Transport Talks

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that to keep the rise in global temperatures below 1.5C this century, emissions of carbon dioxide would have to be cut by 45% by 2030. Now it seems, there's a growing consensus that the next 18 months will be critical in dealing with the global heating crisis. CIHT recently launched its Climate Change Pledge.Climate change requires us to challenge conventional thinking and challenge orthodoxies. The interview is with Nick Tyler CBE, the Chadwick Professor of Civil Engineering at UCL. Included in the interview you can hear the latest on the Person-Environment-Activity Research Laboratory – which is being built now – that has an aim of helping to design the next generation city infrastructure.

This podcast explores how the United Nations delivers inclusive social developmentDaniela Bas, the Director at the Director of the Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD) at the United Nations explains what the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) mean for disability-inclusive transport around the world. The discussion explores how sport is important to the UN’s SDGs. Universal Design features heavily in Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – Daniela explains what universal design is and how, for example, it applies to natural and man-made disasters. The conversation explores the future role of education across the world in supporting universal design. At the recent World Road Congress, held in Abu Dhabi, the foresight session "Road Transport and Disability" was awarded the best session of the Congress, and was the first ever session in the history of the World Road Congress devoted to disability. Daniela Bas, chaired the session said: "Building accessible roads is a matter of justice and common sense, while investing in the future. Inclusion is not only a legal obligation, it is also an economic and social imperative for which we must work together" and added "Nowadays, transport is the vital link to access education, employment, health care and even social and community commitments".

In this podcast we explore wellbeing and the bottom line. Are there hard-line business benefits to wellbeing. Does improving wellbeing boost the bottom line? In this podcast Justin Ward speaks with Michael Smyth, HR Director at GRAHAM. GRAHAM is an industry leading construction, facilities management and investment company with a national footprint.

The advances made in digital technology have transformed how we live and work and will continue to have far-reaching impacts for some time to come. In this CIHT podcast Justin Ward speaks with Giles Perkins, Head of Future Mobility at WSP. Giles is leading work for the ADEPT SMART Places Live Labs Programme, a two-year, £22.9m project funded by the Department for Transport that will run until Spring 2021.

Transport practitioners are all familiar with consultations, surveys and pop up events but how can we make sure we are really engaging with the communities affected by our work. This podcasts discusses with James Gleave, Transport Planner and founder of Mobility Lab UK, just how we can create a more user-centred transport sector.

This podcast further explores the issues of improving transport for people with disabilities. The guest on this episode is Ann Frye, an international specialist on the mobility needs of people with disabilities and older people. Ann works as an expert advisor on both international and UK projects on accessibility.This explores a brief history of accessible transport in the UK, looks at how the UK compare more generally to other European countries in terms of accessibility. The episode also covers issues of ageing, dementia and epilepsy and concludes with a look at the World Road Congress session on Disability-Inclusive Road Transport that will take place in October 2019.

The UK Roads Liaison Group (UKRLG) recently published an Asset Management Competence Framework designed to help highway authorities implement the recommendations of the group’s Code of Practice ‘Well-managed Highway Infrastructure’. In this podcast, Justin Ward from CIHT speaks with John Paterson from Atkins – a member of the SNC Lavalin Group - who was the lead consultant on the Asset Management Competence Framework project. The interview covers what the framework does, the breadth of roles within the framework, how competency levels are defined and the range of competency areas. This podcast provides essential listening for anyone involved with asset management.

Charlotte Vuyiswa McClain-Nhlapo, Global Disability Advisor at the World Bank, discusses the challenges faced by people with disabilities in accessing inclusive transport globally. She explores the World Bank's efforts to support disabled individuals through technology and legislation. The podcast also touches on promoting disability inclusion through Sustainable Development Goals and social justice in city planning.

Edward Simpson, Professor of Social Anthropology and Director of the South Asia Institute at SOASwas commissioned by UK Aid from the UK Government to explore what insights social science can bring to our understanding of the political economy barriers to the implementation of low carbon transport in urban south Asia and Africa.

This latest CIHT podcast provides an insight into how authorities are implementing the UK Roads Liaison Group's code of practice ‘Well managed Highway Infrastructure’. Authorities are expected to have fully implemented the code by 28 October 2018. The podcast features interviews with David Latham, who is Kent County Council's highway policy and inspections manager and chair of the South East 7 Group; along with Matthew Jasper, team manager for asset management at East Sussex County Council and Paul Davison, who heads up Hampshire County Council's asset management team.