Highways Voices: Talking Roads and Transport Technology innovation

Civil engineer Elizabeth Orchard believes Britain has been looking at the potholes crisis the wrong way – and in this edition of Highways Voices she explains why – and finishes with an interesting idea to fund the solution. Rather than focusing on political arguments over who is to blame, she explores the engineering behind deteriorating roads, from freeze-thaw cycles and aging infrastructure to t...

This week’s Highways Voices podcast takes you from connected vehicle data that's finally moving beyond endless pilot projects to artificial intelligence that can identify road defects before they become a problem, as we bring you chat from the LCRIG Innovation and Learning Festival , where the latest ideas aren’t just being talked about – they’re being put into practice. Host Paul Hutton catches u...

How can the highways sector deliver innovation faster while navigating tight budgets, procurement hurdles and increasing demands on road networks? That's the question explored in the latest episode of the Highways Voices podcast, recorded at SWARCO's User Group meeting in Coventry last week. Host Paul Hutton is joined by Derek McLean, Head of Product and Solutions at SWARCO, his colleague, SWARCO’...

Road safety and intelligent transport solutions specialist Rennicks is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and this Highways Voices podcast marks the milestone, featuring Rennicks Chairman Michael Flanagan and Director Robert Tait. Mr Flanagan reflects on the company's journey from its origins in Ireland in the mid-1970s to becoming a recognised name in traffic signs, vehicle registration plate syst...

What happens when you have the right idea at the right time… but still fail? In this thought-provoking episode of Highways Voices , Paul Hutton sits down with Andrew Caleya Chetty, founder of Starling Technologies, for a candid conversation about innovation, ambition, and the harsh realities of bringing new technology into the transport sector. Less than two years ago, Starling Technologies was ge...

ADEPT’s Live Labs 2 programme has spent the last three years tackling one of highways’ biggest challenges: how do you decarbonise roads, street lighting and maintenance without increasing risk, blowing budgets or frightening local authorities away from innovation? That’s the subject of this week’s Highways Voices podcast, where ADEPT’s Giles Perkins gives an unusually candid insight into how the s...

This week on Highways Voices, we tackle one of the most important issues facing transport professionals today: road safety. To discuss whether the industry is truly serious about Vision Zero, we’re joined by Jamie Hassall, Executive Director of PACTS, the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, who delivers a frank and thought-provoking challenge to many of the assumptions drivers, po...

As the Government prepares to introduce a new pay-per-mile charging scheme for electric vehicles from 2028, the debate is heating up and you’ll hear the latest thinking on today’s Highways Voices. In this recorded inside the Houses of Parliament, industry leaders, campaign groups, technology experts and motoring representatives come together to tackle one of the biggest questions facing the future...

Helen Clifford’s story is remarkable enough on its own: in 1984, she became London Transport’s first female mechanic, walking into a world of workshop pin-up calendars, no women’s changing facilities and a culture that simply wasn’t designed for women, and she’s now been recognised for it . In this edition of Highways Voices , recorded at the London Transport Museum during celebrations marking the...

In this week’s Highways Voices we discover how connected vehicle data is transforming the way we understand and manage our roads Industry veteran Steve Isaacs is Paul Hutton’s guest to explore an innovative solution from Swedish firm Nira Dynamics , using data from hundreds of thousands of Volkswagen Group vehicles to deliver real-time insights into road conditions. Subscribe to Highways Voices on...

Here’s our third episode of Highways Voices the ITS European Congress in Istanbul, and today there’s a clear eye on the future, as anticipation builds for the ITS World Congress in Birmingham 2027. Host Paul Hutton brings together a mix of expert insight, industry conversation and on-the-ground perspective from one of the sector’s key global gatherings. At the heart of the episode is a thoughtful...

Connected vehicle technology is no longer a future concept, it’s already embedded in the cars people drive and the networks we operate. So why does deployment still feel slow and fragmented? Recorded at the ITS European Congress in Istanbul, this panel discussion focuses on the real challenge facing the sector: how to move from capability to widespread implementation. Bringing together leaders fro...

