Highways Voices: Talking Roads and Transport Technology innovation

Paul Hutton
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The Highways Voices podcast is a must-listen for professionals in the Highways and Transport Technology industries covering construction, maintenance, Intelligent Transport Systems and Public Transportation. Presented by leading journalists Paul Hutton and Adrian Tatum, you’ll hear industry leaders sharing insights you won’t hear anywhere else, giving you a taste of the latest thinking about the sector's new techniques and technologies, collaborations and innovations. All in the time it takes for an average daily commute (or dog walk!). We bring you keynote-speaker quality guests into your phone or laptop, ensuring every time you listen you’ll learn something new you can use in your day-to-day job. Plus, you'll catch up with the top stories from the daily newsletters sent by Highways-News.com and hear the latest from our podcast partners LCRIG, the TTF, ADEPT and ITS UK.

  1. 1 day ago

    Hitchens and Sutherland ask what Britain should actually do about transport

    After two episodes arguing about how Britain became so dependent on the car, Peter Hitchens and Rory Sutherland turn to the more difficult question in the final part of this week’s special Highways Voices series: what should the country actually do next? Mr Hitchens makes clear that he is not proposing a sudden programme to remove cars from everyday life, arguing instead that Britain first needs to recognise what he regards as a profound historic mistake in allowing the motor car to dominate the transport system. He says changing that position could take generations, but that long-term planning cannot begin until the underlying problem is acknowledged. Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode. Mr Sutherland takes a more experimental approach. Drawing on arguments around the late transport analyst David Metz's work, he questions whether major transport schemes are assessed using the right measures at all. Rather than concentrating so heavily on speed and theoretical journey-time savings, he suggests policymakers should pay much more attention to the quality, convenience and frequency of the journeys people actually make. That leads to discussion of Heathrow's driverless pods, why travellers often seem more attracted to trams than buses, and the way permanent transport infrastructure can influence development. The pair also return to the Oxford-Cambridge railway, with Mr Hitchens using its troubled reopening as an example of what he sees as Britain's inability to deliver a coherent transport policy. The conversation also turns to smaller-scale interventions. Mr Sutherland calls for widespread experimentation with intermodality, micromobility, better station access and easier links between cars, bicycles and trains, arguing that policymakers should watch how people respond before committing billions of pounds to another major scheme. He says improving relatively short journeys made frequently may deliver far greater value than shaving a few minutes from occasional long-distance trips. Listen to the concluding episode to hear whether the two men can find a workable area of common ground, why connectivity may matter more than speed, and whether Britain's next transport revolution should begin not with another grand project, but with a series of much smaller ideas. Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

  2. 2 days ago

    Hitchens and Sutherland debate whether cars really deliver freedom

    The argument between Peter Hitchens and Rory Sutherland over Britain's relationship with the motor car intensifies in part two of this week’s special Highways Voices series, as the pair move from railways and HS2 to the much broader question of whether car ownership really represents freedom. Mr Sutherland argues that the strength of the car is its autonomy: the ability to travel when you want, with passengers or luggage, to places which may be difficult to reach in any other way. Mr Hitchens challenges that definition, pointing instead to congestion, traffic lights, roadworks and the sheer number of vehicles competing for limited road space. Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode. They also debate one of the most familiar arguments in highways policy – induced traffic. Mr Hitchens says widening roads ultimately creates more traffic, while Mr Sutherland accepts the effect exists but argues that additional road capacity can also enable economically useful journeys. That takes the discussion into road pricing, where Mr Sutherland says there is a case for using pricing intelligently to manage scarce road space at the times it is most heavily demanded. The disagreement then widens to electric vehicles, e-bikes and micromobility. Mr Hitchens is highly critical of battery-powered road transport and of e-bikes in particular, while Mr Sutherland argues that electrification gives transport greater flexibility because electricity can be generated from a wide range of energy sources. They also discuss road safety and the extent to which the risks associated with everyday car use have become normalised. Yet there is also common ground. Both accept that people need realistic alternatives to driving and that simply making the car more difficult or expensive to use is not enough when homes, workplaces and businesses have been shaped around car access. Mr Sutherland argues that better information, pricing and intermodality could encourage people to make different choices without removing the option of driving. Listen to part two to hear two very different philosophies of transport collide – and to discover why an argument about roads and railways ends up becoming a debate about individual freedom, collective efficiency and even whether Peter Hitchens's transport philosophy can reasonably be described as Maoist. Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

