On 22-23 May 2024 CIHT was present at the CBS Arena in Coventry to take part in the two-day event focused on delivering “Better roads for a better tomorrow”. This year, for the first time Traffex was co-located with Parkex , Cold Comfort and the inaugural Evex event, to explore the latest trends and innovations across all transport industries. 

Below are some highlights of CIHT’s panels contributions and presentations on the two days. 

Panel discussion on Improving Biodiversity on the UK’s Road Network- Justin Ward, Head of Policy & Technical Practice 

CIHT highlighted that improving biodiversity was a key aim for the Institution both in terms of influencing government and in policy development to improve knowledge within the sector of the benefits of biodiversity.  

CIHT highlighted that biodiversity was important in CIHT’s new manifesto. The audience heard how the CIHT’s manifesto ‘A transport network fit for all our futures’ has specifically called for:

• Highway and transport authorities and other stakeholders should put Green and Blue Infrastructure at the heart of local policy and make it a core component of their activity.
• Provide resources to explore and boost the potential of Government owned and maintained green estate.

CIHT also highlighted that it was focused on fostering more understanding of GBI within the highways sector – CIHT has done this through the report:  ‘Green and blue infrastructure: A transport sector perspective’ and CIHT Learn course published last year.  However, further myth-busting and promotion of best practice is required to prove that incorporating trees, and other GBI features, on our highways doesn’t have to be as expensive or difficult as may be believed. 

Panel discussion on Mobility Pricing- Andrew Crudgington, Climate Change Associate 

CIHT joined a panel discussion on Mobility Pricing, on the backdrop of the release of the White Paper “Charging for Road Use: What is the Future of Mobility Pricing” produced with the support of Bentley Systems. 
The White Paper reviews the many ways that drivers are paying directly for using roads in different parts of the world and how this supports a variety of transport policy goals including reducing congestion, improving air quality and driving down carbon emissions. The work presents three interlinked questions:  

• Policy: what is the rationale for introducing charges for road use, what problems is it intended to help solve, and what other policies need to be in place to achieve these goals?  
• Practical: how will the scheme be designed, under what kind of business model will it operate, what technology options flow from these choices, what data will be needed, and how will it be collected and managed?  
• Political: what will make the proposal viable in its specific political and legal context, and what communications and public engagement requirements flow from this analysis? 

Find out more by accessing the Paper here. 

Resilience and Adaptation to Extreme Weather Conditions in the Highways Sector’, at Cold Comfort- Sara Zuin, Policy Advisor for Transport Infrastructure 

CIHT presented its ongoing project on how the highways sector can improve the UK road network in terms of resilience and adaptability to extreme weathers. The project is supported by the new National Hub for Decarbonised, Adaptable, and Resilient Transport Infrastructures (DARe) and an advisory group that brings in expertise and experience from the sector with representatives from the CIHT Partnerships Network, the CIHT Technical Champions and the UK Roads Leadership Group (UKLRG). 

The presentation at Cold Comfort gave some initial insights on the work that emerged from the different engagement activities hosted so far:  

• The ageing infrastructure is also constantly and increasingly being exposed to wear and tear from extreme weather conditions. Extreme weather events have also become more frequent and extreme, accelerating the impacts on our roads and on the ability of the sector to deliver seamless services to all communities.
• One of the main challenges for professionals is having to work with a high degree of uncertainty and complexity connected to future weather forecasting, data availability and accessibility, lack of coherent guidance and funding availability and stability.
• The sector calls for action-oriented transdisciplinary partnerships to ensure coordination, share best practice, bridge the knowledge gaps, co-design solution and build awareness on the importance of preventive maintenance and long term resilience planning.
• Professionals have identified a need for a clear narrative that encourages to act now to integrate adaptation and resilience measures in the way we plan, build and deliver our transport network. There is a risk of significant and expensive infrastructure losses if adaptation measures are not recognised as key strategic objectives now. 
  
  

Ensuring that the transport network is resilient is one of the 6 pillars of the CIHT manifesto. You can read the full document here. 

How Can We Attract Young Professionals to the Industry and Support Them?

CIHT also participated in the panel ‘How Can We Attract Young Professionals to the Industry and Support Them?’ represented by the CIHT Apprentice of the Year, Sharad Kerai, Mott Macdonald and the CIHT Emerging Professional of the Year Finalist, Rebecca Kingston, Mayer Brown Ltd.

Other members of the Panel were Ashik Mohammed Nazar, Arup and Chair of ITS UK's Early Careers Forum; Steve Spender, Chief Executive, Institute of Highways Engineers; Ann Carruthers, Director of Environment, Leicestershire County Council; Kane St Quintin, Co-Founder, Visibly moderated by Alistair Gollop, ITS Now.

The panel discussed the challenges and barriers to recruiting young professionals into the sector as well as looking at new ways of communicating with young people to get the wealth of opportunities available in our sector more visible.