
times at British
airports
FIRST WORD
Intelligent Mobility: the smarter, greener, and more efficient
movement of people and goods around the world
Foreword
B
ritain has a long history of
transport innovation: from
the shipbuilders who paved
the way for globalisation, to
the railways that underpinned the
industrial revolution. We pioneered
the era of modern aviation, the
airline industry, air traffic control,
and even the development of radar.
Britain is still a world leader
in transport innovation, and the
Transport Systems Catapult is
positioning the UK at the forefront
of the next revolution in how we
move people and goods around
the world.
From driverless vehicles and
improved airport data systems
to integrated logistics, sentiment
mapping, and smart traffic lights,
we are harnessing emerging
technology to make transport
more efficient and connected.
The global market for the
evolving Intelligent Mobility sector
is estimated to be worth £900bn
a year by 2025. The Transport
Systems Catapult is helping the
UK secure as much of that market
as possible – supporting business,
creating jobs, and driving
economic growth.
Only one year since our launch
in June 2014, we’re already
delivering significant impact for
the UK. There is now an extra
£360m in the economy thanks
to the work of the Catapult.
This represents investment in
driverless car technology, more
innovation in the rail system, and
increased efficiency for the UK’s
airports.
There has never been more
opportunity for businesses and
researchers working in areas
related to Intelligent Mobility. The
Transport Systems Catapult is
ensuring that the best ideas in the
UK lead to commercial success by
driving innovation and stimulating
enterprise.
Right
Will Whitehorn:
Britain has a
long history
of transport
innovation
OUR VISION IS TO DRIVE UK
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
IN INTELLIGENT
MOBILITY – PROMOTING
SUSTAINED ECONOMIC
GROWTH AND WELLBEING
THROUGH INTEGRATED,
EFFICIENT, AND
SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT
CHAIRMAN, TRANSPORT
SYSTEMS CATAPULT
WILL WHITEHORN
Will Whitehorn, Chairman,
Transport Systems Catapult
IMPACT / 03
INSIDE
CONTENTS
05
06
08
AT A G L A N C E
INTRODUCTION
DRIVING CHANGE
The Transport Systems
Catapult's highlights
of the year
Why Intelligent Mobility
matters. By Catapult Chief
Executive Steve Yianni
SEPTEMBER 2014
OCTOBER 2014
SPONSORS OF
THE LOW CARBON
VEHICLE CONFERENCE
BBC FILMING
I N N O VAT I O N
ON TR ACK
How tech is transforming
end-to-end rail journeys
28
MODELLING THE
FUTURE
What does the future hold?
Modelling has the answers
04 / IMPACT
20
The Transport Systems Catapult
outlines its goals as event
focuses on current technology
and future trends
The Innovation in Rail
Franchising project is
shortlisted for a Civil Service
award for its work in supporting
innovation and growth
DECEMBER 2014
JANUARY 2015
FEBRUARY 2015
£79.3
LUTZ
PATHFINDER
LAUNCHED
IN GREENWICH
Sit back and relax.
Driverless vehicles are
on their way
FROM BR AINS
TO BUSINESS
Forming the link between
universities and enterprise
32
CHAMPIONING
SMALL BUSINESS
A new fund puts SMEs
on the map
22
B L U E-S K Y
THINKING
Smart control systems are
set to maximise UK airspace
34
IN NUMBERS
Key achievements over
the past year and projections
for what's ahead
CIVIL SERVICE AWARD
BBC films an episode of Click at
the Imovation Centre, giving
viewers an opportunity to view
the interactive tabletop
simulator and the sentiment
mapping projection
COMPETITION WIN
14
NOVEMBER 2014
MILLION
INVESTMENT
Two students win the Pods of the
Future schools competition,
earning them a trophy, work
experience, and the chance to bring
some of their visions alive in future
MP Greg Clark visits the
Catapult to announce a
£79.3m regional investment
as he gets a glimpse of the
future of transport
The LUTZ Pathfinder, a driverless
pod that will be the first
autonomous vehicle in the UK to
work on public footpaths, is
launched at a government event
in Greenwich
FEBRUARY 2015
MARCH 2015
APRIL 2015
£100
£50-£100
Chancellor George
Osborne unveils a
further £100m
government investment
in the development of
driverless vehicles
The Transport Systems
Catapult announces it will
help create the world’s first
Intelligent Mobility Investment
Fund to pump £50-£100m into
fast-growth technology SMEs
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
Modelling for Intelligent
Mobility, a report
commissioned by the
Transport Systems Catapult,
highlights new opportunities
for modellers
MILLION
INVESTMENT
MILLION
SMEs INVESTMENT
IMPACT / 05
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
street
smarts
TRANSPORT SYSTEMS CATAPULT CHIEF EXECUTIVE
STEVE YIANNI EXPLAINS WHY INTELLIGENT MOBILITY IS
ESSENTIAL IN OUR INCREASINGLY URBANISED WORLD
W
hat is Intelligent Mobility
and why does it matter?
A growing, ageing
population and the rapid
depletion of our traditional energy
resources, and the corresponding
impact on the environment,
are arguably the three biggest
drivers of change in today’s global
economy. A fourth is urbanisation.
Seven years ago, United Nations
figures estimated that the number
of people living in cities around
the world had for the first time
surpassed the number of rural
residents. The same report
predicted city dwellers would
account for 70 per cent of the
world’s population by 2050.
With people and businesses
clearly seeing strong benefits in
being physically close to other
people and businesses, this
presents significant challenges
for those in charge of city planning
and infrastructure. Of course,
technological advances in areas
such as augmented-reality and
3D printing could soon render
06 / IMPACT
unnecessary some of our journeys
and deliveries. But the smooth
movement of growing numbers of
people around the world’s already
congested global cities won't be
solved by technology alone. It is
how we deploy technology that will
determine which cities prevail.
Equally, a mind shift is needed
among policymakers, industry and
the public that focuses more on
end-to-end journeys and less on
individual modes of transport – on
mobility rather than transport.
Intelligent Mobility, if you will.
Recent improvements in routeplanning software that consider
multiple transport modes is an
example of the first steps being
taken towards achieving this,
but there is still a long way to go.
Part of our remit at the Transport
Systems Catapult is to overcome
the silo thinking that has typically
dogged the transport sector, and
encourage collaboration among all
transport providers.
Of course, it is easy to dismiss
talk about connected journeys
and smoothly running transport
systems as something that would
be “nice to have” by authorities
whose efforts are focused on
“bigger issues” such as healthcare
provision and revenue raising. But
Intelligent Mobility is crucial to a
city’s wellbeing and prosperity, and
will become essential in the years
to come. People and businesses
function best when they are close
to other people and businesses.
While connectivity between
different cities will continue to be
of major importance, the risk of
increased congestion within our
rapidly growing global cities will
ensure that the efficient movement
of people and goods inside the city
limits is of equal importance.
Research by architect and urban
planning consultant Tim Stonor
found that the most connected
city areas are more successful at
attracting retailers and generating
high property prices than their
less connected counterparts.
This demonstrates how cities can
INTELLIGENT MOBILITY IS NOT JUST A 'NICE TO HAVE'.
IT IS CRUCIAL TO A CITY’S WELLBEING AND PROSPERITY,
AND WILL BECOME ESSENTIAL IN THE YEARS TO COME
This page
Steve Yianni:
the cities
that embrace
intelligent
mobility are
the cities that
will thrive
Opposite
Visitors to
the Transport
Systems
Catapult's
headquarters
explore its data
visualisation
resources
improve their citizens’ quality of
life by using intelligent systems
to improve mobility, rather than
resorting to the old (and expensive)
approach of simply throwing more
infrastructure at the problem.
It should offer comfort to
transport providers and city
authorities to know that more can
be achieved with less. Important
too that authorities see improved
transport systems not just as
something that needs funding, but
as a long-term revenue source.
