Commercial Innovation
Whether you are a start-up or SME, a corporate, an accelerator, or an investor, through TfL's innovation Hub, we want to talk with you about how we can improve London and TfL.
We want to make it easy for market innovators to work with us so we are keeping this page up to date to share areas where we are looking for innovation.
Our Innovation Programmes 2019/20
Our transport network has become more complex than ever before. There's a vast array of challenges that we must work to solve. We must embrace and embed new products and technology to help us solve these challenges.
So we're putting some of our biggest problems out to the market and asking it to respond with new solutions. See our current innovation programmes below.
Bus Safety Innovation Challenge
As part of Vision Zero, safety on the bus network is a priority. To help achieve this, we have launched the Bus Safety Innovation Challenge to identify new, innovative products and solutions which will improve the safety of the London bus network.
We're encouraging all innovators and eligible applicants to apply. The deadline for entries is 21 June 2019. For more information, visit the Bus Safety Innovation Challenge website.
Connected Retail London
Connected Retail London is a competition which challenges businesses to come up with an innovative and technological concept that will reimagine the use of physical space in retail and deliver a unique experience for customers who travel using the transport network everyday.
The winner will get the chance to pilot their concept as we will provide them with retail space on our estate for a year, valued up to £100,000. We're encouraging all innovators and eligible applicants to apply. The deadline for entries is midday on 21 June 2019.
For more information, visit the Connected Retail London website.
London RoadLab
London RoadLab is our first open innovation programme in partnership with the utilities, London councils and Plexal, an innovation centre based in Here East at London's Olympic Park to reduce the adverse impact of roadworks.
These companies were shortlisted and received £20,000 each to participate in a pilot where they had access to subject matter experts, data and an opportunity to test their solutions with us. Using a rarely used procurement process, this initiative provides the option to procure solutions at scale.
Winners of the TfL challenges, Go Jauntly, VU.CITY, and Crossmap at the awards
Mayor's Civic Innovation
We worked with the Mayor's Office on his inaugural Civic Innovation Challenge. The challenge looked for start-ups to develop ways to reduce inequality, prevent climate change and support London's ageing population.
The winners of the Mayor's Civic Innovation Challenge were announced on 1 October. Each has been given £15,000 to jointly test and refine their ideas. We're now working with Go Jauntly to encourage more leisure time walking, and with VU.CITY and Crossmap to use our data to develop a housing analytics and visualisation platform.
For more information, visit the Civic Innovation Challenge website.
Working with us
We are always looking for new ways we can work with companies wanting to innovate around transport and mobility.
If you're a corporate looking to launch a new future of mobility hub in London, a start-up or SME with a new business model in mobility, or an innovation accelerator, incubator or investor, please email us at innovation@tfl.gov.uk.
Our Innovation collaborations
Our Commercial Innovation team is still relatively new and we're working hard to build our portfolio of collaborations to deliver benefits for all Londoners. Here's a sample of some of our latest collaborations:
Bosch Connectory
We're trialling an 18-month pilot partnership with Bosch to give small businesses and start-ups the opportunity to work with renowned experts and use cutting-edge data to tackle crucial transport challenges in London.
Bosch have opened a new 'Connectory' facility in Shoreditch, providing space and facilities for TfL and selected start-ups to work alongside Bosch's experts, along with private, academic and public sector partners.
The Connectory has a primary focus on urban mobility challenges facing Londoners, including innovations around more efficient, greener and safer vehicles, reducing congestion, improving accessibility and encouraging more people to walk, cycle and take public transport across the city.
We provide technical knowledge and a wide range of datasets based on our existing Unified API and open data platform to allow companies to test ideas and understand patterns in more detail. In return, Bosch dedicates professionals to provide technical expertise, guidance and mentoring.
Further details will be released soon by Bosch on their plans to consider direct approaches by small business/start ups who want to be part of the Connectory community.
Waze
We partner with Waze to share data and provide useful and relevant information to our customers. Most recently, we used their platform to remind drivers approaching the Blackwall Tunnel to refuel before entering the tunnel. As a result, we saw a significant increase in Waze users re-route to a nearby petrol station, drastically reducing the risk of breakdowns from fuel.
