Highways Voices returns after its summer break with an interview recorded at the JCT Traffic Signals Symposium in Nottingham.

Andrew Caleya Chetty is our guest, CEO and Founder of Starling Technologies, talking about its innovative approach to pedestrian safety using computer vision and machine learning.

He explains how Starling's system, which can handle saturated pavements and different user types, has received positive feedback from UK and international authorities. The company's technology, which can platoon pedestrians to improve efficiency, also captures detailed behavioural data.

He's joined by Simon Rogers, Starling's sales lead, who discusses the business cases for their product, including financial, carbon, and safety benefits.

You'll also hear how Starling aims to expand globally, with installations in various countries and plans to showcase their solutions at the ITS World Congress in Dubai.

As Highways Voices reaches its summer break, we finish this series of podcasts with a look ahead to two of the key events for our industry in the autumn.

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Organiser of the JCT Traffic Signals Symposium John Nightingale joins us first to discuss the popular event, and how it's grown with ever more exhibitors and attendees, and how the programme of learned papers was completed earlier than ever, while the social events are a vital part, too.

He'll also hint at a fascinating-sounding session about security which will only be available to those in the room at Nottingham Trent University during the event on the 11 and 12 September.

After John, Claudia Davidson - Head of Content and Strategic Partnerships at Highways UK owner Terrapin - talks about the growing popularity of this event at the NEC on 16 and 17 October.

She discusses the ministerial visits and tours, and how many leading elected officials from across the country are attending. She also looks at some of the key subjects being discussed, new theatres and how to navigate the event and get the most out of it.

On top of that, you'll hear news from the Highways News website, and from our podcast partners LCRIG, the TTF, ADEPT and ITS UK, as well as why Transport for Greater Manchester wins "Adrian's Accolade".

"Don't try and talk to the politicians - the truth is actually having good relations with... politicians will have very little impact on the actual decisions government takes," explains former Transport Secretary Chris Grayling on this week's Highways Voices.

He joined an ITS UK meeting last week and was interviewed by Highways Voices host Paul Hutton, who recorded the chat for you to feature on this week's podcast.

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Mr Grayling was asked how to influence policy, and pointed out what ministers don't do: "Ministers have no involvement in procurement, they have little involvement in decisions about technology," he said. "A recommendation come from a civil servant to say we've evaluated these three things - we need this change the regulations in order to make that happen, do you agree? But that will come from the civil service, I will come from expert panels set up to look at individual issues. It may come from local authority pressure, it may come from outside bodies, like the RAC and the AA. Actually, the last people you want to be focusing all your time and effort on is politicians, because government doesn't work like that."

In the conversation, Mr Grayling discusses his past before parliament, his experience in the role and key issues around smart motorways and road safety and public opinion, plus the "elephant in the room" - Road User Charging. He also explained how, when you're Secretary of State, you can expect to be blamed for things that are not your fault.

"I don't think we're going to wake up one morning and have a government white paper saying we're going to introduce a pay per mile on every stretch of road in the UK," he said. "What I do think is we're going to see more... paid for miles for lorries on motorways, for example, it may mean pay per mile in and around urban areas. I think that the Treasury is going to have a deep desire to introduce road user charging in order to offset the loss of revenue from electric vehicles, but I'm not convinced it's going to get its way anytime soon."

You'll also hear the latest from our pages on Highways News, plus reaction to the Transport Technology Forum's conference, the latest from Live Labs 2, ITS UK's briefing for newly-elected politicians, and a new invention to be shown off at this year's LCRIG Innovation and Learning Festival.

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"When we started designing our new modern mobility management system... we started by interviewing more than 400 cities globally," explains the new SWARCO CEO Michael Schuch on this week's Highways Voices podcast. "And what we learned was actually the most critical topics that they have are throughout the same."

In the interview Mr Schuch outlines those challenges which fall into ten problem statements including predictable issues such as congestion and air quality along with other global problems such as budget constraints and interoperability.

The interview features discussions on procurement, Net Zero, collaboration and support for start-ups, and international expansion as well as connected vehicles.

"We can demonstrate proof of concept of those seeking solutions with connectivity with communication, and everything between vehicles and infrastructure and vice versa," Mr Schuch says. "Now, it's about the first deployments and the focus about the quality of the service and the scalability of the service, and there is really the question, who is investing that that money? What are the business cases that really make this a wheel that starts spinning?"

Find out his thoughts on this week's Highways Voices, where you'll also hear news from podcast partners ADEPT, LCRIG, Transport Technology Forum and ITS (UK) plus why Telford and Wrekin wins this week's "Adrian's Accolade".

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Links:

LCRIG website

ITS (UK) Website

Details of TTF Conference

Adept website

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This week's Highways Voices analyses how a refresh of the way software is delivering the most efficient transport network based on existing roadside hardware.

Paul Campion of TRL discusses the best way to manage traffic in towns and cities using a refresh of what we've always known as SCOOT and MOVA traffic management in what is now called Unified Traffic Control.

"It's incredibly important for the cities to have the confidence that their massive installed base of equipment can continue to be used," he explains. "No one wants to dig up the roads in order to put in some new software. So we have to respect that legacy, respect the fact that all these cities, and their citizens depend on this software and have been doing for many years, but take it forward in quite a different and we think, very valuable way."

The conversation also talks about how funding such upgrades could be justified if both the environmental and road safety aspects were considered holistically. "That's quite difficult to do in governmental budgeting, but you know what the challenges like decarbonisation challenges like levelling up, I think are going to require us to do some of these things, which is simultaneously creative, innovative, look like they're really difficult and the same time common bloomin' sense," he adds.

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The podcast also hears the latest news from Highways Voices partners the Transport Technology Forum, ITS (UK), ADEPT and LCRIG.

You'll hear how LCRIG has revealed more details about its upcoming Innovation Festival. The event will be a first of its kind for the highways sector – with a number of local authorities already committed to making their road networks available for trials along with funding for qualifying innovators who participate in the event.

The new event, which will take place from 6-7 July at Newark Showground, has been established to ‘make the case for innovation’ and will bring together local authorities, central government, the supply chain, associations and academia.

Exhibitors are able to request to be included as a qualifying innovator to be eligible for innovation funding and/or trials and the Infrastructure Innovation Board and delegates will judge the qualifying innovations.

Councils including NY Highways, Blackpool Council and Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council are making their networks available for innovation trials.

LCRIG is inviting organisations to attend and exhibit at the Innovation Festival with a contribution from all exhibitors being put towards the LCRIG ‘Steve Berry – Think Exceptional’ Innovation Fund – a pot of money that will be used to help facilitate and speed up innovation...

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"Two or three years ago people thought we were a little bit nuts and a bit sort of fringy - now, actually, people are properly on board and are wanting to come and have a conversation with us - we've almost become the cool kids."

That's the experience of this week's main guest on Highways Voices, Chris Pateman-Jones who is CEO of the EV chargepoint provider Connected Kerb.

He discusses how the EV charging network will come about in the next eight years, and what challenges there are, but that he is confident it can be delivered. "When you think of the fibre deployment that's taken place across the UK," he says, "This isn't impossible, there is huge opportunity here."

In the chat with Highways Voices presenter Paul Hutton, he discusses how to deliver a socially equitable charging network, the different sorts of chargers and locations and why chargepoint operators should have the opportunity for long contracts with local authorities.

They also talk about educating the public to understand EVs, "I think there is real need for centralised campaigns to really help people to understand what the transition is like, from a non commercial perspective," he says, "Almost like during the 1980s with the Buckle Up campaign. That's the sort of thing that needs to be done here to really help people to understand what's going on."

In the podcast you also hear news from podcasts partners LCRIG, ADEPT, ITS (UK) and the Transport Technology Forum and find out why Clearview Intelligence wins Adrian Tatum's "Adrian's Accolade" this week.

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Links:

LCRIG website

ITS (UK) Website

Details of TTF Conference

Adept website

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In this Highways Voices we return to Amsterdam for more conversation from the exhibition floor of the huge Intertraffic event.

