We recently ran a livechat on the Guardian public leaders network, where our expert panellists discussed what the UK’s future transport systems will look like. Some of the topics included:
- What are the biggest transport issues of today that stop journeys from being as affordable, easy and efficient as possible and which technology and innovation can best help to overcome these?
- What are the best examples of transport innovation and what might transport policymakers be able to learn from them?
- How will new technologies shape our future transport and the way we get around our cities?
- How can local authorities and transport operators make the most of digitalisation and data to make journeys easier and cheaper?
Here’s our roundup of the best bits from the live discussion:
Autonomous vehicles
Clare Cornes, transport strategist for Transport for Greater Manchester, said autonomous vehicles could present the opportunity of more transport choices for customers overall. “However, I do think it’s important more investment and research is put into a wider range of autonomous vehicles, including public transport vehicles and smaller, demand responsive shared vehicles, to highlight future opportunities that aren’t car-focused.” she said.
Mohamed Mezghani, deputy secretary general of the International Association of Public Transport responded:
Nathan Marsh, intelligent mobility business development director at Atkins, said there will be a range of benefits from new vehicles. Some of the early benefits, he said, would be “lower emissions, better use of the road capacity, safer journeys, more efficient journeys due to car sharing and possible savings due to different insurance or ownership arrangements”.
Cyber security - should we be careful when adopting new technologies into transport systems?
Part of the problem with the Internet of Things from a security point of view is that sectors that have not had to historically deal with cyber security now do – and they don’t always understand how to protect themselves or how big an issue it is, pointed out Harry Armstrong, a senior researcher at UK innovation foundation Nesta. “There will always be the potential for cyber attacks and if some one really wants to cause damage to your system they will find a way so we need to be aware that cyber attacks are a threat but not completely unavoidable. We can, however, make targets more difficult to hack and therefore less desirable targets.”
Making towns and cities more walkable...
Marsh, at Atkins, said UK core cities are looking at walking as something they can support and integrate into the wider network. He said cycle hubs, covered, well-lit and safe dedicated walkways with clear signage are being invested in via local sustainable transport funds. “More has to be done to capture the health and quality of life benefits.”
Sarah Sharples, professor of human factors in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham and non-executive director of Transport Systems Catapult, responded:
Guardian contributor I think a real challenge here is what the business value is of these innovations. We know that by providing information - such as walking times for examples (and we see maps of these used really effectively during the tube strikes) - people can change their behaviour. But could a small startup make money from, say, an app that communicated walking times? So are we dependent on government or local authorities to fund these initiatives?
... and better for cycling
Sally Cairns, a senior research working at the Transport Research Laboratory and University College London, said she had recently worked on a project exploring the potential to widen the appeal of cycling via electrically-assisted bikes. “These are still a minority mode in the UK but being taken up much more widely in some other parts of Europe,” she said. “I’d like to see greater discussion about whether these should receive the same support as electric cars.”
Philippa Oldham, head of transport and manufacturing at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, said that the UK has very few people cycling to work compared with the rest of Europe, with just 2% regularly choosing this mode as a way to get to work compared with 20% in Denmark. “As an island we need to look at how people move about,” she said. “A number of years ago the Institution produced a Transport Hierarchy with four priority areas – the first one being reduce demand for powered transport by encouraging walking and cycling.”
That prompted this response from Susan Claris:
Guardian contributor I agree Philippa, but I think walking needs to be considered separately to cycling as otherwise cycling tends to dominate. We saw this clearly with the Department for Transport consultation Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy - all the coverage and attention was on cycling. I also wish to see more cycling in our towns and cities - but realise that getting a non-cyclist to start cycling is a big ask, whereas the walking message is a simpler one - walk more. We need walking strategies and walking champions to redress the balance.
Mobility as a service
Sharples said people will increasingly have choice about how or when they travel, and will use personal and public data to help make these choices. “This could radically change the way that people behave, and how transport and technology providers work together to provide new mobility solutions.”
Jonathan Bray, director of the Urban Transport Group, listed some of the developments about which he was most excited: “The potential use of emerging and open data to make transport planning more collaborative, responsive and democratic; reducing carbon emissions through the electrification of transport: by greening the grid and use it to power an electrified transport system; and looking at where city authorities can make synergies between smart cities / smart grids / smart transport systems to make cities more exciting and greener places to be.”
Mezghani, of the IAPT, responded:
Guardian contributor The most exciting technologies should be those which make citizens’ mobility easy, efficient and affordable. So we think of course about autonomous vehicles for example as they will redefine the place of cars in the city and will have an impact in how teh city will look like in the longer term
Rethinking freight to unblock traffic
Jonathan Bray, director of the Urban Transport Group, pointed out that van traffic is increasing at a time when people also want cities that are greener, cleaner, less congested and more attractive places to be.
“We think that we should be aiming to get as much long distance freight as possible into urban areas by rail and water with last mile(s) deliveries by low impact means; from cycle logistics to low or zero emissions vans. One of the challenges on consolidation has been a commercial model for making it work however there is a lot the public sector could do on consolidation given the scale of deliveries to universities, schools, hospitals, council buildings and so on.”
What about rural communities?
One participant asked the question:
Hello, my name is Gareth Blackett and I'm the Director of a new startup, Accessibility Solutions. We are developing 'Accessibility as a Service' as an offer to rural communities, but can MaaS-type sharing solutions be feasible in low density areas devoid of the benefits of agglomeration? I would like to hear the Panel's responses to this question please?
Oldham, of the IME, responded: “This is a real problem, particularly as it is often the rural bus routes that get cut first. We have a growing ageing demographic too in our rural communities and so this definitely needs to be something that moves up the agenda. I am not sure if you are familiar with the Transport Systems Catapult report Travellers Needs but it might provide some additional information. In addition to this understanding the needs of local rural communities could be of real benefit as transport could be tailored to their needs.”
Improving commutes
One livechat participant asked:
Would we be better off investing in reducing commute distance than increasing commuter capacity?
Yes this should be the long term objective,” responded the IAPT’s Mezghani. “It will happen by integrating land use and transport, mixing activities, developing activities around transport nodes, etc. It’s pity that some new built cities didn’t consider this aspect during their design/planning stage.”
How quickly will change happen?
One element of cultural change is trust, said Marsh, of Atkins. “People (we) need to understand and help design the new systems and schemes to help us trust them, and then use them. This has happened in London with cEMV on buses showing us we are happy to let a transport entity access our personal, ticketing, journey and in this case bank data.”
Bray, of the Urban Transport Group, said there was was a danger of cities getting swamped by the speed of technological change and the ambitions of some of the newer players, particularly the large Californian corporations that dominate the internet and now have turned their attention to transport.
“Cities will need to be forward thinking, agile and smart in the way that they respond. Critically it’s important that cities don’t get dazzled by the technology itself but remain focused on how they respond to these changes in a way that meets their larger aspirations for cities to be prosperous, inclusive, green and exciting places to be.”
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But autonomous cars alone cannot will not solve the mobility problems. They should be integrated with a mass transit system which should remain the backbone of the city transport network