Green paper on the future of the UK infrastructure development and finance.
Arising from that work, we have produced our first white paper, focusing on mobility – a very wide sector – embracing many aspects of mobility: Electric Vehicle (EV) Infrastructure, Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs); Mobility as a Service; electric vehicle technology and integrated transport systems. This is the first in a series of five white papers to be produced over the coming months.
We face significant challenges
How we move is changing fast. The bus, car and train are now all vying with EVs and hybrid vehicles, e-bikes, on-demand services, ride-hailing, ride-sharing, micro-mobility and autonomous vehicles in the mobility space.
Despite rapid progress in the technologies underpinning mobility, public policy has not yet caught up and questions remain around how policy thinking must change to meet today’s and tomorrow’s mobility needs.
The private sector is still working out its role in investing in mobility and all of us are assessing what the relationship between the private sector and local government looks like around funding the required infrastructure.
New technologies can deliver good and not so good (as we have seen with social media for example). All of us know the benefits in terms of hassle-free, greener travel, clean air and healthier lives the mobility revolution offers. Yet we need to consider how everyone benefits from the new technologies regardless of their age, economic status, location or physical and mental abilities.
The UK must not miss the opportunity to embrace the role of technology and data in future mobility solutions, for example, a safe environment for trialling new technologies, a change in employers’ mindsets about how and where people could work using technology, etc.
People will deliver a mobility-enabled UK. Yet this is at risk if the people with the knowledge and skills are not available to lead the sector forward, a prospect we must be realistic about in a post Brexit world.
The reward for supporting data and technology-led mobility solutions is great
In the political and economic uncertainty of today and the climate emergency we now face, there are daunting times ahead for us all. At the same time, never has there been so much opportunity through technology and data to build infrastructure that makes a real difference to people’s lives. Mobility infrastructure has amazing potential to do good. It can make people’s lives better; it can reduce journey times to and from work and therefore increase family time. It can be a platform for SMEs and social enterprises to flourish, contributing to thousands of jobs being created and innovation thriving. It can contribute to reducing harmful emissions, making our towns and cities healthier places to live. The reward for the UK of truly embracing mobility is hard got but so worth the effort not only for us today but for future generations.
Amey, as an investor, developer and operator of essential infrastructure, provides our thinking on how together we might overcome the challenges faced to address the needs of 21st century mobility. You can read our mobility white paper. Our thanks to partners across the public and private sectors who have contributed to this publication.*
The paper is the first in our thinking around future technology challenges. Our next white paper looks at the energy sector which we will launch in early 2020.
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*The mobility white paper roundtable event, led by Asif Ghafoor and his team and working with Partnerships Bulletin, took place on 9 July 2019 and was attended by participants from across the public and private sectors:
Darryl Murphy, Head of Infrastructure Debt, Aviva
Miranda Sharp, Director of Innovation, Ordnance Survey
Rapahel Ani, Head of Intelligent Mobility Accelerator, Wayra
Alex Harrison, Partner, Hogan Lovells
Charles Johnson-Ferguson, Partner, PWC
Llewelyn Morgan, Head of Innovation, Oxfordshire
David Lutton, Director of Connectivity and Competitiveness, London First
Alex Jan, Director, Arup
Matthew Vickerstaff, Deputy CEO & Head of Finance, Infrastructure and Projects Authority