Highways Voices: Talking Roads and Transport Technology innovation

Veteran journalist Peter Hitchens and leading behavioural scientist Rory Sutherland debate cars, railways, HS2, road building and the future of transport in a “omnibus edition” of Highways Voices today which brings their complete conversation together from this week’s series of special podcasts.Mr Hitchens, Mail on Sunday columnist and author of the forthcoming book “The Madness of Cars”, argues that Britain made a historic mistake by allowing the motor car to dominate its transport system and dismantling much of the railway network which preceded it. Mr Sutherland, vice-chairman of Ogilvy UK and co-author of “Transport for Humans”, is equally enthusiastic about rail but strongly rejects the idea that the car itself was a mistake, arguing that it has delivered enormous gains in freedom, accessibility and economic opportunity.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.What follows is a wide-ranging and often good-humoured argument about almost every major question in modern transport. They discuss the railway closures of the 1960s, whether HS2 represents an obsession with speed at the expense of connectivity, the value of trams and bicycles, electric vehicles and e-bikes, plus induced traffic, road pricing, safety, land values and the relationship between transport and where people choose to live and work.Some of the most revealing moments come when apparent disagreement gives way to common ground. Both question the logic behind spending vast sums to save a relatively small amount of time on occasional long-distance journeys. Both believe Britain's railways could be made far more attractive. And both accept that people need credible alternatives to the car rather than simply being punished for using one when no practical alternative exists.Mr Sutherland argues for better information, easier interchange and a much more experimental approach to transport policy, including improved parkway facilities, micromobility and better integration between cars, bicycles and trains. Mr Hitchens goes further, saying policymakers first need to accept that the transport system built around mass car ownership may itself have been a wrong turn. Their disagreement is at times philosophical as much as technical: does the car represent individual freedom, or has mass car ownership created a system in which people are effectively forced to drive? Is a collectively efficient transport system necessarily less free? And should policymakers trust economic models and theoretical time savings, or simply look much harder at what passengers actually value?Listen to the full special edition of Highways Voices to hear Peter Hitchens and Rory Sutherland debate those questions in depth – with remarkably little intervention required from the host – and decide for yourself whether the future of British transport lies in defending the flexibility of the car, rebuilding the alternatives to it, or finding a much better way of combining the two.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

After two episodes arguing about how Britain became so dependent on the car, Peter Hitchens and Rory Sutherland turn to the more difficult question in the final part of this week’s special Highways Voices series: what should the country actually do next?Mr Hitchens makes clear that he is not proposing a sudden programme to remove cars from everyday life, arguing instead that Britain first needs to recognise what he regards as a profound historic mistake in allowing the motor car to dominate the transport system. He says changing that position could take generations, but that long-term planning cannot begin until the underlying problem is acknowledged.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.Mr Sutherland takes a more experimental approach. Drawing on arguments around the late transport analyst David Metz's work, he questions whether major transport schemes are assessed using the right measures at all. Rather than concentrating so heavily on speed and theoretical journey-time savings, he suggests policymakers should pay much more attention to the quality, convenience and frequency of the journeys people actually make.That leads to discussion of Heathrow's driverless pods, why travellers often seem more attracted to trams than buses, and the way permanent transport infrastructure can influence development. The pair also return to the Oxford-Cambridge railway, with Mr Hitchens using its troubled reopening as an example of what he sees as Britain's inability to deliver a coherent transport policy.The conversation also turns to smaller-scale interventions. Mr Sutherland calls for widespread experimentation with intermodality, micromobility, better station access and easier links between cars, bicycles and trains, arguing that policymakers should watch how people respond before committing billions of pounds to another major scheme. He says improving relatively short journeys made frequently may deliver far greater value than shaving a few minutes from occasional long-distance trips.Listen to the concluding episode to hear whether the two men can find a workable area of common ground, why connectivity may matter more than speed, and whether Britain's next transport revolution should begin not with another grand project, but with a series of much smaller ideas.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

