Peter Warman writes for New Transit

Peter Warman writes the 'Expert View' section in the latest issue of New Transit (November / December 2011) on the latest developments in Real-Time Information for passenger transport

TAN Members taking key role in Travel2020

3 TAN members are taking key roles in the Travel2020 2-Day international Conference and Exhibition at London's The Kia Oval tomorrow and Thursday, 2nd and 3rd November.  Kris Beuret, Chair of the National Association of Taxi Users, is speaking on "Bringing taxis into the mobility mix", in the Multi-Modality conference session on Thursday afternoon, while John Austin and Peter Warman are both chairing conference sessions on Wednesday.

Personal Rapid Transit - David Crawford reports on the latest developments

David Crawford writes about the latest developments in Personal Rapid Transport systems (PRT) in the July / August issue of New Transit.  The latest generation of PRT systems  is offering an impressive option for local transport provision.

John Austin speaking at important international conference on Transport & Social Media

John Austin will be speaking at the International Institute of Information Design's 6th Traffic & Transport conference - Traffic, Transport & Social Media - in Vienna next week (8th and 9th September).  John's presentation is about how the public transport industry in the UK and Ireland used Social Media to communicate with customers during last winter's unprecedented bad weather.  The full conference programme is at  http://www.iiid-expertforum.net 

Public Transport: commercial enterprise or social tool?

Ann Frye writes on this theme in the August issue of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport's 'Focus' magazine.  'Even CILT's own survey of members revealed that those who responded did not prioritise socially inclusive services. Until  the cost of transport - including concessionary fares - and the benefits of reduced health and social care costs can be seen as interdependent, we may continue to struggle with these issues', writes Ann.  Read the whole feature article here.  

Cambridgeshire Guided Busway opens - John Austin was there

The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway - the world's longest - was opened earlier this month.  John Austin was there photographing the first public journey: see his photo album on Flickr.  

And this week his feature article on the future challenges that management faces in ensuring that The Busway continues to meet passenger expectations is publshed in the August issue of New Transit.

David Crawford writes in Transmart section of July / August issue of ITS International

David Crawford tracks gains for public transport operators from growing mobile phone use, in the latest issue of ITS International.  See http://www.itsinternational.com/ 

NATU welcomes House of Commons Transport Committee Report into Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles

TAN Members Kris Beuret and John Austin are Chair and Vice-Chair respectively of the National Association of Taxi Users (NATU).  NATU has just issued a Press Release in response to the House of Commons Transport Committee report into Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles, issued today, 19th July 2011

David Crawford writes in ITS International May/June 2011 issue

David Crawford is the author of two articles in the Features section of the latest issue of ITS International. One is about developments in transit activity on the US's Pacific Coast, and the other is on the Danish city of Aalborg's 'virtual' Traffic Management Centre. See http://www.itsinternational.com/

Poole Twin Sails bridge

Brian Bing attended a Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation technical visit to the new iconic Poole Twin Sails bridge site on 7th July.  This unique lifting bridge will be assembled in situ over the next two weeks and the new bridge is planned to be opened to traffic by New Year. The bridge design and implementation is superb and a credit to the team responsible.

David Crawford writes on Transport Modelling in latest issue of LTT

David Crawford has written three key articles on Transport Modelling in the 1 July issue of Local Transport Today.  Access them here

Kris Beuret writes major article on Taxis for July '11 New Transit

Kris Beuret, Chair of the National Association of Taxi Users (NATU) has written on Bringing Taxis into the Transport Mix in this month's New Transit magazine.  Read it here

TAN holds another successful quarterly meeting

TAN's quarterly meeting was held this week, at which we were delighted to welcome Sally Scarlett, with a long career in association management and training advice - particularly in the transport field - who has taken on the role of TAN Secretary/Treasurer.  Much thanks for all her hard work were expressed to Marilyn Miles, our previous part-time postholder, who took the decision earlier in the year to step down.

At the meeting TAN member Keith Keen also told us about the new Kingston University Intelligent Transport Systems and Services MSc course which he has been involved in helping to set up.

Activities to publicise National Association of Taxi Users

Kris Beuret and John Austin are continuing to publicise the newly-created National Association of Taxi Users (NATU) - see http://www.taxiuser.com/.  Last month Kris Beuret as Chairman of NATU addressed a conference at Loughborough University with particular emphasis on the potential of taxibuses.  We have also written to Norman Baker asking to be included in discussions about the future of any replacement for DPTAC.  TAN members have also provided comments on the draft DfT Paper on Demand Responsive Transport - these are now being co-ordinated for a response to DfT - watch this space.

Ann Frye chairs session at ITF Annual Summit, Leipzig

Ann Frye recently chaired a session at the International Transport Forum Annual Summit in Leipzig on “Equitable Access: No Passenger Left Behind”. Her paper, which formed part of the discussion on “Mobility Rights, Obligations and Expectations in an Ageing Society” is on the ITF website here. The paper explores the economic and social challenges of meeting the mobility needs of the ageing baby boomer population as well as of people with disabilities. Ann also gave an interview on the subject, which is available on YouTube here

John Austin speaking at TravelWatch NorthWest conference

John Austin, as the Vice Chair of the National Association of Taxi Users (NATU) spoke recently at the TravelWatch NorthWest Conference, on June 16th in Southport, on ‘A new voice for the taxi passenger’

John Austin to lecture on prestigious international MSc course

John Austin is contributing to the MSc course Traffic & Transport Information Design organised jointly by the International Institute of Information Design (IIID) and the University of Applied Sciences FH St. Poelten, Austria, under the auspices of UNESCO

David Crawford writes on Ticket Systems for Disabled Travellers

David Crawford reports in the May 2011 edition of ‘New Transit’ on the development of a contactless smartcard that can be easily used by disabled customers.  See the article here