We talk to the CEO of Yunex, Marcus Schlitt about the pace of change in the newly-branded company and then CEO Alex Torday, the new CEO of Yunex's subsidiary Aimsun detailing fixing traffic jams before they happen.

We also introduce Smartmicro… a company known in the UK through its distributor Smart Video and Sensing, who’re doing interesting things with detection, as founder Ralph Mende explains, while on the huge Kapsch stand we talk next-generation connectivity with VP of Demand Management Michael Ganser before rounding up the show with Michael Tooker, an SVP with Redflex's new owners Verra Mobility.

On top of that we hear news from our partners,

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Links:

LCRIG website

ITS (UK) Website

Details of TTF Conference

ADEPT press release

ADEPT White Paper

ADEPT Blogs

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This week's Highways Voices comes from the huge Intertraffic event in Amsterdam.

In this podcast, where we scratch the surface of the event you can hear Paul Hutton talk to two CEOs, Michael Schuch of SWARCO and TRL's Paul Campion, plus Ian Hind of AGD Systems and the winners of the Intertraffic Awards.

You'll also hear from organiser Carola Jansen-Young plus, of course, our partner news from LCRIG, TTF, ADEPT and ITS (UK) and the latest news from Highways News HQ with Adrian Tatum.

Follow Highways News on Twitter, LinkedIn and subscribe to our daily newsletter here.

Links:

ADEPT website

LCRIG website

ITS (UK) Website

Details of TTF Conference

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“The shortfall and the backlog continue to rise,” Asphalt Industry Alliance CEO Rick Green tells this week’s Highways Voices podcast, as he reviews the 2022 ALARM survey. “Hard working local authority engineers are having to make difficult choices. They've got a statutory obligation to keep local roads safe, but they haven't got enough money to do it with.”

This year’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance research, known as the ALARM survey has found that the cost of the backlog of carriageway repairs to fix local roads in England and Wales has reached £12.64 billion, compounded by increased costs caused by rising inflation. This is up from £10.24 billion last year, and despite an increase in average highway maintenance budgets of four per cent, the proportion being invested in the carriageway itself is down and the reported backlog of carriageway repairs has increased by almost a quarter on last year’s figure to £61,700 for every mile of local road in England and Wales.

“It's difficult to get local authority highway funding to the top of the agenda,” Mr Green tells Highways News co-owner Adrian Tatum. “But we continue to try and continue to press our case and point out that local modes are so important, every journey starts or ends on a local mode, and they’re falling to bits.”

In the podcast you’ll hear the challenges faced by Local Authorities and how new techniques and technologies may not be getting the cut-through because of funding challenges. “I suppose what we're trying to do is shine a light on it as best we possibly can,” Mr Green concludes.

In the podcast you’ll also hear news from our partners including about the winner of the ITS (UK) Apprentice Essay competition, a new Chair for ADEPT’s Transport and Connectivity Board, LCRIG’s meeting with the Department for Transport and fully-funded places available at the Transport Technology Forum Annual Conference in Liverpool this May. Plus, of course, who wins this week’s “Adrian’s Accolade” and a summary of some of the many stories on the Highways News website.

Follow Highways News on Twitter, LinkedIn and subscribe to our daily newsletter here.

Links:

ADEPT website

LCRIG website

ITS (UK) Essay Winner entry

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One of the most pressing issues faced by local highways authorities is consistent carbon measurement and reporting, and this is tackled this week on Highways Voices.

The main guest is Simon Wilson of Proving Services, who is leading the work with the Future Highways Research Group for Adept, and has already launched a comprehensive guidance document for Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions.

"A key aspect of any strategy for carbon reduction is going to be carbon measurement.," he explains. "Because otherwise, how can you ever monitor your progress?

But he explains there is a problem in the sector, "At the moment, there is a serious degree of fragmentation around how things are measured, how things are consolidated how things are calculated, and therefore what each organisation's carbon position currently is."

Find out how he's solving it, and why it is so important, on this week's Highways Voices.

You'll also hear news of ADEPT's new policy position on speed management, about the Manual for Smart Streets launch next Monday, ITS (UK)'s Inclusive Mobility Forum to mark Disabled Access Day and LCRIG's webinar on "Practical Steps on the journey to Net Zero."

We'll also hear Adrian Tatum announce this week's "Adrian's Accolade" plus a round-up of the week's news.

Follow Highways News on Twitter, LinkedIn and subscribe to our daily newsletter here.

Partner links:

Darren Capes's blog post.

ADEPT website

LCRIG website

ITS (UK) YouTube channel

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Only by going beyond the traditional testing can you create something that breaks the mould in terms of product development, according to Bob Allan, Technical Director, Aggregate Industries, who was speaking with Richard Taylor, Global Technical Development Manager, Shell, on this week's Highways Voices.

Last week Aggregate Industries and Shell launched the UK's first ever commercially available biogenic asphalt. SuperLow-Carbon asphalt has been developed in partnership with Shell Bitumen as a pioneering product for more sustainable pavement projects. In an industry first, SuperLow-Carbon uses Shell’s Low Carbon Bitumen in a unique formula that utilises improved production processes and alternative energy sources to lower its embodied carbon footprint. It also includes a biogenic material that effectively locks CO2 within the asphalt rather than releasing it back into the atmosphere, which creates a ‘carbon sink’ – something that absorbs and stores more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases.

"From a research and development perspective, when you're assessing materials that are not traditional refinery residues, you have to go beyond the simple kind of index and empirical tests that we have today. And so when we were making the research for this particular biogenic material, we did quite a lot of fundamental tests around the chemistry of the product, how the product evolved with ageing, obviously, how it behaved, in simple terms in mixtures. And so it's not really a case of just making a simple substitution and then checking the index tests for material, you have to actually delve a lot deeper to actually understand whether this material is going to behave as a suitable road binder for the longer term," said Mr Allen.

Mr Taylor added: "We are moving the industry towards a net zero asphalt pavement world, we're going to see the development of a net zero asphalt roadmap by National Highways soon, for example. And so it's important for us to develop the right kind of products that the industry is going to need going forward. I think there's a growing interest in how materials last, the thinking started to align very strongly with the circular economy in terms of longer lasting materials closing the loop recycling, but alongside a warm mix for minimising the inputs. There's also a need to minimise the embodied carbon within the bitumen."

In the podcast you can also hear news from our partners including how ADEPT's Smart Places Live Labs programme sees half its projects led by women, who've released a video about it, that ITS (UK) has held a special meeting of its Women in ITS Forum to mark International Women's Day, more details of LCRIG's Planned Innovation Festival and the TTF reports about the latest on the Manual for Smart Streets.

You'll also hear why Amey and Kent County Council win Adrian's Accolade.

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"If you're out on your travels, know that there is a site in the locality and can just pop in and take a photograph." That's how, according to Rees Jeffreys Road Fund Chairman David Tarrant, Highways Voices listeners and Highways News readers can take part in a bit of fun - helping the Fund find dozens of scenic rest areas it has invested in over the years.

The fund has given money to a wide range of road-related projects over the years - the latest being its £150,000 "Roads of the Future" competition - and one of them was to provide nice places for people to stop on their travels.

However, trustees have realised that they don't actually know exactly where each of these areas is, and what sort of state of repair they might be in, so are enlisting the help of the industry.

Mr Tarrant explains the fund needs help, "Confirming that there still is a roadside rest of the location, whether it's still possible to park there, can you confirm that the description on the list we've got is actually accurate? Is the correct road noted because it may be that that road has now been bypassed. Have we got the coordinates, you can even use What3Words. [We need a] few words on what the current condition is like - is it tidy, well maintained, totally overgrown? Is there a Rees Jeffrey's plaque there? And then a photograph or two, from a number of different viewpoints showing the roadside rest area itself."

The list they have of the roadside rest areas is here and more details about the project are here.

Mr Tarrant also gives a history of William Rees Jeffreys, other things the fund has contributed to and how you could get a grant for an innovative project yourself.

