Transport for London (TfL) and Los Angeles have agreed to work together on a series of transport innovation challenges beginning with one on the movement of freight through the cities.
It is part of an agreement to become ‘innovator cities’, collaborating to tackle major transportation issues.
They will work together on developing innovation challenges, identifying where similar problems exist and making sure that solutions developed in either city can work elsewhere in the world.
The agreement will also give companies the opportunity to take part in ‘start-up exchanges’, which would allow small firms to pitch their ideas in both London and LA.
The approach will be first trialled through the London FreightLab Innovation Challenge, which launched last month. London FreightLab is calling for the best innovators in the UK to come up with ideas which make freight in London safer, cleaner and more efficient.
Through the new agreement, the winning innovators could be given the opportunity to pitch their solution to the Mayor’s Office for the City of Los Angeles, for the opportunity to go and test their idea in another global city.
London and LA hope to expand the network to more cities.
Image by jondoeforty1, CC BY-SA 2.0