A recent study into the business
potential of Intelligent Mobility
suggests that the global market
for this new sector will be worth
around £900bn per year in just
more than a decade; our vision at
the Transport Systems Catapult
is to help unlock that commercial
potential. How? By bridging the socalled “valley of death”, when great
ideas are born but fail to achieve
CHAMPIONING INTELLIGENT MOBILIT Y: ABOUT THE CATAPULT
Our Vision
To ‘Drive UK global
leadership in Intelligent
Mobility – promoting
sustained economic
growth and wellbeing
through integrated,
efficient, and sustainable
transport’
Our Goals
•Growth and Jobs
•Global Success for UK
Businesses
• Improved Journeys
•World-leader in
Intelligent Mobility
•Thriving Organisation
that Delivers on
Commitments
Our Business Units
• Automated Transport
Systems: a key area for
growing UK capability
for Intelligent Mobility,
covering automation
in movement of people
and goods.
•Modelling and
Visualisation:
developing and
demonstrating
new technological
capabilities in order
to better understand
the benefits of
Intelligent Mobility
and to promote
a ‘whole system’
approach.
• Information
Exploitation:
capitalising on
existing datasets
to facilitate the
development of
new applications,
insights and
capabilities that
enable Intelligent
Mobility.
•Customer Experience:
facilitating the move
towards a seamless
and user-focused
journey, in which
the transport system
is entirely adaptive
and responsive to
user needs.
commercial reality, often because
an SME or research organisation
lacks the business knowledge and
contacts to turn their invention into
a successful product or service.
One example is the LUTZ
Pathfinder programme. Managed
by the Catapult on behalf of the
UK Automotive Council, this
project will trial three self-driving
pods on the pavements of Milton
Keynes, with a focus on “last-mile”
journeys. The vehicle’s developer,
RDM Group, is an example of how
the Catapult's projects serve as
springboards for growth. Since
winning the LUTZ contract, RDM
has won a major government
contract and is being courted by
potential clients worldwide.
In another project, a move away
from silo thinking has resulted
in a data-sharing exercise
that is delivering economic,
environmental and customer
benefits across the UK air
transport network. Elsewhere,
the Innovation in Rail Franchising
initiative looks set to transform the
rail travel experience.
Many projects are informed by
and feed into the Catapult's data
visualisation programme, which,
by deploying and visualising data
holds huge potential for Intelligent
Mobility. This enhanced use of data
is only possible because of the
explosion in digital connectivity, and
as this paves the way for transport
connectivity, the impacts could be
significant. Cities that get it right
will be amazing places indeed.
IMPACT / 07
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
Driving change
MAKING THEIR DEBUT ON PEDESTRIANISED AREAS OF MILTON KEYNES THIS SUMMER,
THESE DRIVERLESS PODS MAY BE SMALL, BUT THEY ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE A BIG IMPACT
ON HOW WE WILL TRAVEL IN THE FUTURE
T
he saying that ‘good things
come in small packages’
certainly rings true when
it comes to the LUTZ
Pathfinder pods – the small,
two-seater, driverless vehicles
that are soon set to roll along
pedestrianised areas of Milton
Keynes. Launched in February,
these pioneering pods are enabling
the UK’s first public-space trials
of driverless technology, and,
crucially, providing valuable
business opportunities for small
and medium-sized companies.
The LUTZ Pathfinder project
was one of the first to be picked
up by the Transport Systems
Catapult, following enthusiastic
conversations with the Automotive
Council UK, a group of senior
figures across the automotive
industry and government.
“The Automotive Council
discussed everything from the
current situation – where cars
can park themselves or control
their speed using adaptive cruise
control – right through to the
future vision of having vehicles that
08 / IMPACT
drive themselves in all scenarios,”
says Neil Fulton, Programme
Director of the Transport Systems
Catapult’s Automated Transport
Systems (ATS) unit.
One way of walking through the
steps needed to achieve this vision
was to run a project that would use
a different environment to a road,
whereby the autonomous vehicles
could learn the information they
needed through interaction with
pedestrians, cyclists or other
obstacles.
The end result is a pod that
will be trialled on pedestrianised
areas of Milton Keynes at variable
speeds of up to 24kph.
The vehicles are fully designed
and built in the UK, tapping into the
UK’s expertise in the automotive
and autonomous robotics sectors.
Constructed by Coventry-based
RDM Group, the pods use
navigation and control systems
developed by Oxford University’s
Mobile Robotics Group.
The vehicles are also
sustainably run on a lithium ion
battery connected to an electric
motor, which can be recharged in
a similar way to existing models
of electric car. Such vehicles have
huge implications for addressing
climate change: road transport
currently contributes about onefifth of the EU's total CO² emissions,
which could be significantly reduced
with the advent of ‘cleaner’ cars.
A recent report by the Intelligent
Transportation Society of America
found that 'intelligent transportation
systems’, including autonomous
cars, could achieve a 2-4%
reduction in oil consumption and
related greenhouse gas emissions
each year over the next decade.
At the moment, progress is
being made slowly and carefully.
The LUTZ Pathfinder rollout is
limited to the three pods that are
being introduced in Milton Keynes
later this year. The trial, Fulton
says, will serve to gauge public
perception – a vital piece of the
autonomous driving puzzle.
“We will be engaging with
members of the public and the
different interest groups that
might end up either using these
Opposite
The launch
of LUTZ
Pathfinder
is significant
not just for
future travel,
but for British
business too
IMPACT / 09
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
DRIVERLESS CARS ARE THE FUTURE. I WANT BRITAIN TO BE AT THE
FOREFRONT OF THIS EXCITING NEW DEVELOPMENT, TO EMBRACE A TECHNOLOGY
THAT COULD TRANSFORM OUR ROADS AND OPEN UP A BRAND NEW ROUTE FOR
GLOBAL INVESTMENT
TRANSPORT MINISTER CLAIRE PERRY, MP
vehicles or are affected by them,
and we want to address as many of
their concerns as possible.”
More driverless pods are
already on the way to Milton
Keynes, however, with a total of 40
such vehicles commissioned from
RDM for the UK Autodrive project,
which will trial not only pods, but
also regular road-based cars
equipped with autonomous and
connected-car technologies.
Fulton envisions the ultimate
use of autonomous vehicles
in Milton Keynes as a way of
seamlessly linking different parts
of the town.
“Milton Keynes has a lot of
housing estates around the city
centre, so people travel from those
estates to the centre and park their
cars. A lot of the time, it's only a
mile away, but walking and cycling
are not possibilities for everyone,
especially the older population. We
want to prevent cars sitting around
in a car park for eight hours, and to
change the way people think about
mobility here.”
Geoff Snelson, Director of
Strategy at Milton Keynes Council,
says that the town is an urban
laboratory well suited to this kind
of disruptor. But he adds that the
technology is no novelty.
“Milton Keynes has both a
track record for innovation and a
risk appetite which has seen us
40
Autonomous
vehicles are
commissioned
from RDM for
the UK Autodrive
project, which will
trial not only pods,
but also regular
vehicles equipped
with autonomous
and connected-car
technologies
320K
The number of
jobs that could be
created in the UK
by 2030 thanks to
the development
of the connected
and autonomous
vehicle sector
Left How the
pods will look
on the streets of
Milton Keynes
Opposite
Early prototype
sketch
10 / IMPACT
taking on a portfolio of smart city
projects. We were one of the UK's
first three ‘Plugged-in Places’ for
electric car charging.
“The plan is for the driverless
pods to run as an on-demand
service that will integrate with
other modes of transport. The
vehicles will drop the passenger
at their destination of choice,
then move autonomously to
pick up another passenger from
elsewhere. We believe this
responsiveness to the needs of
users will help reduce the reliance
on the car for bespoke journeys to
city-centre destinations.”
Beyond Milton Keynes, the UK
has a strong track record when
it comes to both the history and
the technology of the automotive
vehicle and is similarly well
placed in the development of
driverless vehicle technology. The
fact that the UK did not ratify the
1968 Vienna Convention on Road
Traffic – which requires that "every
moving vehicle or combination of
vehicles shall have a driver" –
is widely seen as an advantage
that has allowed the country to
move ahead with autonomous
vehicle trials without the need
for new legislation.
