After four and a half interesting years, this will be my last issue as editor of ITS International. Over that time, I have had the privilege to meet and interview some of the ITS sector’s big names, attend most of the industry’s major events and, I hope, pass on some of that information to you, the readers. What has become clear is that the era of public austerity has created in many local and regional authorities, a fear of being accused of ‘wasting taxpayers’ money’. This is preventing them from visiting