Join PTRC on Thursday 23 April 2020 for an online panel session where leaders in the profession will talk about the future of Transport Planning.

COVID-19 is an unprecedented shock to the global system. It is first and foremost a public health emergency. It is also a shock that has temporarily eclipsed the ongoing climate crisis. It has brought rapid change to a substantial part of the world’s population and already sent shock waves through businesses, public services and livelihoods.

The 2008 Financial Crisis pales by comparison in terms of potential economic consequences. In the short-term, digital connectivity has been thrust forward as physical mobility has retreated. In the transport sector we face short- and long-term threats and opportunities that need to be planned for.

But what are the pertinent issues we should be considering both in terms of planning itself and also the outcomes we seek or wish to avoid?

This 90-minute panel debate is an opportunity to contribute to examining the reality that now confronts us. Views are rapidly evolving and conclusive answers are elusive but we need to begin such difficult conversations. Collaboration will be our ally in the times ahead.

The panel will be chaired by Glenn Lyons (Mott MacDonald Professor of Future Mobility at UWE Bristol). Glenn has specialised in vision-led planning for an uncertain world and most recently tackled the ‘wicked problem’ of driverless cars. “Any doubts prior to 2020 that forecast-led planning was insufficient for the deep uncertainty we face must surely now be diminished – we need to rethink how we shape the future and to do so with urgency” he says.