The argument between Peter Hitchens and Rory Sutherland over Britain's relationship with the motor car intensifies in part two of this week’s special Highways Voices series, as the pair move from railways and HS2 to the much broader question of whether car ownership really represents freedom.Mr Sutherland argues that the strength of the car is its autonomy: the ability to travel when you want, with passengers or luggage, to places which may be difficult to reach in any other way. Mr Hitchens challenges that definition, pointing instead to congestion, traffic lights, roadworks and the sheer number of vehicles competing for limited road space. Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.They also debate one of the most familiar arguments in highways policy – induced traffic. Mr Hitchens says widening roads ultimately creates more traffic, while Mr Sutherland accepts the effect exists but argues that additional road capacity can also enable economically useful journeys. That takes the discussion into road pricing, where Mr Sutherland says there is a case for using pricing intelligently to manage scarce road space at the times it is most heavily demanded. The disagreement then widens to electric vehicles, e-bikes and micromobility. Mr Hitchens is highly critical of battery-powered road transport and of e-bikes in particular, while Mr Sutherland argues that electrification gives transport greater flexibility because electricity can be generated from a wide range of energy sources. They also discuss road safety and the extent to which the risks associated with everyday car use have become normalised.Yet there is also common ground. Both accept that people need realistic alternatives to driving and that simply making the car more difficult or expensive to use is not enough when homes, workplaces and businesses have been shaped around car access. Mr Sutherland argues that better information, pricing and intermodality could encourage people to make different choices without removing the option of driving. Listen to part two to hear two very different philosophies of transport collide – and to discover why an argument about roads and railways ends up becoming a debate about individual freedom, collective efficiency and even whether Peter Hitchens's transport philosophy can reasonably be described as Maoist.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

Veteran newspaper columnist and author Peter Hitchens and behavioural science expert Rory Sutherland go head-to-head over the future of transport in a special series of Highways Voices podcasts this week, beginning with an argument over whether Britain has become far too dependent on the car.The discussion starts with an area of agreement. Mr Sutherland, vice-chairman of advertising agency Ogilvy UK and co-author of “Transport for Humans”, describes himself as a huge enthusiast for rail and argues that people could be encouraged to use trains more often through better information, easier interchange and measures designed to make rail a more obvious option. Mr Hitchens, who is currently writing a book “The Madness of Cars” agrees that more journeys should be made by rail, but says the fundamental problem is that much of the network that criss-crossed the country no longer exists. Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.But the agreement does not last. Mr Sutherland says the car has brought extraordinary economic and social benefits by providing flexibility across a huge range of journeys, while Mr Hitchens argues that Britain sacrificed what he considers a more rational transport network in favour of a system increasingly dominated by cars. The pair also debate trams, bicycles, parkway stations, electric vehicles and whether a transport system designed around steel wheels and steel rails would ultimately be more efficient. The conversation was prompted by an exchange between the two men on social media after Mr Sutherland challenged comments from Mr Hitchens about car ownership and the amount of time vehicles spend parked. Rather than continue the disagreement in short online posts, Highways News brought them together for an extended conversation.Listen to part one of Highways Voices to hear where Peter Hitchens and Rory Sutherland unexpectedly agree, where they most certainly do not, and why a debate which begins with railways quickly develops into a much bigger argument about how Britain should move. Parts two and three are published on Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 September.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

What if choosing a lower-carbon way of maintaining a road didn't simply reduce emissions, but actually created a financial asset which could help pay for the next job?That's the potentially transformative idea explored in this week's Highways Voices, as Adrian Tatum talks to Gary Cook, founder of Asphalt IQ and Carbon Vault IQ, about technology designed to turn measurable carbon savings on highways projects into traceable carbon credits.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.Mr Cook explains how data captured directly from worksites can establish the carbon impact of what actually happened, rather than relying on generic averages – and why he believes that could change the economics of sustainable highways maintenance.The conversation begins with the challenge facing authorities and contractors trying to establish accurate carbon figures across complicated supply chains. Mr Cook says scope three emissions can represent up to 95% of emissions on a typical road reconstruction site, yet collecting reliable information covering materials, suppliers and transport remains difficult. Asphalt IQ's answer is to put digital data collection into the hands of the site supervisor, capturing information in real time and supporting PAS 2080 reporting.But it is what happens next that makes this discussion particularly interesting. Carbon Vault IQ compares the carbon generated by the chosen treatment with a "business as usual" alternative, with the saving potentially becoming a carbon credit. Mr Cook argues this could introduce an entirely new finance stream into highways – one which could help contractors invest in equipment and give authorities more money to spend on preventative maintenance and lower-carbon treatments.The podcast also tackles the obvious question: how can anyone be confident those credits are genuine? Mr Cook explains the proposed independent methodology approval and third-party auditing process, alongside the use of real-time site data to provide evidence of exactly which materials, plants and transport movements were involved. He also discusses "dynamic issuance", under which some credits could be released over time to demonstrate that the expected longer-term benefit of an intervention has actually been delivered.Perhaps the biggest prize could be pavement preservation. Mr Cook argues that additional revenue generated through carbon savings could help make treatments such as surface dressing more attractive, allowing contractors to scale their operations and helping the industry move away from an expensive cycle of reactive pothole repairs. It could even help bridge the cost difference which currently prevents some lower-carbon materials and treatments being selected.As Mr Cook puts it, the ambition is to turn carbon from a "reporting burden" into a "measurable and monetisable asset". If the model works as envisaged, doing the greener thing might no longer simply be an environmental decision – it could make financial sense too.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