Further proof of the country’s
willingness to invest in this area
can be seen in the projects that
are already set to follow. UK
Autodrive, for example, is just
one of three separate consortia
exploring these technologies
as part of the UK government’s
'Introducing Driverless Cars to
UK Roads' competition. Taken
together, those three programmes
already represent a public-private
CAMERA
SME ON THE WORLD MAP
LIDARS
LIDARS
RADARS
CAMERA
RADARS
PARKING
SENSORS
investment of nearly £40m, and in
March the government announced
the creation of a £200m
investment fund (half-financed
by the state and half by industry)
to enhance the development of
driverless car technology and the
systems required to implement
and adopt the technology.
In the UK alone the scope is
significant. A study from KPMG,
commissioned by The Society
of Motor Manufacturers and
Traders, found the development
of connected and autonomous
vehicles could help “create an
additional 320,000 jobs in the UK
by 2030, 25,000 of which would
be in automotive manufacturing”,
and deliver social and economic
benefits of around £51bn per year.
One institution that has already
benefited is Oxford University.
Professor Paul Newman heads up
the university’s Mobile Robotics
Group, which supplies the pods'
sensor and navigation technology.
“The pod has got a memory
of what the city should look
like, but that's not enough – it's
got to have its eyes open,” says
Newman. He adds that the beauty
of the technology is that it can be
used across myriad sectors and
capabilities.
His team are inputting data
from pedestrianised areas into the
autonomy control system (ACS).
This involves mapping using stereo
cameras and laser scanners so
that the ACS can “learn” how
Milton Keynes looks in varying
light conditions and weather.
And, says Newman, the
science has ramifications beyond
transport and mobility. “The 3D »
RDM Group was selected after an open
European tender to find a manufacturer
that could build the LUTZ Pathfinder pods.
CEO David Keene (pictured) explains how
winning the contract boosted interest in the
small, Coventry-based business.
"RDM has made products and provided
engineering services for the automotive
sector for 22 years. We have about 100
customers, the largest of whom include
Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin.
“For this particular prototype, which
is predominantly made to operate on
pathways, we've had a lot of interest from
eco-towns around the world. All these
pods communicate with each other, so they
know where each other are: in time, they'll
be like lawnmowers that operate on their
own – when they run out of power, they
park themselves on a charger. It's a steep
learning curve and we're leading the field,
which is exciting for us as an SME.
“There's been huge interest and many
conversations with some of the world's
largest companies. It has led to other
projects, such as our becoming partners in
the UK Autodrive consortium, that will see
us producing another 40 pods. It's put us on
the world map. The NYT and Washington
Post both wrote articles mentioning us in
the same breath as Google Cars and Uber.
You can't buy that type of press.”
IMPACT / 11
maps we're using to build these
vehicles’ memories have massive
implications for companies that
look after road infrastructure,
people who are inspecting nuclear
plants, building surveys that figure
out where all the ducting is in
a building.”
In the meantime, the advent of
autonomous vehicles is expected
to change how we perceive car
ownership. Instead of seeing the
car as a status symbol, people are
likely to regard it as an on-demand
service, which must accommodate
our schedules in an efficient, safe,
and eco-friendly manner.
This flexibility could extend
to delivering goods as well as
people. “If the car isn’t being used
to carry people around at night,”
Fulton says, “why not reallocate
it to the movement of goods? For
THERE'S BEEN A HUGE
AMOUNT OF INTEREST AND
MANY CONVERSATIONS
WITH SOME OF THE LARGEST
COMPANIES IN THE WORLD.
IT HAS PUT US ON THE WORLD
MAP; WITHOUT THE LUTZ
CONTRACT, THERE’S NO WAY
WE WOULD HAVE ATTAINED
THIS KIND OF RECOGNITION
RDM CEO DAVID KEENE
example, you could have a pod
making deliveries to small shops
– you don't need trucks arriving in
London to do that.”
Connected cars also take away
the element of human fallibility,
which is estimated to be at least
partly responsible for more
12 / IMPACT
INTRODUCING THE AUTOMATED TR ANSPORT SYSTEMS UNIT
The LUTZ Pathfinder
project sits within the
Transport Systems
Catapult’s Automated
Transport Systems (ATS)
unit, whose focus is on
supporting the growth
of UK capability in the
movement towards
increased automation in
than 90 per cent of road traffic
accidents. The KPMG/SMMT
report predicted that connected
and autonomous vehicles would
save over 2,500 lives annually and
prevent more than 25,000 serious
accidents in the UK alone.
Back at Milton Keynes Council,
Geoff Snelson predicts that once
people become comfortable with
giving away control to their car,
they will start to view autonomous
vehicles as a service.
“Even the motor manufacturers
understand that in the long-term,
they won’t necessarily be just
manufacturers of cars – what they
will be is transportation services.
I might have a subscription that
could provide me with a seat on
a shared minibus to work, or a
van to move my daughter into her
university halls. The benefits to a
car being driverless – as well as
safety and ease – are that they will
sit as part of an on-demand and
bookable transportation system.”
As we progress closer to
full automation, the benefits
will become increasingly clear.
the movement of people
and goods. The unit also
oversees the Catapult's
involvement in the UK
Autodrive consortium,
which will trial
driverless technology in
pods and regular cars
in Milton Keynes and
Coventry, and is also
participating in the EUfunded ITS Observatory
project which is building
a software platform
that will give transport
planning decisionmakers shared access
to resources and
knowledge in Intelligent
Transport Systems.
Reduced congestion, fewer
car-related deaths, an easing
of pressure on our natural
resources, more flexible mobility,
and a myriad of opportunities that
pioneering small businesses can
grasp before bigger companies get
involved. All that’s needed now
is for technology and society to
catch up.
Below
An early
prototype
sketch of
the interior
Pathway to
automation
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
Fully
Automated
Vehicle
Urban
Driving
UK
Autodrive
Pod
Platooning
ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLEXITY
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
CityMobil2
Shuttle
Auto Valet
Parking
Highway
Autopilot
Automated
Parking
LUTZ
Pathfinder
Pod
Traffic Jam
Assist
Adaptive
Cruise
Control
Personal
Rapid Transit
Parking
Assist
Automated
Metro
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 3
LEVEL 4
LEVEL 5
Driver
Assistance
Partial
Automation
Conditional
Automation
High
Automation
Full
Automation
LEVEL OF AUTOMATION
IMPACT / 13
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Innovation on track
FOR YEARS THE RAILWAY SYSTEM HAS BEEN CHALLENGED TO IMPROVE ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.
NOW, THANKS TO A HEALTHY DOSE OF INVESTMENT IN INNOVATION AND REVAMPED CONTRACTUAL
GUIDELINES, THAT’S FINALLY ABOUT TO CHANGE
Y
ou’re at the railway station
and your smartphone has
just sent you a notification.
Your train is about to arrive.
You don’t have to crane your
neck towards a sign to discover
which platform you should sprint
towards. Way-finding across the
station is digital, easy-to-read
and abundant. No need to sift
through your pockets to find your
ticket – ticketless technology put
an end to all of that. There are no
feisty barriers to battle, you do not
have to touch in or touch out. All
that’s required is that you meander
towards the train.
As you walk by the carriages,
your phone will tell you which
seats are free. You don’t have to
haul your elbow-knocking baggage
through a narrow aisle. Bulky
luggage is transported separately
now. You can collect it when
you alight or choose to have it
delivered to your front door.
14 / IMPACT
Opposite
The rail sector
is crying out for
innovation
After you take your seat, you want
to continue reading that article on
your tablet. Thankfully, Wi-Fi is
free and reliable – and will remain
so during the entire journey.
For the millions of Britons who
use trains, this sounds like an
excellent but unlikely scenario.
Their complaints of the current
rail system are well known:
it’s too expensive, crowded, and
plagued by delays. For years, they
would say, prices have increased
quicker than their salaries and
they are yet to feel any positive
changes. From booking a ticket
to getting a refund if a train is
late, the system is sluggish. It’s
a service, unlike aviation and
automotive, not particularly
associated with innovation,
whether fairly or not. A perceived
lack of investment, coupled with
an unsupportive contractual
framework, has resulted in
dissatisfied passengers.
