Our Event Chair

As in 2023, we have a Guest Chair of this year’s event. Glenn Lyons is the current President of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation and is the Mott MacDonald Professor of Future Mobility at the University of the West of England.

Glenn was also formerly the Professor of Transport and Society at UWE and was the founder of the Centre for Transport & Society. Glenn was appointed by CIHT in 2015 to undertake the CIHT FUTURES study, and his report and further work following the study has informed transport policy around the world. He has been heavily involved in the development of the Decide & Provide approach to undertaking Transport Assessments, and is also a long-standing advocate of TRICS, so we are very pleased to welcome Glenn as our Chair. He will be opening the event with his own address.

This Year’s Presentations

As with previous years, we have put together a line-up of presentations for the 2024 event that cover a variety of topics associated with TRICS.

These presentations are being given in three sessions. The first of these is called Knowledge & Practice. From feedback we received from the 2023 event, it was clear that attendees were keen on understanding more about the system and its proper use. Therefore, the two presentations in this opening session will cover this important area. The first presentation will be given by Owen Edwards, TRICS Project Manager, who will talk about building your TRICS knowledge base. He will present ways in which users can expand their knowledge of TRICS and will provide some handy tips on making the most of the system. This will be followed by Harry Cook, also a member of the TRICS team, who will present a talk on the fundamentals of TRICS good practice. The TRICS Good Practice Guide is a long-standing and highly important document that provides a range of guidance on the best and most appropriate use of TRICS, both for those producing Transport Assessments and those tasked with auditing them. Harry will explain some essential key elements of this annually updated guidance, which is essential reading for all TRICS users.

After the mid-morning coffee break, the second session of the day is Transformation & Technology. This session looks at innovation and new approaches and starts off with Lynn Basford of Basford Powers giving a presentation on how Decide & Provide works with TRICS. Decide & Provide is the new approach to undertaking Transport Assessments and has been covered at the two previous events. In 2022 there was a session introducing this new approach, and in 2023 this was taken further as examples of its application within local authorities were provided. Both previous sessions on this subject proved to be very popular with attendees, so in 2024 we are bringing the topic back and moving it forward with a talk on how TRICS can be used by practitioners in the most innovative way to help deliver Transport Assessments using the Decide & Provide approach. Lynn will also briefly cover the background of Decide & Provide for those wanting to know more about its fundamental principles, making this presentation suitable to both those who may be familiar with Decide & Provide and those who may not yet be. This will be followed by James Griffith of SchemeFlow, who will give a presentation on Artificial Intelligence in Transport Planning. The use of AI in all fields has been rapidly increasing, and, as we move deeper into the AI era, we will hear about how Transport Planning and TRICS could benefit from this ever developing and evolving technology. This should be an eye-opening presentation of great value to all in attendance.

There will then be a buffet lunch and the opportunity to meet with other members of the TRICS Community from across the UK and Ireland, before the third session commences, which is called Guidance & Research. The first talk of this session will be given by two representatives of Transport for London, Joely Hill and Giovanni Di Guardo, who will present TfL’s revised Transport Assessment Guidance. This presentation will also include TfL’s new Travel Planning Guidance, and how TfL and TRICS are working together to deliver multi-modal surveys across London, in a new arrangement that was formalised in 2023. This will be followed by Ian Coles, TRICS Managing Director, who will give a presentation on two highly anticipated TRICS research projects that have been taking place in 2024. The first of these is a study of servicing and deliveries at residential apartment developments in London, and the second is a study of construction traffic at TRICS SAM surveys undertaken between 2021 and 2023.

Following the three sessions of presentations there will be the option to attend either a full and interactive TRICS system demonstration in the breakout room, to be given by Harry Summerfield of TRICS, or to attend the TRICS Open Forum in the main auditorium, hosted by the Chair, Ian Coles, and a member of the TRICS Board. The system demonstration covers all the main TRICS features and is ideal for new users of the system or as a “refresher” for those who may not have used TRICS for a while. The Open Forum is a fluid discussion covering a variety of TRICS topics, including future system development, potential research initiatives, and any other TRICS-related Transport Planning issues, with plenty of time for contributions and questions from the floor.

