Plan to attract more innovative technology trials to Greater Cambridge

More innovative projects and trailblazing technology could be trialled in Cambridge as part of plans to encourage forward-thinking firms to test their ideas in the city.

The Greater Cambridge Partnership has proposed an Innovation Prospectus to entice ambitious companies and researchers that want to use the region as a testing ground for their projects or co-develop solutions with the GCP.

The selected trials would support the GCP’s programme – helping to solve the city region’s transport challenges and to support the planned growth across the region.

The proposal for creating the Innovation Prospectus was discussed by the Joint Assembly last week and, if the plan is approved by the Executive Board in March, the GCP will launch the prospectus and start engagement with industry.

Dan Clarke, GCP’s Head of Innovation and Technology, said:

“This is an exciting piece of work that aims to cement Greater Cambridge as a leading city for innovation, research, and technology.

“This will help us to build on the innovation work already being delivered such as the trialling of new signals technology that can support people cycling and walking to have quicker journeys through the city.

“The prospectus will help us to attract companies and researchers to our region to carry out cutting-edge research and trial emerging ideas that could help tackle the challenges we face and improve the lives of people who live and work here.”

The GCP, through its Smart workstream, has already help develop pioneering technology and research. Including working with transport tech firm VivaCity through to the autonomous vehicle trials on the West Cambridge Campus.

Mark Nicholson, VivaCity's CEO, said:

"We were excited to deploy innovative AI to control traffic signals in Cambridge. The Smart Junction pilot, working with the GCP, proved that AI can detect pedestrians and cyclists more effectively than traditional techniques, unlocking the ability to prioritise active travel at junctions, while delivering similar journey times for motor traffic to a top-performing recalibrated MOVA8 system."

Earlier this month, the government awarded £8.7m – match funded by industry – to the GCP-led Project Connector. This will see self-driving vehicles trialled on the roads of the West Cambridge Campus and Cambridge Biomedical Campus from 2024 to provide on-demand shuttles services to people who work and visit the sites.

For more information visit the Smart Technology and Innovation section of our website.

Case study – VivaCity

In December 2020 the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) Executive Board gave the go-ahead to deliver "the smart traffic signals pilot using the latest technology, including artificial intelligence". The aim was to use new approaches to solve problems that it had been struggling to address using traditional signal control systems, with a focus on traffic congestion and exploring how policies to prioritise sustainable modes could be enacted in practice.

VivaCity's Smart Junction solution is a first-of-its-kind AI signal control system. VivaCity developed an algorithm that is able to adapt quickly to changing traffic conditions and efficiently implement traffic network strategies at both local and city-wide scales.

The AI-powered computer vision sensors provide anonymous real-time data feeds on multimodal counts, classifications, speeds, and journey times of vehicles, along with information on queue build-up. A 97% classification accuracy, independently validated by Transport for London, distinguishes VivaCity sensors from others in the signal control market.

This wide range of data inputs are used to give machine learning algorithms a broad understanding of the current situation, enabling short-term optimisations based on precise, current vehicle positions, such as efficient stage closure, and will in the future enable longer-term optimisation on a regional level.

Cambridge is one of two VivaCity Smart Junction trial cities in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) area, the other being a single junction trial in Peterborough. This work builds on trials over a four year period at 15 junctions in Greater Manchester, culminating in a 23% reduction in journey times observed at a junction in Salford in 2021.

The Smart Junction system has been demonstrated to perform as well as the incumbent MOVA system in managing vehicle congestion, and in addition has brought significant benefits for active travel. A much more detailed analysis of road user behaviour has also become possible, supporting Cambridgeshire’s Active Travel Strategy and contributing to the County Council’s target to achieve net zero carbon by 2045.