Tom Nutley on Making Micromobility Work
Tom Nutley joins me to unpack the challenges and missed opportunities in micromobility.
From transport dead spots to Silicon Valley hype, we explore how cities and operators can deliver real public good through better integration, infrastructure and sustainable models. Tom doesnโt hold back!
Paul Swinney on the North-South Divide and Urban Productivity
How does Britainโs knowledge economy shape its cities? Paul Swinney from the Centre for Cities joins me to explore the North-South divide, the role of transport in economic growth and why second-tier cities underperform.
We discuss what agglomeration means and why it matters, how post-pandemic work trends are reshaping transport needs and why investing in urban connectivity is key to unlocking Britainโs economic potential.
Lee Waters on Breaking Orthodoxy to Achieve Real Change
Lee Waters did something unfashionable in modern politics: he led.
As both ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐น๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ช๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐, he curtailed road-building, introduced a national 20mph speed limit and set in motion reforms to create an integrated, publicly owned transport network.
This episode is a masterclass in the reality of political change: why transport is so often overlooked, how to challenge decades of car-first orthodoxy and why evidence-based policy isnโt enough without political courage.
Frank Elter on How Big Firms can stay Innovative
Frank Elter may be a part-time Professor, but heโs a very real-world professor.
As ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฒ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ง๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต, heโs responsible for innovation and planning for one of Norwayโs telecoms giants.
He has thought deeply about how corporations can stay innovative. Heโs thought about it concerning his work, and heโs researched at his university. Heโs even written a book.
On this edition of The Freewheeling Podcast we talk about how modularity can help organisations be โambidextrousโ (i.e. able to focus on operations and innovation), and the fact that every approach creates new problems to solve.
He also tells a pretty remarkable story about how Telenor started its most innovative project to date!
Rikesh Shah on Public Sector Procurement
The UK public sector spends somewhere between ยฃ300 billion and a trillion. A lot of that goes through public procurement processes.
That creates enormous innovation potential.
Yet, being honest, the words โpublic sector procurementโ arenโt seen as synonyms for innovation.
This week, the new Procurement Act 2023 comes into force, so it seems a good time to stop and look at why public sector procurement is a challenge and what can be done about it.
My guest is a former colleague. I knew Rikesh Shah when he was a colleague as Head of Open Innovation at Transport for London, but now he ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐โ๐ ๐๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฒ.
In this conversation, we discuss how cultural barriers, such as fear of failure, hinder innovation in procurement and the barriers startups face in selling to the public sector.
David Milner on The Design of Cities - and on Trams
Why donโt we build homes people wish to live in? Terraced streets are popular and sustainable and support shops, services and transport, so why do we keep building low-density, car-dependent suburbs? And what needs to be done to create a nationwide tram renaissance?
These are just some of the questions I get into in discussion with David Milner, the ๐ ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐๐.
Create Streets is a curious outfit: officially, itโs a design consultancy. But it has a policy and lobbying arm, and is highly influential with the current Government. Not bad for just 10 peopleโฆ
If, like me, you would love to see some big changes in how we design and build towns, this is an episode youโll enjoy.
George Hazel on Land Value Capture Funding
Everyone agrees we need more sustainable transport but no-one has enough money to pay for it.
Could โland value captureโ be the answer? This is the approach where by transport lines are funded through the increases in the land value that the stations stimulate.
Well, George Hazel thinks so. In fact, he knows so, because he developed the land value capture method used for the recently-reopened Northumberland line.
In todayโs episode he tells me how it works; but only after a fascinating discussion on the โSeven Deadly Winsโ for making a city succeed.
Jarrett Walker on How To Think About Public Transport
Jarrett Walker has been designing bus networks for thirty years. From his consulting practice in Portland, Oregon, heโs built a specialism in helping cash-strapped local authorities optimise their networks through his business Jarrett Walker Associates.
And you canโt optimise if you donโt know what public transport is actually for and how youโre measuring whether or not itโs achieving those goals.
Eventually heโd done so much thinking on this topic that he wrote it all down in his book Human Transit.
In our conversation, he talks me through why itโs important to understand whether a transport network is seeking to optimise for coverage or patronage and how โaccess analysisโ can provide everyone with their own personal measure of public transport freedom.
Anne Shaw on the Transformation of Birmingham
Birmingham was the first city I lived in as a proper โgrown-upโ and it was metamorphosing before my eyes.