The announcement that Traffic Open Products and Specifications Ltd (TOPAS) is to close because its current funding arrangements are no longer sustainable puts a new perspective on a Highways Voices discussion first broadcast in February.TOPAS was established as an independent, not-for-profit organisation following the removal of DfT Type Approval, maintaining specifications and registering products used across the UK’s traffic control sector. Its Management Board has now agreed to close the organisation, although it is expected to continue operating until the second quarter of 2028 to enable existing product developments and registration applications to be completed.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.Against that background, we are republishing our conversation with TOPAS’s Kealie Franklin, Martin Andrews, Services Director at Yunex Traffic, Rob Harding, Engineering Manager for Telent’s traffic business, and SWARCO’s Head of Product and Solutions, Derek McLean.The podcast, itself prompted by an opinion piece about standards, provides useful context to the discussions the industry will now have about the future. The guests explain the role specifications play in ensuring equipment from different suppliers can work together, supporting interoperability, protecting investment and giving highway authorities confidence in the technology they procure.They also look ahead to an increasingly connected road network, discussing why common standards become particularly important as connected vehicles, new detection technologies and automated systems develop, while considering procurement, compatibility and the long-term maintenance of equipment.TOPAS says it is continuing to work with the Department for Transport, which has undertaken to explore options for the continuation of standards, including those currently being developed or reviewed.That makes this 30-minute conversation especially timely. Of course, it does not address the closure decision itself, but it does explain the wider role TOPAS and its standards have played and sets out many of the issues the sector will now need to consider as discussions about future arrangements continue.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

Why aren’t we more outraged that 1,700 people still die on UK roads each year?Today on Highways Voices we talk road safety because, despite having some of the safest roads globally, road deaths in the UK have plateaued, and efforts to reduce them, through enforcement, awareness, and education, aren’t achieving meaningful impact.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.Sussex Police Chief Constable Jo Shiner, who’s head of Britain’s roads policing, is our guest and gives us a real insight into her thoughts on keeping our roads safe, and indeed making them safer.She explains why a National Road Safety Board and collision investigation system could revolutionise how we tackle fatalities, gives her views on how emerging enforcement technologies like AI-powered cameras and in-vehicle sensors could eliminate risky behaviour before it becomes fatal, and discusses the cultural and legislative shifts needed to elevate road safety from afterthought to national priority.If you’re worried about road safety, this is a must listen episode for you!Highways Voices is brought to you with our partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ADEPT and ITS UK.

Highways Voices continues its summer series of archive editions this week with a conversation that remains as thought-provoking today as when it was first recorded five years ago.Journalist, author and Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens joins the podcast to challenge conventional thinking on transport policy, from electric scooters and electric vehicles to the UK's long-term reliance on the private car.Originally recorded in 2021 as e-scooter trials were being introduced across Britain, the interview explores far more than the merits of the vehicles themselves. Mr Hitchens argues that transport policy has become too focused on road travel and questions whether technologies promoted as environmentally friendly always deliver the benefits claimed for them. He also discusses the future of public transport, walking and cycling, while setting out his vision for a transport system built around railways and trams rather than private cars.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.Throughout the discussion, Mr Hitchens questions the environmental credentials of battery-powered mobility, raises concerns about safety and enforcement surrounding e-scooters, and argues that policymakers should fundamentally rethink Britain's transport priorities. The interview offers a perspective that continues to resonate as many of the same issues remain at the centre of transport policy in 2026.The episode follows last week's archive edition featuring advertising executive and behavioural scientist Rory Sutherland's keynote speech at the JCT Traffic Signals Symposium. Together, the two programmes provide a fascinating insight into how two of Britain's best-known commentators approach transport from very different angles – one through the lens of behavioural science, the other through politics, history and public policy.They're also the perfect introduction to a special Highways Voices series coming in September, when both Peter Hitchens and Rory Sutherland return to debate many of the biggest questions facing transport today, offering contrasting perspectives on mobility, behaviour, public policy and how Britain should tackle the challenges of moving people and goods in the decades ahead.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