“One of the barriers the industry
has had is a lack of funding in
innovation. Despite what’s in the
media, train-operating companies
(TOCs) are not terribly profitable
businesses compared to other
sectors,” says Andrew Payne of
the Transport Systems Catapult,
which is spearheading a push for
greater modernisation through
the Innovation in Rail Franchising
programme. “They have pretty
limited cash and make about 3%
profit. They are lean and thinly
capitalised companies operating
in a challenging environment. They
operate a franchise for a relatively
short period of time, and investing
in long-term innovation is really
not on the radar for people,
especially when that innovation
might only pay back beyond their
particular franchise life. It’s
not really in their commercial
interests, because they may not
win the next round.”»
IMPACT / 15
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
On average UK industries invest
about 1.7% of turnover in research
and development, compared with
estimates of 0.1 to 0.3% for rail
operators. Where manufacturers
of train carriages might invest up
to 6% of their turnover, aeronautics
and airlines devote 9%, while hightech companies spend around
15%. With greater investment,
Payne says, innovation could
flourish and bring that perfect
train journey far closer. “We're
embedding innovation into the
heart of rail franchising to deliver
better customer outcomes
for the whole end-to-end
journey experience.”
Efficient connections between
rail services and other modes of
transport, better technology, and
smarter digital systems for both
operators and customers are just
some of the benefits of investment.
While updating the system
sounds expensive, investment in
innovation is proved to reduce costs
in the long-term. Consider this:
currently, traditional paper tickets
cost the rail industry £500m,
an amount that could be greatly
reduced by smart technology.
The number of people travelling
by train is close to record. In 2013
to 2014, 1.59bn passenger journeys
were made in Great Britain on
franchised passenger operators,
the highest recorded figure since
the series began in 2002-03.
This was an increase of 5.7% on
the 1.5bn passenger journeys
recorded in 2012-13.
But Transport Focus, an
independent consumer watchdog,
reported that nationally the
percentage of passengers satisfied
16 / IMPACT
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
INTRODUCING THE CUSTOMER E XPERIENCE UNIT
Catalysing the move
towards a seamless,
user-focused journey,
in which the transport
system is adaptive
and responsive to the
needs of people and
companies, requires
Above
Apps could
transform the
rail passenger
experience
Opposite
The Transport
Systems
Catapult hosts
a workshop on
Residual Value
in July 2014
with their journey overall was
81% in its Autumn 2014 report.
That might sound high, but it’s
down 2% from 83% from a year
earlier – a small but significant
drop. Customer satisfaction,
according to this report, is at
its lowest in four years.
So what do the people want?
Open to the public, a consultation
in February with train passengers
in East Anglia raised some ideas.
Over a series of consultation
workshops organised by the
Transport Systems Catapult with
the support of the Department for
Transport (DfT), the consultation
aimed to produce feedback to share
with the TOCs bidding for the East
Anglia Rail franchise. These results
would challenge those bidders
to be as “innovative as possible”
and use experiences from other
sectors to provide the customer
with a much-improved service and
promises of a better future.
“Some of the findings were
things like customer intimacy
– people want a personalised
experience. They want to be able to
book a ticket that’s end-to-end so
it includes their car parking, seat
on the train, locally sourced food
in the café and everything at the
other end, such as connections.
They want real live information
on trains, like when the train they
are travelling on is going to arrive,
which platform it will be at and,
obviously, the standard free Wi-Fi.
People also want a lot more when
it comes to getting a refund.
“For example, some customers
and stakeholders demanded new
ways of recompensing for delays
such as accumulator points. If your
train is late by about five minutes,
five minutes goes into your little
£48m
Launched in
March, the
Innovation Fund
went live with three
major franchises:
East Coast,
Northern, and
Trans-Pennine. It
is valued at £48m
1.6bn
In 2013-14, 1.59bn
passenger journeys
were made in
Great Britain
on franchised
passenger
operators
great organisation.
The Innovation in Rail
Franchising team works
within the Customer
Experience unit, which
focuses on end-to-end
journeys. The strategic
focus of this unit includes
pot. All of the minutes you’re made
late accumulate over time and
you will be refunded accordingly.
This is just one illustration of how
people see the need for technology
and the industry to raise the bar.”
Another way to improve
services is to harness big data, an
increasingly available resource,
as a monitoring tool. Sentiment
mapping is high on the agenda at
the Transport Systems Catapult
and the number of transportrelated apps is set to increase.
The spin-off benefits from
innovation investment, in terms
of new companies and small
business, include the combining
of data. “This opens new
opportunities for not just those
who use it in this country, but
those who are potentially exporting
it too,” says Payne. “At a global
level, there’s a massive export
market on Intelligent Mobility.”
Indeed, the Catapult has already
had visits from companies and
organisations from Spain to Saudi,
and Malaysia to Taiwan.
One British company, DeltaRail,
is already on the case using realtime data. Its app, Commuteclub,
developing a unique
capability in the whole
journey experience.
It grows end-toend journey insight
capacity and innovation
management expertise
to deliver step change.
scans tens of thousands of tweets
a week about London’s trains and
lets passengers know where the
problems are. And it’s quicker at
doing so than National Rail.
“Our solutions gather consumer
feedback by monitoring social
media channels,” explains Daren
Wood, Solutions Development
Director at DeltaRail. “Not only
are we using this to monitor the
consequences of the decisions
we support, but we are also
responding with tailored consumer
information to inform and
empower travellers and nudge
them onto services that better fit
their whole-journey needs.”
It is initiatives such as these that
will bring rail in line with other
transport industries. “The UK is
in a position where productivity,
innovation and growth just can’t
stagnate,” says Payne. “Unless rail
improves its game, it’s going to
find itself outstripped by driverless
cars and autonomous vehicles.
It will be under huge pressure as
passengers experience profoundly
better journeys on other modes.”
Fostering smart technology,
however, comes with challenges.
In the new rail franchise
competitions, TOCs need to have
an innovation strategy.
“Some companies struggle
to adopt a new mind-set. They
haven’t had a Research and
Development Manager, they
haven’t had an Innovation
Director, they haven’t really had
an innovation programme. The
industry is moving and the early
signs from leading companies is
very encouraging.”
As well as enabling new ways
of thinking, progress will require
TOCs to communicate more
with one another. High levels of
commercial rivalry, a symptom
of a challenging contractual
framework, had previously
hindered such openness.
The UK rail market is split
into a number of separate
franchises, which are awarded
by the Government for set time
periods of eight to 10 years. TOCs
bid to operate on the basis of »
IMPACT / 17
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
1
THE INNOVATION FUND
A Transport Systems Catapult project has
helped develop a major fund as part of the
franchising process that aims to stimulate
new investments in innovation. The three
elements of improved procurement
process, funding for innovation, and
building industry capability both in people
and organisations are essential to help
meet the UK’s ambition of securing a
world-class railway.
Launched in March 2015, the scheme
went live with three major franchises:
East Coast, Northern and Trans-Pennine
– and is valued at £48m. In the pilot rail
franchises, 1% of turnover is ring-fenced
towards innovation, helping to create
demonstrators and de-risk innovation.
The target for the pilot is a 4:1 return on
investment as a portfolio, to encourage
a strong but balanced approach to risktaking and innovation.
A neutral industry body – part of the Rail
Delivery Group and chaired by the Catapult’s
CEO Steve Yianni (pictured) – assists in
selecting innovative projects that are in the
best interest of the industry and customers.
The Transport Systems Catapult, with
innovation partners Future Railway and
the Rail Delivery Group, works to ensure
the right environment for innovation and
subsequent successful adoption of new
services, ideas and products.
18 / IMPACT
INNOVATION ISN'T A CHOICE OR A FAD. IT'S ABOUT
CONSISTENTLY RE-DOUBLING OUR EFFORTS TO CENTRE ALL
OUR THINKING ON EXCEEDING EVER-CHANGING EXPECTATIONS.