  3. 3 days ago

    Hitchens and Sutherland clash over cars, rail and what Britain got wrong on transport

    Veteran newspaper columnist and author Peter Hitchens and behavioural science expert Rory Sutherland go head-to-head over the future of transport in a special series of Highways Voices podcasts this week, beginning with an argument over whether Britain has become far too dependent on the car. The discussion starts with an area of agreement. Mr Sutherland, vice-chairman of advertising agency Ogilvy UK and co-author of “Transport for Humans”, describes himself as a huge enthusiast for rail and argues that people could be encouraged to use trains more often through better information, easier interchange and measures designed to make rail a more obvious option. Mr Hitchens, who is currently writing a book “The Madness of Cars” agrees that more journeys should be made by rail, but says the fundamental problem is that much of the network that criss-crossed the country no longer exists. Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode. But the agreement does not last. Mr Sutherland says the car has brought extraordinary economic and social benefits by providing flexibility across a huge range of journeys, while Mr Hitchens argues that Britain sacrificed what he considers a more rational transport network in favour of a system increasingly dominated by cars. The pair also debate trams, bicycles, parkway stations, electric vehicles and whether a transport system designed around steel wheels and steel rails would ultimately be more efficient. The conversation was prompted by an exchange between the two men on social media after Mr Sutherland challenged comments from Mr Hitchens about car ownership and the amount of time vehicles spend parked. Rather than continue the disagreement in short online posts, Highways News brought them together for an extended conversation. Listen to part one of Highways Voices to hear where Peter Hitchens and Rory Sutherland unexpectedly agree, where they most certainly do not, and why a debate which begins with railways quickly develops into a much bigger argument about how Britain should move. Parts two and three are published on Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 September. Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

  4. 1 Sept

    The highways carbon revolution? Turning lower emissions into new revenue

    What if choosing a lower-carbon way of maintaining a road didn't simply reduce emissions, but actually created a financial asset which could help pay for the next job? That's the potentially transformative idea explored in this week's Highways Voices, as Adrian Tatum talks to Gary Cook, founder of Asphalt IQ and Carbon Vault IQ, about technology designed to turn measurable carbon savings on highways projects into traceable carbon credits. Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode. Mr Cook explains how data captured directly from worksites can establish the carbon impact of what actually happened, rather than relying on generic averages – and why he believes that could change the economics of sustainable highways maintenance. The conversation begins with the challenge facing authorities and contractors trying to establish accurate carbon figures across complicated supply chains. Mr Cook says scope three emissions can represent up to 95% of emissions on a typical road reconstruction site, yet collecting reliable information covering materials, suppliers and transport remains difficult. Asphalt IQ's answer is to put digital data collection into the hands of the site supervisor, capturing information in real time and supporting PAS 2080 reporting. But it is what happens next that makes this discussion particularly interesting. Carbon Vault IQ compares the carbon generated by the chosen treatment with a "business as usual" alternative, with the saving potentially becoming a carbon credit. Mr Cook argues this could introduce an entirely new finance stream into highways – one which could help contractors invest in equipment and give authorities more money to spend on preventative maintenance and lower-carbon treatments. The podcast also tackles the obvious question: how can anyone be confident those credits are genuine? Mr Cook explains the proposed independent methodology approval and third-party auditing process, alongside the use of real-time site data to provide evidence of exactly which materials, plants and transport movements were involved. He also discusses "dynamic issuance", under which some credits could be released over time to demonstrate that the expected longer-term benefit of an intervention has actually been delivered. Perhaps the biggest prize could be pavement preservation. Mr Cook argues that additional revenue generated through carbon savings could help make treatments such as surface dressing more attractive, allowing contractors to scale their operations and helping the industry move away from an expensive cycle of reactive pothole repairs. It could even help bridge the cost difference which currently prevents some lower-carbon materials and treatments being selected. As Mr Cook puts it, the ambition is to turn carbon from a "reporting burden" into a "measurable and monetisable asset". If the model works as envisaged, doing the greener thing might no longer simply be an environmental decision – it could make financial sense too. Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

