Last week was the TTF conference, with record numbers of delegates attending to hear from DfT, European presenters and suppliers who could support councils with a potential Intelligent Traffic Management Fund (ITMF) bid. We have received lots of written and verbal comments celebrating the success of the event. I certainly received lots of comments to me from people who welcomed the opportunity to talk with sponsors, exhibitors, authorities and DfT. The mix of presentations this year was well received and will be available on the TTF website soon.
Towards the end of last week, both myself and Blackpool Council were contacted by a journalist from the Sunday Times. The journalist was keen to understand Blackpool’s approach to maintaining their network, particularly its investment in roads to reduce compensation claims. By travelling to Blackpool, the journalist was eager to understand the approaches taken and see for himself Blackpool’s approach. The journalist also took the time to have a conversation with me about LCRIG, we had a long conversation with me correcting any misunderstandings in the work LCRIG does or that Highways Authorities undertake. I have to say, like many people I was hugely wary about talking to a journalist and whilst disappointed that a very long conversation led to a short quote it was a good and robust exchange. Of course, I was very protective of councils and their work in a time of complex resource constraints– the final article was an overall positive one with only minor misunderstandings of Blackpool’s ways of working. So, for the first time in LCRIG’s history we were referenced in the Sunday Times!
I have said in previous ‘View from the Top’s that I enjoy going to our supply chain member’s customer events if I get invited to them. I am not always able to attend every invitation I get, but if I get enough notification, I make every effort to take part and talk about LCRIG’s work and also just to listen to suppliers and their customers.
This week, I attended SWARCOs two-day customer user group, with a large number of their local authority customers. The two days involved very interactive sessions with lots of great presentations to lively involvement. I took part in a panel session on Day one with SWARCO’s MD John Pickworth, two authorities and hosted by Paul Hutton of Highways News. The second day, I gave a session on the work LCRIG is doing and spoke in more detail about the work we are getting involved with around future autonomy and infrastructure. Darren Capes, DfT also joined in my session so that we could talk more conversationally about Government and Local Government. Darren then spoke separately about ITMF. I also took the opportunity to try SWARCOs Virtual Reality headset, which I confess I did rather enjoy and I suppressed any Tron (and Tron Legacy) geekiness.
Finally, the latter part of my week involved me being part of a roundtable organised by the National Infrastructure Commission, Zenzic and Warwick Manufacturing Group held at the National Automotive Centre in Warwickshire. Those that took part hailed from organisations connected with building autonomous vehicles, future mobility experts such as Zenzic, autonomous technologies companies, National Infrastructure Commission, Smart Mobility Living Lab, Transport for West Midlands, Advanced Propulsion Centre and other luminaries in the CAM autonomy space. It was a great meeting and one that I intend to cover in more detail in my ‘View from the Top’ next week.
Have a great Bank Holiday Weekend, I know I will be sleeping a lot after two rather full weeks and a rotten cold!
Paula Claytonsmith, CEO