TRANSPORT CATAPULT IS AN ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT IN THE
QUEST AND I COMMEND THE TEAM FOR THEIR SUCCESS IN
HELPING US CREATE A PASSENGER-CENTRIC FUTURE
MANAGING DIRECTOR, RAIL EXECUTIVE, PETER WILKINSON
specifications set by the DfT. But
many consider the period as too
short and therefore unsupportive
of investment towards the end of
the cycle, or receive what's called
residual value. Such uncertainties
have contributed to a lack of
appetite. Historically, over 50%
of investments in a franchise are
made by the end of the second
year, and 90% by the fourth year.
“Additional investment will help
smooth peaks and troughs for
industries; there will be less of a
boom-bust cycle in every franchise,”
says Payne. “The ability to innovate
in rail is perceived as risky. The
Transport Systems Catapult aims to
de-risk innovation.”
Keen to promote longterm investment, a group has
emerged to cultivate a better
environment founded on trust and
collaboration. Rail Executive, the
Transport Systems Catapult and
Future Railway have all worked to
create a refreshed residual value
mechanism worth £75m for each
newly bid franchise and open for
negotiation each franchise that’s
currently ‘in life’. “Operators have
not been incentivised to invest
beyond the end of the franchise,
unless they take on the residual
value risk of these assets,” the
group’s members say.
One solution is to transfer
assets between operators. For
example, if there were a case for
rebuilding a car park towards
the end of current X operator’s
cycle, incoming Y operator would
be obliged to take it on at an
agreed cost. To make things fair,
X operator would recoup the value
beyond its franchise time – thus
providing some incentive.
It is passengers who would
essentially pay for such innovation,
says Peter Wilkinson, Rail
Executive’s Managing Director, and
therefore industry must take heed
of their demands. “Innovation isn’t
a choice or a fad,” he says. “It’s
about consistently re-doubling our
efforts to centre all of our thinking
on exceeding ever-changing
expectations. Transport Catapult
is an essential ingredient in the
quest and I commend the team for
their success in helping us shape a
passenger-centric future.
“Who would doubt that the
future of this railway lies in the
hands of those who are principally
paying for it: fare-payers,
passengers. Anyone paying
attention to what our funders – the
passengers – are telling us about
what they want from the railway
will understand that standing still
isn’t an option.”
ARRIVE AT RAILWAY
STATION TO A TEXT
MESSAGE ALERTING YOU
TO YOUR PLATFORM
NUMBER AND NOTIFYING
YOU OF SLIGHT DELAY
2
PURCHASE YOUR TICKET
VIA SMARTPHONE APP.
INCLUDES PRE-BOOKED
TAXI AT DESTINATION
3
MINOR
DELAYS
DROP BULKY LUGGAGE AT
COLLECTION POINT. THIS WILL
BE TRANSPORTED SEPARATELY
AND CAN BE DELIVERED
DIRECT TO YOUR DOOR AT YOUR
FINAL DESTINATION
P2
5
4
HEAD STRAIGHT
FOR YOUR TRAIN –
TICKETLESS
TECHNOLOGY
DISPENSES WITH THE
NEED FOR BARRIERS
6
7
TEXT MESSAGE
POINTS YOU IN
DIRECTION OF
NEAREST
AVAILABLE SEATS
10
TEXT MESSAGE ALERTS YOU
THAT LATE-TRAIN REFUND
HAS BEEN TRANSFERRED
DIRECT TO YOUR ACCOUNT
REFUND
RECEIVED
PICK UP A COFFEE AND
PASTRY AT THE STATION CAFÉ.
THE PRICE IS INCLUDED IN
YOUR TICKET
FREE, RELIABLE WI-FI
ENABLES YOU TO FINISH THAT
PRESENTATION OR CONTINUE
READING THAT ARTICLE ON
YOUR TABLET
9
8
ARRIVE AT YOUR FINAL
DESTINATION – AT THE
SAME TIME AS YOUR
LARGE-ITEM LUGGAGE
ONCE AT YOUR
DESTINATION, HAIL A TAXI.
THE FARE IS INCLUDED IN
YOUR TICKET PRICE
UNIVERSIT Y PARTNER PROGRAMME
From brains
to business
THE TRANSPORT SYSTEMS CATAPULT HAS STRATEGIC
PARTNERSHIPS WITH 14 UK UNIVERSITIES TO TURN THE UK'S
BEST IDEAS INTO COMMERCIAL SUCCESS
T
apping into Britain’s best
minds, the Transport
Systems Catapult has
partnered with 14
universities across the UK to
create a long-lasting bond
between academia and industry.
“The University Partnership
Programme brings universities
and businesses together to work
on solutions to the most pressing
transport challenges, and
make those ideas a commercial
success," says Dr Paul Zanelli,
Chief Technical Officer at the
Transport Systems Catapult.
The scheme enhances the
Catapult's activities in different
regions and provides a network
of expertise that will help
businesses access the latest
academic research.
Organised in eight regional
hubs, the partners are: Aberdeen
University, Coventry University,
Cranfield University, De Montfort
University, Heriot Watt, Leeds
20 / IMPACT
University, Leicester University,
Loughborough University,
Nottingham Trent University,
Nottingham University, Sheffield
Hallam University, Southampton
University, University of Cambridge,
and University of Sheffield.
The Catapult continues to seek
additional partners and works with
other universities on individual
projects and collaborations.
“This partnership allows us to
test ideas at an early stage,” says
Sarah Sharples, Professor of
Human Factors at the University of
Nottingham’s Engineering faculty.
“The award has significantly
increased the visibility and
integration of the internationally
leading research activities in
customer experience, intelligent
infrastructure and future
transport systems that are already
conducted at the Universities of
Nottingham and Leicester.”
As part of that East Midlands
collaboration, known as IMPACT,
UNIVERSIT Y PARTNER PROGRAMME
two studentships have been
established to work with the
Catapult directly. One PhD project
explores issues with human and
mechanical control in automated
vehicles; the second focuses
on the potential value of crowdsourced journey and smart card
data for inferring average transit
delays and maps.
In March, the universities of
Nottingham and Leicester held
a joint event, ‘Space Technology
Solutions for Urban Transport’,
aimed at bringing together SMEs,
local authorities, and academia.
Separately, plans are under
way to use the University of
Nottingham as an Intelligent
Mobility test bed. “We are in the
early stages of exploring future
transport access around campus,"
says Sharples. "This could be
anything from investment in
infrastructure generally to the
lighting used to help people move
around in the evening.
“The partnership with the
Catapult enhances our links with
industry and policy-makers, and
we are confident it will lead to
future collaborative research and
development activities with clear
impact to the UK as a whole.”
Elsewhere, the Catapult is
developing a ‘Traffic Control
Test-bed’ with the universities of
Southampton, Bristol and York.
“The idea is to build on a prototype
simulation test-bed built by Dr
Simon Box at Southampton to
host an international facility for
the benchmarking of alternative
algorithms for traffic control,” says
Robin North, Principal Technologist
at the Transport Systems Catapult.
Opposite
The Transport
Systems
Catapult is
working handin-hand with
14 universities
nationwide
University of Nottingham
University of Leicester
University of Sheffield
University of Leeds
University of Aberdeen
University of Cambridge
University of Southampton
Cranfield University
Coventry University
Sheffield Hallam University
Loughborough University
Nottingham Trent University
Heriot-Watt University
De Montfort University, Leicester
IMPACT / 21
AIR TRAFFIC EFFICIENCIES
REDUCTION
IN START-UP
DELAYS
3%
blue-sky
thinking
MAXIMISING THE EFFICIENCY OF UK AIRSPACE AND REDUCING
DELAYS IS ESSENTIAL TO ENSURE THE UK MAINTAINS ITS
COMPETITIVE EDGE IN AN AGE OF INCREASING GLOBAL TRAVEL.
THE TRANSPORT SYSTEMS CATAPULT IS USING AN INVESTMENT
OF £750,000 TO INCREASE THE SOPHISTICATION OF AIR TRAFFIC
CONTROL SYSTEMS AT AIRPORTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY – WITH
A LIKELY BENEFIT OF UP TO £10M OVER FIVE YEARS
REDUCTION
IN ATFM
DELAYS
5%
A
SAVINGS
£750K
ir travel is key to the UK
economy to the tune of about
£18bn a year, but maintaining
and improving the efficiency of our
airspace is a continuous challenge.
