Minster announces creation of new National Transport Research Centre Co-hosted at Imperial

Lord Adonis announces funding for research centre during a visit to discuss biofuels and clean energy – News

Thursday 5 March 2009
By Colin Smith

A new £7.25 million research centre aimed at tackling the UK’s transport policy issues was announced today by the Minister of State for Transport Lord Andrew Adonis, during a visit to Imperial College London.

The UK Transport Research Centre (UKTRC) will be jointly run by Imperial, the University of Leeds and University College London (UCL). Research will be carried out by leading academics at universities from across the country.

The College’s Centre for Transport Studies (CTS), based in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will be one of the major contributors to the UKTRC, providing academic and administrative input. Professor John Polak, Director of the CTS, explains:

“The UKTRC will formalise the already strong relationship we have with our colleagues at Leeds and UCL, and more widely throughout the transport research community. It will also provide new funds, an administrative infrastructure, and an academic focal point for transport research in this country. Imperial is set to benefit by being at the very hub of all this activity.”

One of the principal objectives of the UKTRC is to enhance multidisciplinary working between transport researchers and social scientists to generate new evidence and insights into key transport problems.

Lord Adonis announcing the establishment of the UKTRC

One of its first projects will involve researchers from Imperial and the London School of Economics investigating the long-term effects of major transport projects on the development of London, the impact they have on the city’s economy, the labour market and their success with easing commuter congestion. These may include the Crossrail project, a major rail network that will link Essex to the City, Heathrow and Maidenhead by 2017. The research outcomes will be used to guide future investment in major transport infrastructure projects.

Other projects will investigate ways to improve governance and decision making in the transport sector, and how future transport demands might be influenced by technological advances and societal changes in other sectors of the economy.

An important objective of the UKTRC will also be to facilitate a greater interaction between academics, government officials, and non-government organisations that work in transport. To achieve this, new forms of information management will be developed as well as a new web portal to provide streamlined access to reports and data from previous transport research.

Welcoming the establishment of the UKTRC, the Rector of Imperial College London Sir Roy Anderson said:

"A well functioning transport system is fundamental to the UK's economy and to the quality of life of all of us who live here. This new centre offers a tremendous opportunity to bring together a broad range of experts to carry out the comprehensive analyses that will underpin improvements to quality and sustainability in this vital sector.

"It was a pleasure to welcome Lord Adonis to Imperial for a visit which underlines the importance of science and technology in research intensive universities to maintaining the UK's competitive edge."

Lord Adonis added: “We are committed to delivering a first class sustainable transport system in this country – but to do this we need a first class evidence base. The research coming out of this Centre will be instrumental in ensuring Britain is at the forefront of new sustainable transport developments.”

The UKTRC is funded by the Department for Transport (DfT), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Scottish Government. Funds will be used to employ new academic staff, PhD and post doctorate positions as well as the establishment of new administrative offices to be based at the three partner institutions.

During his visit, Lord Adonis also attended a seminar on clean energy and low carbon technologies, meeting scientists from Imperial’s Porter Institute, which developing sustainable biofuels, and the Energy Futures Laboratory, which is the focal point for energy research across the College.