PRESS RELEASE : £1.3 million to back cutting-edge transport projects [April 2024]

The press release issued by the Department for Transport on 17 April 2024.

Organisations and academics can apply for TRIG funding to research innovative ideas to improve transport in the UK.

A £1.3 million competition to transform the transport sector, grow the economy and inspire innovation has been launched today (17 April 2024).

The latest round of the government’s Transport Research and Innovation Grant (TRIG) is now open, with organisations and academics able to win up to £45,000 in funding.

The TRIG scheme, delivered by Connected Places Catapult, supports businesses and academics working on innovative ideas in the early stages of their research. It aims to improve transport across the country and support skilled UK jobs as part of the government’s plan to help grow the economy.

Previous TRIG winners have gone on to improve the passenger experience across the country through:

• better connecting rural communities with a shuttle bus app
• ensuring people can stay online whilst travelling by sea by expanding 5G data coverage
• using AI technology to provide real-time insights to authorities on how local transport is being used so it can be improved
• trialling the use of hydrogen to make plane and boat journeys greener.

Decarbonisation, Aviation and Technology Minister, Anthony Browne, said:

As part of our plan to improve transport across the country, we’re continuing to back the TRIG competition which has funded hundreds of cutting-edge projects over more than a decade.

Today’s competition launch means projects in their early stages can win tens of thousands of pounds to help improve transport and support skilled UK jobs in the process.

This year’s competition is seeking proposals focused on:

• nation specific transport solutions – a new category for projects that address specific transport challenges in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland to level up the whole of the UK’s transport system and boost connectivity
• local transport decarbonisation – innovative ideas that accelerate the decarbonisation of local transport systems, demonstrating an understanding of the needs of local areas and communities, whilst also having the potential to be scaled up across the UK in the future
• maritime decarbonisation – maritime solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the UK’s maritime sector to support the transition to net zero
• critical and emerging technologies – ideas that utilise critical technologies, such as AI, or any emerging technologies, such as drones, to enable a resilient transport system delivering cheaper, cleaner, and quicker journeys for all
• open call – wider solutions that have the potential to address a UK transport challenge, across the entire network, challenges and technology areas

This follows the success of last year’s TRIG competition, which saw 41 projects win funding, including a project that uses AI to reduce train station overcrowding, and a self-driving parcel delivery boat to reduce road congestion.

Applications for this year’s competition open today and close on the 21 May 2024.