Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced an agreement Monday to enhance the two cities’ collaboration on addressing transportation issues around the world.
“Los Angeles is ready to test-drive new ideas, inventions and innovations on our streets right now,” Garcetti said. “Our partnership with London is about putting the best concepts in the world onto our local roads and railways, taking steps together to reduce traffic, cut carbon emissions and build resilient cities for the future.”
Garcetti’s office said the two cities share transportation challenges that need creative answers, such as congestion, air pollution and safety issues. The agreement will commit the cities to work together to identify where similar problems exist and find solutions that can be applied elsewhere in the world.
“London and Los Angeles are two of the world’s boldest and most innovative cities, so it makes perfect sense for us to join forces with the aim of addressing some of the biggest transport challenges facing us today,” Khan said. “Working together enables us to share best practice, promote new ideas and find pioneering solutions that could be replicated in other cities around the globe.”
The partnership will also give companies the opportunity to take part in start-up exchanges, where start-up companies can pitch ideas to both London and Los Angeles.
The mayors said they hope to expand the network of cities addressing transportation issues in the months and years ahead.
London will pilot the first start-up exchange through its FreightLab Innovation Challenge, which seeks innovators in the United Kingdom to come up with ideas to make freight transportation in London safer, cleaner and more efficient. Winning innovators could be given the opportunity to pitch their solution to the city of Los Angeles and test their proposals in a new market.
“We are pleased to exchange strategies with the great city of London to support innovative solutions to urban freight challenges,” Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said. “We (the port) are testing more than a dozen zero and near-zero emissions projects to further reduce emissions. We look forward to sharing best practices and await the results of the London FreightLab Innovation Challenge.”
Full details of the innovation challenge are available at tech.london/challenges/tackling-congestion.