Lunch with Leon

A very different approach to low-carbon cities and public transport, is what sets GoAscendal apart. The difference for the global mobility advisory company founded by Ascendal Group and GoMetro, is that they are consultants who have real-life experience of running public transport. Now they are harnessing the potential of data technology, by using their Cambridgeshire coach operation as a ‘living...

Anthony Smith CEO Transport focus – the government-supported independent rail, bus and roads watchdog – chats with Leon Daniels OBE about the problem in the public’s understanding of what green transport actually is. Anthony talks about the ‘say-do’ problem: what we say is so different to what we do and how this is especially true when it comes to the environment, why attitudinal research is a ‘wa...

Do you understand the message you’re giving to your customers? It seems that many companies don’t, reckons renowned brand and design guru Ray Stenning. “It’s not just what you say, but how you say it.” In conversation with Leon Daniels they talk about how public transport’s solution to any problem is to “post a notice.” The “art of communication is a two-way process” says Ray, and explains how to...

Are we the last generation? In a face-to-face lunch at Brooklands Museum , Leon Daniels OBE talks with Andy Graham from White Willow Consulting and the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund and learns how he’s created the Britain’s first ‘connected’ Model T Ford – thought to be Europe’s oldest ‘connected’ vehicle. They move on to talk about what sustainability and what it really means for transport.

Studying the data Chris Cheek has spent a large part of his life providing a great service for the bus industry, by analysing companies’ financial performance, and publishing the results. Now, the new second edition of  his landmark work Understanding Buses , brings the picture up to date with a clear, non-technical, jargon-free explanation of how the bus industry works. With a few notable excepti...

What is the importance for humanity for its ability to travel? With contributions from many people and casting a totally refreshing view on people’s deep-seated desire to travel, is a new book – Why Travel? – edited by Dr Matthew Niblett and Kris Beuret OBE, of the Independent Transport Commission. Leon Daniels OBE chats to them about editing the book, which has contributions from many people, not...

It’s a return visit by Paul Sainthouse, Past President of CILT and MD Dawsonrentals Bus & Coach , a year after he appeared in the launch edition of Lunch with Leon. Chatting with Leon Daniels OBE over lunch, they discuss the state of the market, why it’s cheaper not to operate coaches in the winter, what Paul learned when he visited ITT Hub 2021, and an important Chinese saying about the futur...

Pulling together for a common cause Leon Daniels OBE has worked alongside many people in his transport career, and when he was MD Surface Transport at TfL one of his ‘right-hand’ people was Chief Operating Officer: Garrett Emmerson. At the end of May 2017 Garrett became CEO of the London Ambulance Service (LAS) after it was put into ‘special measures’ by the Care Quality Commission (not due to the...

It’s great to be back! Having just returned from ITT Hub 2021 – where it was “so great to get back out there and meet real people and talk about the major issues of the day,” Leon Daniels OBE catches up with Claire Haigh, from the Greener Transport Council .  A champion for greener journeys for a long time, they chat about the ‘terrible price’ that the EV revolution could lead to and the types of...

The world loves to meet… Gareth Rogers, CEO of Farnborough International – home of the famous biennial international air show – talks about events, exhibiting and why ITT Hub is such a good fit with the Hampshire-based business. “Humans like to meet, so I sense we will supplement our face-to-face meetings with Zoom and Teams; I don’t see people not travelling,” he says about the post-Covid recover...

The long-awaited Williams-Shapps rail review has been published by the Transport Secretary. While its headlines are a new public body – Great British Railways – providing single national leadership, better integration, simpler fares and smarter ticketing, there’s much detail. To get to grips with the detail, Leon Daniels OBE talks through the plan with leading rail commentator Nigel Harris, editor...

A prolific writer of articles and visible on social media, Philip Gerhardt is this week’s dining companion on ‘Lunch with Leon’. Currently General Manager - Route Performance at Arriva London , Philip is ‘destined for great things’ says Leon Daniels, who charts Philip’s rise through the industry since joining as a trainee 12 years ago. In a conversation that the “younger generation would do well t...