There's also news from Highways Voices partners about the Transport Technology Forum annual conference, an "unconference" from ITS (UK), that ADEPT and the Future Highways Research Group are publishing guidance on Scope 1 and 2 Greenhouse Gas emissions free to the sector and LCRIG's forthcoming event, "Practical steps on the journey to net zero: Understanding the challenge".

Plus you'll hear a round-up of the news on Highways-News.com and why Milton Keynes wins this week's "Adrian's Accolade".

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“The Transport Technology and Associated Services Framework enables the public sector to procure transport technology, and products covering the suite of cameras, and lighting, parking systems, barriers and signs,” explains guest Randeep Singh of Crown Commercial Service on this week’s Highways Voices podcast, “But you can also procure services to support some of the bigger government agenda, for example, in terms of professional services, and consultants and how you could potentially implement something like that.”

This podcast is a must-listen for local authorities wanting to make their procurement easier and cheaper, and also explains to suppliers how to best get value out of their interaction with CCS. Plus, there’s advice on how to pay for services too, as Mr Singh explains, “Being sat in the Cabinet Office, we can we have the visibility of all the government grants or funds that are available.”

Today’s Highways Voices is the first with new partners ADEPT, the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG and ITS (UK) who will not only provide guests and insights in the weeks and months to come, but also news for each podcast. This week you can hear about LCRIG’s new webinar series bringing you practical steps to Net Zero and an update from the TTF about the 39 local authorities’ plans for spending the money they have received from the Traffic Signals Challenge funding initiative. ITS (UK) remind members the range of benefits they get from membership of the different technology forums, while we hear about the ADEPT Live Labs solar roads installation in Central Bedfordshire.

On top of that, you’ll hear Adrian Tatum’s pick of the stories on the Highways News website, and who wins “Adrian’s Accolade” this week.

Links:

LCRIG short survey - details here.

ITS (UK) member blog post.

TTF Signals Challenge update.

ADEPT Live Labs Blog.

Follow Highways News on 

"A lot of our time is firefighting, fixing day to day problems, maybe some signal timings, but it's hard to look into the future when we don't have time," admits City of York Council's Sean Bulmer in a panel discussion at the SWARCO User Group meeting in Coventry, featured on this week's Highways Voices.

Mr Bulmer was joined by Emily Madsen from Staffordshire County Council who admits she struggles for time in her day job so "coming to events like this helps me think about the future".

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The local authority representatives were joined by CEO of the Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG), Paula Claytonsmith and SWARCO's MD in UK and Ireland, John Pickworth. They discussed Innovation and planning for the future, strategies for more efficient transport around technology and localised approaches.

The need for incremental progress and the role of private sector involvement were also discussed to help, for example, the ability for an authority to make the most out of the data it has. "It's how you use that data, how you present that data," Mr Pickworth explains. "Is it presented in a way that enables decisions to be made?"

Ms Claytonsmith added that support for authorities is vital. "I spoke to [one] who says they've literally got 20 or 30 different systems, each holding different sets of data, not communicating. And I think now that we're in a much more complex environment, the fact that we don't have as many people in our teams... So actually having an integrated system that allows you to make complex decisions drawing in different data becomes ever more important."

You'll hear more on this fascinating discussion, recorded in a rather echoey hotel conference room, which also covers infrastructure obsolescence and funding priorities as well as risk taking, innovation, challenges and priorities.

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"You will not find me in legacy industries where everything stays the same - otherwise, I would be boring," explains the new CEO of ERTICO - ITS Europe on this week's Highways Voices.

Joost Vantomme explains his passion for taking on the challenge of running the European ITS Association, taking over from Jacob Bangsgaard who'd run the organisation for five years.

Mr Vantomme explains his background, which seems perfect for running such an organisation, given he's worked in telecoms, the postal/freight industry and most recently in European automotive.

"In the UK, we have quite a number of projects running," he explains about the UK's position in the sector. "Also Transport for London, there are some interesting projects. That's why every time we have European project, we think about how to assemble a consortium where we have national interests."

You'll also hear the latest news and why JCB and Stoke on Trent City Council win this week's "Adrian's Accolade".

Follow Highways News on Twitter, LinkedIn and subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Read more about the Manual for Smart Streets here.

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“The main thing interested me was the fact that it's not just in a warehouse picking this stock all day, you can one day be 20 miles down the M6 or round the corner on the M62 doing all sorts of bits,” explains Amey apprentice Josh Dudley about why he loves his job in Highways on this week’s Highways Voices.

Josh is one of three apprentices who are guests on the podcast this week, marking National Apprenticeship Week, where he talks about his experience of being one of the lads, how he’s loving the variety, his ideas for informing the public and even how he helped a driver who was having a suspected heart attack.

Before Josh on the show, Lauren Cooper and Lauren Weaver of Kier tell us about their apprenticeships and why they chose to go down that career path.

“I was going to do a levels and then go on university… but then I heard about the apprenticeship route, which I wasn't too aware of to be honest,” explains Lauren Cooper adding that “I decided to go into highlights because it kind of interests me… working on the infrastructure around us,” while Lauren Weaver said she didn’t want to learn five days a week anymore by doing a degree.  “I knew the apprenticeship route for being able to continue my learning, but also starting to get experience,” she explains. “I wanted to start earning and… actually doing the job that I knew I wanted to be in.”

The trio have some great insights into what it’s like to start a career, and give some food for thought who are recruiters, and why going down the graduate route may not always be the best option.

The podcast also hears who this week’s Adrian’s Accolade goes to, and a summary of some of the stories brought to you over the past few days on the Highways News website.

Follow Highways News on Twitter, LinkedIn and subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Read more about the Manual for Smart Streets here.

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"20 years ago, the ITS sector itself wasn't even 20 years old, so what we've achieved in less than 40 years, it's really quite amazing," explains ITS (UK) Secretary General Jennie Martin on this week's Highways Voices podcast. "20 years ago, an awful lot of signalised junctions weren't anywhere near as clever there as they are now with now. We got the ability to react to incoming data and change phases in real time, now we use in predictive analysis."

That, she says is just one of many ways the travelling public get better journeys, and how that it is incredible what transport operators can do now, not only in traffic management but also traveller information and services.

Mrs Martin, who has been at the helm of ITS (UK) for more than two-thirds of its existence also talks about the Society itself and how its members deliver so much for each other. "As long as they get an income from somewhere to pay their bills. British people tend to be very relaxed about doing all sorts of unpaid work if it's something that they believe in or something they're interested in."

Hear her thoughts on this, the future of transport technology and where ITS (UK) fits in, along with the latest news and why the people of Guildford win this week's "Adrian's Accolade".

Follow Highways News on Twitter, LinkedIn and subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Read more about the Manual for Smart Streets here.

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As an early careers professional, how do you work and learn when you’re not among people absorbing the office life?

Many worried about the situation, but our guest on the Highways Voices podcast this week makes us feel better about it all.

"I'd say it's a double edged sword," says Alastair King, Product and Marketing Manager at Clearview Intelligence. "Obviously, the negative side of it is that you're not with people, you're not breathing it, you're not feeling it, you're almost relying on having a phone call, at times to just pick up on that piece of information that you need to know. But the other side of it is, and I found meeting platforms to be very clinical, in that it was a set meeting at a set time with a set audience. You could prepare yourself better for that. You could prepare the content better."

Alastair discusses his career development during lockdown, which actually started on the day he started a new role in the company, and also how he has developed new products.

He's also got some wise words about procurement, when solutions cover a wide variety of benefits, but don't fit into any single budget. "And, you know, communication, especially through larger organisations, larger authorities, the people that we're talking to might not necessarily have that complete bigger picture and overview of budgets and and how to look at installing solutions and best approaching what solutions would suit an application better."

Have a listen to him and also find out why Kier Highways and National Highways win this week's Adrian's Accolade.

Follow Highways News on Twitter, LinkedIn and subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Read more about the Manual for Smart Streets here.

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“The Manual for Smart Streets is intended to provide guidance to support local authorities in implementing technology that supports traffic management and the operation of streets,” explains New Mobility Technology Integration expert Daniel Hobbs of the Connected Places Catapult on this week’s Highways Voices podcast. “Things like how traffic signals will develop to connect to vehicles in the future, how new sources of data can link into implementing other services in the local authority like information for how people should be around, providing a wider control and management of the network to the to the local authority.”

