Episode 31
Active Travel III: Accelerating the UK Market
Presented by Ivor Wells, featuring Professor Rachel Aldred and Susan Claris
September 29th
Virtual Event
The Active Travel Summit aims to celebrate and accelerate the UK active travel market. By convening innovators, city leaders, transport authorities, active travel commissioners, central government, business leaders and world-leading academics, we will open a space to explore current blockers and propose new mechanisms to unlock the full potential of active travel to power the shift to healthy, low carbon mobility.
The Summit will feature TeamGB stars like Dame Sarah Storey – Active Travel Commissioner for the Sheffield City Region – and her London equivalent, Will Norman, with business leaders like Will Butler Adams from Brompton Bikes, Arup’s Susan Claris and innovative property developers like Harry Badham and Roger Madelin of Hammerson and British Land respectively. The new Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department for Transport, Professor Sarah Sharples and Professor Rachel Aldred of the Active Travel Academy will bring to life the UK’s leading role in related fields of science and research.
Together with industry and place leaders, we want to develop an ambitious, coordinated and directed active travel programme that will grow the UK active travel market and drive jobs, enterprise, innovation, investment, and trade opportunities. There are many definitions of Active Travel.
Active travel is sometimes seen as the collective term for cycling and walking. But it is so much more diverse and exciting. It involves a breadth and inclusivity that we are all only starting to appreciate. For our route map, we seek to embrace all that it is and can become. We take in all human-powered mobility as well as sustainable freight.
Think beyond an image of everyday walking and cycling to consider the full diversity of pedal-powered designs. Consider the wide range of form factors. Note the new inclusive terms ‘wheelers’ and ‘wheeling’ for active travellers and its multitude of forms where wheels are involved including amongst others: Traditional and adaptive bikes; Manual and electric wheelchairs; Prams and pushchairs; Scooters, skateboards and skates.
Consider the wide range of muscle groups that human-powered mobility might involve – heart, eyes, mouth, lung muscles, arms, legs, hands and others. Wonder at the diversity of how they are used: From a child breathing fresh air and looking around in a pram to an adult enjoying the stimulation of a trip seated in the bucket seat of an adapted bike; From someone controlling an electric wheelchair by their breath to someone powering a bike using their hands; From muscle or brain signals to control movement of bionic limbs to journeys on foot: From a skateboard powered by legs in an inner city to one powered by hands on the red earth roads of rural Kenya; From running with blades in Manchester to running with both legs in the Shetland Islands. All are active travel.
Picture the growing array of e-cargo and electric bikes, which are partly assisted but principally human-powered.
All these are forms of healthy, active travel involving the benefits of both physical and mental stimulation.”
The Connected Places Catapult is taking the lead on accelerating solutions by identifying opportunities and tackling the challenges faced by this high-potential industry. We recognise that the opportunities created by walking, cycling, running, wheeling and scooting in the UK are huge. We can open up new forms of active travel to people across the country, decarbonise transport, accelerate net zero, transform our roads and streets, create attractive people-friendly places, address the obesity crisis, and improve mental health.
UK businesses are building an enormously diverse range of products and services that make active travel a thriving, high-growth and forward-facing sector. Given global investment and rapid policy and regulatory shifts at national, regional and city government level this presents a substantial export potential – cutting across multiple sectors where the UK has a strong global reputation like design, masterplanning, engineering, project finance, insurance and other high-value consultancy. This is driven by fundamental and applied research and a rapid technology curve, not least in terms of battery technology and electric mobility. From apps that guide journeys, bikes that can be carried on trains, to scooters that can fold under a desk, e-bikes that flatten the hardest of hills, and light electric vehicles (LEVs) that can deliver to your door using only pedal power – the UK is at the forefront of the hardware and software of the active travel revolution. This has the potential to thrive and scale in what Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called ‘a new golden age’ in cycling, walking and active mobility.
The Active Travel Summit brings together a cross-section of stakeholders vital to accelerating the active travel agenda and unlocking the full potential of the active travel market, from decision-makers and planners in government, cities and towns, through to the investment community, small and large businesses, academia, strategic bodies and not-for-profit organisations.