  5. 25 Aug

    Why standards matter: Revisiting the TOPAS debate

    The announcement that Traffic Open Products and Specifications Ltd (TOPAS) is to close because its current funding arrangements are no longer sustainable puts a new perspective on a Highways Voices discussion first broadcast in February. TOPAS was established as an independent, not-for-profit organisation following the removal of DfT Type Approval, maintaining specifications and registering products used across the UK’s traffic control sector. Its Management Board has now agreed to close the organisation, although it is expected to continue operating until the second quarter of 2028 to enable existing product developments and registration applications to be completed. Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode. Against that background, we are republishing our conversation with TOPAS’s Kealie Franklin, Martin Andrews, Services Director at Yunex Traffic, Rob Harding, Engineering Manager for Telent’s traffic business, and SWARCO’s Head of Product and Solutions, Derek McLean. The podcast, itself prompted by an opinion piece about standards, provides useful context to the discussions the industry will now have about the future. The guests explain the role specifications play in ensuring equipment from different suppliers can work together, supporting interoperability, protecting investment and giving highway authorities confidence in the technology they procure. They also look ahead to an increasingly connected road network, discussing why common standards become particularly important as connected vehicles, new detection technologies and automated systems develop, while considering procurement, compatibility and the long-term maintenance of equipment. TOPAS says it is continuing to work with the Department for Transport, which has undertaken to explore options for the continuation of standards, including those currently being developed or reviewed. That makes this 30-minute conversation especially timely. Of course, it does not address the closure decision itself, but it does explain the wider role TOPAS and its standards have played and sets out many of the issues the sector will now need to consider as discussions about future arrangements continue. Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

  6. 18 Aug

    Jo Shiner on the road safety crisis and how to fix it

    Why aren’t we more outraged that 1,700 people still die on UK roads each year? Today on Highways Voices we talk road safety because, despite having some of the safest roads globally, road deaths in the UK have plateaued, and efforts to reduce them, through enforcement, awareness, and education, aren’t achieving meaningful impact. Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode. Sussex Police Chief Constable Jo Shiner, who’s head of Britain’s roads policing, is our guest and gives us a real insight into her thoughts on keeping our roads safe, and indeed making them safer. She explains why a National Road Safety Board and collision investigation system could revolutionise how we tackle fatalities, gives her views on how emerging enforcement technologies like AI-powered cameras and in-vehicle sensors could eliminate risky behaviour before it becomes fatal, and discusses the cultural and legislative shifts needed to elevate road safety from afterthought to national priority. If you’re worried about road safety, this is a must listen episode for you! Highways Voices is brought to you with our partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ADEPT and ITS UK.

  7. 11 Aug

    Peter Hitchens questions transport orthodoxy as countdown begins to September debate with Rory Sutherland