The initiative is by the Department for Transport and the Connected Places Catapult through the Transport Technology Forum. It is designed to complement the 2007 document the Manual for Streets, by helping local authorities enhance their network with the application of technology.

Daniel Hobbs is joined on the podcast by Darren Capes, ITS Policy Lead at the DfT who explains that it’s all about delivering efficiencies using what local authorities will already have. “It's not about nuclear powered space hoppers, it's not about the future,” he says. “It's about, in large part, how we do the jobs we do now better.”

The podcast discusses the ways equipment can be used better, how connected car technology is becoming a game-changer for authorities and why authorities with differing transport management capabilities will all be able to benefit.

This latest Highways Voices also hears the latest news from the industry and why connected vehicle start-up Eloy win this week’s Adrian’s Accolade.

Follow Highways News on Twitter, LinkedIn and subscribe to our daily newsletter here. Read more about the Manual for Smart Streets here.

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National Highways’ first Chief Safety Adviser has told the latest Highways Voices podcast that “things have to be addressed” when it comes to the perception of safety on smart motorways.

As the Government announces a pausing of the rollout of any new All Lane Running motorways while safety data is assessed, Professor Nick Reed told the podcast that while statistically they are a safe form of motorway, “there is real risk, and there is also perceived risk, and we have to go about addressing both of those things”.

Professor Reed, whose first project in the industry was related to the active traffic management solution on the M42, was in no way downplaying the need to address safety issues saying, “there have been some tragic incidents on smart motorways, and that's unacceptable. The target is zero harm, and that means things there are things that have to be addressed.

“I think my role is making sure the network is used as best as it possibly can be, all the while heading towards that goal of zero harm.”

The interview talks about his new role, what we can learn from driverless technology to make cars and roads safer now, learning from other countries’ innovations and why his position as an independent adviser may help to get more ideas flowing.

The podcast also features a summary of some of the stories you’ll see on the Highways News website, and a very poignant “Adrian’s Accolade”.

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This week's Highways Voices hears about the major Transportation Research Board meeting in the US, where guest Matthew Juckes of Aimsun explains how "it really started off more as an academic research oriented conference but over the last 10 years... operations and the systems people and just more of the professionals in the industry, not just the academic side, have come to it and use it as a working place for various committees."

The company's President in the US explains how the event is significant for everyone because it looks at all aspects of transport. "TRB is all encompassing - from pavement and road surfacing to traffic signals, controllers, to traffic management operations, to academic research on new algorithms and new approaches," he says. He explains how a lot of the AI machine learning data analytics space has really taken off, bringing together systems engineering, product development, hardware and core engineering, bridge design and road surface design, tied in with what academia is researching.

The interview also talks about the latest in modelling for pedestrians and cyclists and how you can use real-time data and modelling to inform on the best way to alleviate traffic jams before they even happen and, as he spoke with New York in the background, how a major city can benefit from this.

You'll also hear why Professor Phil Blythe of Newcastle University wins Adrian's Accolade, plus a round-up of the week's news.

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Back in January, Highways News created a new podcast series "Highways Voices".

Thousands of listeners later, we're celebrating the end of the first year of programmes with a special highlights edition - and some examples of where things didn't quite go right first time.

The programme features clips from some of the most popular interviews, including with TV legend Michael Rodd, newspaper columnist Peter Hitchens, behavioural expert Rory Sutherland and transport ministers past and present with Stephen Ladyman and Trudy Harrison.

You can also hear clips from the first Highways Voice, John Pickworth of SWARCO, along with Geoff Collins of Jenoptik, Helen Blood of Boundary PR and Marketing, TfL’s Glynn Barton, White Willow Consulting owner Andy Graham, nutritionist Gilly Brunton and Adept’s Mark Corbin plus thoughts on leadership from Richard Tredwin of SRL, Clearview Intelligence’s Nick Lanigan and LCRIG’s Martin Duffy.

Then there's a section showing how things sound before the editing software has been used, mostly pointing out mistakes by presenters Paul Hutton and Adrian Tatum, although there is the curious moment where one guest sounded like he'd turned into a dalek.

Remember all the interviews are available in full on our podcast page. The bloopers are not.

A Merry Christmas to you from all the Highways News team.

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"Inspire them and lead them to higher performance, quicker outcomes, better customer service, improved health and safety, performance, better engagement of their teams."

The words of Peter Anderson, Amey's Managing Director - Transport Infrastructure speaking about leadership on the latest Highways Voices podcast.

In the latest conversation with one of our industry's leaders, Peter tells Adrian Tatum about his views on what makes a good leader, "I think the leader needs to be honest, I think the leader needs to be authentic... because that's how that leaders are better able to, to create followership. What a leader needs above all other things is a team that that follows the vision, follows the direction of travel, and feels valued and gets feedback by the leader."

He describes the leadership process as giving staff the tools to do the work and make decisions themselves using a triangle with management, commercial and finance at each corner and asking themselves if what they are doing is "the right thing to do", and then backing their decision.

"When you've got in your triangle, and you've come up with a collective decision, then I'll back you 100%, you make that decision, it's your call, you make it for the right reasons," he says. But then there's a warning if you don't follow the process. "If you are a lone wolf, and you make a decision entirely on your own, without consultation. If you're right, then that's fine, but you're looking, if you're wrong, and you have not consulted with your colleagues in the triangle, then we'll have a very difficult and very different conversation."

Hear Peter's views on work in the communities, focussing on outcomes, and what our industry should do to lead.

You can also hear a round-up of the latest news and who wins the penultimate "Adrian's Accolade" of 2021.

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The acting director for roads development in National Highways has explained how a new initiative to add storage capacity to enable more rapid EV charging at service stations is all about supporting range anxiety and making sure that the network's users have got regular intervals at which they can actually charge their vehicles.

Dr Joanna White was discussing the government-owned organisation plans to invest in Energy Storage Systems – essentially giant battery packs – for service stations where the grid supply is not enough for rapid charging infrastructure.

"It's a really interesting project that we're leading, working with the Office for zero emission vehicles to look at how we can support motorway service areas with the their capacity to enable delivery of at least six rapid charging electric vehicle charging points by 2023," she explains. "So we're working with those have to focus on those service areas, which have got lower grid capacity grid connection... or have got lower footfall, and where we can install a battery type solution to charge up overnight or in low periods of demand and enhance the capacity connection that that motorway service area has."

The wide-ranging discussion covers initiatives to decarbonise freight, standards in low carbon transport, liaising with local authorities and then National Highways' own decarbonisation efforts.

"We are looking at our own corporate carbon, we're looking at where we get our energy from that that runs our offices, runs the lighting in our offices," she says. "We're looking at converting the lighting on the network to LED lighting and obviously reducing emissions to that we've invested in plug in hybrid electric vehicles for our traffic officer service."

Despite bringing you daily podcasts last week thanks to our sponsors SWARCO and AGD Systems, we still couldn’t fit in everything we gathered, so in this bonus podcast we talk about road safety, companies coming together and artificial intelligence.

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The Australian company Acusensus has proved it’s not just speed that can be enforced by technology on our roads thanks to its technology to spot people using their hand-held phones whilst driving, and those who aren’t wearing a seatbelt. We catch up with founder and Managing Director Alexander Jannink, before talking to smartmicro CEO Ralph Mende about the company's new products and its acquisition of a British company.

A new name to us since the last Intertraffic is Umovity, a partnering of American signals technology company Econolite, and the well known PTV Group. VP, Engineering, Sunny Chakravarty explains how, by better combining hardware, software and now transport modelling, intersections can become safer and more efficient.

Many, many companies talked AI across Intertraffic, so McKinsey’s expert in the subject, Alberto Chiulli, cuts through the hype before we close the programme with the CEO of Yunex Traffic, John Newhard, who hosted a panel session at Intertraffic Amsterdam 2024 looking at AI, the Cloud and Mobility, and how new technologies and computing could affect our industry. He reflects on what was discussed.

