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40 years on Steer Davies Gleave rebrands as Steer

18th Jul 2018

Transport consultant firm Steer Davies Gleave is marking its 40th milestone birthday by rebranding as Steer. TP Weekly News discusses future thinking about the next 40 years with the company’s UK Managing Director Sharon Daly since 2000.

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The London based company is looking forward to the next 40 years with a sense of optimism and confidence. Recent projects include providing advice to Transport for Wales on a new rail franchise and converting Valley lines to a new metro concept. The firm is also providing commercial advice to Stansted Airport and is working with Transport for the North to develop its future strategy.

Looking ahead to the future significant developments Sharon Daly says: “There is a lot of discussion around Mobility as a Service and disruptive technologies. The technology which is emerging is providing both opportunities and challenges. The transport industry has always responded to technological change and the core of transport planning – which is all about understanding travel behaviours – is unlikely to change that much.”

An economist and accountant by background. Sharon Daly believes that transport planning as a discipline has helped to influence policy and direct investment by bringing forward innovations such as personalised travel planning and dynamic modelling. She says: “One of the things that makes transport planning so interesting is that there is always an element of uncertainty about the future. I always encourage my team to think about uncertainty as part of their work.”

Few would have predicted 40 years ago that a smartphone could be such a powerful tool in our lives and how we travel. “In 40 years’ time there will be something else, so we have to be ready for whatever that might be. We need to be thinking towards the longer term and consider things such as changes in demographics and climate, but also to make sure that the future options we present are flexible enough to change.”

One aspect that is unlikely to change - and to develop further - is the interplay between transport and other infrastructure sectors and how transport influences cities, education and the economy. “The future of transport is as much about the future of our wider society and economy," Sharon Daly concludes.