Transport Systems Catapult

Our mission is to drive global leadership in Intelligent Mobility, promoting sustained economic growth and wellbeing through integrated, efficient and sustainable transport systems.

The Transport Systems Catapult is one of ten elite technology and innovation centres established and overseen by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.

We were created to drive and promote Intelligent Mobility – using new and emerging technologies to transport people and goods more smartly and efficiently.

We are helping UK businesses create products and services that meet the needs of the world’s transport systems as they respond to ever-stretching demands. We help sell UK capability on the global stage, while also promoting the UK as a superb test bed for the transportation industry.

With a clear emphasis on collaboration, we are bringing together diverse organisations across different modes of transport, breaking down barriers and providing a unique platform for meeting the world’s most pressing transport challenges.

Our facilities

Centrally located in the new town of Milton Keynes, our “Imovation Centre” is a world-class collaboration space for innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, business leaders and people passionate about how technology can improve transport systems.

Named after a combination of Intelligent Mobility and innovation, the Imovation Centre is used to test and demonstrate the latest ideas in technology-led transport solutions. Going forward, the facility is intended to provide a collaborative centre of excellence which will enable the UK to become globally recognised as the go-to place for expertise in intelligent transport systems.

Our focus areas

The Transport Systems Catapult is working in partnership with industry, government authorities and research bodies to champion innovation in transport. We work across all major forms of transport, with an emphasis on seeking solutions that can be applied to multiple modes.

The main focus areas that we are currently working on include automated transport systems, modelling & visualisation, customer experience and information exploitation and smart infrastructure.

Funding & governance

The Transport Systems Catapult is a not-for-profit organisation established and overseen by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK. All Catapults obtain their funds from a combination of core Innovate UK support and competitively won business and public sector funding. In addition, the Transport Systems Catapult is receiving substantial funding from the UK’s Department for Transport. When fully established, Catapults are expected to generate their funding broadly equally from three sources:

• business-funded R&D contracts, won competitively;
• collaborative applied R&D projects, funded jointly by the public and private sectors, also won competitively;
• core public funding for long-term investment in infrastructure, expertise and skills development.

Solutions

• Intelligent Transportation Systems
• Transport IT - Transport management / Data processing/ Information / Communication