We’re in Istanbul for the 2026 ITS European Congress this week, and we kick off our series of podcasts with our “pitwalk”, where we chat to the exhibitors on the UK Pavilion. Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode. Paul Hutton talks to ten guests in 25 minutes to underline to you how, from AI-powered cameras to radar-based incident detection, ther...

Today on Highways Voices we find out how improving performance in an industry can come down to an overlooked skill – communication. For decision makers in highways and transport operations, maintaining reliable, customer-focused services while hitting performance targets is a constant challenge. Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode. So this epis...

This week’s Highways Voices features one of the most important people in the highways and transport technology industries - Michael Schuch, the CEO of SWARCO. He sat down with Paul Hutton for an in-depth chat about the industry during Intertraffic Amsterdam and they discussed sustainability, the challenges around, and the state of the industry globally, plus, of course, AI and cyber security. Subs...

Today on Highways Voices we visit the site of one of the UK's largest infrastructure projects, and one with a very interesting back story. The A417 Missing Link project in Gloucestershire has been covered quite often on Highways News, so now with construction work at a critical phase, Kevin Borras visited the project office in Birdlip to talk to National Highways, Kier Transportation and Prolectri...

In this final bonus episode of Highways Voices from Intertraffic Amsterdam 2026, we bring you more conversations highlighting how innovation is already transforming transport systems, from airports to urban streets. We hear how automated vehicles are moving staff around Schiphol Airport and pointing towards scalable platooned transport systems, while in cities, attention turns to logistics, where...

Our latest episode of the Highways Voices podcast, recorded live at Intertraffic Amsterdam 2026, brings together six leading voices from across the global mobility sector, highlighting how artificial intelligence, connected systems and data-driven innovation are rapidly reshaping transport, road safety and urban mobility. Podcasts from Intertraffic are sponsored by SWARCO , Westcotec , AGD Systems...

Today on Highways Voices, we dig into the detail of this year’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance, ALARM survey , which was published on Tuesday 17 March, and showed a record £18.6 billion local road repair backlog. The report warned road users should not expect a quick fix to the condition of local roads, despite a reported increase in funding, and that carriageway repairs would take 12 yea...

From the buzzing show floor in Amsterdam, today’s Highways Voices from Intertraffic 2026 captures the energy of the event and looks at some important views around road safety, maintenance and taxation, as well as focussing on how to make a great exhibition. In this episode, sponsored by SWARCO , Westcotec , AGD Systems and TRL , you’ll hear Acusensus CEO Alex Jannick tell Paul Hutton his powerful...

Highways Voices is back in the RAI for Intertraffic Amsterdam, touring the huge exhibition and conference sessions to find out more about the future of transport. These podcasts are brought to you thanks to the support of SWARCO , Westcotec , AGD Systems and TRL . Today we find out how we can learn from the Dutch in increasing active travel and how Westcotec’s close following warning system is a d...

You’re catching us in the RAI for Intertraffic Amsterdam 2026 again on Highways Voices today as we discuss AI controlling traffic signals, smarter road safety systems, and data that predicts crashes before they happen. These podcasts are brought to you thanks to the support of SWARCO , Westcotec , AGD Systems and TRL . In today’s programme you’ll hear from the CEO of SWARCO about changes to the bu...

This week Highways Voices podcasts come from Intertraffic 2026, with our reporting team on the exhibition floor of probably the world’s most influential traffic and mobility event. While only scratching the surface of this huge event featuring 900 exhibitors and 30,000 visitors, this episode does capture the energy, insights, and innovative thinking driving the future of transport technology, from...

Today on Highways Voices we return to discussing the challenges faced by highways authorities and freight operators at the kerbside, a solution to it and, more widely why this and other solutions to tackle congestion and air pollution aren't being snapped up. S ubscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify , Amazon Music , Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode! We...

Today on Highways Voices, we talk "the madness of cars" with journalist and author Peter Hitchens, who is writing a book with that name arguing that Britain’s transport infrastructure has wrongly been built around the motor vehicle, and that we are suffering today from the effects of flawed transport policy of the 1960s onwards. He talks about how he thinks our transport planners and users are loc...