Innovate UK has announced the launch of its UK Transport Vision 2050, a document that sets out the changes, challenges and opportunities that will confront the transport sector over the next 30 years.
The aim of the study is to gather UK government and industry around a single vision to inform how to invest in the future of transport as an interconnected system that delivers for people and places.
Innovate UK has identified six areas where it believes steps need to be taken to achieve the 2050 vision: travel and transport demand; connectivity; energy vectors; autonomy; business models and infrastructure.
Furthermore, the organisation has identified three major trends that highlight new opportunities for economic growth and societal benefit.
According to the vision, powering of transport in the future will radically change, bringing significant opportunities and risk for UK design, production and supply chains; electricity, hydrogen, ammonia and sustainable fuel will replace petroleum and create new opportunities for generation, production and distribution; and greater connectivity, autonomous systems, new business models and robotics will transform transport.
Innovate UK said the Transport Vision 2050 has grown out of extensive research into the future of transport and out of consultation with partners in both the public and private sectors. The vision document will be regularly updated and used to inform decisions on future investments.
Indro Mukerjee, chief executive officer at Innovate UK, said: “We will use this vision and our assessment of the UK’s relative strengths to determine where we invest our efforts over the coming years.
“We hope it will also inform and guide our partners in the public sector and in industry when they are making their investment decisions.
“We also welcome feedback to help us refine and improve this work.”