As Highways Voices continues its summer series of archive editions, this week's podcast revisits one of the most entertaining and thought-provoking presentations ever delivered at the JCT Traffic Signals Symposium.Advertising executive, behavioural scientist and author Rory Sutherland challenges transport professionals to stop thinking purely like engineers and economists and instead consider how psychology shapes the way people use, and react to, our transport networks.In an extract from his 2023 keynote, Rory Sutherland argues that many of the industry's biggest challenges are not technical problems at all, but behavioural ones. Drawing on examples ranging from road pricing and smart motorways to electric vehicles, queueing, rail travel and even airport security, he explains why the way an idea is presented can be just as important as the idea itself. Whether discussing "range anxiety" versus "infrastructure anxiety", or why people hate uncertainty more than waiting, he makes the case that understanding human behaviour could unlock improvements worth billions of pounds.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.The talk is packed with memorable examples, including why Uber's moving map transformed the taxi experience without making cars arrive any faster, how an app could improve rail capacity before new infrastructure is built, and why smart motorways suffer because motorists notice the problems but never see the traffic jams that have been prevented. Throughout, he argues that transport innovation should bring together psychologists, marketers, engineers and economists from the very start, rather than treating behavioural science as an afterthought.It's a keynote that's as entertaining as it is challenging, with Rory Sutherland's trademark wit prompting you to question many of the assumptions that underpin transport policy and investment. Whether you agree with every conclusion or not, it's a fascinating reminder that changing behaviour can sometimes be more powerful than changing infrastructure.The full keynote is available here, while this week's podcast features a specially edited selection of the highlights. It also marks the first part of a special double-header featuring two of Britain's best-known public thinkers.Next week, Highways Voices revisits an archive interview with journalist and author Peter Hitchens, ahead of a brand-new series of conversations launching in September, when Hitchens and Sutherland will each return to the podcast to debate with each other. Together, they'll explore transport, public policy, behaviour and society from two very different perspectives – making this summer's archive episodes the perfect introduction to what's coming next.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

With pressure on local authorities to demonstrate meaningful progress towards net zero, today’s Highways Voices moves beyond the jargon and tackles one of the biggest challenges facing highways teams: who is actually responsible for reducing carbon, and where do you start?First published a year ago, our guest, Zoe Sterling-Wall, who at the time was working with Brightly, explains how Carbon Literacy is about far more than awareness, it's about giving organisations the confidence to make informed decisions, create realistic carbon reduction plans and embed lasting behavioural change. Through practical examples, she discusses how highways authorities can work more effectively with contractors, break down silos across departments and ensure carbon reduction becomes a shared responsibility rather than a tick-box exercise.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.As when we first published this episode, you'll hear how carbon literacy training can simplify decision-making, empower action across entire highway networks and help local authorities embed sustainability into everyday operations. But listening again a year later also provides a useful reminder that while technology continues to evolve, success still depends on collaboration, leadership and giving people the knowledge to act with confidence.Highways Voices returns with brand-new episodes after our summer break.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

Most Highways Voices episodes explore innovation, leadership and technology. This one explores something even more powerful: the determination of one remarkable woman who refused to let life tell her "no".In one of the most moving and inspirational conversations we've ever recorded, transport planner Lynsey Michell Turner shares her extraordinary journey from a childhood dominated by severe epilepsy, an abusive home life and repeated discrimination to building a successful career in the highways sector. She reveals how schools failed her, why employers repeatedly turned her away and how she was even advised to hide her disability to find work.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.Rather than giving up, Lynsey fought back. Through evening classes, apprenticeships and sheer persistence, she carved out a career in transport planning, earning recognition from both ITS UK and the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation along the way.As well as an incredibly personal story, the episode carries an important message for employers across the highways industry. Lynsey explains why organisations should think differently about apprenticeships, neurodiversity and disability, arguing that with the right support they can unlock exceptional talent.If you've ever wondered what resilience really looks like, this is a podcast you won't forget.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

