TransiT is a national research hub focused on using digital twins to rapidly decarbonise transport in the UK, including road, rail, air and maritime, across both passenger and freight.

We are a collaboration of eight universities and almost 70 industry partners, jointly led by Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow.

TransiT has secured £20 million in funding from the UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the main funding body for engineering and physical sciences research in the UK.

Another £26 million in support is being provided by industry partners across the digital, energy and transport sectors, including transport operators, regulators, vehicle makers, technology companies and energy suppliers.

Transport accounts for about a third of UK carbon emissions. But with global temperatures rapidly rising, we have run out of time to carry out real-world transport trials and learn from them.

Digital twins are digital replicas of the physical world that can help to understand how to decarbonise transport much faster, more affordably and with less risk than real-world trials.

TransiT’s core goal is to build and link together a network of interconnected digital twins spanning road, rail, air and maritime transport modes. We call this a ‘Federated Transport System of Systems.’

This innovative approach gives us a powerful ‘whole system’ understanding of transport in the UK – including passenger and freight movements across all sectors – and means we can rapidly test and optimise different transport decarbonisation scenarios.