‘Abolish the DfT,’ says UK Transport Systems Catapult boss

Radical steps to improve travellers’ experience of transport in the UK were proposed at ITS International’s MaaS Market conference in London this week. In the keynote speech on day one of the two-day event, UK Transport Systems Catapult CEO Paul Campion said that the public doesn’t really care about transport – all they really want is to get where they are going. “It’s a necessary evil,” he told delegates. “We travel to come to work, to a conference, to take the kids to school – it’s a distress purcha
March 21, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
Radical steps to improve travellers’ experience of transport in the UK were proposed at ITS International’s 8545 MaaS Market conference in London this week.


In the keynote speech on day one of the two-day event, UK 7800 Transport Systems Catapult CEO Paul Campion said that the public doesn’t really care about transport – all they really want is to get where they are going.

“It’s a necessary evil,” he told delegates. “We travel to come to work, to a conference, to take the kids to school – it’s a distress purchase.”

Musing on the fact that it is 100 years since the forerunner of the UK’s current Department for Transport (DfT) was created, Campion added: “I think we should abolish the DfT – we need a ‘Department for Getting to Work on Time’.” His joking point was that, once you define transport as something that needs a governmental department, then the inevitable development is sub-departments in silos, which are “almost in competition with each other”.

MaaS Market London continues today, with speakers including Michael Hurwitz, head of transport innovation at Transport for London, and Crissy Ditmore, director of strategy at Cubic Transportation Systems.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • The search for travel management's Holy Grail
    October 10, 2018
    Combining accurate network estimates and forecasts with real-time information is the way to deal with traffic hot spots. Alan Dron looks at products which aim to achieve just that. Traffic management authorities have for years been trying to get ahead of the game. Instead of reacting to situations, they want to be able to head them off as they occur – or even before they happen. Finding that Holy Grail of successfully anticipating problems will save time, tension and tempers on city streets. Two new system
    Read More
  • Siemens’ acquisitions allow ‘door-to-door mobility’
    June 7, 2018
    Siemens says its recent acquisitions will provide travellers with a complete set of tools to improve mobility. “It’s about re-imagining the way people travel, not just from A to B but from A to Z,” Marcus Welz, president and CEO of Siemens Intelligent Transportation Systems, told Daily News. “We are using technology as an enabler to get on top of the various challenges people face: individual transport, public transport, the first and last mile – and everything in between.” Siemens has added three software
    Read More
  • Two weeks left to purchase early bird tickets for MaaS Market, London
    January 4, 2018
    Delegates have until 19 January to take advantage of the discounted £325 ($240) Early Bird tickets for ITS International‘s second MaaS Market – Concept to Delivery conference in London on 20 and 21 February. This year’s event will focus on the progress and obstacles faced by MaaS projects across Europe and will consist of presentations from Portugal, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Hamburg plus Birmingham, Manchester and Dundee from the UK. The programme will cover the political and regulatory implications,
    Read More
  • Rochester solves $8.5m transit question
    October 22, 2018
    RTS in Rochester, New York, saves by working with Conduent to upgrade its CAD/AVL systems rather than ripping them up and replacing them. Andrew Bardin Williams hops on for a ride. What to do, what to do?” It’s a question every transportation official must ask when faced with legacy assets, equipment and software that are nearing the end of their useful life. Nothing lasts forever, right? Freeways need to be repaired, bridges replaced, traffic management software updated and railway cars turned into
    Read More

Highlighted Content