This week’s Highways Voices comes from CRASH 26, an event which brought together road safety professionals, local authorities, suppliers and infrastructure specialists for a day of live demonstrations showing what really happens when vehicles collide with roadside equipment.The event gives delegates the opportunity to see products perform in realistic scenarios while discussing how the lessons learned can improve future road design and safety.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.In this podcast, organiser Andy Pledge explains how the event has gone from showcasing passive safety products into promoting the wider Safe System approach, bringing together experts from across road safety, emergency services, traffic management and industry to encourage better-informed decision making.You can watch the crashes here.We hear from Magnus Backholm of Swedish manufacturer Jerol, Neil Levett representing Multipatcher, Olly Samways of Westcotec, Ash Starkey from AS Safety and Technology, Ian McDonald from Hydro and Peter Hoban from Innovative Road Safety Solutions, each demonstrating products designed to reduce the consequences of road traffic collisions or improve the safety of those working on or alongside the highway.The conversations cover everything from passive-safe signposts and rapidly deployable crash barriers to remotely managed roadside technology, inflatable work zone protection systems, passive-safe lighting columns and innovative products that combine environmental benefits with practical roadside infrastructure.Together the interviews provide a fascinating snapshot of how innovation is helping move the industry closer to Vision Zero, demonstrating that improving road safety isn't simply about developing better products, it's about sharing knowledge, understanding real-world performance and ensuring everyone involved in designing, maintaining and operating the road network has the information they need to make safer decisions.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

Civil engineer Elizabeth Orchard believes Britain has been looking at the potholes crisis the wrong way – and in this edition of Highways Voices she explains why – and finishes with an interesting idea to fund the solution.Rather than focusing on political arguments over who is to blame, she explores the engineering behind deteriorating roads, from freeze-thaw cycles and aging infrastructure to the impact of changing weather patterns, utility works and decades of underinvestment.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.Drawing on her experience as a Chartered Civil Engineer and founder of consultancy Endelevu, in conversation with Paul Hutton, Mrs Orchard tackles some of the biggest misconceptions surrounding road maintenance. She explains why heavier electric vehicles are not the villain many people assume, why simply resurfacing a road often fails to solve the problem, and why maintenance strategies need to be tailored to local conditions rather than relying on one-size-fits-all solutions.The discussion also examines the pressures facing local authorities, from shrinking engineering teams to the challenge of maintaining thousands of miles of highway with limited resources. Mrs Orchard argues that rebuilding technical expertise within councils could save money in the long term while creating more resilient highway networks.Perhaps the most thought-provoking section comes towards the end of the conversation, when she suggests Britain should stop treating roads as a financial liability and start viewing them as valuable assets capable of generating income through the intelligent use of data. She points to examples from Europe where anonymised vehicle and infrastructure data are already helping to fund maintenance and improve network management."There are solutions, and there are ways of making money - other people in the rest of the world are already doing it [and] it's time Britain catches up," she explains, arguing that a smarter approach to highway data could transform how roads are maintained for decades to come.This episode offers a refreshing perspective on one of the UK's most talked-about infrastructure challenges. Rather than simply discussing potholes, it explores the engineering, economics and innovation that could provide lasting answers, making it essential listening for anyone interested in the future of Britain's roads.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

This week’s Highways Voices podcast takes you from connected vehicle data that's finally moving beyond endless pilot projects to artificial intelligence that can identify road defects before they become a problem, as we bring you chat from the LCRIG Innovation and Learning Festival, where the latest ideas aren’t just being talked about – they’re being put into practice.Host Paul Hutton catches up with some of the sector's leading thinkers and innovators, including White Willow Consulting’s Andy Graham explaining why connected vehicle technology has reached the point where authorities can simply get on and use it, Nicander’s Sam Brierley demonstrating how AI is transforming highway asset management, and Steve Walton revealing how Via East Midlands is preparing to deliver a huge maintenance programmes.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.There's also a first for the podcast as Paul interviews Luka the robot, while leading industry consultant Neil Levett highlights the technologies that caught his eye around the festival. Anna Blake and Christopher Long from Solar Gates explain how smarter temporary traffic management is reducing costs, cutting carbon and improving safety, and Jordan Cowley looks ahead to the huge opportunities presented by the ITS World Congress Birmingham 2027.It's a programme packed with practical examples of how technology is making highways safer, more efficient and better connected – and why the conversations taking place at events like this are helping to shape the future of our industry.Our guests:Andy Graham, White Willow ConsultingSam Brierley, NicanderLuka, RobotNeil Levett, Levett Business Services chatting with Highways News's Libby McMahonSteve Walton, Via East MidlandsAnna Blake and Christopher Long, Solar GatesJordan Cowley, Transport for West MidlandsAlso don’t forget to check out the winners of the 2026 DfT Special Recognition Apprentice Awards, as mentioned by Paul in the podcast.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