Why Attend
If you are innovating in the Active Travel market, we want to find ways to celebrate and showcase your work. We want to give you the space to be inspired and to highlight opportunities with the people who might be able to help.
If you are an investor or an owner of big strategic challenges relating to Active Travel, we want you to explore the role of Collaborative Research & Development (CR&D) and the innovation market.
If you are a place leader, transport authority or decision maker, we want to provide a space for you to explore how you can better leverage the power of the UK’s rich and diverse Active Travel innovation market. You will discuss with peers how you might share requirements, collectively approach problems or share challenges with the market.
No matter who you are, we want you to leave inspired by this celebration of British innovation in Active Travel, ready to play your part in helping the industry step (and ride) up yet another gear.
Introducing the Active Travel Summit, and its aims; what to expect in terms of the breadth of speakers and the discussion topics; how the Summit fits within a wider picture of active travel policy and innovation; and what, as a result of the Summit and wider programme, we want to be different.
The economic opportunity for UK firms presented by this new golden age of active travel, domestically and as a high-growth export market.
Network with attendees and visit the virtual exhibitor stands. network
In this session we will explore how different Light Electric Vehicles will help change how both goods, and people, move more sustainably and efficiently, whilst improving our air quality and experience of place.
Network with attendees and visit the virtual exhibitor stands. network
In this session we’ll explore the merits of boosting active travel research and development directly, by industry and public CR&D. What are some of the defined market opportunities and challenges?
In this session we’ll explore the merits of boosting active travel research and development directly, by industry and public CR&D. What are some of the defined market opportunities and challenges?
Network with attendees and visit the virtual exhibitor stands. network
How do we plan places for people? Places that encourages and enable active travel as the preferred and easiest option for all ages and abilities? How can we use planning and all forms of design to realise visions like the 15 Minute City or 20 Minute Neighbourhoods?
Dame Sarah Storey is the most successful British female Paralympic athlete, and the Active Travel Commissioner for the South Yorkshire MCA (Mayoral Combined Authority). Read more…
Dame Sarah Storey is the most successful British female Paralympic athlete, and the Active Travel Commissioner for the South Yorkshire MCA (Mayoral Combined Authority). Sarah is also a non-executive director at the UK Department for Transport and a policy advisor for British Cycling. Sarah brings a wealth of experience to her role as active travel commissioner and has made a tangible difference to South Yorkshire. In 2020 the MCA adopted the Active Travel implementation plan, bringing alive her four pledges:
1. We will be led by our communities
2. We will enable walking and cycling not encourage it
3. All our infrastructure will meet or exceed our requirements
4. All our infrastructure will be accessible to all
Social Media Handles
Twitter: Dame Sarah Storey CyclewalkSCR
Facebook: Cycle Walk Sheffield City Region
Adam Tranter is the CEO of communications agency Fusion Media, working with brands such as Specialized, Shimano, Raleigh and Brompton. Read more…
Adam Tranter is the CEO of communications agency Fusion Media, working with brands such as Specialized, Shimano, Raleigh and Brompton. In 2020, Fusion founded the industry-funded #BikeIsBest campaign to communicate the benefits of cycling to the British public. He is also a co-host of the Streets Ahead podcast and is Bicycle Mayor for the city of Coventry, the home of the original bicycle boom in the late 19th century. The Bicycle Mayor position helps coordinate between key city stakeholders to help secure better cycling infrastructure.
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As a design consultant and academic Andrea has worked with a range of brands including Unilever, Apple, Nokia, Samsung and Land Rover. Read more…
Andrea is Director of Human Connected Design at the Connected Places Catapult.
As a design consultant and academic Andrea has worked with a range of brands including Unilever, Apple, Nokia, Samsung and Land Rover. She developed the user experience for the world’s smallest x-ray machine for NASA, created Virtual Reality worlds for BT as well as a range of consumer products.
Andrea has a First Class Honours in Industrial Design, Masters in Public Policy and PhD in Virtual Reality. Early in her career, she taught industrial and automotive design, and since then, has maintained close links with academia through fellowships at Northumbria and Cambridge Universities as well as acting as a PhD examiner at the Royal College of Art and Loughborough University.
