In this episode of CIHT’s podcast “Transport Talks” we talked to CIHT Technical Champion and Principal Consultant at AECOM, Federico Perrotta, about the challenges and opportunities the transport sector is currently facing to adapt to climate change.

The effects of climate change and extreme weather events on transport infrastructure and its performance are undeniable. Federico Perrotta observes in his daily job the challenges to mobility and the increasing demand from customers to ensure transport services run smoothly at all times. 

In this podcast, we explored the critical steps that the sector will have to take in the next years to better understand the long term impacts of climate change and how the profession can build the right skills to adapt to new challenges.

We also talked about opportunities that transport professionals have to use data and new technologies to analyse the performance of assets and identify where the space for improvement is

Federico Perrotta, CIHT Technical Champion and Principal Consultant at AECOM

CIHT’s podcast series is now available on (and on other podcast platforms - just search your favorite podcast provider and we should be there):

Quotes from the podcast 

...the impacts of extreme weather events on transport are the main concerns at the moment…cooperation between all parties involved is the main solution that will help us adapt to change and find a solution

As engineers we need to be able to have the correct data to identify the root causes of the effects (of changing weather)...the keenness in designing and building amazing infrastructure in the past, perhaps with little thinking of the consequences of that construction on future use, on maintainability…nowadays trying to understand what the performance of assets is and take advantage of all the data available could help us understand vulnerabilities and estimate the areas of risks and priorities

It is difficult that we are going to build a lot of infrastructure in the future, maintaining the current infrastructure is key. However, there are a lot of challenges that road authorities, engineers, communities struggle to solve… we have a lot of information that streams to us through a lot of sources…if we can take advantage of that information…to understand the challenges that costumers face, that will give us a really powerful insight

CIHT upcoming Masterclass on The Power of Data for Social Inclusion 

If you are interested in how the sector can use data to improve transportation for the most vulnerable members of society, do not miss the opportunity to join the upcoming CIHT Masterclass- The Power of Data for Social Inclusion. 

The masterclass will build on the work CIHT has done in 2023 on “ The role of data and artificial intelligence in achieving transport decarbonisation” and will explore:

• The importance of collecting diverse and representative datasets to ensure that the experiences of all user groups, especially vulnerable populations,
• The tools available to transport professionals to gain deeper insights into the specific needs and challenges faced by users
• How you to collect and analyse data whilst communicating your findings to relevant stakeholders

To not miss the opportunity to take part in our live Q&A session where you can ask our guest speakers your questions, make sure to get a ticket to secure a place! 

Help and support 

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For any technical enquiries please contact technical@ciht.org.uk