How can the highways sector deliver innovation faster while navigating tight budgets, procurement hurdles and increasing demands on road networks? That's the question explored in the latest episode of the Highways Voices podcast, recorded at SWARCO's User Group meeting in Coventry last week.Host Paul Hutton is joined by Derek McLean, Head of Product and Solutions at SWARCO, his colleague, SWARCO’s Urban Systems Manager Andrea Newman, Richard Ling, Head of Parking and Traffic Management at Cambridgeshire County Council, and Peter Eccleson, Managing Director of smartmicro UK. Together they discuss how the industry's growing focus on collaboration is helping suppliers, local authorities and technology partners tackle common challenges and deliver better outcomes for road users.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.The panel examines the ongoing difficulties surrounding revenue funding, procurement regulations and asset renewal, while also highlighting opportunities created by emerging technologies. Richard Ling explains how authorities can make the case for investment by focusing on long-term savings, while Peter Eccleson argues that the sector must become quicker at embracing innovations that can improve network management and unlock the value of data.The discussion also explores how suppliers are responding to changing customer expectations. Derek McLean and Andrea Newman describe how SWARCO is working more closely with customers and partners to develop solutions that integrate with existing infrastructure, making it easier for authorities to adopt new technologies without major capital expenditure.Looking ahead, the conversation turns to artificial intelligence, data-driven decision making and the need for an industry-wide approach to innovation. Despite the challenges, all four guests strike an optimistic tone, arguing that stronger collaboration, open communication and a shared focus on solving customer problems are creating plenty of reasons to be positive about the future of highways and traffic management. Listen to the full episode now on Highways Voices.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

Road safety and intelligent transport solutions specialist Rennicks is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and this Highways Voices podcast marks the milestone, featuring Rennicks Chairman Michael Flanagan and Director Robert Tait.Mr Flanagan reflects on the company's journey from its origins in Ireland in the mid-1970s to becoming a recognised name in traffic signs, vehicle registration plate systems and intelligent transport technologies. He recounts how founders Robin and Maureen Rennicks identified an opportunity in reflective materials before expanding into traffic signage and eventually the wider road safety market.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.The podcast also explores some of the biggest challenges the company has faced, including a patent dispute that temporarily removed a key product line and threatened a significant proportion of the business. We hear how the setback forced Rennicks to diversify and innovate, helping lay the foundations for future growth.Looking to the future, Mr Tait discusses the growing role of intelligent transport systems, connected vehicle technologies and data-driven solutions. He highlights the opportunities presented by the government's RIS3 investment programme and the move towards digitally enabled road networks, while explaining how Rennicks is developing technology-led products to meet emerging customer needs.Throughout the discussion, Mr Flanagan returns to the themes that have underpinned Rennicks' success over the past five decades: putting customers first, investing in people and maintaining the agility to adapt to changing markets. As the company looks ahead to its next chapter, the podcast provides a fascinating insight into the growth of one of the UK's longest-established road safety businesses.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

What happens when you have the right idea at the right time… but still fail?In this thought-provoking episode of Highways Voices, Paul Hutton sits down with Andrew Caleya Chetty, founder of Starling Technologies, for a candid conversation about innovation, ambition, and the harsh realities of bringing new technology into the transport sector.Less than two years ago, Starling Technologies was generating excitement with its vision for smarter, more responsive traffic management. The company appeared perfectly positioned to help local authorities harness the power of AI and machine learning to improve network performance. Yet despite strong interest in the technology and a clear market need, the business ultimately closed its doors.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.So, what went wrong?Andrew shares the deeply personal story behind Starling’s rise and fall, revealing why success in the intelligent transport sector requires far more than great technology. He discusses the challenges of lengthy procurement cycles, delayed project delivery, uncertain funding streams, and the difficulties of sustaining a start-up while waiting for opportunities to convert into contracts.But this is about much more than one company’s story.The conversation explores the wider barriers facing innovation across transport and asks some difficult questions. If the industry wants to benefit from rapid advances in AI, data analytics and digital services, are current procurement and funding models fit for purpose? How can local authorities and suppliers work together to create an environment where innovators can thrive rather than struggle to survive?Despite the disappointment, Andrew remains remarkably optimistic about the future and passionate about creating better, more efficient cities through technology.Whether you're a local authority leader, technology supplier, consultant or anyone interested in the future of transport innovation, this episode offers valuable lessons, honest reflections and important insights into how the sector can avoid losing the next generation of game-changing ideas.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