The ADEPT Live Labs projects have brought local authorities closer to innovation than they have ever been before, providing them with new, more efficient and better ways of working.

These are the comments of Programme Director Giles Perkins, who spoke to Highways Voices ahead of the upcoming ADEPT Smart Places Live Labs Expo, taking place on December 1st in Derby.

Mr Perkins, who is also Head of Future Mobility at WSP told Highways Voices: "The Key to the success of Live Labs has been the collaboration between local authorities and the private sector, and out there to maintenance providers, but also new entrants into the market that they may not have had relationships with before SMEs, academia, all sorts of people, the sharing of that innovation, the roles and responsibilities.

"The opportunities that have come from that really is built on collaboration. Everybody has been pitching in together playing to the strengths, but learning along the way. But one could argue that given what we've got to address with climate change, etc, we are all going to have to innovate and innovation is something that we will all need to do as business as usual, we will all need to be agile, we will all need to understand how we can make change, but also response and move on from failure if failures occur. The best way to do that is to do that collaboratively."

Mr Perkins said that a portal, where all the information and learning from the eight Live Lab projects so far, is being developed to help extend the learning to every local authority in the UK, as well as to consider any potential future projects.

You can register for the ADEPT Smart Places Live Labs Expo here: . https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/live-labs-expo-2021-tickets-180037024587

You can find the JCT Traffic Signals Symposium highlights video here: https://highways-news.com/jct-launches-highlights-video-from-popular-traffic-signals-symposium/

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Two of the UK's leading experts on the behaviour of people while travelling are urging engineers to redefine how they measure a successful transport system.

Rory Sutherland and Pete Dyson have written a book "Transport for Humans - Are We Nearly There Yet" which they discuss on this week's Highways Voices podcast.

In the book they write how engineers plan transport systems, but people use them, and the ways in which an engineer measures success – speed, journey time, efficiency – are often not the way that passengers think about a good trip.

"We are not cargo," they write, "We choose how and when to travel, influenced not only by speed and time but by habit, status, comfort, variety – and many other factors that engineering equations don’t capture at all.

"As we near the practical, physical limits of speed, capacity and punctuality, the greatest hope for a brighter future lies in adapting transport to more human wants and needs. Behavioural science has immense potential to improve the design of roads, railways, planes and pavements – as well as the ways in which we use them – but only when we embrace the messier reality of transport for humans."

"An understanding of human psychology offers far more potential for ingenuity in transport solutions, than simply looking at what you might call real world SI derived metrics of speed and punctuality and capacity," Rory Sutherland, who is Vice Chairman of brand agency Ogilvy, told the podcast. "So the scope for ingenuity is much, much greater. If you're prepared to actually wrestle with some of the counterintuitive, and sometimes eccentric mysteries of human perception.

"We don't perceive the world objectively, we have, you can see this from English language, time flies, when you're having fun, or it was the longest ten minutes of my life, you know, we don't perceive time, like a metronome or a stopwatch".

He explains that we plan for the average, but that nobody is average. "We spend an awful lot of time trying to solve for the average, we take the average traveller, solve for him or her, or rather it because it's an average and then impose that optimal solution on everybody, regardless of their varying preferences and comparative sets."

The authors worked together at Ogilvy until Pete Dyson moved to a role within the Department for Transport, looking at new ways to deliver transport.

"Has transport fully realised the key product that it is selling?", Pete comments in the podcast. "On the one hand, it's the get the person from A to B point. But if you only think of it in those terms, then you get to this reductionist area of we'll get them to be faster than a is the best possible option. But thinking of it differently leads to some more cheeky ideas."

Using the example of the Caledonian Sleeper between London and Scotland which is more expensive and slower than a flight, but still a very attractive travel option he suggests, "What if the sleeper train were a room on AirBnB, and when you're looking for rooms in Aberdeen, you can book the sleeper train, because after all, that could be your first night in Aberdeen, or vice versa if you wanted to stay in London, and now suddenly the cost feels a little bit different because after all you're paying for a nice accommodation."

The conversation discusses a range of topics from multi-modal travel to smart motorways, from road charging and...

A five-year settlement for local authorities and a change to the Highways Act to allow delivery in accordance to the imperatives of the time are two of the most important things that should be considered to help support future investment and planning for active travel, according to this week's guest on the Highways Voices podcast.

The University of Westminster's Tom Cohen, report author for the latest report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking (APPGCW). He tells this week's Highways Voices that there was an agreement among almost all those surveyed that a five-year funding settlement would be ideal to allow  a ‘funding horizon’ of five years to enable transport/highway authorities to build teams and manage programmes successfully but at the same time giving central government the fiscal control it needs.

A change to the Highways Act, he said would mean that local authorities could develop and manage their network in accordance with the need to achieve the goals of environmental sustainability and improved public health.  "It would need to impose upon highways authorities, a requirement to act in accordance with the imperatives of the time, notably climate change and public health. And there would be an expectation that authorities would, whenever taking action on the highway network, always be looking to improve if at all possible, the arrangements for active travel, and at the very least not to make them any worse," said Mr Cohen.

The report also recommends that a new standard is created for active travel to ensure councils adhere to issues of justice when planning further active travel.

Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!

As the UK's premier exhibition and conference for the highways and transport industry continues in Birmingham, Highways Voices delivers its second podcast frpom the event.

Join Paul Hutton today when he talks with Jenoptik about the value of average speed cameras in delivering road safety, cleaner air and even significant economic benefits.

Highways Voices first ever guest, John Pickworth of SWARCO returns to the programme to give a background on the company's partnership with SRL and you'll also hear from Clearway about their rapid deployment CCTV solution, ARTSM and the Road Industry Forum, and Messagemaker about their sustainable low power solutions.

Finally friend of Highways Voices Andy Graham, the leading consultant and connected vehicle expert gives his views on why connectivity is delivering such benefits to the sector right now.

The UK's premier exhibition and conference for the highways and transport industry is taking place in Birmingham, and Highways Voices is the official podcast of the event.

Join Paul Hutton today when he talks about the innovations in the industry, from roadworker safety to the environment, as well as discussing some of the new collaborations and innovations.

Today he talks to independent consultant and IHE Council Member Neil Levett, finds out about roadworker safety with Connected Safety Net, learns about SRL's expansion in the last two years and how they're signed a new long-term deal with SWARCO, how Clearview Intelligence really does deliver a clear view for drivers, what Gaist are doing to make people safer and how ITS (UK) is supporting cleaner transport solutions.

There will be another podcast from this show tomorrow - join us again around 3pm for more conversation.

We’ve had a welcome return to face-to-face events in this country over the autumn but nothing on the scale of Highways UK, so this week’s Highways Voices looks ahead to this major event at the NEC.

In the podcast, Paul Hutton and Adrian Tatum chat to Highways UK content director Paul Wheeler who tells them, ”All sorts of big thinking areas are the Main Theatre or what we call a big thinking stage, which is a very high level strategic insights - almost TED Talks for road sector.”

The two Highways News co-owners also talk to President of the Institution of Civil Engineers Rachel Skinner who’s leading a discussion on Getting Serious – Climate Action Towards Net Zero. “There won't be a single rulebook, we won't have all the answers,” she says.  “We just need to get on across each of the sectors, across each of those lifecycle stages and be confident that we're all pulling in same direction to go as fast as we possibly can. Because this genuinely is urgent at the moment.”

“Roads are a big emitter surface transport is the single biggest carbon emitting sector in the country and road transport makes up the vast majority of that,” adds National Highways’ Executive Director, Strategy and Planning Elliot Shaw, “So it's really imperative on those to drive the shift to net zero.”

The official podcast provider of Highways UK also brings you some of the top stories on the Highways News website, and why SRL wins this week’s “Adrian’s Accolade”.

Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!

Highways Voices host Paul Hutton has returned from Hamburg and in this podcast he chats with Adrian Tatum about what he saw at the ITS World Congress 2021, and brings you four bonus interviews from the event, sponsored by SWARCO and GEWI.