After working in consultancy and academia, Andrea joined the Design Council in 2002 becoming their first Chief Design Officer where she co-developed and trade-marked the ‘double diamond’ design approach. She has also been the Chief Designer for Innovation and Service Design at Cornwall Council and an advisor to Innovate UK where she led a major exhibition on the 4th Industrial Revolution at the Design Museum. Prior to joining the Catapult she established the UK government’s multi-award-winning Policy Innovation Unit at the Cabinet Office delivering over 100 projects from the future of rail to the UK’s smart shipping technology route map.
An international judge of prizes, Andrea is a board member at CIPD and a member of the 1851 Royal Commission committee. She is an advisor for the ‘grand challenge’ Design Age Accelerator and Design Museum Observatory and has previously held national and International advisory board roles including working in a number of guises for the European Commission.
As a design and innovation expert, she has delivered over 100 keynotes across five continents. She has also been invited to attend expert groups and roundtables in more than 20 countries and has given a recent TEDx talk and speeches at Google and Stanford. Over two years she advised the United Nations Under-Secretary-General on innovation and transformation in New York. She is a member of the global ‘States of Change’ faculty where she has mentored eight innovation teams across Australia and New Zealand.
Andrea’s multi-award-winning projects and programmes have received significant acclaim in the UK and overseas. She is published widely and has also been a contributor to a number of books on design and innovation.
In 2010 Andrea was nominated for the Cultural Leadership Programme’s top 50 ‘Women to Watch’ and in 2015 became the 10th female in its history to be awarded the prestigious Royal Society of Arts Bicentenary Medal. In 2016 Andrea received an honorary doctorate in Civil Law from Northumbria University in ‘recognition of her status as one of the UK’s foremost design thinkers’ and in 2019 she was listed by Apolitical as ‘one of the world’s most influential public sector innovators’. In 2021 she received an OBE for her innovative work and public service in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Georgia has worked in partnerships with cities across the globe, to reach their active and sustainable transport goals. Read more…
Now in her second unicorn startup in micro-mobility, Georgia has worked in partnership with cities across the globe, to reach their active and sustainable transport goals. A firm believer that collaboration and partnership underpin sustainable services, Georgia now heads up TIER’s partnership with Cities in the UK & Ireland, and is responsible for commercial performance, rider experience and community impact. A passionate advocate for inclusion and accessibility, Georgia contributes to raising the volume of women and underrepresented groups in tech & mobility both in and outside of the workplace.
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Hana Sutch is co-founder and CEO at Go Jauntly, a health and wellness company who created Go Jauntly. A multi-award winning walking, wayfinding and nature connection app. Read more…
Hana Sutch is co-founder and CEO at Go Jauntly, a health and wellness company who created Go Jauntly. A multi-award winning walking, wayfinding and nature connection app. The app breaks down barriers to walking by helping people discover walks, create their own and share outdoor adventures with friends.
Go Jauntly partners with a variety of organisations including Transport for London, Sport England, Greater Manchester Moving, Southampton City Council, London Wildlife Trust, Tranquil City, and the University of Derby to increase walking for leisure, active travel as well as nature connection. Hana is the podcast host of ‘Nature Bantz‘ and is a strong believer in tech for good.
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Harry oversees the development teams working on destination reposition across the UK, Ireland and France. Read more…
Harry Badham was appointed to the role of Chief Development and Asset Repositioning Officer at Hammerson in June this year. In this role, Harry oversees the development teams working on destination repositioning across the UK, Ireland, and France.
Harry was most recently UK Head of Development at AXA IM Alts where he led £3.5bn of major investment, development and repositioning projects from start to completion for a range of funds and joint venture investors. Working on urban projects across a mix of workspace, retail, leisure, civic and residential space including most notably 22 Bishopsgate, Assembly Bristol and 6 Pancras Square, Harry has built up extensive expertise across numerous disciplines including design, sustainability, leasing and technology.
Prior to his 10 years at AXA IM Alts, Harry was part of the leadership team at property development company, Allied London, where he was Investment Director. He was involved in delivering over £2bn of urban regeneration including the creation of the 25 acre Spinningfields development in Manchester and the Brunswick Centre in London, alongside other mixed use schemes across the UK.
A chartered surveyor, Harry began his career at JLL within the corporate finance department having graduated from Bristol University in Civil Engineering.
