Study Tour days 3 and 4 – Birmingham

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.

Greg Marsden at lit up podium on stage with presentation slide in background

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!

Speaker in room with slide about air quality in Bangalore behind him on a screen Group photo at Energy Systems Catapult

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.

Group wait at a tram stop in Birmingham Members of the group in a lift

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.

Two of the delegation considering the menu at a restaurant table