Ann Frye, OBE, to chair Interchangeability Conference 16th - 18th June

Interchangeability is an exciting and groundbreaking conference that will bring together those involved in delivering safe and effective school transport systems from around the world, enabling the sharing of good practice, ideas and innovative solutions. It is for anyone working in any aspect of the safe transport of children - transport managers, school planners, road safety officers, travel trainers, as well as transformation managers and senior local government staff, policy makers and budget holders looking for new ways of working.

This important conference, to be held at Latimer Place, Buckinghamshire, UK, from 16th to 18th June, will be chaired by TAN member Ann Frye, OBE, who brings a wealth or practical experience of working with young people with special needs and of accessibility and inclusion.

Ann has worked in this field for over 30 years.  Until 2006 she headed the Mobility & Inclusion Unit in the UK Government Department for Transport where she delivered a major programme of research, legislation and policy to promote the mobility of disabled and older people in all areas of transport.

She is a visiting Professor at University College London and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport and the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation in the UK.

For more details of Interchangeability see http://www.interchange-ability.com/

John Miles elected an Honorary Member of PIARC

John Miles, a founding member of Transport Associates' Network, has recently been elected an Honorary Member of the World Road Association (PIARC) “In recognition of an outstanding contribution to the Association”. John has been active on the PIARC Technical Committees that have been working on ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) since 1996. He is also Technical Editor for a new Road Network Operations ITS Web Resource with Finella McKenzie as Associate Editor. ITS America, on behalf of the ITS Joint Program Office (JPO) of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), is overseeing the development of the ITS content of this resource, which will build on past efforts and draw on contemporary technology innovations to make the resource accessible and relevant.

John has also contributed a chapter on the history of ITS to the Encyclopaedia of Automotive Engineering. This chapter traces the development of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) from its early beginnings through to the present day. It looks at the structure of ITS applications that has evolved and the important role that system architecture has played in providing a framework for these developments. The chapter considers the origins of ITS in Japan, Europe, and North America, leading to the emergence of ITS as part of mainstream transportation management. The essential characteristics of ITS are described with reference to ITS technologies and user services. Different ITS architecture viewpoints are described and the role of ITS standards is explained. This chapter concludes with some pointers for the future.

Encyclopedia of Automotive Engineering (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.), is accessible at the Wiley Online Library (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/book/10.1002/9781118354179)