ADEPT’s Live Labs 2 programme has spent the last three years tackling one of highways’ biggest challenges: how do you decarbonise roads, street lighting and maintenance without increasing risk, blowing budgets or frightening local authorities away from innovation?That’s the subject of this week’s Highways Voices podcast, where ADEPT’s Giles Perkins gives an unusually candid insight into how the sector is trying to move from climate ambition to practical delivery.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.The conversation goes well beyond the standard “net zero” conversation. Mr Perkins explains that while the industry has focused heavily on reducing tailpipe emissions, Live Labs 2 is looking at “everything else” - the carbon generated by the infrastructure itself, from pothole repairs and asphalt production to verge maintenance, lighting and procurement processes.One of the most insightful parts of the discussion centres on risk. Mr Perkins describes how many local authorities are reluctant to be first movers because of fears around liability, standards and unintended consequences. Host Paul Hutton recalls conversations around East Riding of Yorkshire’s street lighting trials where officers worried that removing lighting, even with alternative safety measures in place, could expose them to criticism or even coroners’ investigations after collisions.The podcast explores how Live Labs 2 is trying to “de-risk” innovation by generating evidence authorities can trust. Projects discussed include low-carbon asphalt trials, carbon-negative road upgrades in Devon, Liverpool’s work on procurement reform, and experiments turning highways grass cuttings into biofuels.We also learn why the programme’s newly funded fourth year is perhaps the most important phase yet. Rather than building more demonstrators, the focus is now on dissemination: helping councils, contractors and suppliers understand what has worked and how it can be scaled nationwide. For example, applying some of the East Riding street lighting principles nationally could save around 100,000 tonnes of carbon and cut £1 billion from public spending.For anyone working in highways, local government, infrastructure innovation or transport policy, this episode provides a rare opportunity to hear how the sector is attempting to turn sustainability from isolated pilots into “business as usual”. It is also a revealing look at the cultural, procurement and behavioural barriers that still stand in the way of faster change.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

This week on Highways Voices, we tackle one of the most important issues facing transport professionals today: road safety.To discuss whether the industry is truly serious about Vision Zero, we’re joined by Jamie Hassall, Executive Director of PACTS, the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, who delivers a frank and thought-provoking challenge to many of the assumptions drivers, policymakers and even transport professionals hold about safety on the road network.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.In the conversation, he argues that Britain’s national speed limit system is outdated, particularly on rural roads, and explains why “safe speed” is often very different from the number shown on a sign. The conversation explores the backlash against 20mph limits, why compliance with speed limits remains so poor, and whether technologies like Intelligent Speed Assistance, telematics and autonomous vehicles could fundamentally change driver behaviour.We also discuss why road safety investment still struggles to secure funding despite crashes – including many which are preventable - costing the UK economy billions each year, and whether organisations that repeatedly claim “safety is our number one priority” are genuinely backing those words with meaningful action.Perhaps most importantly, Jamie Hassall makes the case for a major focus on work-related road safety, arguing that fleet operators and employers could play a transformative role in reducing deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s roads.This is a conversation guaranteed to spark debate across the highways and transport technology sector.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

As the Government prepares to introduce a new pay-per-mile charging scheme for electric vehicles from 2028, the debate is heating up and you’ll hear the latest thinking on today’s Highways Voices.In this recorded inside the Houses of Parliament, industry leaders, campaign groups, technology experts and motoring representatives come together to tackle one of the biggest questions facing the future of transport funding: how do we replace fuel duty in an electric future, and can it be done fairly and effectively?Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.With warnings of a £27 billion hole in Treasury finances as drivers move away from petrol and diesel, supporters argue EV road charging is inevitable. But concerns remain around privacy, public trust, fairness for drivers without home charging, and whether the technology, and politics, are ready.This episode explores:Why EV road charging is now firmly on the political agendaWhy simple odometer charging is not necessarily enough, or if smarter location-based systems are neededThe lessons the UK can learn from countries already operating road user chargingFears around a lower EV uptakeConcerns around driver privacy, public acceptance and implementation timescalesWhy the real challenge isn’t technology, but political courageYou’ll hear passionate arguments from across the sector, including advocates for smarter road pricing, warnings from EV drivers themselves, and hard-earned lessons from those who’ve delivered complex charging systems before.Whether you work in highways, transport policy, mobility technology or simply want to understand how the UK pays for roads in a post-fuel-duty future, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.Listen now and join the debate on the future of road charging in the UK.You’ll hear from:Ben Plowden – CEO, Campaign for Better TransportSilviya Barrett - Director of Strategy and Research, Campaign for Better TransportTim Wray – UK & Ireland Sales Director. KapschMax Sugarman – Chief Executive, Intelligent Transport Systems UK (ITS-UK)Richard Sallnow – Associate, PA ConsultingVicky Edmonds – CEO, EVA EnglandSteve Gooding, RAC Foundation, DirectorHighways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

