Transport celebs vie for virtual prize

Creative pitches for funding and a refreshingly different approach got delegates out of their seats and voting at the TAS Partnership I’m a Transport Celebrity – Get Me Out of Here! session.

Six livewire transport personalities competed for the virtual £250,000 Totally Smarter Transport Fund of the Department for TASport. Their brief was to make the case for a transport idea, improvement or measure which is innovative, and enhances customer experience and sustainability. 

The winner was John Bickerton, chief engineer at Reading Buses, with his ‘More Wheels, More Space’ bid.  This managed engineering project promised a more spacious, attractive and accessible bus interior, made possible through radical redesign of the conventional bus and - crucially - smaller wheels. The overarching idea was to improve accessibility for all - including people in wheelchairs and with pushchairs.

Just one point behind was a smart city logistics/last mile deliveries plan from Stephen Joseph, Campaign for Better Transport's CEO. His Smart Freight City Challenge - combining smarter travel with freight - drew on initiatives already in progress, such as quiet delivery trucks, cargo bikes for last mile transport, electric vehicles and even cargo trams.

Next was Dominic Lund-Conlon, Essex County Council’s passenger transport manager (smart ticketing). He proposed a Proof Of Age Card based on smartcard technology and accepted nationwide. Young passengers would gain access to on-bus concessions, whilst also using the smartcard in the retail environment, for example to buy cinema tickets or a cup of coffee.

Claire Walters, chief executive of Bus Users UK, explained the idea of a Smart App for Tailored Needs. This app would allow passengers to create their own customised message that comes up on the ticket reader of a bus and other portable devices. This would enable discreet communication with public transport staff about a person's disability or mental health needs, and could say “My arthritis is very painful today”, “My anxiety is high today” or “This is my first bus journey alone/in years”. Crucially, it would use current technology and therefore it would cost less than £250k to introduce the app.

Meanwhile, Dr Tom Cohen, deputy director of UCL Transport Institute, put forward the idea of Plasticene Street, a “living street laboratory”. This involves creating a short section of public highway using cheap, lightweight materials (plastic rather than concrete). Available in multiple configurations, it would be used to conduct experiments to test a variety of new infrastructure measures, recording road users behaviours with cameras. 

The innovative proposal from Paul Salveson, Arriva Trains UK’s group advisor – community rail, was LocoBus, a bus which also looks like a train. It would reach out to socially marginalised communities, with experienced staff on board ready to introduce, educate and acclimatise people to all that public transport has to offer.

Advice from our esteemed panel included the following: demonstrate something that is deliverable and smart; follow the KISS principle (Keep it Simple, Stupid); answer the exam question when applying for funding; and don’t just focus on what you think passengers want – actually ask them.

Watch this space: one of these initiatives may be less virtual than we think!

Meera Rambissoon is a senior consultant at The TAS Partnership