Presenting the changing face of mobility

Smarter Travel LIVE! is ideally timed to explore the connections emerging between sustainable travel and intelligent mobility solutions. Both have an important role to play in developing sustainable alternatives to the current transport model.

The Landor LINKS event, which takes place at ArenaMK in Milton Keynes on 17-18 March, will serve as the first opportunity to learn more about the government’s new £580m ‘Access’ fund for sustainable transport. This marks a continuation of the Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF), a £560m programme launched by the Coalition Government in 2010 for projects promoting changes to travel behaviour.

 In his keynote speech, transport minister Andrew Jones will outline what types of projects will qualify for Access funding and will also provide details of the application process. 

Landor LINKS launched its series of conferences exploring sustainable transport in 2012 with Rebooting Smarter Travel. The first event focussed on the practical delivery of the 96 LSTF-funded projects. The LSTF was one of the most ambitious sustainable travel programmes, with the many successful projects paving the way for a funding extension in 2015 – 2016 and its successor the Access fund.

 This is an exciting time, with the transport world on the cusp of a new revolution, as technology offers new innovations that may change the face of mobility.

 Mobility as a Service is becoming a reality in some European cities, with shared transport offering a genuine alternative to car ownership. Passenger transport is also adapting to change with the Bus Bill and Total Transport projects.

 Meanwhile, the car itself is changing - fully autonomous vehicles may be some years away from being launched, but innovations are already working their way into the car, with parking assist and cruise control, and  new drive technologies are achieving ultra low emissions.

Smarter Travel LIVE! will, for the first time, provide a forum for these complementary developments. Landor LINKS is collaborating with the leading organisations in their respective fields to bring the best speakers and provide a networking opportunity par excellence.

The conference Programme Committee is made up of ITS UK, Car Plus, Bike Plus, the TAS Partnership, the Department for Transport sustainable travel team, Transport Systems Catapult and Atkins. Each will host special conference streams, with papers by leading practitioners.

The event will once more host the Smarter Travel awards, with the announcement of the winners of six hotly contested categories, including the Best Intelligent Mobility Development, Best Shared Mobility Service and Best Smarter Travel Innovation. The panel of judges will also reveal the Sustainable Travel Professional of the Year. 

Also back by popular demand is the Speed Learning session, where 50 case studies will be showcased. This promises to be a stimulating knowledge-sharing and networking experience. Delegates must select five 12-minute case studies - how’s that for being spoilt for choice!  

The Speed Learning Session will include a new element; ‘TransportHack’ presentations, where competing developers offer their solutions to real-life problems set by councils and the likes of Transport Systems Catapult, Carplus and the DfT.

This year’s show also features a greatly enhanced exhibition, which benefits from ArenaMK’s purpose-built, dedicated trade show floorspace. And more than 25 exhibitors, representing a diverse array of sustainable transport and intelligent mobility experts, have already signed up. 

So, Smarter Travel LIVE! promises to be a highly stimulating and illuminating two days – we look forward to meeting you at ArenaMK.