Dr Sue Sharland started her career as a scientist, has a background in R&D, was Chief Executive of TRL, and now advises the Transport Systems Catapult. 

As President of CIHT from 2015/16, Dr Sharland chose ‘Intelligent Transport in a Connected World’ as the theme for her year.  As Sue said:  “The way transport systems are accessed, planned, designed, built and operated has changed beyond recognition over the past twenty years”. Listen to the podcast here.

Sue underlined just how important the use of data is to how transport is delivered and, in particular, on how it can be used to improve the transport experience of users.  

Sue gave examples from the University of Leeds Institute for Data Analytics  to generate new insights through analysing data.  One example was on the use of 2011 census data on travel to work patterns to help plan cycling infrastructure.  Other examples Sue noted was how to optimise fleet services with data to managing travel demands by Transport for London (TfL).

Some other major changes that Sue noted were as follows:
•    From self-repairing cities to self-healing materials – how infrastructure is managed will change.
•    From drones to satellites - new data sources are already shaping decisions on how to manage transport infrastructure.
•    From autonomous vehicles to electric vehicles - the vehicles people are using is evolving.   
•    From traditional skills to technology skills - how the sector learns will change.

In fact there is such a vast amount of change it is sometimes difficult to keep track.  Sue summarises this well:  “This whole thing around intelligent mobility is going to have a profound impact on the way we move people and goods”.

The interview comes from the latest in the CIHT podcast series where Justin Ward speaks to leading individuals in the transport world.  To find others and to listen click here.