Wednesday saw our attendance at the Smart Transport Conference in Birmingham. A real highlight of the day was seeing Under Reform‘s Principal Investigator, Greg Marsden, and colleague Jillian Anable launch the Shared mobility – where now, where next? Second report of the Commission on Travel Demand.
On Thursday we had further visits in Birmingham, starting with the Energy Systems Catapult in the morning. The interaction here was excellent; work is already being done internationally, including efforts in India related to energy demands and innovative ways of mitigating these, so there was a lot of opportunity for discussion!
After lunch we headed to Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), where the group benefited from a clear and honest overview of lessons learnt from TfWM’s work, including the needs and challenges of navigating the structures of governance systems to effect meaningful change.
There was a strong focus during this visit on socio-economic factors, as well as overviews of planning for future transport needs and potential solutions, such as Mobility as a Service and Future Mobility Zones.
After a busy day we made our way by train up to Manchester, for our final evening meal as a whole group and to get ready for the last day’s visits on Friday.
