NEWS

New support for firms with green solutions to regional transport challenges

From electric taxis to bin lorries, a new accelerator will offer bespoke business support to SMEs with ideas to make transport greener.
July 31, 2024

31.07.24 LONDON, Connected Places Catapult, the UK’s innovation accelerator for cities, transport, and place leadership, has today announced the opening of applications for its first Local Authority Transport Decarbonisation Accelerator.

The Catapult has partnered with two local authorities and one sub-national transport body that are each seeking solutions that can help them progress towards their net zero objectives. The three organisations have worked with the Catapult to set challenges specific to their places.

The search is now on for small-to-medium-sized-enterprises (SMEs) with solutions that can address one of the three challenges:

  • Decarbonisation of refuse collection vehicles – Adur and Worthing Councils
  • Incentivising the transition of taxis to EV – Cardiff Council
  • Understanding the impact of local transport policy changes – England’s Economic Heartland

Up to two SMEs will be selected to work collaboratively with each partner and will receive tailored business support from the Catapult. As part of this process, the SMEs will gain insights which will enable them to refine their solutions to address the place-based challenges.

SMEs have until midnight on 15 September to apply here.

“Across the UK, public authorities responsible for decarbonising local transport are facing a range of challenges depending on the needs of their place. This new accelerator seeks to support small- to medium-sized businesses to engage with these organisations in a meaningful way and bring forward innovative solutions to these challenges.

“If you’re an SME with ideas that can help solve one of these challenges, I encourage you to apply”
Alex Weedon, Executive Director - SME Development & Academic Engagement, at Connected Places Catapult
“This is an exciting opportunity to explore ideas that could support further decarbonisation of taxi services in Cardiff as part of our One Planet Cardiff response to the climate emergency. We hope to see some innovative solutions come forward for consideration that can help the Council, other partners, and the sector as we tackle the challenges of climate change together.”
Cardiff Council Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Strategic Planning and Transport, Cllr Dan De’Ath
“The EEH region, covering Swindon and Oxfordshire through to Cambridgeshire, consists of relatively smaller cities, many market towns and large rural populations – where there is often little realistic alternative to the car. Given this, a ‘one-size fits all’ approach to decarbonisation simply will not work – we are committed to supporting our local authorities with tailored place-based strategies which stand the greatest chance of being effective. We’re therefore excited to be part of this project working with SMEs on understanding the impact of transport policy changes at a local level and the real-world learning that is derived from this as we work towards a net zero transport system.”
James Golding-Graham, England’s Economic Heartland’s Head of Decarbonisation and Innovation
Apply now

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Connected Places Catapult is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England under company number 11837978. Its registered office is at 1 Sekforde Street, London, EC1R 0BE.​