More than 10,000 public transport professionals gathered in Hamburg last week for the UITP Summit – an event which is set to become annual

 
UITP president Renée Amilcar in Hamburg last week

 
“Public transport is not just a mobility solution in our cities – it’s a climate solution.” That was the message from Renée Amilcar, the president of UITP – the international union of public transport – as she prepared to open last week’s enormous UITP Summit in Hamburg.

Amilcar, who is general manager of OC Transpo in Ottawa, Canada, but will soon return to her native Quebec to oversee major rail projects, has been unanimously elected to serve a second two-year term – the first time ever for a UITP president.

“With my renewed mandate, I will continue to advocate for public transport as a cornerstone of national climate strategies,” she said. “UITP is growing its work with international bodies such as the UNFCCC, and through platforms like COP, we’re urging governments to embed stronger public transport targets.”

Amilcar’s passion for public transport is clear to see. “When I was a kid I used to rely on transit,” she told Passenger Transport, describing her UITP role as “a pure joy”.

As the first female president of the Brussels-based organisation, Amilcar has placed an emphasis on diversity and inclusion in the sector – arguing that it results in better decision-making.

“I’m not shy to introduce quotas if required – let’s be bold on DEI and let’s embed it on our journey,” she said. “You cannot aspire to be what you cannot see.”

The UITP Summit is a truly global event, with over 10,000 attendees from 110 countries coming to talk all things public transport. There were 340 speakers at over 70 sessions and more than 400 exhibitors spread out over 30,000 square metres!

The first ever UITP Summit, originally under a different name, was held in 1886 – and British transport chiefs were at the forefront. Today the UK is usually under-represented at this global gathering – with the exception of Transport for London, which contributed five speakers.

One of those TfL speakers was Philip Gerhardt, head of bus performance, who spoke alongside Alan Farrelly, chief commercial officer and co-founder of Galway-based CitySwift, about their partnership working to optimise the capital’s bus network.

I will continue to advocate for public transport as a cornerstone of national climate strategies

Another UK speaker was rail minister Lord Hendy, a former UITP president. He spoke about how technology, governance and customer needs are reshaping the rail sector. Also spotted in Hamburg were Laura Shoaf, chair of Shadow Great British Railway, and Jason Prince, director of the Urban Transport Group.

Perhaps the UK involvement at UITP will scale up now that other UK cities, under the political direction of elected mayors, are taking control of their transport systems in a way that is familiar to much of the world. The Urban Transport Group has recently joined UITP – so watch this space.

The exhibition was spread across four different halls and its interesting to see how the emphasis is increasing on technology companies and not bus manufacturers. There were still plenty of vehicles on display, with everyday vehicles on show alongside weird and wonderful innovations like Hyperloop, a proposed high-speed transport system involving pods traveling at airline speeds within a low-pressure tube, and DLR, a driverless, modular transport concept, which can alternate carrying passengers, delivering parcels and collecting rubbish.

Among the buses on display, a growing Chinese influence was evident – along with growing pessimism among European manufacturers about their future prospects. A representative of one major European manufacturer told Passenger Transport: “China has a strategy. Europe does not.”

The growing influence of China and other emerging economies is also influencing the frequency and location of future UITP Summits. The Summit has always taken place every two years but will now occur annually to provide growing markets outside Europe with the opportunity to host the event.

My first UITP Summit, then known as the World Congress, was London in 20o1. Since then they have all been in Europe, apart from 2011 (Dubai) and 2017 (Toronto). From now on, the Summit will alternate between Europe and the rest of the world. Next year it will take place in Dubai before returning to Hamburg in 2027 – and the top three candidate cities for 2028 are Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Vancouver.

 
This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.

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