Iskandar Malaysia and UK West Midlands launched partnership to collaborate on sustainable transport innovation and data-driven mobility planning

The UK FCDO Global Future Cities Programme (GFCP) facilitated a successful visit by senior delegation from Iskandar Malaysia to UK West Midlands from 15-17 November 2021. A major milestone for GFCP achieved with the launch of a three-year partnership between Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) and Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) under the West Midlands Combined Authority, for collaborations on sustainable transport innovation and data-driven mobility planning.

Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between TfWM and IRDA

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Interim Managing Director for TfWM, Anne Shaw and IRDA’s Director of Technology  and Innovation, Maimunah Jaafar, witnessed virtually by IRDA’s Chief Exec, Datuk Ismail Ibrahim and British High Commissioner to Malaysia, H.E. Charles Hay.

The signing was followed by an in-depth discussion between IRDA and TfWM on common challenges faced by both authorities and a visit to TfWM urban traffic control centres led by TfWM’s Director of Network Resilience, TfWM’s data analyst and transport modeller also provided insightful presentations on their mobility data systems – all are highly relevant to the development of Iskandar’s Smart Integrated Mobility Management System (SIMMS) under GFCP.

Visit at the Transport for West Midlands’s Urban Traffic Control Centre.

The Iskandar Malaysia Delegation also met with eight other UK organisations and authorities to exchange knowledge and explore UK smart city capabilities. Among the key highlights were visit to Harper Adams University (HAU) in Telford, a pioneer in UK’s agri-engineering known for establishing the world’s first Hands Free Farm operated by autonomous tractors (jointly developed by various UK industry partners including Westfield Technology).

Visiting the Hands Free Farm by Harpers Adam University.

The West Midlands Growth Company gave a good overview on investment opportunities in the region, in conjunction with the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 which will be the very first carbon-neutral games. Engaging discussions were also held with organisations such as the Energy Systems Catapult on district cooling and decarbonising transport. The meeting with West Midlands 5G (WM5G) offers valuable lessons for Malaysia (with plans for 5G to roll out to Johor and other densely populated states in 2022-23), the discussion focused on how 5G could catalyse innovation and enhance evidence-based urban and mobility planning.

Discussion with Energy Systems Catapult on district cooling and decarbonising transport

The visit to Westfield Technology has sparked discussions on how autonomous pods could support last mile connectivity in controlled environments. There were also extensive discussions on the challenges and maturity of autonomous vehicles technology with relevance to the Iskandar Malaysia Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) fleet expected to roll out in 2023 by IRDA.

Westfield Technology showcasing the autonomous pods used to support last mile connectivity.

An extensive discussion was also held with GHD (formerly known as Movement Strategies), particularly on a project they recently completed with O2 and Portsmouth on utilising mobile data to analyse traffic patterns and strengthen evidence-based mobility planning. Similar technology could be adopted to expand SIMMS datasets. It was very enlightening for Iskandar Malaysia to hear about success stories from the UK in piloting this (fairly) new technology. GHD also shared about their work in utilising anonymised credit card details (in partnership with Visa) to support city planning and hydrogen energy as an alternative fuel for public transport.

GFCP’s delivery partner Mott Macdonald’s team of experts in Birmingham shared their learnings in designing and developing flagship transport projects within the region, including the Very Light Rail (VLR) System for Coventry City Council and HS2, followed by a walkabout in Birmingham City to introduce the city tram and bus systems. Delegates also visited National Highways (formerly known as Highways England)’s Regional Control Centre and was given the inside scoop on how the highway authority is utilising data to improve road safety, emergency responses and incident management.

Visit to the West Midlands Regional Operations Centre

The partnership with TfWM and the exchange of knowledge with all of the organisations above have served as an inspiration for IRDA who are actively looking at implementing their recently launched Sustainable Energy Transition Roadmap with ambitions to reduce Iskandar Malaysia’s emission intensity by 58% by 2025, compared with 2010 levels. Continuing this momentum, the GFCP will facilitate the kick-off of IRDA and TfWM partnership, setting out the framework for collaborations.

Further opportunities networking and knowledge exchanges are available through the upcoming UK-Malaysia Smart Cities Mission in Feb 2022, more details on the event here.

Other media coverage: Intelligent Transport, Insider Media, WNTV.