Furthermore, passengers hate it
when their plane is late – and with
delays costing over £33 a minute,
airlines hate it too. But with more
than 6,000 planes a day travelling
through UK controlled airspace,
keeping everything on time is a
significant challenge.
Maximising the safe, efficient
and reliable use of UK airspace is
a priority for the Future Airspace
Strategy (FAS). Working in
partnership with NATS (which
provides air traffic navigation
services within the UK) and the
CAA (the UK’s specialist aviation
regulator), Transport Systems
Catapult is leading the Departure
Planning Information (DPI) Project,
in which they have invested
£750,000. The project is expected
to cut delays and lead to benefits
of up to £10m over the next five
years, based on fuel savings and
delay savings.
DPI provides real-time information
to air traffic network managers
about what aircraft are doing at key
stages while they are on the ground
just prior to take off (from when the
plane is cleared to move off stand,
to when it is taxiing, and has taken
off). With this real-time picture,
air traffic network managers have
more accurate predictions of the
departure time. Sharing this data
with the European network helps
reduce pan-European air traffic
flow restrictions, and, crucially
for passengers, helps improve
departure times.
DPI was already in operation
at Heathrow and Gatwick, as part
of a wider suite of systems and
tools that help manage aircraft
movements on the ground at the
UK’s largest airports.
The challenge was to find a costeffective way of providing DPI to
other UK airports.
To do this, the Catapult first
worked closely with NATS and
EuroControl (the European
oganisation for the safety of air
navigation) to upgrade air traffic
control systems at seven airports
with electronic flight progress
strips: London City, Stansted,
Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow,
Aberdeen and Luton. As of January
2015, DPI had been successfully
deployed for trial across these
airports. Offline trials showed a
60% improvement in the accuracy »
Opposite
DPI charts
on-the-ground
aircraft activity
IMPACT / 23
AIR TRAFFIC EFFICIENCES
of predicted flight take-off times.
The system is now fully operational
at London City, Manchester and
Aberdeen, and will be live at
the remaining four airports by
July 2015.
“Taken together with the
information already provided
by Heathrow and Gatwick, DPI
now covers around 70% of the
UK’s commercial flights, with
initial offline tests showing an
improvement of around 60% in
predicting actual take-off times of
aircraft,” says Steve Yianni, CEO of
the Transport Systems Catapult.
The scale of the DPI roll-out
means the UK is setting the bar for
provision of such information into
the European network manager,
while also helping airlines reduce
fuel costs and cut pollution.
The next step for the Catapult
was to find a cost-effective scalable
solution for regional airports that
use paper flight strips instead of
electronic flight strip systems.
This March, the Transport Systems
24 / IMPACT
Catapult signed an agreement with
Lockheed Martin (after a public
procurement process) to develop
and deploy a DPI solution to four
regional airports, and is working
with Future Airspace Strategy
to secure funding to deploy the
system to up to a further 20 UK
regional airports.
To fully understand the benefits
of DPI, it helps to know more about
how aircraft are managed.
After an aircraft takes off, realtime information provides air traffic
network managers with details of
its location at any given moment.
But it is a different story while the
plane is still on the ground, where
air traffic network managers are
reliant on accurate updates being
passed from the airport ATC (air
traffic control) towers, and this is
not always possible.
Air traffic network managers in
the UK and Europe have the task
of managing hundreds of traffic
flows; without DPI, they are missing
accurate information about when
STANSTED SUCCESS STORY
Stansted was among the airports chosen
for the Transport Systems Catapult’s
DPI project.
The airport uses a software product
known as EFPS (Electronic Flight Progress
Strips), to which DPI was added before
going live. The additional information
provided by DPI has helped to pinpoint
exactly when a flight will become airborne.
Duncan Smith, Operations Manager at
Stansted Airport, has been pleased with
the results: “The benefits are increased
on-time performance, a cut down in runway
occupancy times and less holding times for
aircraft,” he says
“The subsequent benefit of that is less
fuel burn, and less aircraft emissions,
which is a win for everybody.”
The Transport Systems Catapult’s
Krishna Ramcharran, Programme
Manager for DPI, hopes the improvements
seen at Stansted will be replicated as DPI
is rolled out across the UK: “Based on the
trials we have done at Stansted, we are
reducing the inaccuracy in departure times
by about 60%, from ten minutes down to
about four minutes.
"When you multiply that up by the
number of aircraft flying about in UK
airspace, saving three/four minutes
per aircraft will have a huge effect.”
departing aircraft are going to takeoff and enter the airspace. The cost
to a regional airport of installing
DPI was seemingly prohibitive as
it was an investment that would in
many ways be of more benefit to
network managers and the airlines
(through fuel savings) rather than
airports themselves. To complicate
matters, airport ownership is
diverse and the technology used
at each one differs.
The Catapult was uniquely
placed to act as a third-party
broker between the CAA, NATS and
the various airports. By securing
funding from the Department
for Transport to accelerate the
programme, the full costs of
developing the DPI capability was
no longer the responsibility of
regional airports.
The CAA’s Director Safety &
Airspace Regulation Mark Swan
is clear about the benefits of this
approach: “The Transport Systems
Catapult has been fabulous. We
set out a really difficult problem
£10m
The DPI project
identified that
an investment of
£750,000 could cut
delays, leading to
benefits of up to
£10m over the next
five years
60%
The Catapult's
work is reducing
inaccuracies in
departure times by
about 60%, from
ten minutes down
to four minutes
THE ADVANTAGE OF THE TRANSPORT SYSTEMS CATAPULT IS
THAT IT ACTED ON BEHALF OF LOTS OF STAKEHOLDERS TO BRING
TOGETHER A GROUP OF AIRPORTS TO GO THROUGH A PROJECT
TOGETHER, RATHER THAN TRYING TO DO IT PIECEMEAL
NATS GENERAL MANAGER OF CUSTOMER AFFAIRS ANDY SHAND
and they have come in with highly
motivated people, with a very clear
project plan and they showed the
industry you could do this – all in
the space of about 12 months.”
The delays that the Transport
Systems Catapult hoped to target
with its project are divided into
three key areas. The first are the
so-called start-up delays. These
occur before an aircraft receives
clearance to push back from its
stand. Clearance may be delayed
for various reasons, including
capacity limitations in the network
due to lack of accurate information.
At this point, it may be burning fuel,
albeit less than if it was flying; a
delay here will cost an airline in
the region of £42 a minute. In the
12 months to January 2013, UK
airports recorded over 700,000
minutes of start-up delay, so
reducing this figure has a clear
financial benefit. The DPI project
hopes to achieve a 3% reduction,
equivalent to around £882,000
per year.
The second key area takes into
account delays that occur when an
aircraft is in the air, known as
Air Traffic Flow Management
(ATFM) delays. The UK has an
unusually busy airspace. »
Opposite
DPI will reduce
delays and
their impact
IMPACT / 25
AIR TRAFFIC EFFICIENCIES
With many large airports within
a reasonably small area, a
problem at one airport can easily
lead to crowding at pinch points in
the network. If this happens,
in order to maintain safety, air
traffic control will direct aircraft
to slow down, re-route or fly
at a less efficient altitude. It is
estimated that the total level of
UK en-route ATFM delay is 200,000
minutes a year, at least 5% of which
is generated by a lack of accurate
departure information. In financial
terms, each minute of ATFM
delay is estimated to cost £54.
A 5% reduction in ATFM is
equivalent to over £540,000 in
direct financial savings.
The third key area identified is
during arrivals. It is 90% more
fuel efficient for an aircraft to slow
down while cruising or descending
than to be held in a stack. NATS,
in partnership with other industry
stakeholders, has implemented
an arrival management capability
for flights inbound to London
Heathrow, so that delay is absorbed
prior to the holding stacks, thereby
reducing the time spent in the
stack, thus saving on fuel and
CO2 emissions.
This capability is enhanced
by the provision of DPI messages,
which feed more accurate
information into the arrival
management system, enabling
further reductions in stack holding.
