DfT Commissions Arup to Build New National Transport Analysis Platform

The Department for Transport has confirmed plans to create a new National Transport Analysis Platform (NTAP), a major digital initiative designed to modernise how transport data and scenarios are modelled across the UK.

Engineering and consultancy firm Arup has secured a three-year contract worth up to £5 million to deliver the platform, which will underpin future policy development by making modelling faster, more consistent and more accessible across the sector.

According to the official contract award notice, the new system will be built as a scalable, high-performance platform that can process complex national datasets and run a wide range of transport scenarios. The intention is to streamline what are often lengthy modelling processes, allowing analysts and policy teams to respond more quickly to changing conditions, new evidence and emerging policy issues.

The DfT says the platform will support “comprehensive national transport analysis” and will significantly reduce the time required to produce modelling outputs, freeing up capacity for innovation and improving operational efficiency.

The department also views NTAP as a foundation for its next generation of modelling tools. Insights from the rollout will help shape more advanced activity-based modelling methods and improved freight modelling capabilities, ensuring the UK’s analytical framework stays aligned with best practice and remains driven by data.

Development work is expected to begin immediately, with the platform intended to act as a long-term enabler of better, faster evidence to support national and local transport decisions.