Amey: sustainability ‘crucial’ for future of mobility

Speaking at the launch of the firm’s latest %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external white paper false https://www.amey.co.uk/media/press-releases/2019/november/future-mobility-sustainable-social-value-adding-and-supporting-smes/ false false%> at the London Transport Museum this week, managing director of Amey Investments Asif Ghafoor insisted that “it needs to be part of your core DNA in your business decisions and investment decisions”.

He explained that the paper addresses issues such as having the right people to deliver infrastructure while also developing knowledge and working with partners from other countries.

Mobility – a future that is sustainable, delivers social value, and benefits SMEs and social enterprises covers six challenges including the need to change public policy thinking and identify new financial models to underpin investment in future mobility infrastructure.

Ghafoor also emphasised the importance of developing the right partnerships, which includes working with oil majors, energy producers and small start-up companies.

“As we moved forward, all of this service we are delivering in mobility will produce data,” Ghafoor continued. “We can improve the quality of the service, our investment decision and our own overall mobility service if we use data to help make the decisions.”

In the paper's conclusion, Amey says public policy on mobility needs to be driven and supported by central government, but with local and city authorities having the flexibility to shape their mobility strategies. Meanwhile, revenue models need to benefit private sector investors.

While city and local authorities can provide an improved transport service through data-rich insight around traveller preferences, the paper warns that providing data for free reduces the need for quality. Any data collected from a data hub should be available on a commercial basis only, Amey suggests.

Measuring mobility will allow the public to understand how it is benefiting their society and incentivise them to adopt new ways of travelling. Meanwhile, encouraging the best talent to join the private sector in a post-Brexit world and developing the right skills is crucial to realising a UK that is “truly mobility-focused”, the paper adds.