Reflecting on the recent two-day Transport Technology Forum Conference in Leeds, Darren Capes, TTF Manager and ITS Policy Lead at the Department for Transport, praised the collaboration between public and private sectors.
He commented that highways and road transport are changing quickly and the TTF is central to this by driving innovation and efficiency in the sector and helping people to share ideas and work together.
“We have seen so many examples of collaboration,” he said. “Our SPATULA Working group kicked off the Conference with several examples where businesses small and large worked together to develop connected vehicle solutions in-car, and how a local authority used private sector data to quantify the congestion reduction benefits of signal improvements delivered thanks to special Department for Transport funding. Over the two days we saw multiple cases of private sector and a local authorities improving travellers’ lives by delivering on anything from electric vehicle charging infrastructure, cyclist safety and transport modelling. The TTF was created help the industry share ideas and best practice, so seeing the fruits of our work again and again gave me a huge sense of satisfaction.”
Almost 250 people from across central government, local authorities and the private sector attended the conference, which was sponsored by Clearview Intelligence and supported by 24 exhibitors. Delegates heard updates from five of the TTF Working Groups, the latest on the STREETWISE partnership between England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, and from ERTICO – ITS Europe. The vital online resource the Manual for Smart Streets was launched at the event, while the revamped Data Working Group revealed its focus for the rest of the year and the DfT’s Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser Dr Annette Pass (pictured) gave the keynote address including a focus on AI.
“Feeling the energy around the conference gave me such a sense of pride,” commented LCRIG’s soon-to-be CEO Paula Claytonsmith, who oversaw the event’s organisation. “Not only did our record number of delegates enjoy some terrific knowledge sharing in the conference room, but you could tell in the exhibition and during the networking and socialising that many ideas were exchanged and new collaborations formed – which is exactly what the TTF is here to do.”
The Conference kicked off a busy summer for the Transport Technology Forum, which will be hosting the European Pavilion in Lisbon from 22-24 May and will be playing a major role in the LCRIG Innovation Festival in Newark on 4 and 5 July, as well as exhibiting at Traffex in June.
The TTF Conference’s commercial supporters: Main sponsor – Clearview Intelligence. Networking Sponsor – Yunex Traffic. Exhibitors – City Science Corporation, Smart Video and Sensing, JCT Consultancy, VivaCity, Starling Technologies, SRL, ATM-AMAC, TWM Traffic Control Systems, Mobius Networks, Brightly Software, Rennicks UK, Teledyne FLIR, Seoul Robotics, Compass IoT, TRL, IHE, Arup, Connected Places Catapult, Angoka, MVIS and KPMG, while Brightly Software, Connected Places Catapult and WJ Group were table hosts.
(Picture – TTF)
