YORK has been given a financial boost to trial an innovative transport project that looks to help reduce road rage, rush hour traffic and improve air quality across the city.

The city is one of three that will share a pot of £1.5m, as part of the government's 'Govtech Catalyst', a £20 million fund to help solve local transport issues through technological solutions.

Based in York, the company INRIX plans to use vehicle tracking to map vehicle ‘paths’, helping to optimise and improve traffic signals in the city.

The Department of Transport said this will allow traffic to flow more freely, reducing journey times, red lights and stress for drivers.

The projects will be managed by the Department for Transport for 12 months.

James Gilchrist, City of York Council assistant director for transport, highways and environment, said: “We are thrilled to be pioneering innovative ways of using data to improve traffic management in the city. This will help us to make better-informed decisions, reduce congestion, prioritise road space for sustainable transport and help to increase the reliability of bus services.

“We are very excited to have the opportunity to work with INRIX in this GovTech Challenge project to further explore the Performance Analysis Trajectory Help tool. We have seen real benefits with the early prototype, and hope that continuing with this ground-breaking project will lead to a better road network for residents, visitors and businesses. We will also be able to share our lessons learned from the project with other local authorities.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Congestion isn’t just bad for our environment, productivity and communities – it also has a huge impact on our national economy. That’s why, as well as our multi-billion-pound investment in rail and buses to improve connectivity, we are opening up the city centre, transport and traffic management to new digital innovators.

“Transport technology is a growing global sector with the potential to help reduce congestion, emissions and improve connectivity. Today’s competition winners show how world-class UK transport tech companies are helping millions of people in our towns and cities every day.”