As well as GEWI's new cycling information service, there were many other active travel solutions on display at the event which Paul talks about, as well as chatting to Cubic's Dave Powell about a camera solution which identifies pedestrians and cyclists to give them priority on the network.

"The government seen the benefits of active travel - Covid taught us that people do want to be out and about and they do want to gain the benefits that provides," he said. "This is a response to that. I think we were early in the development of it and to see that need, but being able to use the technology to our benefit and continue the benefits that we've seen through Covid through increased active travel use is tremendously important."

Teledyne FLIR also discuss their traffic camera solutions while Sopra Steria update us on their innovations in the UK' National Traffic Information Service and we hear from location specialists HERE about their range of innovations.

You'll also hear a surprising Adrian's Accolade this week, and Paul mention (twice) to interviewees that he used to run a radio traffic news company which gathered some of its information from Little Chefs and petrol stations. Yes, really.

Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, AmazonMusic, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!

Against all the odds, the ITS World Congress in Hamburg has taken place with around 15,000 people attending, and Highways News brings you one final podcast from the event in Hamburg today, sponsored by SWARCO and GEWI.

Paul Hutton speaks to modelling company Aimsun about how they can fix traffic jams before they happen with Senior Product Specialist Martin Hartmann explaining, “the traffic management centre can improve their decision making by having a reliable prediction,” while Sebastian Baucutt of detection company Navtech Radar explains how stopped vehicle detection really does work, saying, “We make sensors and we're very proud that actually our radar sensors are both very reliable and very accurate.”

As Dynniq Mobility completes its first major event as part of the SWARCO family, CEO Jan Vos explains the sort of conversations he’s been having with clients, “explaining to them what will be the combined strength of the group where are we complimentary where do we have overlaps discussed those kinds of things” while road data specialists Gaist describe their new connected car road analysis tool as Asset Safety Manager John Swift says, “we show them their condition of the road from my laptop, to an extent of their don’t know exists.”

There’s also Eric Sampson’s guide to Friday and a podcast farewell with Jacob Bangsgaard, ERTICO – ITS Europe CEO.

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Volkswagen’s autonomous ridesharing subsidiary MOIA is committing to delivering driverless rides to the city of Hamburg by 2025, and the company’s CEO explains the background on Thursday’s Highways Voices podcast from the ITS World Congress sponsored by SWARCO and GEWI.

“The goal

really is by 2024-25 we'll have a commercial ride pooling service without

safety drivers fully autonomous available here in Hamburg,” Robert Henrich told

host Paul Hutton. “These vehicles now exist, you can see them you can

touch them… and we now start mapping and start doing the test drives. It's now

finally happening.”

Other

technical advancements in Hamburg are explained by Martin Huber, who

is Director General of Hamburg’s Ministry of Transport and Mobility Transition

who joins Paul again to discuss existing technology on the streets of the city

including “Red lights that given invisible signal, which is exactly the same as

the light on the micro second” that interface with connected and autonomous

vehicles.

Ronny

Dittrich from GEWI has perfected a way of managing roadworks in real time to

improve the environment and road safety explaining, “TIC for work zones is a

system where everyone working with work zones in a company, and maybe also

other companies can put their work zones into a single system… where conflicts

can be detected,” while we also hear about a connected safety solution for

cyclists and pedestrians, the reaction of two Clearview Intelligence experts

checking out the Congress as visitors and, of course, Eric Sampson’s guide to

Thursday at the Congress and the latest news from Highways News HQ with Adrian

Tatum.

Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon

Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss

an episode!

WSP's new "greenprint" for transport to reach Net Zero leads the conversation on Wednesday at the ITS World Congress in the latest Highways Voices sponsored by SWARCO and GEWI.

Associate Tom Grahamslaw discusses the new white paper which explains how Intelligent Transport Systems can enable the decarbonisation of road traffic saying, "It's about adapting what we currently have. It's making more efficient use of our existing networks, but really putting ourselves in the shoes of the people so that we can create solutions that people will adopt, that will people will embrace. And that will drive the most successful outcomes."

UK Transport Minister Trudy Harrison discusses environmental benefits of technology too as she talks about how seeing solutions for herself, "is so important, particularly at the early stages of my new role in the Department for Transport."

Elsewhere sponsor SWARCO's Executive Board member Michael Schuch explains the recent acquisition of Dynniq Mobility is considered a merger and "that is how we also approach now this integration of Dynniq mobility part into the SWARCO family," while Cubic's Krishna Desai talks about a paper she is presenting on Wednesday about the importance of educating the public by pointing out, "I actually give an analogy about my brother, who thinks a smart motorway is an extra lane on the motorway that they're building to charge electric vehicles."

You'll also hear Prof Eric Sampson's guide to Wednesday and the latest news from Highways News HQ with Adrian Tatum.

Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!

The last of this week’s Highways Voices podcasts from Intertraffic Amsterdam 2024 explores more of the cutting-edge technology and leading opinion, thanks to the sponsorship of  SWARCO and AGD Systems.

In today’s programme we hear about the Australian invention Multipatcher, a safe one-person operated way to fix our roads, which has been making a difference Down Under for decades and is now on streets in the UK. 

Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!

We meet two leading executives from enforcement company Jenoptik about how technology is making our roads safer, while the importance of safety and adherence to speed limits is underlined by the European Cyclists’ Federation.

We also catch up on driverless technology from Germany, with the latest from pioneers MOIA, while we talk start-ups with Kevin Borras as he looks forward to Friday at Intertraffic.

Whether you’re at Intertraffic or not, we give you a valuable flavour of the event – timed for you to listen to while you’re getting strolling through the Amsterdam showers to the RAI, or getting ready for a Friday working from home.

This year's ITS World Congress host city Hamburg is seen as a model city for the future of mobility, and on the special GEWI- and SWARCO-sponsored Highways Voices, we find out why.

Martin Huber, is Director General of Hamburg's Ministry of Transport and Mobility Transition joins podcast host Paul Hutton to talk about some of the initiatives in the city, including plans which will mean nobody is more than five minutes from a transport node where a ride is available within five minutes.

Martin urges Paul to check out the solution MOIA while he is in the city saying, "Nobody has more than 200 meters to walk to find a virtual station... I would say you should try it out. As long as you're here, Paul, because... It's really great."

Professor Eric Sampson gives his guide to the event which on Tuesday centres on transport ministers, including Britain's Trudy Harrison, attending. "We can say to ministers, did you realise that I can do this for you - we have got technology that does something that I think you don't know about," he says. "But looking at it the other way, ministers can come to us and say, Look, I've got a big problem. Is there any way you think you can solve it?"

We hear more about Trudy Harrison's visit and a drinks reception on the UK stand from ITS (UK) Secretary General Jennie Martin, plus about traffic news for cyclists from Danny Woolard of GEWI who explains how just on his walk to the Congress, "@e found that there were two closures on that cycle rate, a one diversion, and an alternative route, which wasn't even shown on Google Maps. We saw that it was totally impossible to cycle so we had to turn around and go back", while Neil Herron of Grid Smarter Cities explains why kerbside management leads to 20% cuts in emissions.

Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!

The Intelligent Transport Systems industry is finally meeting together at its World Congress in Hamburg and we talk physical and software solutions, Mobility as a Service, commercialisation of test beds and even hint at a Beatles moment in the first of a series of Highways Voices podcast specials.

These podcasts are possible thanks to the sponsorship from SWARCO and GEWI.

Highways News co-owner Paul Hutton is in Germany for this week's Congress and in Monday's podcast he talks to the CEO of the event organisers, Jacob Bangsgaard of ERTICO - ITS Europe who discusses the work that went into making the event happen, and some of the highlights of the week.

Richard Neumann of SWARCO discusses software solutions, new technology and his company's recent acquisition of Dynniq Mobility while we also hear from Deutsche Bahn about all-round mobility solutions and Transport for West Midlands who have been instrumental in delivering the UK stand this year alongside ITS (UK), the Department for Transport and Innovate UK.

We also hear from Prof Eric Sampson, who is keeping up with his record of attending every single ITS World Congress. He gives his views of the key things to see and do on Day One, and hints that we might get some Merseyside Music in the Opening Ceremony.

Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!

It's the most important ingredient of a road, but is often the forgotten part of the transport industry - this week Asphalt takes centre stage on Highways Voices.

The President of the Institute of Asphalt Technology, Brian Downes, is Paul Hutton's guest on the podcast this week who tells Paul how the industry has introduced many interesting innovations.

"The technologies in terms of how we lay them the optimisation of the of the machinery, the health and safety aspects of it, the approach to sustainability things like warm asphalt, low temperature asphalts, which mean they use less fuel to heat them up, which brings the whole carbon footprint down."

Brian explains industry recruitment and details the vast amount of training, "We manage several courses with strategic partners - the foundation degree with the University of Derby, we have a Higher National Apprenticeship, we're in the process of kicking off this this month," he says. "We also run what are called Lunch and Learn webinars."

The podcast also talks about next week's ITS World Congress podcasts from Hamburg sponsored by GEWI and SWARCO, looks at some key stories on Highways News this week and why VolkerHighways wins this week's "Adrian's Accolade".

If you want to attend the IAT Autumn Seminar "Future Challenges and Opportunities in the Asphalt Industry" at Aston University, email Russell.hunter@instituteofasphalt.org.

Highways Voices is the official podcast of the 2021 ITS World Congress from Hamburg and in this preview podcast sponsored by GEWI and SWARCO we hear from two exhibitors and the organisers.

Richard Neumann of SWARCO tells us all about the range of exciting new software and hardware solutions on his huge 124 square metre stand including SWARCO MyCity which is "a modular software suite, where you have different modules about the monitoring of traffic, about the traffic management system itself, about air quality measurements, about the parking guidance, and about the sign management for such signs".

Rail is an important part of Congress with Deutsche Bahn making its debut with a range of end-to-end transport solutions and a plan to make rail travel more attractive than the car. Head of Smart Cities Dr Meike Niedbal who thinks the "21st century will be the century of railroad. Why? Because electrified rail transport is a key solution for sustainability and to fight climate change. This is why we digitise our train system in order to increase capacity and to make it more reliable."

Conference Director Lisa Boch-Andersen is also on the programme discussing the delivery of the congress in difficult circumstances, there's a summary of the latest news and you'll hear why a pioneer of road building wins this week's Adrian's Accolade".

The travelling public will have a 'much higher' expectation from the transport system in the UK, according to Mark Corbin, chair of the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT's)National Traffic Manager's Group.

He was speaking on this week's Highways Voices podcast and ahead of the Traffic Managers conference, taking place on October 13th.

He said: "I think people will have a much higher expectation from the transport system, because they will be paying a lot more careful attention to how they plan their journeys, though. And that's where I think some of the pressure will come on to us as traffic managers now.

"We have to have measures of control to ensure we deliver on the big agenda items such as clean air. We have to be able to balance the fact that we have to manage a climate emergency, air pollution and everything else associated with the environment with balancing what we are doing every day and finding a way of engaging better with users of our transport services in different ways."

Mr Corbin added: "So we have to absolutely stay very connected, very united, keep sharing, keep talking because the challenges are big. And the response from us is going to be huge. And we've got to make sure that we properly engage that and learn as we go."

He said 'we have a user-led transport service like we have never had before'.

During the podcast interview, Mr Corbin also spoke about delivering the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022. "This is about doing what we normally do better but it is all about access and providing sustainable ways of travelling alongside the more traditional-we have to be prepared for everything."

In this podcast you'll also hear about the Highways Voices podcasts for the ITS World Congress and why Transport for the West Midlands wins "Adrian's Accolade".

"I think the excitement about getting back to normal business long last," explains Danny Woolard of GEWI as he looks forward to the ITS World Congress in Hamburg next month.

Speaking on the Highways Voices podcast, sponsored by GEWI and SWARCO the German company's UK representative says how "we're looking forward to meeting our existing clients, existing customers, but also a lot of new people."

GEWI will be showing off its new cycling data solution in Hamburg which he tells the podcast the company started looking at branching out into cycling information about a year ago. "We've been involved in the road traffic information business for many, many years - we started looking at analogies of what could we replicate in terms of what we do for the road traffic information business, in terms of moving towards cycling. And the more we looked at it, the more we did some research, the more we talked to providers of information and some government clients, about how information about cycle routes, about volumes of cycles that are moving around cities is so analogous to road traffic information. So we are launching off the first part of our solution in Hamburg."

The podcast also features Harry Evers, Managing Director of the Hamburg World Congress who discusses the Covid-safe event and how the invitation is not just from Hamburg but, "it's a German invitation to everybody. We have invited the local governments of all Germany - we are focusing on the latest results, what's coming up from the discussions in Germany with the future mobility platform."

Major exhibitor Yunex Traffic features too, talking about mobility solutions discussed at the Congress. Claus Beringer is SVP of its Traffic Management Platform tells Highways Voices, "it's about like reducing traffic, and also incentivising modal shift to more eco friendly traffic modes."

The podcast also features Adrian Tatum's take on the latest news on the Highways News website plus why Transport for Greater Manchester wins "Adrian's Accolade" this week.

There is a ‘real opportunity’ for the highways supply chain to work with National Highways to ensure that it is operating its network in a more advanced, insightful and responsive way to help drive a more digitally enabled road network by 2025.

These are the thoughts of Elliot Shaw, Executive Director of Strategy and Planning at National Highways, who was this week’s guest on Highways Voices as it returned after a summer break.

Mr Shaw was speaking about the newly launched Digital Roads Strategy that promises to a virtual twin of the road network that can predict the time and location of potholes and other maintenance issues is just one of the innovations National Highways says is poised to transform its future operations.

Other initiatives that could lead the charge on what it calls a ‘digital revolution’ for roads include intelligent road materials able to repair themselves and more connected and autonomous plant.

These are some of the systems set to be rolled out as part of National Highways’ Digital Roads strategy which is being outlined on a new website and ‘virtual learning environment’.

“We really hope to achieve a step change with this where you really do see that technology has transformed the way that we use our roads. We really want this strategy to be the catalyst not only for our own network by the industry at large and we need to work with our supply chain, and others to really make that move forward. So, I would hope we will see a significantly more digitally enabled road network by 2025. And that's in each of the three areas that we set out within the strategy-the design and construction space, also within the operations, and then finally, also how we engage with our customers as well. “

“We want the ability to deliver schemes faster, deliver them more efficiently, and I think from a safety perspective, as well, you know, actually, the more that we can do these things in a controlled digitally enabled way the more we can expect to see fewer people doing some of the more challenging and dangerous activities on site. So, we would expect three safety, safety impacts, as well, as on the operation side.”

Mr Shaw said a chance to have a more connected, digital roadmap would be an opportunity to do things differently.

“We have the chance to just do different things now, things that we would never have been able to do before. I think on that what we've been really reflecting on is, how can this progress deliver better value for our customers? What's the unique information that we can provide? And how should we get that across to our customers?”

"I may be smiling , but it's been a difficult time planning an event in this COVID pandemic, but we've always taken the the attitude at JCT that we wanted to get this back as a physical event if we possibly could," says JCT Director John Nightingale as he discusses putting on one of the first physical events in the highways and transport technology industries since the easing of government restrictions.

He tells the Highways Voices podcast this week, "We've had an enormous amount of support from our exhibitors. In fact, the demand for exhibition space is unprecedented this year, even down to the extent where we've had to ask the university who're hosting the event for additional space, which we've secured. The exhibition side is looking absolutely brilliant, and as always, we've had a fantastic response from contributors for papers, papers program is now full."

The podcast discusses the need for the industry to get back together in person, the value of networking and the business that gets done, and sparks of inspiration for new ideas, when people are physically together.

That subject is picked up by the other guest of the programme, Jacob Bangsgaard, who is CEO of ERTICO - ITS Europe. He talks about a first attempt to get an international audience together at the ITS World Congress in Hamburg in October.

