Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and London Mayor Sadiq Khan have announced a historic agreement to make London and Los Angeles “Innovator Cities,” enabling greater collaboration on critical transportation issues confronting cities 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.”

The agreement will enable the cities to work together to identify where similar problems exist and ensure that solutions developed can work 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 practices, promote new ideas and find pioneering solutions that could be replicated in other cities around the globe.”

The partnership will also give companies an opportunity to take part in “start-up exchanges,” in which start-ups can pitch their ideas in London and L.A., and enable both cities to tap into the best possible concepts.

The collaboration harnesses the growing transportation innovation ecosystem in Los Angeles, where the recent launch of Urban Movement Labs is providing private sector and community innovators with opportunities to test solutions in real urban conditions. Los Angeles and London hope to expand the “Innovator Cities” network in coming years, allowing more communities around the world to benefit from the best ideas.

The approach will be piloted through the London FreightLab Innovation Challenge. London FreightLab is seeking the best innovators in the United Kingdom to come up with ideas to make freight transportation in London safer, cleaner and more efficient. Through the new agreement, the 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,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. “We 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.”