The Venue

This year’s event is being held at One Birdcage Walk, which is a unique and versatile venue in the heart of Westminster in Central London.

An elegant building overlooking St James’ Park, One Birdcage Walk was officially opened in 1899 to be the headquarters of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. It is just minutes from the Houses of Parliament and is conveniently situated between Westminster and St James’ Park Underground stations, as well as being just a short walk from Victoria, Charing Cross and Waterloo mainline stations. It is an ideal venue for our event.

Our Sponsors

We are pleased to welcome our sponsors for this year’s event, who are the following organisations:

SchemeFlow

SchemeFlow is a technology startup which uses artificial intelligence to automate data collection, analysis and report drafting for transport planning reports. We have started with Transport Statements and Transport Assessments and are now developing a range of other reports for transport planners (Travel Plans, Pre-App Technical Notes, Construction Traffic Management Plans, Outline Business Cases etc.). We sell our software as a monthly or annual subscription to transport planning firms in the UK, to allow them to focus as experts on their most important work: creative problem solving and advising their clients.

www.schemeflow.com

Alpha Parking

Alpha Parking offers a wide range of expertise in parking, this includes:

• Surveys and mystery shopping; our Survey Team are experienced in delivering all types of surveys and carrying out Mystery Shopping exercises on parking operations.
• TRICS commissioned surveys; one of the major providers of travel plan related data in the UK. We are pleased to be authorised as one of their survey and data collection suppliers for over 8 years.
• Parking training: we deliver a wide range of training options for Private and Public operations. Our experienced trainers cover a range of topics suitable for all parking job roles. We are the City and Guilds partners and the largest independent supplier in the UK.
• Parking procurement of all types and sizes; often we will analyse the requirements and draft specifications, if required we can assist in assessment of tenders and implementations.
• Car park reviews: we will assess the car park and provide recommendations to meet strategic objectives.

www.aparking.co.uk/

MHTC

MHTC Ltd is a specialist traffic and transport data collection company. Through the years we have developed trusted working relationships with clients and a loyal following from our surveyors. We were the first external contractor to provide data to TRICS in 2000 - and we have been working with them ever since. By the end of 2023, we had provided over 1,700 surveys. For more information about our company, our services and our people, please visit our website. www.mhtc.co.uk

Kestrel Surveys

Kestrel Surveys are a UK leader in using drone technology to obtain traffic data. As well as being a market leader in drone surveys, Kestrel Surveys are highly experienced in delivering all forms of traffic surveys, from a variety of classified counts to speed surveys to ATC’s and cycle and pedestrian surveys. Stacey Dix, the founder of Kestrel Surveys, has over 12 years’ experience with traffic data collection, and is a CAA approved drone pilot.

Contact: Stacey Dix
Tel: 020 8058 8483
Email: stacey@kestrelsurveys.co.uk
Web: www.kestrelsurveys.co.uk

Paul Castle Associates

At Paul Castle Associates, we specialise in traffic data collection and have over 40 years of experience in delivering high-quality, accurate and transparent information for all our clients, across the whole of the UK.

Our traffic surveys are available in various formats, from F2F Interviews, Manual Surveys to Video and drones. Our aerial drones use the latest technology for conducting traffic surveys, and the results are always provided in an easy-to-read format. With tethering options, our drones can be used for more extensive surveys as they can be airborne for long periods of time.

Our team consists of highly trained data collection analysts, so using Paul Castle for all your data collection means you are guaranteed the highest level of commitment, along with highly accurate results that are easy to interpret.

If you’re looking for traffic surveys in any area, from road to footfall to public transport, then give our team a call. We also offer interview surveys and provide a team to conduct these for you, saving you time and effort.

We’re proud to be sponsoring the annual TRICS User Meeting and hope you find the event insightful.

paulcastle.com

i-Transport

i-Transport is a specialist, independent transport planning consultancy providing transport planning advice to the development sector for both private and public-sector clients. This includes the provision of high quality transport and highways planning, through all stages of the planning process, from initial development through to outline and detailed planning applications and feasibility design for every type of development. i-Transport has a team of over 60 professionals, based across five offices nationwide.

For more information, please visit our website: www.i-transport.co.uk

We thank them for their support, and we encourage attendees on the day to visit their exhibition stands.