Image source: Richard Townshend, CC BY 3.0
The House of Commons Transport Committee has launched an inquiry into future uses of data to improve services in the sector.
Named The future of transport data, it derives from proposals pitched to the committee on its Our Future Transport campaign for ideas on which subjects the committee should investigate.
It will look at how new ways of using data can improve the delivery of services and infrastructure management, and how it can make transport quicker, safer and more efficient. This will involve asking what regulations and standards could be needed and the potential risks in the use of data.
The announcement of the inquiry included a reference to the potential of AI in the sector.
The move comes after the Government recently published its Transport Data Strategy. The call for evidence includes questions on issues such as: the biggest gaps in data; how the delivery of infrastructure could be improved by data sharing; what skills and capacity do operators, infrastructure providers and transport authorities need; and how can the UK scale up from pilots towards a better integrated system?
Help passengers
Transport Committee chair Iain Stewart MP said: “We want to learn more about the potential uses of data to improve the delivery of transport services, and to ultimately help passengers get around more quickly and safely.
“There have been innovations in recent years such as AI, digital twins and TfL’s live data sharing with third party travel apps. Now we want to see what might be coming round the corner.”