Helen Clifford’s story is remarkable enough on its own: in 1984, she became London Transport’s first female mechanic, walking into a world of workshop pin-up calendars, no women’s changing facilities and a culture that simply wasn’t designed for women, and she’s now been recognised for it.In this edition of Highways Voices, recorded at the London Transport Museum during celebrations marking the unveiling of a blue plaque in her honour, she reflects with warmth and humour on what it was really like to break barriers in one of Britain’s most male-dominated industries.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.But this episode is about far more than one pioneering career. Transport for London’s Director of Buses, Lorna Murphy, explains why inclusivity matters to the future of transport, why the industry still has a long way to go, and how getting more women into buses and highways ultimately creates better services for everyone.The conversation also broadens into a discussion about the future of public transport itself. Murphy shares TfL’s thinking on how cities can encourage more people onto buses through affordable fares, seamless interchange and giving public transport priority on increasingly crowded roads. She also offers practical advice for local authorities taking greater control of their bus networks, arguing that successful regulation must focus relentlessly on what passengers actually need, from frequency and reliability to waiting environments and easy connections.Alongside reflections on joining the industry from Highways News’s new recruit, Libby McMahon, this uplifting episode celebrates progress, challenges assumptions and explores how buses remain central to cleaner, better-connected cities.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

In this week’s Highways Voices we discover how connected vehicle data is transforming the way we understand and manage our roadsIndustry veteran Steve Isaacs is Paul Hutton’s guest to explore an innovative solution from Swedish firm Nira Dynamics, using data from hundreds of thousands of Volkswagen Group vehicles to deliver real-time insights into road conditions.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.By measuring friction where the tyre meets the road, this technology can identify hazards like standing water, ice, and snow as they happen, offering a powerful new tool for highway authorities.From smarter winter maintenance and reduced salt usage to proactive drainage and asset management, Steve Isaacs explains how the potential benefits are significant. With continuous, network-wide monitoring replacing traditional one-off surveys, this could mark a step-change in efficiency, safety, and cost-effectiveness.Listen now to get a fascinating look at how everyday vehicle data can unlock unprecedented visibility of the road network.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

Here’s our third episode of Highways Voices the ITS European Congress in Istanbul, and today there’s a clear eye on the future, as anticipation builds for the ITS World Congress in Birmingham 2027.Host Paul Hutton brings together a mix of expert insight, industry conversation and on-the-ground perspective from one of the sector’s key global gatherings. At the heart of the episode is a thoughtful overview from Chief Rapporteur Professor Eric Sampson, who distils the major themes emerging from the Congress. From data-driven safety management and inclusive mobility design, to the challenges of integrating transport modes and scaling up autonomous vehicle deployment, his reflections highlight both how far the industry has come, and how much work still lies ahead.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.There’s a strong sense that intelligent transport systems are evolving rapidly, but not always smoothly. Discussions around user behaviour, equity, and affordability underline the importance of designing solutions that work for real people, while innovations in logistics, like remotely assisted electric delivery vehicles, show how technology is tackling urban challenges in new ways. At the same time, big questions remain, particularly around the business case and real-world impact of autonomous vehicles.Away from the conference sessions, the podcast captures the buzz of the exhibition floor and the value of international collaboration. A chance encounter with industry expert Neil Levett reveals how traditional civil engineering and cutting-edge technology are increasingly converging, with innovations like fibre-optic traffic monitoring systems pointing to a safer, more efficient future.The episode also explores the wider economic and social value of the ITS sector. ITS UK CEO Max Sugarman shares his research showing the industry is worth far more than previously thought, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and delivering significant economic impact, while also highlighting efforts to inspire the next generation.Running throughout the podcast is a growing excitement about what comes next, with strong international interest already building for Birmingham 2027, and you’ll hear lots about this, plus get a flavour of a special reception for UK companies with the local British Chamber of Commerce.Overall, this episode is a compelling snapshot of a sector full of innovation, collaboration and ambition, and a great way to get a feel for the conversations shaping the future of transport.For additional information about Birmingham 2027 or to make enquiries and bookings, interested parties are invited to contact [email protected] or go to: https://2027.itsworldcongress.com/Jordan Cowley – [email protected] Sidhu – [email protected] Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.