The new Transport Minister Trudy Harrison has told Highways News the work of the British Intelligent Transport Systems industry is “pioneering” and key to the future of transport and decarbonisation.

Ms Harrison spoke to the Highways Voices podcast during a visit to the ITS World Congress in Hamburg where she toured the exhibition and met SMEs on the UK Pavilion.

“I’m meeting the people that are involved in the pioneering innovations,” she said. “A lot of this is problem solving, and the kind of positive mentality that I’m seeing from the people, particularly on the UK stand is fantastic, but also to be able to see the demonstrations as well, of how these smart machines are being utilised on real streets, in real communities, across Europe and beyond.

“That is so important, particularly at the early stages of my new role in the Department for Transport, as we start to plan the future of transport, and particularly decarbonisation”

The Minister commented on the value of technology in shaping transport’s future solutions. “It’s important that we can demonstrate to the public, that we can do these things safely. Clearly politicians, parliamentarians will have a nervousness about change, and that’s understandable. Speaking [With Neil Herron of Grid Smarter Cities] about how we’re taking the challenge of kerbside parking, but turning that into a business opportunity, actually… it’s when we start to bring the solutions to this conversation, the parliamentarians and the general public will get on board – and that’s exactly what we’re seeing here at the conference today.

“Being able to put those solutions and innovations into real life solutions and problem solving makes all of the difference. And as we decarbonise it’s going to be absolutely critical, not least because of the data and the way that we interpret it to understand the ecosystem.”

You will be able to hear the full interview on this Highways Voices podcast at the ITS World Congress.

(Picture – Highways News)