The UITP Global Public Transport Summit was held in Montreal, Quebec and Laurent Lessard, Minister of Transport, Sustainability Mobility and Transport Electrification, Minister Responsible for the Centre-du-Quebec Region, Canada, said there is an important shift in mobility coming because the next generation is demanding it.
More than 2,500 attendees from more than 80 countries listened to speakers during the welcome address speak of the importance of digitalization, collaboration, adaption and electrification.
UITP President Masaki Ogata, and vice chairman, East Japan Railway Company said we must reinvent the industry with customer-centered technology and that we have to adapt, and collaborate with new services, particularly when it comes to the first-last-mile challenge. He said, “This is a once in a century change.”
While it’s a critical time for a transition, the theme of the summit, it’s not without challenges. The city of Montreal which was seeing flooding as a direct result of climate change, is reducing its emissions by 80 percent by 2050, said Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre.
“Greenhouse gases are 35 percent of the problem,” he said. “We need to assure the well-being of our planet … We need to send the message that there is no Plan B for the planet.”
To achieve dramatic changes, he said we can’t define the world by its borders anymore; we can’t define the world by countries or cities, we have to make a difference together. And we all need to invest in multiple modes, not just building highways. As he talked politics, he added, “We’re not building walls, we’re building bridges.”
Keynote Robert Puentes, president and CEO, Eno Center for Transportation, said with the profound political changes, role of government in transportation funding, we will have to lead in ways we haven’t. “We’re thinking about transition in the wrong way.”
Ridership is declining across the United States, even while population grew. While a drop in oil prices played a big role in that, the transportation network companies are a big factor, as well. “If additional options are increasing mobility and access, does it matter if ridership is down?” he questioned.
Transit is an economic lifeline and needs to be considered as such. Puentes spoke of collaboration being critical – with city mayors, with the private sector and with peers. “Transit needs to play better with others,” he said. That includes working better with TNCs, sharing data to maximize benefits. He also stressed working with mayors to help in achieving city goals.
UITP Secretary General AlainFlausch said, “The future is bright if we get moving.
“If you run buses and trains without thinking about what the future holds, you’d be a damn idiot.”
