The Global Light Rail Awards celebrates excellence and innovation within the global light and urban rail sectors – Wednesday 7 October 2020
More information
600 guests from across the rail industry celebrate an evening of innovation and growth. Over 150 rail industry manufacturers, suppliers and service providers will be represented at the seventh Dinner at the Roundhouse
More information
Mainspring’s LRT Excellence Days enhance understanding and co-operation between the teams responsible for the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the light and urban rail systems, those with procurement responsibility and the supply chain.
More information
The 15th Annual UK Light Rail Conference and exhibition brings together over 250 decision-makers for two days of open debate covering all aspects of light rail operations and development.
More information
Forward-thinking 21st Century cities are enjoying a transport revolution. More and more are choosing fixed-infrastructure transport solutions to provide a backbone for growth, creating cleaner and less congested environments and increased accessibility to employment, housing and leisure activities for all.
More information
A marketing strategy brings everything together. Without one you waste time and money and going round in circles.
Knowing that you don’t know is one thing. Not knowing what you don’t know is worse…
Similar to good event management, a crucial element of business development is planning and attention to detail.
Corporate communication is a key element in your content marketing plan. It drives the consistent messages, both internally and externally, you wish to convey.
Of the many elements you need to get right in running an event, tight organisation is arguably the most important. Once the objective of the event has been established, you can’t afford to leave any stone unturned in the planning, organisation and execution.
Figuring out what your clients value, developing your offer accordingly and delivering the right and consistent message to them at the right time.
Whether you’re supplying editorial or taking up one of our standard or bespoke advertising packages, we take your messages to the people that need to hear them through a choice of publishing channels.
The LRT Monitor brings the facts, figures and contacts together in one place, so now it’s easy to search, find and get the information you need.
Now in its 83rd year, Tramways & Urban Transit is unique as a publication founded on the needs of scheme promoters, transport operators, planners, consultants, manufacturers and campaigners for better public transport in our congested towns and cities.
As a well-established mark of excellence, a Light Rail Award adds immediate cachet to your organisation
Read articleNew Edinburgh City Council Chief Executive Andrew Kerr has supported the idea of extending the city’s controversial tram project to Newhaven
Read articleThe UK's first tram-train arrives in Sheffield just weeks after the tram-train pilot was granted
Read articleKocaeli and Izmit Metropolitan Municipalities have announced contract awards for both infrastructure and rolling stock
Read articleTram-Pro takes tram driver training simulation to the next level. Innovative and dynamic with state of the art graphics and powerful analysis tools it has transformed the way, and the time, that training is conducted resulting in a robust, cost effective outcome.
Read articleThroughout 2016, not a month went by without the announcement of a new driver-less automobile trial or a new record claim. The world seems to be embracing the technology to create autonomous vehicles, with all the big names you’d expect present and correct.The race is on!
Read articleAhead of his presentation at the 12th Annual UK Light Rail Conference, Dr Stuart Thomson considers the vital, and often overlooked role, of stakeholder engagement.
Read articleWith potentially devastating disruption seen across both public and private networks in May, Kevin Bell from Bond Dickinson examines some of the threats to transport systems.
Read articleWho will be the first? How much will they cost? What does that mean for licensing and insurance? So many questions…
Throughout 2016, not a month went by without the announcement of a new driver-less automobile trial or a new record claim. The world seems to be embracing the technology to create autonomous vehicles, with all the big names you’d expect present and correct. The race is on!
However, let’s not get too excited. Each report was followed with the same caveat that this wondrous future of being able to relax while your car picks you up after a long work day or night out is still a little while away. The question we all want answered is: who will be the first to market with a fully autonomous vehicle?
Well, it is likely that early adopters will be the commercial and public sectors. Autonomous long haul deliveries and public service vehicles such as street sweepers and snowploughs all offer huge advantages in efficiency and environmental benefits. While the publicity surrounding it was huge, the Uber/Otto trial with Budweiser offers an exciting glimpse of this in the real world.
Passenger cars will take longer, but the benefits to both the motorist and the environment are worth chasing. A report by Vendigital claims that eventually car ownership could decrease by 95%, saving each family £3000 a year.
Excited manufacturers and technology giants are suggesting they will have market-ready vehicles in the next two to three years. Tesla’s Autopilot is already well-known and Volvo will have 100 ‘self-driving’ cars on the road this year as well. Full automation is probably still five years away and mass adoption will take another 10-15 years (which in itself opens up issues with roads full of mixed human- and computer-controlled vehicles).
There are many more questions between here and there that also need addressing, and the whole topic poses some interesting challenges that could erode the appeal of mass transit. Does traffic congestion cease to be a problem if the time is no longer considered wasted as you answer emails, participate in meetings via Skype, shop online or help your kids with their homework as you wait?
Driver-less vehicles will also almost certainly be safer as human error accounts for 90% of road traffic accidents, according to the ABI. Drunk or distracted driving and speeding will become a thing of the past, potentially saving trillions of (inset currency of your choice here)in insurance claims and related healthcare costs. No-one has the answers, but insurance provider AXA has a helpful Q&A around some of the issues.
Yet while technology such as GPS mapping, radar and lidar to make all this happen exists – and has for some time – what is currently less clear is what the laws and regulations governing the usage of driver-less vehicles will look like. Issues such as licensing, liability and cyber security remain unanswered – but it is only a matter of time.
So considering for a moment that we may well be the last generations that learn to drive a car and that autonomous vehicles could open up safe and efficient new mobility options for those unable to currently take advantage of the private car – children, the elderly, the incapacitated or those with disabilities – where does that leave mass transit?
Adapted from an editorial in Tramways & Urban Transit – Issue 950, February 2017 (www.tautonline.com)
Photo by Automobile Italia / CC BY 2.0
Tags
Leave a message:
13 Orton Enterprise Centre
Bakewell Road, Peterborough,
PE2 6XU
+44 (0) 1733 367604
© 2021 Mainspring Ltd