In the spotlight

Fans of Rupert Clubb will be delighted to learn that he will, after all, be taking the stage at the Highways UK conference in Birmingham next week, in a session enticingly titled "The road ahead – the rise of  the Sub-national Transport Body". Rupert finds time to be Chief Officer of Transport for The South East, as well as the day job as Director of Communities, Economy and Transport for East Sussex County Council.

Here's the set up for the session, with my annotations:  Transport for the North, Midlands Connect, Transport for the South East and England’s Economic Heartland are each developing long-term strategies that are underpinned by a dedication to improving quality of life across England [and backing, for example, big new roads which have clear red warning signals on environmental impact and bio-diversity]. As economic regions, we share a collaborative, evidence-based approach to transport investment, bringing together an unprecedented coalition led by local authorities and business leaders. [Note: no mention of communities, residents, etc] We complement the work of local and national transport authorities, providing the leadership that enables strategic infrastructure requirements to be developed and delivered faster. Our partnerships achieve much more by working together than would ever be possible in isolation.

The session is part of a Big Thinking series, in the Jacobs Theatre. Jacobs is a global engineering and construction firm headquartered in Dallas, with several current contracts with Hughways England and the Ministry of Defence. The panel is sponsored by CUBIC, a global technology and engineering company headquartered in San Diego, with quite a bundle of defence contracts, and rights to the Oyster Card technology around the world.