"The Congress is such an important part of our work," he explains. "It's where all our stakeholders come together, it's our partners, it's all the people we work with on activities - they come together and share our experience and learn what is going on around the world."

Jacob Bangsgaard agrees with John Nightingale about the value of networking and discusses "digital online fatigue" that is facing people after more than a year of mainly home working, so he has done all he can to deliver the Congress. "Of course in Hamburg... we are putting everything in place to make a very safe event," he says. "We have the possibilities for testing, we have the possibility for social distancing. This is of course not what we hope for in October, but at least we are making sure, together with the authorities, to put in place an event which is totally in line with the currently a regulation."

Hear about the two events and also why Gaist and TRL win "Adrian's Accolade" this week.

The JCT Symposium takes place on 15 and 16 September with the MOVA User Group and first social event the day before. Find out more here.

The ITS World Congress in Hamburg is in the week beginning 11 October. Details are here.

Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!

"I guess the e-scooter trials are a bit of a reset button," commented Jack Holloway, an expert in mobility brands at global brand agency Landor & Fitch on this week's Highways Voices podcast, " to see if they can deliver on the promise of alternative mobility. But for that trial to succeed, the local governments need to work with the rental operators."

Jack Holloway joined the podcast to discuss the ongoing issues of safety around e-scooters which have been involved in at least one death and several injuries in recent months.

He was responding to comments on a previous edition of Highways News's podcast by Peter Hitchens, the Mail on Sunday columnist, who called them "a recipe for injury" and, when it comes to solving a transport challenge, “whatever you do, there is no problem to which electric scooters are the answer.”

Jack Holloway commented that there are several technological safety features built into the rental trials, "[They go at] a maximum of 12 and a half miles per hour, which I think is quite reduced in comparison to many other kinds of cities around the globe, they have to have lights on the front and the rear of the vehicles that are on throughout that rental period," he explained. "They have audible warning systems for people that maybe are visually impaired, they have first ride policies, which means that new users are required to take an e-learning safety course riders can only be over the age of 18." He said they users also need a driving licence, and that the scooters have "GPS tracking monitors on them, so they can see when when riders are riding on the on the pavement or behaving in a kind of inappropriate manner. And then they run a three strike policy, which could lead to suspension."

But on top of the safety issues, how do you brand an e-scooter to make it attractive to people to use, and where will the trials go? Hear some answers in the interview.

You can also hear why the Highways Heroes awards wins this week's "Adrians Accolade" and hear Highways News owners Paul Hutton and Adrian Tatum discuss this week's news.

Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!

Forming a team with the best people around them that have different talent is one of the most important attributes of being a good leader, according to LCRIG Chief Executive and NY Highways Chair, Martin Duffy.

He has been speaking as part of this week's Highways Voices podcast. Mr Duffy said that good leaders are the ones that can produce a robust vision for a organisation and develop a platform to deliver that vision on.

Mr Duffy said: "A good leader should be fully of energy with different attributes that including providing a vision, developing a strategy to drive it through and stick with it during the tough times."

But leadership isn't just about what you do internally, it is what you externally that is important as well. "At LCRIG the most important thing is listening to our members and acting on it which we have done successfully with Project Amber and then the work at NY Highways is all about delivering a excellent, cost effective service where we aren't slave to targets but focused on outcomes."

You'll also hear a round-up of the week's news including two in-person events and who wins this week's "Adrian's Accolade".

Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!

As we enter the second half of Intertraffic Amsterdam 2024, we’re back with more fascinating conversation about the transport and mobility industries from Amsterdam, thanks to the sponsorship of  SWARCO and AGD Systems.

In today’s programme we hear about an important collaboration between former competitors SWARCO and Dutch data experts Monotch, who have announced a new initiative to expand Cooperative, Connected, and Automated Mobility services to large-scale deployment.

Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!

We speak to a leading expert in autonomous vehicles from the University of San Francisco as we discuss the take-up of the technology, and where it’s really getting traction.

It’s party time on the Clearview Intelligence stand as they celebrate 50 years as a business, and AGD Systems explain important traffic management solutions they’re delivering with partners in Canada.

Kevin Borras also joins us with a pick of some of the must-attend sessions in the summit theatre.

Whether you’re at Intertraffic or not, we give you a valuable flavour of the event – timed for you to listen to while you’re getting ready in your Amsterdam hotel room, or, if you’re not at the event, on the commute to your office.

The highways industry needs to improve the way it communicates both internally and externally to the travelling public so it can inform what it is doing and more importantly why it is doing it in a more engaging way.

These are the thoughts of experienced marketing and PR Director Helen Blood of Boundary Marketing & PR - a company dedicated to helping the sector to promote itself more effectively. She was speaking on this week's Highways Voices podcast and said the sector should not be afraid of telling the public what it does well.

"There are of course some really good examples of great communications work in the industry, but we have a long way to go often to get the public on side. It is about informing and engaging and that will encourage users of the networks to do something differently and to behave differently."

But this will only happen if the industry works together, she said. "It's about getting all the right information from the whole supply chain that are going to be delivering the schemes and the consultants that have been involved in designing the schemes and then actually really understanding the reasons behind the project and making sure that we communicate the 'why' factor so the public understand why we are doing something and the reason behind it, we need to be able to communicate that effectively to people, and we need to engage them as well. We need to be able to answer the questions that matter to them."

Ms Blood also said more effective use of technology on the roadside will also help deliver the right message if planned in the right way and there will be more tools at our disposal in the future, "but it is how we make best use of them," she added.

In this episode you'll also hear Paul Hutton and Adrian Tatum discuss the latest news, and find out why Andy Graham, KL Systems and Eloy win this week's "Adrian's Accolade"

“I think growing organically in international markets is difficult when you're coming from, say the US or if you're coming from Australia and trying to build,” says Redflex CEO Mark Talbot on this week’s Highways Voices podcast. “It can take a long time. I think if you do a basic make-or-buy type of analysis, you come to the analysis - is it worth it to go ahead and acquire an asset versus trying to develop it on your own?”

Talbot is talking of his company’s recent acquisition by American smart mobility company Verra Holdings announced earlier in June, which he negotiated during the lockdown.

“That's a that's a pretty significant task to close an acquisition of this size, via Zoom and have multiple geos have to participate in multiple countries, [with] regulatory regulators sign off,” he explains “You get really good advisors, which we had on both sides, [and] you have, fortunately for me, talented management in each of the geos… that could carry on day-to-day and run the business service our customers, while the rest of us are dealing with an acquisition.”

He talks about the importance of a great management team when running a global business without international travel, how he’s kept the supply chain going during lockdown, and what his plans are for the future.

The podcast also hears why ITS (UK)’s Women in ITS Forum has won this week’s “Adrian’s Accolade” plus Paul and Adrian’s round-up of the news on the Highways News website this week.

Protecting his team of roadworkers and continuosly innovating to keep them safe has been one of the biggest priorities for SRL Traffic Systems Chief Executive, Richard Tredwin.

He has been speaking on this week’s Highways Voices podcast, as part of the second in a series on leadership in the highways sector.

“I have a team of 180 staff now, of which 170 are deployed out on the road on a daily basis, with huge volumes of traffic. So we make sure we are very aware of what our staff are doing day in and day out and anything that we can do that makes their jobs easier, their lives safer, that’s one of the most important things. We are in an industry that operates within a risky environment by its very nature, and what we try and do is just reflect on the services and support we can give to our team and offer as many things that can make their job easier, better and safer,” Mr Tredwin said. In the last few year’s, SRL has introduced safety cameras in all of its vehicles, CCTV units are onsite and is currently working on a barrier system that will better protect workers next to live traffic. There is also expected to be more use of SRL’s Smart Portable Messenger VMS to help keep the public better informed of the progress of works and more importantly, why work is being carried out.

He also spoke taking the business from £17 million turnover to £32 million. “we developed a strategy that said that we wanted to continue the innovation with our products and build on an already impressive offering that was also scaleable.” During the podcast he also spoke about how the company looks after its staff, and the communities it works in by proving grants to help road safety education.

In the podcast, you'll also hear who wins Adrian's Accolade this week for something positive and important in our industry.