A new national hub focused on rapidly decarbonising transport in the UK, including road, rail, air and maritime, has secured £46 million from the UK government and almost 70 partners.
The TransiT Hub, a collaboration of eight universities and 67 partners jointly led by Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow, has secured £20 million in funding from the UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the main funding body for engineering and physical sciences research in the UK.
Another £26 million in support is being provided by stakeholders across the digital, energy and transport sectors, including transport operators, regulators, vehicle makers, technology companies and energy suppliers. The collaboration is thought to be one of the largest transport consortiums of its kind.
The eight universities in the TransiT hub are each centres of expertise in core project areas. These are:
TransiT will identify the lowest cost, least risky and most energy-efficient way to decarbonise transport by developing a digital twinning approach.
Digital twins are digital replicas of the physical world. They are created using data collected from the physical world in real time. This data is collected by sensors connected to real-world infrastructure – for example, motorway, railway, shipping or flight monitoring systems. The digital twin rapidly analyses the real-world data to test and improve different scenarios. The digital twin then sends back its solution for an improved process to the physical world. This exchange happens almost instantly – in close to real time.
A practical example might be a digital twin automatically updating digital road signs with information on the shortest route out of a traffic jam, based on real-time traffic data in that location.
The TransiT team expect their testing to include elements of a future decarbonised UK transport system that don’t yet exist – for example, electric road systems and alternative fuels.
The digital twin can help experts in the physical world understand where and how best to deploy these future systems by analysing a range of data. This could include information on what transport services communities and industry are forecast to need and where they can be simulated and tested in the virtual world in advance of real-world deployment.
Digital twinning allows different transport configurations to be tested and developed much faster than real-world engineering projects, until the lowest cost pathway to net-zero carbon emissions is identified.
Data used to build the digital twins will include transport operations data from TransiT’s industry partners, such as number and type of vehicles, fuel types, load sizes, length and frequency of routes and links to other transport modes, such as ports and road networks. Transport users will also contribute to citizen research to help scientists model human travel behaviour and travel choices.
Professor Phil Greening is a logistics expert at Heriot-Watt University and joint Director of TransiT. He said: “Transport accounts for about a third of UK carbon emissions and, with global temperatures rapidly rising, we have run out of time to carry out real-world transport trials and learn from them. So, if the UK is to meet its carbon reduction commitments, we have to do our experiments digitally. We need to design the future transport system and optimise the transition to it.
“Digital twins will help us see the where, what and how to decarbonise transport. We start by building individual models of real-world transport systems. These can then be connected together and linked to the real world to give a bigger picture of what our future decarbonised transport system might look like – and the lowest cost way of getting there.”
Professor David Flynn is a Professor in Cyber Physical Systems at the University of Glasgow and also a joint Director of TransiT. He said: “We will explore how digital twinning can improve the design of future transport solutions, to ensure services are accessible to all. It’s challenging for designers and engineers today to appreciate the perspective of citizens with mobility challenges and what they experience throughout the full journey. If we can create and embed new design principles, we can identify equitable pathways to decarbonisation.”
Transport users including passengers and commuters will benefit from research to identify and help them make decisions about the most sustainable travel choices on a local, regional and national level. For example, passengers could benefit from a “personalised digital twin assistant” Professor Flynn said.
“This is similar to how your Netflix or Amazon account learns your preferences, and will build an understanding of your mobility needs, journey requirements and personal preferences,” he added.
“The digital twin assistant will then offer near to real-time journey options that are end-to-end and that best fit your needs.”
Because this digital twin assistant would be part of a network of other digital twins each monitoring different transport systems – including road and rail networks – it would be a highly reliable planner of your journey, Professor Flynn said.
“It could update your best journey options based on your individual needs and budget, as well as the reliability of transport services, and how the impact of weather might change these,” he added.
TransiT’s digital twinning approach can also provide a blueprint for other sectors that need transformational change, Professor Flynn said.
For transport providers and investors, digital twinning reduces risk and cost, the TransiT researchers say. For example, logistics companies can use data from digital twinning to help them plan how to sustainably move freight in the future. This could include identifying the most sustainable routes, vehicle types, journey times, business models and collaborations.
Government policymakers will benefit from TransiT by being able to see what intended and unintended consequences, across a broad timespan, could result from their policy decisions across a range of future scenarios.
Transport Minister Mike Kane said: “Digital twinning is a powerful technology that can help us integrate transport networks, improve efficiency and deliver greener transport for all.
“The launch of TransiT is an important step which will bring together academia, industry and government to research and realise the benefits of this technology for the transport sector. This is an excellent example of the work being done across government to deliver true innovation.”
Feryal Clark, Minister for AI and Digital Government, said: “We see a technology future for British people which enriches and improves their lives. The research TransiT will now carry out is a prime example of how we’re supporting cutting-edge innovations to make that vision a reality.
“On top of saving the public time and money on the journeys they take day-to-day, this project will also harness the power of transformative digital technologies to cut carbon emissions – demonstrating the incredible impact technology can have in improving our public services, tackling climate change, and beyond.”
In addition to the EPSRC and industry support, TransiT’s partner universities will fund the recruitment of 18 research students with Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees.
EPSRC’s £20 million investment is its largest to date in digital twinning of the UK’s transport system.
EPSRC Executive Chair Professor Charlotte Deane said: “Digital twins offer an enormous opportunity to decarbonise our transport networks by testing the potential impact of changes more quickly, reducing costs and helping us to design the transport networks we need, when we need them.
“Passengers and commuters will benefit through being able to choose the most sustainable travel choices, while transport operators will be able to speed up their work to provide low-carbon services.
“TransiT is the result of considerable work between UKRI and government to identify how we can best harness the expertise of a wide range of partners across academia, industry and other organisations to ensure that we seize the opportunities digital twins offer."
The funding announcement by EPSRC follows an initial six-month consultation and call for partners to explore the potential of digital twinning to decarbonise, with the support of industry, policymakers and other stakeholders.