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Volvo Buses host smart and sustainable transport forum in Sydney

2019-08-19
Volvo Buses was proud to host its inaugural ‘Smart and sustainable transport’ forum in Sydney on August 15, 2019.
'Smart and sustainable transport’ forum

Organised under the patronage of the Swedish Embassy, Business Sweden, Swedish Australian Chamber of Commerce (SACC) and Bus Industry Confederation, the event sought to blend global experience with local insights to address Australian and New Zealand public transport challenges.

With the intention of helping a growing Australia and New Zealand evolve the public transport systems they deserve, the event aimed to address the following domains:

  • What does it mean to have smart and sustainable public transport
  • Factoring an accessible, reliable and responsive multi-modal PT system at the stage of urban planning itself
  • How can we scale up and manage the bus network in a sustainable manner?
  • Evolving optimal strategies to address congestion and pollution
  • How will megatrends like e-mobility, connected services, autonomous vehicles and shared mobility play out in the Australia and New Zealand context?
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The agenda included keynotes addresses from - 

  • The Hon. Gareth James Ward, Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services, New South Wales Government;
  • Leon Daniels, former Managing Director Transport for London, United Kingdom 
  • Niels de Boer, Programme Director, Centre of Excellence for Testing & Research of Autonomous vehicles, Nanyang Technological University Singapore

Moderated by Yale Wong, Doctoral Candidate and Research Analyst, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, a panel discussion was conducted with the aim to share, discuss and debate views, experiences, ideas and possible solutions. Panellists included Leon Daniels together with

  • Graham Currie, Chair of Public Transport Director, Public Transport Research Group, Institute of Transport Studies, Monash University 
  • Kate Mackay, Technical Director of Transport Planning, Mott MacDonald
  • Steffen Faurby, Chief Executive Officer, State Transit Authority of New South Wales
  • Stefan Widlund, Director of City Mobility, Volvo Bus Corporation

“The opportunity to put so many of Australia’s and New Zealand’s public transport professionals together in one place to discuss the issues of today and the future is sure to add clarity to the coach and bus industry going forward,” says Volvo Buses Australia General Manager, Lauren Downs.

“We hope that the knowledge and experience shared by the guest speakers brought global perspectives and different viewpoints to local industry.”

The amount of information provided was thought provoking and challenged many of the long established paradigms. The event was well appreciated by all attendees with a clear view that the journey to smart and sustainable cities is achievable, but requires stakeholders from across the transport industry to join hands to achieve long term solutions.

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