    Highways Voices continues its summer series of archive editions this week with a conversation that remains as thought-provoking today as when it was first recorded five years ago. Journalist, author and Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens joins the podcast to challenge conventional thinking on transport policy, from electric scooters and electric vehicles to the UK's long-term reliance on the private car. Originally recorded in 2021 as e-scooter trials were being introduced across Britain, the interview explores far more than the merits of the vehicles themselves. Mr Hitchens argues that transport policy has become too focused on road travel and questions whether technologies promoted as environmentally friendly always deliver the benefits claimed for them. He also discusses the future of public transport, walking and cycling, while setting out his vision for a transport system built around railways and trams rather than private cars. Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode. Throughout the discussion, Mr Hitchens questions the environmental credentials of battery-powered mobility, raises concerns about safety and enforcement surrounding e-scooters, and argues that policymakers should fundamentally rethink Britain's transport priorities. The interview offers a perspective that continues to resonate as many of the same issues remain at the centre of transport policy in 2026. The episode follows last week's archive edition featuring advertising executive and behavioural scientist Rory Sutherland's keynote speech at the JCT Traffic Signals Symposium. Together, the two programmes provide a fascinating insight into how two of Britain's best-known commentators approach transport from very different angles – one through the lens of behavioural science, the other through politics, history and public policy. They're also the perfect introduction to a special Highways Voices series coming in September, when both Peter Hitchens and Rory Sutherland return to debate many of the biggest questions facing transport today, offering contrasting perspectives on mobility, behaviour, public policy and how Britain should tackle the challenges of moving people and goods in the decades ahead. Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

  8. 4 Aug

    Could psychology solve transport problems that engineering can't? Rory Sutherland asks the provocative questions

    As Highways Voices continues its summer series of archive editions, this week's podcast revisits one of the most entertaining and thought-provoking presentations ever delivered at the JCT Traffic Signals Symposium. Advertising executive, behavioural scientist and author Rory Sutherland challenges transport professionals to stop thinking purely like engineers and economists and instead consider how psychology shapes the way people use, and react to, our transport networks. In an extract from his 2023 keynote, Rory Sutherland argues that many of the industry's biggest challenges are not technical problems at all, but behavioural ones. Drawing on examples ranging from road pricing and smart motorways to electric vehicles, queueing, rail travel and even airport security, he explains why the way an idea is presented can be just as important as the idea itself. Whether discussing "range anxiety" versus "infrastructure anxiety", or why people hate uncertainty more than waiting, he makes the case that understanding human behaviour could unlock improvements worth billions of pounds. Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode. The talk is packed with memorable examples, including why Uber's moving map transformed the taxi experience without making cars arrive any faster, how an app could improve rail capacity before new infrastructure is built, and why smart motorways suffer because motorists notice the problems but never see the traffic jams that have been prevented. Throughout, he argues that transport innovation should bring together psychologists, marketers, engineers and economists from the very start, rather than treating behavioural science as an afterthought. It's a keynote that's as entertaining as it is challenging, with Rory Sutherland's trademark wit prompting you to question many of the assumptions that underpin transport policy and investment. Whether you agree with every conclusion or not, it's a fascinating reminder that changing behaviour can sometimes be more powerful than changing infrastructure. The full keynote is available here, while this week's podcast features a specially edited selection of the highlights. It also marks the first part of a special double-header featuring two of Britain's best-known public thinkers. Next week, Highways Voices revisits an archive interview with journalist and author Peter Hitchens, ahead of a brand-new series of conversations launching in September, when Hitchens and Sutherland will each return to the podcast to debate with each other. Together, they'll explore transport, public policy, behaviour and society from two very different perspectives – making this summer's archive episodes the perfect introduction to what's coming next. Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

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The Highways Voices podcast is a must-listen for professionals in the Highways and Transport Technology industries covering construction, maintenance, Intelligent Transport Systems and Public Transportation. Presented by leading journalists Paul Hutton and Adrian Tatum, you’ll hear industry leaders sharing insights you won’t hear anywhere else, giving you a taste of the latest thinking about the sector's new techniques and technologies, collaborations and innovations. All in the time it takes for an average daily commute (or dog walk!). We bring you keynote-speaker quality guests into your phone or laptop, ensuring every time you listen you’ll learn something new you can use in your day-to-day job. Plus, you'll catch up with the top stories from the daily newsletters sent by Highways-News.com and hear the latest from our podcast partners LCRIG, the TTF, ADEPT and ITS UK.

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