The UK and Europe are leading the world in a mission to adopt new mobility modes that support a decarbonisation agenda. TRL, and its Smart Mobility London testbed is at the epicenter of the movement to decarbonise transport.
London is a European megacity, with expected population growth of more than 10 million by 2041. Its international profile and visibility attract European and worldwide organisations and investors. London also one of the most ambitious targets for reducing pollution caused by transport.
The Royal Borough of Greenwich and Stratford are excellent testbed locations, because they’re integrated with multiple modes and have highly developed public transport systems. Both have growing populations. These are dynamic urban communities that are adapting rapidly in response to social and environmental challenges. They also provide diverse and challenging urban settings with a range of complex features.
Because the national government backs CAM innovation and the decarbonisation of transport, SMLL operates within a supportive and safe UK legal framework for on-road testing. In addition SMLL enjoys the support and co-operation of SMLL’s local authorities and the capital’s transport operators.
optimal location
Across our Greenwich and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park locations, the physical environment is richly diverse. The SMLL testbed is 24km of instrumented urban roads, both single and multi-lane, including roundabouts.
Our customers know that if it works in London, it can work anywhere.
UK Context
London is an optimal testbed for mobility solutions because of the positive, proactive and collaborative approach taken by the UK government and key opinion leaders.
London is a innovation hub for CAM, matched by public and private investment.
MASS MARKET ADOPTION
Testing in a real-life city means you can put solutions through their paces in the everyday environment where they’ll ultimately function. At SMLL London provides an authentic experience, generating trial data and conclusions that are visible, reliable and credible – trusted by commercial investors and clients as well as end consumers.
PATHWAY TO APPROVALS
UK organisations and government are taking a leading role in shaping approval pathways – SMLL is uniquely placed to understand and contribute to these processes.
For testing and validation on the pathway to approvals, London is an ideal location because the urban environment has common features with most European cities. It’s an optimal proving ground in advance of commercial deployment of new services and solutions.
greenwich
The Royal Borough of Greenwich features a complex array of roads, junctions and intermodal connections that allow advanced testing and trials in a real-world environment. It represents modern cities well, with lots of different features.
queen elizabeth olympic park
The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London is an open, campus-like setting. A high-quality, modern built environment, the transport and road network serves a range of modern residential, retail and commercial zones.
“We know that for CAVs to become successfully introduced we need to enable transport innovators to test in an environment that features human-driven vehicles and pedestrians. That’s exactly what we can do here, in a way that puts safety at the heart of transport innovators’ requirements and harnesses the benefits of testing in a complex urban environment.”
London roads are complex with many modes of transport and pedestrians interacting at once, making it the ultimate test environment for CAVs.