Boost for technology that could change lives

A PROJECT to create new products and services aimed at transforming transport across the West Midlands has been boosted by £2.4 million of new funding.

Seven consortia will share the pot which has been granted by West Midlands 5G and Transport for West Midlands.

It will support the development of new products aimed at improving the customer experience, safety and security and helping the visually impaired, among other concepts.

The projects, which will all use 5G technology, are scheduled to run until the end of 2021 and each will include trialling and testing of the new service across the West Midlands region.

The winning consortia and projects from the first round are:

Capacity Manager (Blacc, Immense, Elgin, University of Warwick and O2): A traffic management product in which live traffic data is transferred in realtime to a road network model;

Curbs (Vortex IoT, National Express, BT and EE): Using sensors and advanced software, real-time data will be sent to provide up-to-date and detailed maps, monitoring roads and rail infrastructure;

Passenger Management (GoMedia, Wordnerds and Icomera): A system led by artificial intelligence designed to improve passenger experiences and safety by interpreting live customer feedback;

Predikt (AppyWay and Getmapping): A predictive parking system that uses kerbside imaging to reduce the amount of time spent space;

Transport Accessibility (GoMedia and Icomera): This project will help the visually impaired make all or some of their journeys on public transport independently;

Tram Safety (Icomera, Classone Systems and DigitalRail): CCTV footage will be streamed from trams and analysed in realtime with the aim of increasing passenger safety, assisting with social distancing and identifying where accessibility improvements may be required;

Urban Tourism (You Smart Thing, Landmrk, Imagemakers and Oodl): Using sensors at stations and major venues combined with booking and travel information, real-time traveller demand insights for rail and

finding a parking road networks will be created. West Midlands 5G is a multimillion-pound programme set up by the West Midlands Combined Authority and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to develop the UK’s first region-wide 5G testbed.

The Government is expected to invest over £20 million in this programme in addition to public and private investment from the West Midlands.

Chris Holmes, transport programme director at West Midlands 5G, said: “We have been delighted with the response to this first competition which was heavily oversubscribed.” A second round of the funding competition for 5G-enabled road and rail trials closes on December 2 where a share of £2.5 million is available to firms.