TDXRapid Research
RIDE Programme
FCDO's Research and Innovation for Development of transport Evidence programme.
RIDE Programme — Summary
Source: FCDO Call for Expressions of Interest (December 2024). Programme design may have evolved since.
Overview
Research on Infrastructure in Developing Economies (RIDE) is a proposed 5-year FCDO programme (2025–2030) with a total budget of GBP 38 million, split 70% sustainable transport / 30% mobilising private finance for infrastructure (MPF-infra). It succeeds the HVT and ReCAP programmes.
Two Overarching Problem Statements
- Insufficient transport infrastructure and services in LMICs — costs too high economically, environmentally and socially
- Insufficient investment in sustainable infrastructure in LMICs
Three Pillars
| Pillar | Focus | Budget Share | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Partnerships | CoPs, capacity building, knowledge management, M&E, comms | 20% of total | RIDE Implementing Partner |
| 2. Research | Evidence-based insights for policy; open research calls + agile response | Transport: 60% of transport budget; MPF-infra: 80% of MPF-infra budget | Implementing Partner (transport) / SOAS consortium (MPF-infra) |
| 3. Transport Innovation Hub | Early-stage ideas, proof-of-concept, seed grants, patient capital | 20% of transport budget | Shell Foundation (co-funder) |
Indicative Budget Profile (GBP)
| Component | 25/26 | 26/27 | 27/28 | 28/29 | 29/30 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partnerships | 1.0M | 1.6M | 1.6M | 1.6M | 1.3M | 7.1M |
| Research | 3.1M | 5.57M | 5.57M | 5.57M | 5.09M | 24.9M |
| Innovation Hub | 0.8M | 1.23M | 1.23M | 1.23M | 1.01M | 5.5M |
| Programme Posts | 0.1M | 0.1M | 0.1M | 0.1M | 0.1M | 0.5M |
| Total | 5M | 8.5M | 8.5M | 8.5M | 7.5M | 38M |
Governance
- Executive Committee (EC) — chaired by FCDO, oversees all three pillars
- Two Global Advisory Councils (GACs) — one for transport, one for MPF-infra; co-chaired by FCDO and implementing partner; includes government, international institutions, academia, civil society, private sector
- 6-month inception phase — detailed programme design, governance, recruitment, scoping, partner consultation
Transport Research Themes
1. Transport and Trade (shipping, rail, road)
- Freight, logistics, sector reform — why are costs so different in similar contexts?
- Efficiency and standardisation — barriers to digitisation, system-of-systems approaches
- Extra/final mile — rural infrastructure barriers, rural motorcycle trails, food security
2. Productive, Efficient Urban Transport
- Formal vs informal transport services — productivity and social outcomes
- Urban transport finance — taxation, land value capture, impact of e-vehicles on fuel levies
- Mass transit systems — BRT/metro/light rail decision-making, behavioural science, technology leapfrogging
3. Transport Adaptation and Resilience
- Climate-resilient infrastructure — true economic cost of non-resilient transport
- Modelling and future-proofing — priority risk identification, maintenance schedules
- Shipping and rail decarbonisation — green hydrogen pathways
- Climate financing — why transport struggles to access adaptation finance
Cross-Cutting Themes
- Data and digitalisation — role of big data, real-time services info, AI for traffic management
- Gender, safety and inclusion — barriers for vulnerable groups, safety accountability
- Accountable transport infrastructure — digitalisation as accountability mechanism, corruption reduction, debt and political influence
MPF-Infra Research Themes
- Sources of finance and investment challenges
- Cost, modalities, instruments (including digital finance, sustainable bonds)
- Demand for finance (inclusive infrastructure services, climate-resilient infrastructure)
Innovation Hub Focus Areas
- Freight, logistics and sector reform
- Leapfrogging urban transport technologies and financing
- Climate-resilient and adapted transport infrastructure
Key Design Principles
- Southern-led — CoPs driven by southern decision-makers; ambassadorial roles for GACs; capacity building for LMIC researchers
- Adaptive management — phased approach, course correction, responsive to CoPs and FCDO posts
- Open access — data and research results in easily downloadable formats
- UN Decade alignment — explicitly designed to feed into the UN Decade for Sustainable Transport (2026–2035)
- AI/knowledge management — programme explores "transport-informed ChatGPT" for knowledge access and dissemination (Pillar 1)
- Builds on predecessors — HVT, ReCAP, CCG programme lessons