The Transport Systems Catapult
estimates its contribution will be
worth up to £750,000 per year,
including the broader societal
benefits associated with
reductions in CO2 emissions
and passenger delays.
26 / IMPACT
Arrival Management for Heathrow
aims to reduce stack holding by
up to two minutes for many flights.
This is being achieved by slowing
Heathrow arrivals down while in
the cruise and descent phases.
“It doesn’t sound like a lot, but two
minutes if applied to all flights
would be worth in excess of 5,000
tonnes of fuel a year, over 15,000
tonnes of CO2, and that's just at
Heathrow,” says Andy Shand,
NATS General Manager of
Customer Affairs. “In time, as we
see queue management techniques
applied more widely, that benefit
will increase.”
But DPI is not only a great way
to improve efficiency now – it
will also help future-proof the
UK’s regional airports traffic
management capacity. It could
act as a building block for other
technologies, such as the arrivals
management capability, and
systems for maximising runway
use. In the longer term, the data
can be made available more
2
3
THE PROBLEM
Planes unable to take
off at the allotted time
THE PROBLEM
Planes delayed
once in air
THE PROBLEM
Planes stacked in
holding pattern
THE COST
£42 per minute
@ 700,000 minutes
per annum
widely. “DPI is about making the
operation as efficient as possible,”
says Shand. “The advantage of the
Transport Systems Catapult is that
it was able to act on behalf of lots
of stakeholders, to bring together
a group of airports to go through a
project together, rather than doing
it piecemeal. That is the strength of
Transport Systems Catapult.”
space through optimal
use of data, information
and intelligence. It
focuses on opening up
and exploiting existing
datasets to help the
development of new
applications, insights
and capabilities that
enable Intelligent
Mobility. As well
as working with
THE COST
£54 per minute
@ 200,000 minutes
per annum
Above
Efficiencies
will result in
significant
carbon savings
INTRODUCING THE INFORMATION E XPLOITATION UNIT
The DPI project is led by
the Transport Systems
Catapult’s Information
Exploitation business
unit. This unit aims
to develop enduring
capabilities and
relationships over the
next five years to deliver
benefits to customers
and partners in the
multimodal transport
1
industry bodies and
partners to create
an environment that
facilitates appropriate
standards, guidance,
policy and regulation,
the unit instigates and
drives the debate on the
importance of suitable
use of information in
Intelligent Mobility and
data-driven business.
PROJECTED SAVINGS
THANKS TO DPI
3% or £882,000 per annum
PROJECTED SAVINGS
THANKS TO DPI
5% or £540,000 per annum
PROJECTED SAVINGS
THANKS TO DPI
£750,000 per year, including
broader societal benefits
associated with reductions
in CO2 emissions
Start-up
delays
Air traffic flow
management delays
Arrival
management
HEADER
MODELLING & VISUALISATION
modelLING
THE FUTURE
SOPHISTICATED MAPPING TOOLS AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES SUCH
AS AUGMENTED REALITY COULD SOON TRANSFORM THE WAYS
IN WHICH WE NAVIGATE OUR CITIES
Y
ou may have read all about
it – the transport system
is going through dramatic
change. From driverless
pods and a seamless, modernised
rail network, to an aviation sector
so efficient that it will benefit
the economy, environment
and passenger waiting times,
the future is promising. But
for customers, operators and
companies, it can be difficult to
envisage how these modes would
work, separately or together.
How will an autonomous vehicle
react to people, and vice versa?
If a Crossrail station closes
because of large crowds, what are
the pedestrianised options? How
would a fleet of hybrid or electric
buses in cities help reduce
pollution? And should a greater
number of pioneering companies
such as Uber emerge, how would
they affect traffic, or taxi firms?
01 / IMPACT
“We’re answering those ‘what
if?’ questions,” says Robin North,
Principal Technologist at the
Transport Systems Catapult.
As a member of the nineperson strong Modelling and
Visualisation technical capability
team, North is focused on gauging
risk and opportunities. Their
priorities are to understand and
communicate the performance
of transport systems innovations
before they are built or deployed,
to target development and
accelerate adoption.
“We are looking at innovations
that change elements of a
complex transport system,
comprising infrastructure,
vehicles and, most importantly,
people and their relationships,”
North continues. “It is very hard
to predict what the effects will be
without making use of a model of
the system. It is even harder to
compare the merits of doing A or
B, both, or neither. To make good
decisions about investments and
about development programmes
for alternative technologies,
we must support analysis of
transport system performance.”
By using data from a range of
sources, the team works with
algorithm-based software tools
to imagine various scenarios.
Data could be gleaned from
public open-data initiatives,
local authorities sharing data or
companies sharing information
under a non-disclosure
agreement. A ‘synthetic
population’ is also needed, and
this requires the merging of old
and new data. Sources such
as the census could be used
alongside anonymised travel
records to represent the UK
population, their characteristics
and preferences.
The synthetic group, which
could be split into subgroups
such as families, professionals or
students, can then be put through
various situations at the click of
a button, anything from engaging
with public transport networks
during major sporting events to
travelling by air shortly after a
volcano erupts.
“We are enabling integration of
transport models and datasets
in ways that permit rapid testing
and development of innovative
approaches,” says North.
The Transport Systems Catapult
also collects its own surveys,
including mobile phone data,
which is useful in assessing
people’s habits and needs. And the
team has invested in deploying »
Opposite
Ever more
sophisticated
route-planning
software is
transforming
the travel
experience
IMPACT / 29
MODELLING & VISUALISATION
MODELLING & VISUALISATION
INTRODUCING THE MODELLING AND VISUALISATION UNIT
The Modelling and
Visualisation unit is the
umbrella under which
the team of skilled
technologists, from
strategists to engineers,
work to deliver real
change on the ground.
£60bn
By 2020, the
market for data,
modelling and
analytical tools and
techniques is set to
grow to £60bn from
£15bn in 2014
£125bn
The market
size, comprising
modelling,
simulation and
augmented reality
Opposite:
The Transport
Systems
Catapult's
data suite
30 / IMPACT
Multi-modal transport
planning currently
takes too long and often
produces too much
data of limited value.
Linked to a market size
of £125bn comprising
modelling, simulation
air-quality sensors – AQMesh
from Air Monitors/Geotech – to
monitor pollution.
“We have also acquired
industry-leading tools to model
emissions from road vehicles,
and are collaborating with
university partners to implement
models for aviation and maritime
sectors,” says North. “These
allow improvements in system
efficiency, for example managing
freight transfer from ships to
trucks and on to distribution
centres, to be assessed in terms
of how they affect pollutant
emissions and air quality.”
It’s clear that the customer,
whether a commuter, weekender
or someone delivering goods,
would benefit from this research
in terms of health, safety and
service levels. But a priority
for the team is also linking
specialists to business.
“Technology innovators are
not always transport specialists.
Especially for SMEs, they don’t
typically have the access or
the means to model the whole
transport system and assess
the wider impacts and benefits
and augmented reality,
the team are making
good use of the UK’s
strong background in
models, embracing
techniques from other
fields and conducting
new research
of their innovation. This makes
developing investable business
cases more difficult,” says North.
“We provide access to state-ofthe-art simulation, analysis and
visualisation capabilities to assist
UK innovators in competing on the
world stage.”
Some simulation technology
can already be viewed and used
at a lab at the Intelligent Mobility
centre in Milton Keynes. More is
on the way, and the Catapult is
looking to work with the videogaming industry to develop new
ways to visualise the future.
“Gaming is an area we want
to tap in to,” says North. “We
are witnessing a switch in focus
from building infrastructure with
50-year lifespans to evolving
market-driven services and
THE CATAPULT GIVES US A
CHANCE TO SHOWCASE OUR
WORK TO AN AUDIENCE THAT
WE WOULD STRUGGLE TO
REACH ON OUR OWN
MANAGING DIRECTOR,
VIRTUAL VIEWING,
STEWART BAILEY
pricing solutions that dictate
a fundamental shift in our
forecasting approach. Strategic
planning will remain important,
but with an increased tactical
emphasis on operating existing
systems more efficiently. Data
mining and pattern recognition,
coupled with gaming of alternative
futures, are better suited for this.”
