Making Passenger

To answer that question - and get our brains ticking over with many more - we welcomed Giuseppe Sollazzo, Head of Data at the DfT, to sit down with Matt and Tom for the final episode of Making Passenger series 1. Giuseppe broke down NaPTAN, NAP and threw a few more anacronyms at us for good measure! We talked about why data is gathered and why it's so important to the public transport sector. We looked at cases where data had been gathered before there was even a user need for it a...

This week, Matt and Tom speak to Dr. Ian Walker. Ian teaches Statistics and Traffic Psychology at the University of Bath and has undertaken research on road safety, travel habits and the impact of environmental messaging.As councils up and down the UK start to implement changes to road and cycleways; Matt, Tom and Ian talked about conflicts engineered by the way we build our streets, how to get transport modes to function amicably together and the impact of private cars on our roads.Thought e...

Passenger's Engineering Director Dave Hulbert and Engineering Lead Andy Leon join Matt and Tom to explain how they have been able to deliver accurate, robust and reliable updates to help essential travellers to plan their travel around social distancing recommendations. Bringing streams of crowdsourced information alongside automatic passenger counting from a number of different suppliers of hardware on the buses, creates a qualitative picture of the live occupancy of the vehicle. Whilst...

Matt and Tom spoke to Alex Hornby, Chief Executive Officer at Transdev Blazefield. They wanted to find out how the practicalities of social distancing measures will affect bus operators, drivers and passengers and the UK begins to slowly start relaxing its lockdown.Transdev operate buses right across the North of England, and have always had people at the heart of their agenda. Matt and Tom wanted to find out how crowdedness and cleanliness monitoring would help give Transdev's passengers the...

From the 15-minute neighbourhood to how tiny changes can create big ripples. Matt and Tom were lucky enough to speak to Bournemouth, Christchurch a& Poole Councillor Dr. Felicity Rice, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Climate Change. Felicity talked to us about BCP's ongoing plans for the Transforming Cities Funds, how we can start to live differently and how she was empowered to become a councillor and begin working to effect change.Passenger and its staff are based in Bournemou...

Passenger's Matt and Tom talk to Phil Ellis, co-founder of bike-share company Beryl.From the smallest of bays to the biggest of sustainable shared electric micro-mobility system plans, they all agree that bike-share schemes are exactly what the UK need to break their car habits. Beryl, who work closely with local authorities, are hopeful that change is on the horizon and are on the cusp of launching #BetterByBike - with the objective of lowering the barrier to cycling and encouraging the wide...

James Carney, Finance & Commercial Director of Blackpool Transport joins Tom and Matt to talk about how Blackpool is continuing to make buses the first choice for its residents and visitors by being there with the 'wow'. Habit change, the power of the penny and insight into Blackpool Transport's future plans for becoming a centre of excellence for electric vehicles are discussed - and some 'third glass of chablis conversations' are fondly reminisced on!

Tom and Matt are joined by Passenger Transport magazine Managing Editor and Publisher Robert Jack. In just half an hour, we covered usership vs ownership, climate concerns and data as a key to problem-solving plus...... Robert explains why bus operators need to consider becoming 21st-century retailers and how they can help shift public perception after COVID. Tom reveals his MaaS vision and everyone agrees that mobile phones might just be the key to mobility.

Cycling plays an important part in how we travel around our towns and cities. This week, Matt and Tom talk to Jason Falconer, chair of the BH Active Travel Forum, about cycling in the south and how it's been affected by the current health crisis.As Jason says "The bicycle is possibly the best invention ever". Looking to the future, we discuss how transport infrastructure can support cycling for everyone and every journey.

Passenger CEO Tom Quay and COO Matt Morgan explain how Passenger has been adjusting to the new world. They discuss business resilience, disaster recovery and being useful, as well as learnings about public transport, technology and people as the world is on lockdown. Join us for a look at how digital technology is shaping the UK’s future mass transit mobility trends.