YORK highway chiefs have met with officials from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to discuss innovative ideas and technologies to manage traffic.

The visit comes as Japan’s capital and the world’s largest urban metropolis is building three expressway ring-roads.

It believes the ambitious multi-billion pound project will reduce congestion and carbon emissions and increase disaster resilience in the event of fire or earthquake. The scheme is also vital to the economic prosperity of the country.

The meeting included representatives from the city’s Three RING Expressways project, City of York Council, North Yorkshire Council and the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, as well as business leaders.

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Lord Mayor Cllr Margaret Wells welcomed the officials, emphasising the importance of international collaboration in a global effort to build a future of smarter and more sustainable cities.

David Skaith, the mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said: “We were delighted to welcome a Japanese delegation to York today alongside our partners the City of York Council and North Yorkshire Council.

“These public and private sector partnerships are essential for our region to reach its full potential.

"We are good at what we do and we’re ambitious. This visit signals that our strengths in these sectors are being recognised internationally.

“It’s time to be confident, ambitious and champion York and North Yorkshire.”

Tony Corby, Head of Inward Investment and Business Growth at City of York Council, said: We’re delighted that members of the team working on one of the world’s most ambitious urban highways projects have chosen to visit us in York.

“Large-scale infrastructure projects like those currently taking place in Tokyo represent amazing trade opportunities for businesses in our area who are developing exciting and innovative technologies to make highways safer, more resilient and more sustainable.

“Our Economic Growth team can support local businesses to develop their trade links overseas by putting them in touch with investors from across the globe – if you’re thinking of exporting your products or services, get in touch with us and we’ll help you take your next steps into global trade.”