Transport innovation - Print version

Transport Innovation is our city's specialism. With a variety of exciting projects in the pipeline, we welcome investors & innovators across the sector. 

• Coventry Very Light Rail [#CVLR]
• Urban Air Mobility [#Urban air]
• Ultra-fast Charging Hubs/ Green Innovation Park [#Ultrafast]
• City Centre Circuit [#City Centre Circuit] (MotoFest)
• ITS World Congress [#ITS]

Coventry Very Light Rail

Coventry Very Light Rail (CVLR) is an emerging and exciting initiative being spearheaded by Coventry City Council to deliver an innovative and affordable new mass transit solution for enhanced urban connectivity.

CVLR will fill a gap in the public transport market that will integrate with buses and other modes to create a seamless door to door experience.

Our growing city aims to continue to meet environmental and financial sustainability needs when it comes to integrated mass transit transport systems that are capable of supporting urban and economic development. CVLR provides a solution that is comfortable, efficient, reliable and low cost, while increasing social mobility and inclusivity, while helping to improve air quality and decarbonising transport.

Find out more about Coventry Very Light Rail [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/verylightrail].

Investment opportunity

• development and operation of the Coventry Very Light Rail network
• marketing, development and operation in the UK and international market
• further R&D to evolve the technology

There is an opportunity for delivery or investment partners to support the delivery of the first Coventry route(s).

But Coventry Very Light Rail has also attracted interest from across Europe and internationally. Geographic specific licences could be monetised to interested parties for exclusivity within specific regions.

The Track-form and vehicle have extensive unique features for which Coventry City Council have IP protection and numerous Patents granted and pending in the UK, USA, Europe EPO and Canada.

The IP valuation could be influenced by supply chain commitments supporting the local economy and UK build commitments. Potentially royalty payments could be obtained for use of components or integrated system outside the West Midlands area.

• Planning Status: First Stage February 2024
• Promoter: Coventry City Council
• Investment Type: Model to suit
• Scale/Value: £1m - £375m
• Sector: Public Transport
• Timeline: 2024 - 2027
• Lead: Public/ Private: Public

Urban Air Mobility

Urban Air Mobility includes:

• Urban Airport Air One
• Skyway
• Drone Ready Cities (DRC)
• ASCENT Project Drone
• SkyFarer Services

Coventry City Council has emerged as one of the UK’s leading local authorities in urban air mobility (UAM) by treating it as a long‑term city systems challenge rather than a set of isolated pilots. Through a sequence of nationally funded projects, the Council has moved from high‑profile infrastructure demonstration, to practical drone operations, and finally to strategic, city‑scale planning that addresses regulation, governance, and public value. Throughout this journey, the council has relied upon the services of local drone solutions partner Skyfarer.

In 2022, Coventry hosted Air One, the world’s first fully operational urban vertiport, in the city centre. The project demonstrated that drone and eVTOL ground infrastructure could operate safely in a dense urban environment and integrate with existing transport hubs. This gave Coventry early international visibility and practical insight into infrastructure, operations, and public engagement.

Following Air One, Project Skyway set out to create the world’s first drone superhighway, spanning 165 miles and connecting the Midlands to the South East of England. By creating a secure and efficient airspace for drones operating at distance, it addressed public and regulatory concerns around safety and crashes, noise and privacy. This ensured that the infrastructure could support high‑speed commercial deliveries and emergency and healthcare responses.

Through the Drone Ready Cities programme, Coventry City Council partnered with Midlands Aerospace Alliance to assess what needed to change inside local government to enable routine drone operations. This work concentrated on regulation, planning policy and coordination with national regulatory bodies. The project provided foundational lessons that informed how local authorities could approach UAM as a governance and systems issue, rather than purely a technical challenge.

One funded trial drone flight monitored closure of the A444 to enable safe egress of pedestrians at the end of a home football match. This initiative has transitioned into business-as-usual with estimated annual savings of £23k, enhanced understanding of traffic flow and improved response to incidents.

The city is hosting a National Police Air Service trial of a ‘Drone-in-a-Box’ based on the roof of the Transport Museum trialling flights of a Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drones, marking a significant step in the future of police air support across England and Wales.

Urban Ascent, launched in 2025, represents Coventry’s most mature UAM initiative. Led by the Council, including Coventry University and funded by Innovate UK and the Department for Transport. Rather than running live trials it instead develops a city‑wide blueprint for integrating drones and future eVTOL aircraft. The project focuses on regulation, business models, infrastructure planning, and priority public‑service use cases, drawing directly on experience from Air One and Drone Ready Cities to prepare Coventry City Council and other local authorities for scalable, future deployment.

Across these projects, Coventry City Council’s journey shows a clear progression through infrastructure demonstration, operational learning, governance readiness and strategic planning. This staged approach has positioned Coventry as a national reference point for how cities can responsibly prepare for urban air mobility without over‑reliance on short‑term trials or speculative technology adoption.

Ultra-fast Charging Hubs/Green Innovation Park

Coventry City Council is working with a number of partners to unleash the potential of ultra-fast charging hubs across the city.

These state-of-the-art facilities would provide volume charging facilities for all types of electric vehicles as well as developing options for multi-fuel hubs including hydrogen and gas. This work is at the cutting edge of transport innovation and green technology and there are opportunities for associated facilities and SME research hubs as well as energy generation and supply opportunities.

Green Innovation Park has several aspects that would be attractive to investors including Motorway Service Area operators, EV charge point providers / multi-fuel hub / energy providers, public transport companies and retailers.

City Centre Circuit - MotoFest

Coventry has a proud history of hosting events including half marathons, cycle events and the annual MotoFest, one of the UK's largest motoring festivals during which sections of the city's ring road are re-purposed as a racetrack.

MotoFest attracts around 200,000 people over a weekend and is a major draw for visitors to the city, including those involved in the motorsports industry. 

This could be extended to become a more formal street-racing circuit within the city centre that could host a range of motor, e-car racing, and cycle events. A feasibility study has shown that a circuit could be constructed to create a FIA G3 road course and FIA 6R rally cross course. The road course is only two steps below the top tier of motorsport and could bring high quality professional motor and e-car racing (up to formula E) to Coventry City Centre. There could also be the opportunity to link the track circuit with an innovation hub and use the circuit to demonstrate new technologies.

ITS World Congress

The ITS World Congress [https://2027.itsworldcongress.com/its-world-congress-birmingham] is scheduled to be held in October 2027 at the NEC [https://www.thenec.co.uk/] to showcase innovation in real life environments, including visits to Coventry to see innovation in real life environments. This event spans across the whole transport innovations sector and platforms Coventry as a “living lab”.