Highways Voices Paul Hutton

"Don't try and talk to the politicians - the truth is actually having good relations with... politicians will have very little impact on the actual decisions government takes," explains former Transport Secretary Chris Grayling on this week's Highways Voices.
He joined an ITS UK meeting last week and was interviewed by Highways Voices host Paul Hutton, who recorded the chat for you to feature on this week's podcast.
Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!
Mr Grayling was asked how to influence policy, and pointed out what ministers don't do: "Ministers have no involvement in procurement, they have little involvement in decisions about technology," he said. "A recommendation come from a civil servant to say we've evaluated these three things - we need this change the regulations in order to make that happen, do you agree? But that will come from the civil service, I will come from expert panels set up to look at individual issues. It may come from local authority pressure, it may come from outside bodies, like the RAC and the AA. Actually, the last people you want to be focusing all your time and effort on is politicians, because government doesn't work like that."
In the conversation, Mr Grayling discusses his past before parliament, his experience in the role and key issues around smart motorways and road safety and public opinion, plus the "elephant in the room" - Road User Charging. He also explained how, when you're Secretary of State, you can expect to be blamed for things that are not your fault.
"I don't think we're going to wake up one morning and have a government white paper saying we're going to introduce a pay per mile on every stretch of road in the UK," he said. "What I do think is we're going to see more... paid for miles for lorries on motorways, for example, it may mean pay per mile in and around urban areas. I think that the Treasury is going to have a deep desire to introduce road user charging in order to offset the loss of revenue from electric vehicles, but I'm not convinced it's going to get its way anytime soon."
You'll also hear the latest from our pages on Highways News, plus reaction to the Transport Technology Forum's conference, the latest from Live Labs 2, ITS UK's briefing for newly-elected politicians, and a new invention to be shown off at this year's LCRIG Innovation and Learning Festival.

"A lot of our time is firefighting, fixing day to day problems, maybe some signal timings, but it's hard to look into the future when we don't have time," admits City of York Council's Sean Bulmer in a panel discussion at the SWARCO User Group meeting in Coventry, featured on this week's Highways Voices.
Mr Bulmer was joined by Emily Madsen from Staffordshire County Council who admits she struggles for time in her day job so "coming to events like this helps me think about the future".
Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!
The local authority representatives were joined by CEO of the Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG), Paula Claytonsmith and SWARCO's MD in UK and Ireland, John Pickworth. They discussed Innovation and planning for the future, strategies for more efficient transport around technology and localised approaches.
The need for incremental progress and the role of private sector involvement were also discussed to help, for example, the ability for an authority to make the most out of the data it has. "It's how you use that data, how you present that data," Mr Pickworth explains. "Is it presented in a way that enables decisions to be made?"
Ms Claytonsmith added that support for authorities is vital. "I spoke to [one] who says they've literally got 20 or 30 different systems, each holding different sets of data, not communicating. And I think now that we're in a much more complex environment, the fact that we don't have as many people in our teams... So actually having an integrated system that allows you to make complex decisions drawing in different data becomes ever more important."
You'll hear more on this fascinating discussion, recorded in a rather echoey hotel conference room, which also covers infrastructure obsolescence and funding priorities as well as risk taking, innovation, challenges and priorities.

Despite bringing you daily podcasts last week thanks to our sponsors SWARCO and AGD Systems, we still couldn’t fit in everything we gathered, so in this bonus podcast we talk about road safety, companies coming together and artificial intelligence.
Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!
The Australian company Acusensus has proved it’s not just speed that can be enforced by technology on our roads thanks to its technology to spot people using their hand-held phones whilst driving, and those who aren’t wearing a seatbelt. We catch up with founder and Managing Director Alexander Jannink, before talking to smartmicro CEO Ralph Mende about the company's new products and its acquisition of a British company.
A new name to us since the last Intertraffic is Umovity, a partnering of American signals technology company Econolite, and the well known PTV Group. VP, Engineering, Sunny Chakravarty explains how, by better combining hardware, software and now transport modelling, intersections can become safer and more efficient.
Many, many companies talked AI across Intertraffic, so McKinsey’s expert in the subject, Alberto Chiulli, cuts through the hype before we close the programme with the CEO of Yunex Traffic, John Newhard, who hosted a panel session at Intertraffic Amsterdam 2024 looking at AI, the Cloud and Mobility, and how new technologies and computing could affect our industry. He reflects on what was discussed.

The last of this week’s Highways Voices podcasts from Intertraffic Amsterdam 2024 explores more of the cutting-edge technology and leading opinion, thanks to the sponsorship of  SWARCO and AGD Systems.
In today’s programme we hear about the Australian invention Multipatcher, a safe one-person operated way to fix our roads, which has been making a difference Down Under for decades and is now on streets in the UK. 
Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!
We meet two leading executives from enforcement company Jenoptik about how technology is making our roads safer, while the importance of safety and adherence to speed limits is underlined by the European Cyclists’ Federation.
We also catch up on driverless technology from Germany, with the latest from pioneers MOIA, while we talk start-ups with Kevin Borras as he looks forward to Friday at Intertraffic.
Whether you’re at Intertraffic or not, we give you a valuable flavour of the event – timed for you to listen to while you’re getting strolling through the Amsterdam showers to the RAI, or getting ready for a Friday working from home.

As we enter the second half of Intertraffic Amsterdam 2024, we’re back with more fascinating conversation about the transport and mobility industries from Amsterdam, thanks to the sponsorship of  SWARCO and AGD Systems.
In today’s programme we hear about an important collaboration between former competitors SWARCO and Dutch data experts Monotch, who have announced a new initiative to expand Cooperative, Connected, and Automated Mobility services to large-scale deployment.
Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!
We speak to a leading expert in autonomous vehicles from the University of San Francisco as we discuss the take-up of the technology, and where it’s really getting traction.
It’s party time on the Clearview Intelligence stand as they celebrate 50 years as a business, and AGD Systems explain important traffic management solutions they’re delivering with partners in Canada.
Kevin Borras also joins us with a pick of some of the must-attend sessions in the summit theatre.
Whether you’re at Intertraffic or not, we give you a valuable flavour of the event – timed for you to listen to while you’re getting ready in your Amsterdam hotel room, or, if you’re not at the event, on the commute to your office.

On the second of our Highways Voices podcasts from Intertraffic Amsterdam, we’ll hear from the winners of the Intertraffic Awards, with Valerann, Intelligent Instruments and Sealed Air telling us about their winning solutions.
AGD Systems explain the relative values of video analytics and radar to monitor transport, while we chat to the CEO of their fellow sponsors SWARCO about how people are key to everything the company does and achieves.
Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!
We hear from one of the world’s leading experts in driverless technology explaining data-driven solutions for driverless vehicles, while Highways News’s new reporter, the vastly experienced Kevin Borras, looks at some of the key issues being discussed in the summit programme. 
Whether you’re at Intertraffic or not, we give you a valuable flavour of the event – have a listen while on the tram or Metro to the RAI, or while walking the dog at home!