We’re delighted to confirm our keynotes for TRANSPORT Smart Class, London & South East England 2021 which takes place in-person at The Embassy, Belgravia, on Thursday October 7th:
• “Right, that’s Over…Back to it!” – We have just lived through 18 months of a pandemic and may not be out of it yet. This raises many challenges for Surface, the part of Transport for London that runs the ‘above ground’ transport network (Buses, Overground, DLR, Roads, Cycling, River Services, Tram, Taxi & private hire, Dial-a-Ride, and more).
In a post-Covid transport environment the narrative has changed from “how do we recover revenues” to “what services should the public purse provide and at what cost?”
Eighteen months since the first lockdown, London has seen road transport recover to pre-pandemic levels and public transport recovering at a far slower rate. But is that the whole story? The city has changed dramatically over this period and the new city needs new to embrace mobility models to provide an equitable, safe environment for all.
The biggest change of all has been around the behaviours of our travelling passenger. That passenger has worked from home, has access to new shopping, leisure and mobility services and, as a result, has new patterns of usage, new attitudes towards transport and new demands. The only thing that is 100% certain is that the demands of that passenger are going to change faster and further than ever before.
In this opening keynote, Simon Reed, TfL’s Head of Technology and Data for Surface Transport, will share data showing how travel patterns have affected some of the pandemic’s impact on London’s public transport business and outline how, from a technology team, TfL are trying to embrace the changes required in their passenger information, ticketing and technology strategies to give London the transport services that it needs.
• “A Transport Strategy for the East” – Transport East is the Sub-national Transport Body for Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Southend and Thurrock. Their vision is of a thriving economy for the east, with fast, reliable and resilient transport networks, driving forward a future of inclusive and sustainable growth for decades to come. The following challenges are being tackled through Transport East partnership’s new Strategy, to be published for public consultation this autumn. How can we:
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- enhance the lives of 3.5 million people living and working across diverse and growing urban and rural communities?
- grow our £74bn economy, connect with neighbouring regions and support the UK’s global competitiveness?
- level-up coastal towns along 500 miles of coastline?
- support our international ports to process over half the UK’s containerised freight?
- reduce carbon emissions to Net Zero in a region where over 40% of total emissions come from transport?
In this keynote, Transport East’s Strategic Director, Andrew Summers, will share the thinking behind the strategy, and how our Smart Class audience can get involved.
• “Bouncing Back Better from Covid to a Brighter, Cleaner, Greener Future” – Few can ignore the devastating impact that the pandemic has had on the UK bus industry but, whilst the road to recovery will undoubtedly be winding and challenging, Patrick Warner – Head of Innovation Strategy for Go Ahead Group’s south eastern based bus operations, ‘Brighton & Hove Buses’ and ‘Metrobus’ – thinks we have real reason to be optimistic.
Patrick explains in this keynote why, with the right funding and messaging, we have a unique opportunity to take learnings from our response to the pandemic and improve the passenger experience and perception of bus travel for the longer term.
“The need to lock many of these improvements in and the drive towards a zero emission future leaves the Bus with a unique role to play, not only in improving public health and reducing congestion but also in driving much wider decarbonisation of other forms of road transport if we spend the promised funding wisely. Armed with supporting policy and the potential of considerable funding, the bus to the future leaves shortly, who’s joining me?”, asks Patrick!
Pic from our recent North of England edition, hosted in Manchester last Friday
TRANSPORT Smart Class, London & South East England 2021 will show key buyer-side stakeholders how to deploy the latest digital technology-enabled solutions, data-driven strategies and best practices to tackle the transport and mobility challenges faced by London and its hinterland, burgeoning smart city-regions of the South East and East Anglia, and beyond, and deliver a transport system that will allow passengers and citizens to travel efficiently, safely and with minimal impact on the environment. In addition to our 3 inspirational Keynotes, the event will feature: Up to 5 rapid fire Innovator presentations delivered by technology experts and thought leaders, each representing a priority topic and associated fields of digital innovation and application; Deeper-dive Roundtable consultations with speakers and specialists to hone delegates’ smart strategies and address some of their specific transport and mobility challenges; Further networking opportunities with peers and pioneers over breakfast, drinks and lunch, and all at no charge!
Core themes at a TRANSPORT Smart Class range from on-demand transport and MaaS applications, EVs and e-mobility, micro mobility, predictive traffic management, journey time monitoring, smart parking and enforcing CAZs and LEZs, to active travel and behavioural change, analysing people movements, new ways of visualising data, connected and autonomous vehicles, intelligent street lighting, real-time transport modelling, smart ticketing and fare collection, and ITS in a Covid and post-Covid world.
Qualifying delegates include commissioning, procurement, trialling and partnering leads, senior influencers, strategic decision makers and planners from local authorities (e.g. city, borough, metropolitan, district and county councils); public and private transport operators; regional transport partnerships, sub-regional transport bodies, combined authorities, integrated transport authorities and passenger transport executives; highways authorities and road operators; government and supporting national transport agencies; fleet operators, vehicle manufacturers, parking operators, prime contractors etc.
If you meet the qualification criteria outlined above, REGISTER HERE to claim your free delegate place and join us for what promises to be an insightful half-day (8.30am-2.00pm) of collaboration and knowledge exchange!
As with all of our Smart Class events, up to 5 innovators/solution vendors can participate at TRANSPORT Smart Class, London & South East England 2021 in an “Innovation Sponsor” capacity: Check out our Event Sponsorship page for full details on “Smart Class Innovation Sponsorship Packages” or contact us by phone or e-mail if you’d like to discuss this option further. Peruse our Testimonials page (or the individual Smart Class event pages on our website) for feedback from previous delegates, sponsors and supporters!
Feature Image Source: Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay
