UK push for “Open Banking for transport” aims to unlock £1.5bn

A UK initiative to create “Open Banking for transport” says interoperable, user-permissioned data could unlock more than £1.5 billion per year in national value and give travellers, operators and public authorities a step change in insight, efficiency and carbon reduction–but warns the sector still lacks the unified standards and governance needed to scale.

Open Transport, the not-for-profit behind the effort, says the UK is now at a “tipping point” as early implementations and national policy show that permissioned data sharing can be secure, auditable and beneficial at scale.

Yet the transport sector continues to operate in silos, with fragmented governance, inconsistent data formats and legacy systems that make integration difficult. Unlike financial services, there is no mandatory portability requirement to create a level playing field, and commercial confidence remains limited until a recognised neutral standards body is in place.

Marcus Mayers (pictured), Chief Business Officer at Open Transport, told Cities Today, that the shift since the UK’s 2020 Smart Data consultation had been significant, with richer APIs, standardised CO₂ factors, synthetic datasets and proofs of concept showing that transport, banking and carbon data can be effectively combined.

“Transport is now recognised as one of the largest unrealised Smart Data opportunities, touching 60 million travellers and almost 800 billion passenger kilometres each year,” Mayers said. “But commercial confidence remains limited until a recognised neutral standards body is in place. This is the gap we are now addressing.”

Formed as a company limited by guarantee, Open Transport is working with ITS UK to formalise a long-term governance structure over the next six months that strengthens neutrality, improves membership oversight and introduces clearer voting rights. The organisation says this approach ensures that all investment is reinvested into standards development and sector adoption.

“Our not-for-profit model ensures that all investment is reinvested into the standard and the wider ecosystem,” Mayers said. “This structure allows us to act in the public interest and ensures that the national benefits of Smart Data remain the priority, including lower travel costs, reduced carbon emissions, increased accessibility and improved efficiency across publicly funded services.”

The initiative has established the only API specifications for transport account interoperability, supported by an Advisory Board whose decisions are guided by principles of user consent, portability, cross-sector interoperability, technical feasibility and strong security aligned with UK GDPR and PSD2.

“Our governance model ensures that updates deliver measurable value and remain aligned with the wider legislative environment,” Mayers said. “This is essential for the sector to realise the benefits Smart Data can unlock, including time savings, cost reductions and improved public sector insight.”

Open Transport argues that a unified, interoperable data layer could generate substantial gains across the network. National value is estimated at over £1.5 billion annually, with potential outcomes including lower commuter costs, reduced emissions, improved accessibility and more personalised services based on real usage data. A two percent modal shift from car to rail can reduce emissions by 1.6 million tonnes annually, while a one percent network efficiency gain could save around £1 billion per year.

Interoperability, Mayers said, “enables a material step forward in what the sector can offer,” giving travellers a complete view of cost and carbon impact, encouraging behaviour change and supporting new products from ticketing to compensation services.

Open Transport will use its £25,000 Smart Data Challenge Prize funding to build a publicly available synthetic dataset that demonstrates the value of Smart Data and provides a safe environment for designing and testing new services.

“This work will help us bring the ecosystem together around a shared standard,” Mayers said. “We are preparing the governance and tools required to support a trusted, industry-led standard for the UK.”

Image: Open Transport