If all this sounds vaguely familiar,
it should. Other companies and
organisations develop and use
modelling. During the London 2012
Olympics, for example, strategic
highway modelling was used to
forecast predicted impacts of
traffic movements on London’s
road network. The results were
used to inform travel advice for the
public and businesses, including
diversion effects, delays and the
impact of proposed road closures
around venues.
The Catapult is unique is in its
approach, identifying barriers
that hold back the science’s
true potential. High on its hit list
is the “silo approach”, where
key individuals, departments
and organisations fail to share
valuable information with each
other, thus mitigating the potential
of data modelling.
“This combination of tooling is
new, as is the opportunity for highgrade modelling and visualisation
to be used at an earlier stage in
the development of an innovation,”
North says. “The business models
around providing support and
access are also new, breaking
down the barriers for smaller
enterprises to gain access to
cutting-edge facilities.”
By 2020, the market for data,
modelling and analytical tools and
techniques is set to grow to £60bn
from £15bn in 2014. The market
size, comprising modelling,
simulation and augmented reality,
is some £125bn. The UK is an
international leader and has a
strong professional services
industry. “Our work is about
equipping that industry to remain
world-leading,” says North.
One company benefiting in
terms of increasing outreach and
connecting to large-scale projects
is Virtual Viewing. It is the
enterprise behind the 360-degree
virtual reality of Milton Keynes –
complete with its own driverless
pod – being presented at the
Transport Systems Catapult
Imagine Festival 2015.
“The Catapult gives us a chance
to showcase our work to an
audience we'd struggle to reach on
our own,” says Stewart Bailey, its
Managing Director. “Being chosen
as an event partner identifies us as
a leader among peers. To be able to
present to key influencers in the UK
is beyond value.”
Bailey has also overcome
practical challenges thanks to
the collaboration.“The biggest
challenge is in achieving
fully immersive real-time
visualisations, including ‘haptics’,
where one is tactically connected
with virtual environments.
“Without the Catapult being
able to bring the Omnifinity
system – a Swedish developer of
solutions for natural movement
in the virtual world – to the UK,
we would not have had access
to such technology. It allows our
designers to strive towards the
future, knowing that we have
partners with us on that journey.
As we push the boundaries of
modelling and visualisation, the
Catapult too is pushing the
boundaries of hardware.”
SMALL, NIMBLE, DYNAMIC
Peter Lindgren, COO, TravelAI Ltd (a
London-based software specialist):
“A nimble company with innovative
technology and a bottom-up approach,
TravelAi is an unusual match for the
transport sector. It is an industry where
the need to avoid risk and a regulatory
landscape that limits competitive
pressures have stymied innovation. Yet
things are changing – and fast.
"TravelAi is typical of a new class
of small, dynamic companies, using
new technology and data techniques to
add value across the transport chain.
The Catapult provides a hub, helping
large companies navigate the changing
landscape and new entrants overcome
hurdles to market. The Catapult has joined
a consortium with TravelAi to create Catch!,
a data service for cities and the transport
industry. The journey planner provides
routing based on live travel data and helps
cities implement systems that better match
citizens’ needs. The consortium includes
cities, universities, SMEs and a global
consultant. TravelAi’s smartphone software
generates the data that underpins the
solution by detecting each user’s route and
mode of transport in real time. The Catapult
will guide the cities’ understanding of the
data’s value, informing the business model
and identifying opportunities.”
IMPACT / 31
SMES
Championing
small business
THE TRANSPORT SYSTEMS CATAPULT IS GIVING SOME OF THE UK'S MOST PROMISING SMALL
BUSINESSES A LEG-UP THROUGH COLLABORATION, PROMOTION, AND EARLY-STAGE FINANCE
F
or SMEs working in the
Intelligent Mobility space, the
Transport Systems Catapult
is creating a new lifeline. To
bridge the gap between academia,
big industry and SMEs, the Catapult
develops a range of collaborative
R&D programmes, while
facilitating pilots and demonstrator
projects that help small businesses
showcase their work.
And, to ease problems around
early-stage financing, it has
launched a £50-£100m SME Fund.
This will help develop pioneering
technologies that transform the
movement of goods and people.
“We are on the cusp of a revolution
in transport that will see IT
innovations used to create hyperefficient, seamless movement of
goods and people based on realtime data,” says Paul Zanelli, Chief
Technical Officer at the Catapult.
“The UK has led the way in opening
up transport data to drive this kind
of innovation, from Transport for
32 / IMPACT
London’s ‘open data’ powering
over 200 travel apps, to the UK
Government’s ‘open data portal’.
This has spurred innovation across
the private sector, giving Britain
a major advantage in a future
transport system fuelled by data.”
This year, the Catapult has
partnered with 40 SMEs and
engaged with 265. Among them is
PIE Mapping, which is building the
first real-time roadmap of Britain,
pooling live data from highway
agencies, transport operators
and local authorities to build
personalised route maps.
Scottish business Route Monkey
has developed the world’s first
electric-vehicle ‘scheduling
and modelling’ system, which is
helping BMW and TfL carry out
virtual trials to predict the impact
of electric cars across cities.
Mole Solutions, meanwhile,
is trialling the world’s first
automated freight pipelines that
transport consignments through
tunnels on driverless capsules.
Zipabout, a London-based
enterprise, has built technology
that scours social media traffic
and commuter movements to
chart the mood of consumers
across every location and even
predict future transport events.
And Internet of Things pioneer
Asset Mapping is trialling
technology that captures live
data from any connected device,
allowing transport operators 24hour visibility over entire networks
from a single screen, in real-time.
“A perfect storm of
circumstances, from the rise of
taxi-pooling to the introduction
of smart cards and declining
car ownership among young city
dwellers, is ushering in a new kind
of shared transport delivered as an
on-demand package service,” says
Zanelli. “This will see chaos and
congestion replaced with a single,
responsive, harmonised system
bound together by intelligent data.”
THIS YEAR, THE TRANSPORT SYSTEMS CATAPULT HAS COLLABORATED WITH 40 SMEs
AIMES Grid
Services Ltd
Opposite:
The Catapult
has partnered
with 40
SMEs on
collaborative
projects
this year
Alba Orbital Limited
AustriaTech
Avanti Communications
Ltd
Cambridge
Econometrics
Cell Therapy Catapult
Commonplace
Future Cities Catapult
MIRA
Red Web
Community Action MK
Graymatter
Oxbotica
Satellite Applications
Catapult
Digital Catapult
HourBike
Oxford MRG
E-Car Club
Humber LEP
Pie Mapping
Ertico
In Touch Limited
Placr Ltd
Evalu8
ITO World
Playground Energy
Experience Oxfordshire
LCP Consulting
Racelogic Ltd
Faxi
Maynard
RDM Group
Fronesys
MDST Ltd
Red Ninja
Temple Group
Transport for Greater
Manchester
Travel AI
Videregen
ZipAbout Ltd
Transport
systems £900
catapult
The estimated
worth of the
global market
for Intelligent
Mobility is
IN NUMBERS
£359
MILLION
will be invested in
Intelligent Mobility in the
UK economy thanks to the
work of the Catapult
4,397
people have visited
the Catapult
Transport Systems
Catapult is collaborating
with 137 organisations
including
40
75
22
BILLION
PER ANNUM
BY 2025
1
4
Transport Systems
Catapult’s four
business units
directly address
ACADEMIC
INSTITUTIONS
Information Exploitation
is linked to a
BILLION
£81
£98
BILLION
market size
market size
Customer Service is
linked to a
Modelling & Visualisation
is linked to a
£334
BILLION
£125
BILLION
market size
market size
£638
BILLION
or 70% of the total
global market for
Intelligent Mobility
By improving real-time
data accuracy by
71%
SMES
LARGE
BUSINESSES
2
3
Automated Transport
Systems is linked to a
£123
MILLION
104
staff members
including
technologists and
innovators work
at the Catapult
In new funds available for
residual value and
innovation in rail
the air network will save
£10
MILLION
Copyright © Transport Systems Catapult
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