On Thursday 16th May, CIHT North East & Cumbria held its second Future Transport Conference at the Hilton Newcastle Gateshead. The theme of this conference was "Planning for Future Developments" which was covered in three sessions centered around "Planning", "Securing" and "Designing".

In her welcome address, Joanne Roberts, Chair of the CIHT North East & Cumbria committee, made particular mention of the CIHT North East & Cumbria Awards which opened on the same day as the conference. She highlighted the honorary naming of the Emerging Professional and Apprentice Awards after Roger Elphick and John Jeffrey, two stalwart supporters of CIHT and the industry in the region who recently passed away. If you are interested or would like to know more, please check out the CIHT North East & Cumbria Awards page.

Next, CIHT Past President, Neil Johnstone, enlightened us about the recently published CIHT manifesto which is clearly delivering on CIHT's core objective of influencing the future. He reminded us that all of CIHT's work is primarily motivated by delivering benefit to the general public and that we are fighting our corner to ensure that the government prioritises transport. The CIHT Manifesto "A transport network fit for all our futures" states 6 key priorities for an effective transportation network:  

• stimulating the UK economy
• increasing employment opportunities
• improving air quality and deliver on net zero
• improving the health of society
• making transport more accessible for all
• fixing the UK’s pothole crisis and strengthening other infrastructure. 

To find out more, you can access the CIHT Manifesto here.

Jumping straight into things, Andrew Dorrian, representing both the newly formed North East Combined Authority and RTPI, shared some updates on what RTPI is working on relating to challenges face by local authorities in integrating land-use local plans and transport plans. He also talked about NECA's new mayor, Kim McGuiness' manifesto for transport, the North East Transport plan and her commitment for a publicly owned, safe, reliable and affordable public transport network. Andrew was followed by Stelios Rodoulis, Head of the Bus Centre of Excellence, who gave an overview of what BCoE can offer to public transport and the professionals working within it. Next Professor Phil Blythe from Newcastle University and the DARe Hub told us about the amazing projects happening in the North East in trialing autonomous vehicles, remote driving and various other projects spearheaded by the Future Mobility Group at Newcastle University in bringing Future Transport to the North East. 

After a brief comfort break, there was a fascinating presentation by a spokesperson from the NPSA on protecting the physical & digitally engineered world, in which the audience was taught consider security more deeply, in terms of design, personnel and access before breaking for lunch and networking. Exhibitors at the event included WSP, Arup, Waterman Aspen, Dromos, RTPI, DARe Hub, Street Systems, Milestone Transport Planning & Smart Europe.  

In the last session, Newcastle City Council's Principal Engineer, Alastair Swan presented on the restoration of the iconic Tyne Bridge, on which works have started only just last month a stone's throw from the conference venue. Alastair handed over to Alan Weston, Head of Transport at Tees Valley Combined Authority, on their investment programme in rail infrastructure in the region providing additional capacity and improving several stations. Last but not least, we heard from Rachel Cornfoot on Arup's Cities Alive report on Designing Cities that Work for Women. 

If you want to find out more or get involved with CIHT North East & Cumbria, please contact northeastandcumbria@ciht.org.uk.  

Photos by Gavin Forster Photography