From London to Key West, transit is about people
How would you manage one of the world’s largest and oldest public transport networks?
Andy Lord, Commissioner of Transport for London (TfL), has a massive job. He has nearly 30,000 employees helping to move millions of people in, out, and around London every day on every transport mode imaginable. It’s mind boggling really.
We’ve been working on getting Andy on the show for months, and it’s been well worth the wait. This is one of those rare interviews where you get real insight into one of the toughest jobs in public transport.
Andy started his career at British Airways (he’s an engineer by training) and moved over to transit after 25 years in aviation. Andy came to TfL to run The Tube for Andy Byford and then took the reins when Andy Byford left TfL for Amtrak.
As Andy puts it, whenever you’re responsible for moving large numbers of people the most important job is keeping everyone safe. And it doesn’t matter if we’re talking about silver tubes flying through the air or through Victorian-era tunnels, the fundamentals are the same.
But what about the future of this storied system? Both congestion charges and the new ULEZ (ultra low emission zone) charges will help fund TfL as it aims for its own transition to zero emissions.
But there is a catch, isn’t there? If congestion pricing and ULEZ work as planned, then the revenues from them decrease. But, that is something Andy has well in hand as he’s planning the future of TfL.
????️Coming up next week on Transit Unplugged: CEO Roundtable from TripSpark Ignite
Coming up next week we have a CEO Roundtable panel recorded live at TripSpark Ignite in Nashville. This panel hit on all the major issues facing transit today: bus shortages, hiring enough people, and cybersecurity. As always, it’s a fun and dynamic session with the right mix of reality and humor.
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????Now for the youngest transit system
TfL might be the oldest public transit system in the world, but while in Florida, Paul got to learn about the youngest one: Monroe County covering the Florida Keys.
Sometimes we feel like we’re doing our jobs on an island, but Executive Director Richard Clark does his job literally on not just one, but several, islands. Richard and Paul tour Key West by bus and bike, the two best ways to get around the islands.
And to wrap up, Richard takes Paul to Ernest Hemingway’s house to see the place where the words were put down, amongst the many-toed cats.
