£16M FITS the bill for ITS research

11 October 2006
 
Government departments announced more than £16M of funding for new research projects into intelligent transport systems (ITS) applications during this week’s World ITS Congress in London.
The Department for Transport (DfT), the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) are providing £9M for a select number of multidisciplinary demonstrations under a new Future ITS (FITS) initiative, with industry being expected to add a further £3M.
FITS is open to bids from consortia of UK companies, local authorities and research organisations with a 3 November deadline for receiving expressions of interest. Its focus is on improving road safety, public transport and traffic management, increasing road freight efficiency, and enhancing travel information.
Announcing the call at the congress opening plenary, DTI minister, Lord Sainsbury, said the aim was to build on the recent DTI Foresight programme study of intelligent infrastructure futures, which envisages 2055 scenarios including a tough regime of carbon points enforced by national surveillance systems and intelligent vehicles. Bidders, said Lord Sainsbury, would need to show awareness of the psychology of travel and the need to incentivise people to make alternative choices.
But House of Commons transport select committee chair, Gwyneth Dunwoody, warned that ITS deployment could have unintended negative consequences for human and civil rights, as well as for urban regeneration and the countryside.
She also believed that any national road-pricing scheme should not be designed to be revenue neutral, for example, by replacing vehicle excise duties.
Instead, it should aim to raise additional revenues, to fund alternative forms of transport, she said.

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