UITP 2019 in Stockholm was a fantastic conference, not only due to the 18 hour long days, non stop sun and lovely city but the quality and quantity of presentations were thoroughly enjoyable! Art in public transport was an interesting topic with plenty of art on display, including on the Stockholm Metro which holds the distinction of being the longest art gallery in the world.

3 highlights

1. UITP Poster sessions were really helpful at engaging with speakers and I found out more about key topics including
2. Reverse vending machines in Turkey. Customers recycle their plastic and get credit on their transport scheme.
3. New accessibility assistance scheme for Singapore buses led by Init funded by Singapore, which also won UITIP innovation award at the end of the conference.
4. Transdev’s focus on customer experience working with behavioural scientist Steve Martin was fascinating. The results have been very impressive in terms of revenue protection and incentivising drivers by offering a 50 dollar incentive to improve driver safety performance d.
5. Focus on e-scooter -There was special scooter trackers to travel on e-scooters and lots of debate over fixed and dockless scooters. However, with one death in Stockholm from e-scooters I think there are a lot of safety concerns to address before e-scooters can be part of a safe public transport system.