The Department for Transport (DfT) has launched the second round of the multi-million-pound Live Labs competition, which is aimed at supporting projects to decarbonise local highways infrastructure across the UK.
Organised by the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT), the £30m Live Labs 2 competition will focus in particular on making the construction, maintenance and running of the UK’s roads more sustainable.
‘Investing in innovation is a priority for this government. That’s why we’re supporting local highways authorities to develop cutting-edge projects and help drive our decarbonisation mission,’ said transport minister Trudy Harrison.
‘Our £30m investment will go towards a greener, safer transport landscape. It will help create green, high-skilled jobs across the country and I look forward to seeing these innovative ideas brought to life.’
The second round of the competition follows the first £22.9m Live Labs programme which launched in May 2019 and supported the creation of eight local projects testing innovative solutions on local roads.
These projects included fibre cables that detect vibrations from vehicles and dynamically change signal junctions to combat congestion. They also involved drone trials to detect potholes in Kent and plastic roads in Cumbria.