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James Goldsmith is Head of Leasing at AXA IM Alts. Read more…
James Goldsmith is Head of Leasing at AXA IM Alts. He has worked on some of London’s most progressive schemes, including Apple’s first UK flagship in Regent Street, Central Saint Giles, Television Centre and The Shard. And now the recently completed 22 Bishopsgate, which delivers 1.35million sq ft of social workspace in the heart of the City of London. He maintains a strong belief in market research and how broader social and economic issues influence occupier needs and objectives. During his 25-year career in Central London, James has executed many high-profile and award-winning transactions as both an adviser and a principal, operating within the leasing, asset management and development markets..
John is Programme Director for Micromobility at WMG, working to accelerate a positive transition to net zero transportation which also benefits UK businesses. Read more…
John is Programme Director for Micromobility at WMG, working to accelerate a positive transition to net zero transportation which also benefits UK businesses. John works between industry, Government, transport authorities and academia to answer critical research questions and support real-world trials of products and services. Previously John has worked in the aerospace industry during a decade with Rolls-Royce as a Chartered Engineer, and the energy industry in new business model innovation with UK SMEs. Despite a love of building and racing classic cars, John is a keen cyclist and passionately believes that the right investments in Micromobility infrastructure now will unleash innovation to benefit to all for generations.
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Mark Urbanowski is an Innovation Lead in the ISCF Driving the Electric Revolution challenge Team at UKRI. Read more…
Mark Urbanowski is an Innovation Lead in the ISCF Driving the Electric Revolution challenge team. He joined in early 2020 with several years of consultancy and OEM experience in the automotive industry. Most recently he worked on the Dyson electric vehicle project, leading the Performance and Driveability attribute team. Prior to this he spent several years at Ricardo as a driveline and transmission development and attributes engineer, consulting with automotive companies all over the world.
The central purpose of the Driving the Electric Revolution challenge is to aid the UK’s move towards electrification by investing in the core Power Electronics, Electric Machines and Drives (PEMD) technologies and skills which support it.
Mark’s focus is in the automotive, aerospace, off-highway and personal mobility sectors – he is interested in engaging with businesses working in the electrification of these sectors to discuss funding and collaboration opportunities.
Lee has been Managing Director at Raleigh UK since June 2020. Read more…
Neil began his career with Cummis Engine Company with a degree in Mechanical and Production Engineering. Read more…
Neil began his career with Cummins Engine Company with a Degree in Mechanical and Production Engineering. In 2000, he joined Millbrook Proving Ground where he had responsibility for Powertrain Engineering, managing a team of industry leading Technicians and Engineers involved in engine test, exhaust emissions and advanced Powertrain development.
Neil Fulton joined the Transport Systems Catapult organisation in November 2013 where he acted as Programme Director for Connected and Automated Transport. His focus was on the introduction and integration of automated and connected vehicles into the transport infrastructure and the associated barriers to this huge area of growth and potential. An example of this is the leadership of the LUTZ Pathfinder programme – a trial and test programme of technology readiness and public perception of autonomous Pods onto the pavements of Milton Keynes.
Karla is Innovation Lead for Connected Transport, part of the Land & Maritime Transport Team at Innovate UK. Read more…
Karla is the Innovation Lead for Connected Transport, part of the Land & Maritime Transport Team at Innovate UK and is also the Vice Chair of ITS(UK) and a member of the Highways Sector Council. She is seeking solutions which use innovative technologies to leverage a smarter, greener and more connected transport system for the efficient movement of people and goods around the world. Prior to Innovate UK, she worked for 15 years at a large automotive company as a Design Quality Engineer.
Nick Evans is Head of Planning at Sport England with overall responsibility for Sport England statutory role on the protection of playing fields and ensuring the land use planning system helps deliver sport and physical activity into everyday life. Read more…
Nick Evans is Head of Planning at Sport England with overall responsibility for Sport England statutory role on the protection of playing fields and ensuring the land use planning system helps deliver sport and physical activity into everyday life. He is currently leading on the development of Active Environments – creating the spaces and places for us to be physically active in our everyday lives, which forms part of Sport England’s recently published strategy Uniting the Movement.
