Minister for Transport Stephen Ladyman and Lord Sainsbury, DTI Minister for Science and Innovation, have announced £9 million in new public funding for research into future intelligent transport systems.

At the World Congress on the subject in London yesterday, Ladyman said: "The Government has today launched a major research programme on future intelligent transport systems, which together with industry contributions will make over £12 million available for innovative demonstration projects. This is just the start of a fruitful collaboration between government and industry.

"Our vision for this initiative is to support highly innovative and wide-ranging research and technology demonstrator projects, combining the best UK expertise in industry, local authorities, transport service providers and universities."

The funding will allow a small number of consortia with wide-ranging expertise to work in collaboration to tackle transport challenges over the next decade. The Department for Transport, Department of Trade and Industry and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council will jointly provide £9 million of funding for research, with a further £3 million expected from industry.

The Future Intelligent Transport Systems initiative is meant to stimulate new ideas, concepts, products or services that will improve road safety, the reliability and accessibility of public transport, the efficiency of road freight, road network management, and travel information.