Seven road and rail transport improvement projects across the West Midlands are to receive a share of £2.4m in funding.
West Midlands 5G Limited (WM5G) is running the first phase of a funding competition that will invest in projects that showcase products and services developed to improve the efficiency of road and rail travel, enhance the passenger experience or create better connected transport.
The projects include a 5G traffic management solution that uses AI to analyse live traffic data to create a road network model improving congestion management.
Another entry is a parking system that uses 5G-enabled kerbside imaging to predict the availability of parking spaces. It is estimated that the Appyway and Getmapping system could save £373m annually on wasted fuel and emissions as drivers hunt for a parking spot.
Furthermore, a project to assist more visually impaired people to travel on public transport has applied for funding. The project claims that currently over 40% of visually impaired passengers cannot make some or all of their public transport journeys independently.
Chris Lane, head of transport innovation at Transport for West Midlands, said: “We have ambitious transport plans for the region and the funding competition with West Midlands 5G forms a key part of that. The outcome of these trials will make a significant difference to transport across the region and have national relevance.”
WM5G is working to develop the UK’s first region-wide test bed with the programme running until the end of 2021.
Registered UK businesses can apply for the second round of the funding competition by 02 December 2020, when a share of an additional £2.5m investment is available.