Previously famous as Britainโs โcar cityโ, it ripped up its inner ring road the year I arrived.
Today, the city centre is unrecognisable: spacious, walkable and with a brand new tram route snaking past brand new buildings.
Anne Shaw has been involved in this transformation since she first moved to Birmingham in 1991 to take up a job as a drainage engineer.
Today sheโs ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ช๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐, and she tells me just how this extraordinary change has been achieved.
Grace Wyld on Government and Governance
Politics tends to focus on what is to be done, but none of it matters if it doesn't actually happen.
We've been living through a crisis of governance recently. Government has become centralised, micro-managing and subject to constant, wild oscillations of policy.
Is this as good as it gets? The ๐๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐บ was set up to make sure it isn't.
Grace Wyld is Head of Policy and Programmes and she joins me to talk about Missions, Devolution and how good Government needs to mean a transformation in how Government works.
Karen Vancluysen on policies, politics and populism
Karen Vancluysen has an infectious passion for sustainable transport and urban mobility. As ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ข๐๐๐ฆ, she runs a network of over 100 European cities and regions, all innovating to accelerate the transition to more sustainable mobility.
In todayโs episode, we chat about the places that are leading the charge, and the challenges of the growth of populism. She gives advice to political leaders aspiring to make change happen and is inspirational on what has been done - and what more needs to happen.
We end with her recommended mobility โgrand tourโ of Europe, to see whatโs already been achieved on the ground.
Itโs a great start to Season 3!
Welcome back to The Freewheeling Podcast, everyone.
Maria Hofberg on Growth and Customer satisfaction in Rail
Maria Hofbergโs rail company doesnโt just have satisfied customers: it has the most satisfied customers in Sweden. Not just the most satisfied rail customers: the most satisfied customers of any transport firm in the Swedish Quality Index, beating buses, airlines and ferry firms.
The company in question is ๐ฉ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐รฅ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฒ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ.
Laura Wright on The Best Railways in the World
A few months ago, I did a light-hearted LinkedIn post, giving out โOlympicโ medals to my favourite European railways.
Transport Strategy Consultant Laura Wright was immediately on my case, challenging my (somewhat subjective) rankings.
In this episode we discuss our best (and most memorable - not always the same thing!) international train journeys and then have an informal chat on which railways are the best.
Ahu Serter on Entrepreneurship and women in business
Ahu Serter, founder of Fark Labs, talks to me about the future of the transport sector, her inspiration for innovation and her work supporting women in entrepreneurship.
Allan Cook on the Rail and Urban Transport Review
What should the new Government do about transport?
Big question: so the Labour party asked an independent group of experts to come up with the answer.
Allan Cook, former Chair of HS2, joins me to talk about their recommendations and why itโs so crucial for the Government to take them forward
Chris Gibb on the Future of HS2
One of the worldโs most expensive railways is being built, but will it actually be useful? The new trains wonโt fit into the existing station in Manchester and the railway north of Birmingham has insufficient capacity.
Someone who thinks they know how to fix the mess is Chris Gibb who, amongst many other roles, used to run Virgin West Coast, the very railway that HS2 is designed to replicate.
He describes his plan on this weekโs episode.
Laura Hadzik on Transport Law
Laura Hadzik is one of the UKโs pre-eminent specialists in Transport Law.
In this weekโs edition of The Freewheeling Podcast, she tells me about the dangers of badly-drafted legislation and advises how to maintain compliance while also promoting innovation.
Laura isnโt only a lawyer, however. Despite being a proud Mancunian, sheโs a Freeman of the City of London and a member of the Worshipful Company of Carmen. Puzzled? Listen on to find out moreโฆ
Budget Special: Sir Michael Holden
I got together with Sir Michael Holden (former Chief Executive of Directly Operated Railways, the Governmentโs own train company) to discuss this landmark first budget by a Labour chancellor for 14 years.
Shin-pei Tsay on Making Change Happen
Shin-pei Tsay has had what you would call a varied career in transport. She's worked in advocacy organisations, as an exec in Uber and now leads innovation in the City of Boston.
She joins me on the podcast to talk about how to make change happen.
Pete Dyson on Transport for Humans
Pete Dyson is the author of Transport for Humans. In this episode, he explains why our focus on rigid metrics risks distracting us from the things that users most care about, and how groupthink threatens the quality of our decision-making
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