“Make it as clean and simple as possible.” That’s the guiding principles that Prof John Miles Director of Research in Transitional Energy Strategies at the University of Cambridge , reckons we should focus on for transport. He’s no ‘boffin’ either, but also gets his hands dirty in the real world working with global consultants, Arup, and has first-hand knowledge of many types of transport schemes....

The Great Persuader “It’s about kicking down doors and taking people to see things,” says Andrew Braddock, about how to change the views and perceptions of those in charge, over lunch with Leon Daniels OBE. Andrew – a public transport pioneer, who had a long and distinguished career with the National Bus Company and then Transport for London - chats with Leon about what we could do to change trans...

Anna Whitty MBE is the Chief Executive of Ealing Community Transport (ECT ), which provides safe, accessible and affordable community transport to people unable to use mainstream transport due to mobility or other difficulties, or because ordinary public transport is unavailable in their area. Formed in 1979, it now offers its services across not just its West London namesake borough, but also in...

Doing amazing things for autonomous vehicles… In a trans-Atlantic lunch – with one guest in California and the other  in the UK – Leon Daniels meets with dRISK.  Chatting with CEO Chess Stetson in California and Business Development/Programme Manager Rav Babbra in the UK, they talk about their work with the government-owned Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (C-CAV). We hear how they hav...

Everyone’s take on the National Bus Strategy is different, but who better to comment on it than Thomas Ableman.  With a career in bus, rail and now the founder and CEO of Snap Travel Technology – a virtual coach company which has run 25m passenger miles without any coaches or drivers – he sees all sides of the issues, especially on ticketing integration and local politics. He also runs the The Fre...

The many questions about how we reach net-zero In a special edition, Leon Daniels swaps notes with Sara Sloman, who hosts sister-ITT Hub podcast Talking Net Zero .  In a wide-ranging, engaging and lively chat we discover Sara’s ‘all-time gripe’ about ‘all-things-green and sustainable’, but they start by talking about a bottle of wine, before moving onto the controversial residents’ parking scheme...

With a starter about rail, main course about commuter travel and dessert on the bus industry, this week’s Lunch with Leon sees him talking with career busman, author and controversial straight-talking commentator Roger Davies. Roger sets out why transport needs ‘clean fixes now – not projects that give proclaimed benefits in the 2030s and beyond’. He argues: “We should be concentrating on what nee...

“Public transport is social justice. There’s never a better time to remind us nationally why we’re doing what we’re doing,” says Laura Shoaf, MD of Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) and newly-appointed Chair of the Urban Transport Group . A planner by background, Laura has extraordinary energy and is a huge force for good for public transport internationally, as well as in the UK.  Talking with L...

Highways for all: From careers to automated vehicles. Sue Percy, CEO of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) for past nine years, has long been Leon Daniels’ ‘go to’ person for a “sensible view on the whole highways and transportation business” and she’s also a key person for driving forward education and qualifications in this sector. Adds Leon: “She never lets me forge...

The big questions about transport use and where to go from here. This week, Leon Daniels OBE has lunch with Steve Gooding, formerly Director General at the Department for Transport and now Director of the RAC Foundation, where he is a noted spokesman on roads and transport policy. This year he becomes President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) and talks about how it is...

Ricardo has a long history of developing diesel drivelines, stemming from its key involvement in the First World War to reduce exhaust emissions (yes, really) that eventually earned founder Harry Ricardo a knighthood. Today, the British company has a global presence across a range of market sectors – including cars, commercial vehicles, rail, defence, motorsport, energy and environment – with a cl...

Challenging the ‘old way’ to get the most out of yourself and your team. Over a long lunch, Leon Daniels OBE chats with Gali Bloch Liran who is an executive coach specialising in start-ups, as well as being a lawyer, marketeer, lecturer and global speaker.  She works with CEOs, founders and entrepreneurs to manage the day-to-day challenges and strengthen the mental resilience required to scale suc...

All the enjoyable bits, plus some garnish…  Our regular podcast about all things transport-related has a different twist this week with a Christmas and New Year special. If you’ve not listened before, then give this one a try! Over the past 24 episodes, Leon Daniels has chatted with an amazing range of people and he’s filleted just a small handful of the very best, and funniest, bits. He also repo...