He has a particular interest in Smart Cities and is passionate about data and how this can be used more effectively in planning and has led on a number of data related projects at Sport England including Active Places, and the initial development of the OpenActive programme with the Open Data Institute.
Rachel Aldred is Professor of Transport at the University of Westminster as well as Director of the Active Travel Academy. Read more…
I’m Rachel Aldred, Professor of Transport at the University of Westminster, and Director of the Active Travel Academy. I also teach on Westminster’s MSc Transport Planning and Management. A few years back I set up this site to bring together my various academic/research/policy interests. It is updated less frequently than in the past because I’m putting quite a bit of stuff instead on the Active Travel Academy website, but there will be occasional posts here and I will keep my publications list reasonably up to date.
You can download a current CV here. Please click on the various tabs to find out about some of the projects, publications, and events that I’m involved in. You can follow me on Twitter at @RachelAldred and follow the ATA at @Active_ATA.
In 2016 I was awarded the ESRC Outstanding Impact in Public Policy Prize and the first annual Westminster University Prize for Research Excellence. One research project (Near Miss Project) was awarded Cycling Initiative of the Year 2015 by Total Women’s Cycling, while another (the Propensity to Cycle Tool) was in 2019 awarded the Transtech Open Data Award.
Mark is committed to attracting people to sustainable transport modes and driving continuous improvements to the customer experience in public transport. Read more…
Mark is committed to attracting people to sustainable transport modes and driving continuous improvements to the customer experience on public transport. In 2019 Go-Ahead published their ‘First and Last mile’ report which made the case for combining active travel with bus and rail as a way to reduce car dependency. Leading on Go-Ahead’s innovation strategy and establishing test and learn trials with partners in one way Go-Ahead are preparing for the Future of Transport.
Roger Madelin is Joint Head of the 53 acre Canada Water Development at British Land. Read more…
Roger Madelin is Joint Head of the 53 acre Canada Water Development at British Land and is a member of the Executive Committee. He joined British Land in February 2016 after 29 years at Argent.
As the development director at Argent from 1988 he was responsible for delivering all of Argent’s projects including Brindleyplace in Birmingham, Thames Valley Park in Reading and major office projects in central London and the City. The company was a FTSE 250 emerging major from 1993 until it left the stock market in 1997. Roger then become CEO of the once again private development business which was funded by British Telecom Pension Fund and the senior management team.
Over the next decade he expanded Argent’s development activities with major projects in Manchester and further projects in Reading, Birmingham and the City of London. In 2000 he led the company to be selected, and then to take forward the development of the 56 acres of ‘railway lands’ between, and to the north of, King’s Cross and St Pancras.
He formally left Argent at the end of 2015 but retains an advisory role on the remaining King’s Cross projects for the Aga Khan Development Network.
Scott Cain, founder of active environments business Active Things, and Associate at Connected Places Catapult. Read more…
Scott Cain, founder of active environments business Active Things, and Associate at the Connected Places Catapult.
Scott is the founder and CEO of Active Things, the active environments business which provides ‘on-demand’ secure bike parking and end-of-trip facilities.
As an Associate at the Connected Places Catapult, Scott is focused on active travel, the shorthand often used for cycling, walking and other human-powered mobility. Specifically, Scott is supporting the Catapult in developing an active travel innovation programme. The programme supports both supply-side and demand-side innovators. It builds innovation capacity and capability among place leaders and their teams, and supports the acceleration and growth of a broad range of existing and near-to-market products and services. This includes but is not limited to product and service R&D, partnership building, market intelligence and advocacy, Living Labs and testbeds, and boosting active travel innovation.
Scott is an Honorary Research Fellow at the UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (UCL CASA) and Visiting Research Associate at King’s College London’s Centre for Urban Science and Progress (KCL CUSP) and is a Non Exec at Global Entrepreneurship Network. Formerly, Scott was Chief Business Officer at Future Cities Catapult and CEO of Enterprise UK.
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Professor Sarah Sharples is Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department for Transport. Read more…
Professor Sarah Sharples is Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department for Transport. She is a Professor of Human Factors in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham and from 2018-2021 was Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion and People. She has led research in transport, manufacturing and healthcare, and currently leads the EPSRC (Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council) Connected Everything Network Plus. She founded and co-director of the EPSRC Horizon Centre for Doctoral Training, and has led research programmes examining implementation of new technologies in rail, highways and aviation. She was President of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors from 2015-16.
Shelley is the Strategy and co-founder of Frog Bikes Read more…
Shelley is the Strategy Director and co-founder of Frog Bikes, one of the most recognised and admired brands in kids’ cycling; she is dedicated to getting more kids on bikes and shaping the business to reduce its emissions and maximise sustainability.
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Simon Wicks is deputy editor of The Planner, the membership magazine of the Royal Town Planning Institute. Read more…
Simon Wicks is deputy editor of The Planner, the membership magazine of the Royal Town Planning Institute. A journalist for more than 25 years, he has been employed by a local newspaper, an international charity and a young people’s news agency, as well as operating as a writer/editor for hire. His work is diverse and has ranged from corruption in local politics to the impact of Covid on town centres, via a guide to track cycling for Olympics watchers and the ghostwritten autobiography of a successful Anglo-Asian businessman. He rides a Condor Pista and is baffled by most of the cycling infrastructure he encounters.
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Steve has worked in and around cycling since 2005 when he ran Cycling England’s £60m p.a. programme to promote cycling, including creating Bikeability – the modern Cycling Proficiency. Read more…
Steve Garidis heads the BA executive team.
Steve has worked in and around cycling since 2005 when he ran Cycling England’s £60m p.a. programme to promote cycling, including creating Bikeability – the modern Cycling Proficiency. Since then, he has also run a cycling-related consultancy and a social enterprise – the Electric Bicycle Network – introducing people to the delights of electric bicycles. Now as the Bicycle Association’s Executive Director he’s still working to get more people on bikes and grow the cycling market in the UK.
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Susan Claris is a transport planner and an anthropologist who has worked for Arup for nearly 30 years. Read more…
Susan Claris is a transport planner and an anthropologist who has worked for Arup for nearly 30 years. She is Arup’s global champion for active travel and she led the report “Cities Alive: Towards a walking world” and co-authored the “Cycling for Everyone” report with Sustrans. Susan is also the Vice President of Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking. In 2019, Susan was awarded the title of Transport Planner of the Year by the Transport Planning Society based on her work raising the profile of transport planning and being a champion for diversity in the transport planning profession.
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Will Norman became London’s first Walking and Cycling Commissioner in 2016. Read more…
Will Norman became London’s first Walking and Cycling Commissioner in 2016. He leads the Mayor’s work to make the capital’s streets safer for walking and cycling, enabling thousands more Londoners to choose greener, cleaner and healthier ways of traveling around the city.
Will was previously Director of Global Partnerships at Nike. He lead Nike’s work with not-for-profits, governments, UN agencies and European Institutions to tackle the global inactivity crisis, focusing on how to design physical activity into everyday life.
Presented by Ivor Wells, featuring Professor Rachel Aldred and Susan Claris
In this third episode in our active travel podcast series we continue the conversation with businesses, place leaders and campaigners for better and more active travel. We ask what seizing this potentially huge opportunity might look and feel like on our streets and in our neighbourhoods. How do we design our public spaces for more active travel? How do we ensure that change is accessible to everyone? And what are the gaps in our existing knowledge base when it comes to understanding even the current market?
Listen HerePresented by Ivor Wells, featuring Dame Sarah Storey and Will Butler-adams
In this episode we kick off a series of conversations we’ve been having with businesses, place leaders and experts in active travel. We ask what seizing this potentially huge opportunity for economic growth and public health and wellbeing looks like around the country. How do we design our cities for more active travel? How do we ensure that change is led by communities and accessible to all? And where are the opportunities, at home and abroad, for government and industry to get ahead of the curve?
Listen HerePresented by Ivor Wells, featuring Neil Fulton and Scott Cain
This is the first in a series of episodes where we begin to explore the opportunities for UK companies in the global market for active travel products and solutions. Throughout the series we’ll be hearing from leading figures in business, local government, academia and the wider active travel world. In this episode we begin with Neil Fulton, our Chief Delivery Officer who’s leading a new active travel programme, as well as Catapult Associate, Scott Cain who’s a passionate advocate for the benefits that active travel can offer people, places and the wider economy.