SYNOPSIS

Since its emergence at the end of 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe disruption to individuals, businesses and communities across the World. As much as other sectors, transportation has been impacted in multiple and complex ways and organisations in the public and private sectors have taken various actions to respond. As the pandemic looks to last for many more months, and with acute social and economic consequences becoming increasingly evident, it now seems likely that a “new normal” will emerge within which transportation and mobility has the potential to be fundamentally reshaped in terms of policies, infrastructure planning, operating models, user experiences and technical methods.

In order to drive a truly sustainable recovery from COVID-19, policy makers, regulators, companies and consumers globally will look towards, and seek to create, cleaner, healthier and more liveable environments, progress the decarbonisation of all transport modes, introduce more flexible, shared and personalised mobility services on demand, as well as fostering innovation as a source of competitive advantage and wealth creation. Roger will look to unpack what the Future of Transport may look like in the ‘new normal’ and outline the key building blocks to supporting a sustainable future.  He will also provide an update on the various ongoing transport projects in the Middle East, notably around autonomous travel and research as well as provide his own perspective on The Line Project in Saudi Arabia.


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Mr. Roger Cruickshank

Roger leads Atkins’ Acuity Business (its Advisory Services Group), bringing over 30 years experience in Transport & Infrastructure Projects, and is also an Atkins Fellow. Much of his career has been spent overseas, primarily in South East Asia and the Middle East.  He worked in Malaysia from 1997 to 2006 before moving to the UAE, where he now lives. His key focus is in identifying strategic opportunities that will provide clients with a full insight into the Atkins’ Group’s end to end capabilities including advisory, design, delivery and operations.

He has key experience in the Public Transport & Aviation Sectors, Rail Transport and Ports.  More recently he has been providing support to the Group’s Global Initiatives, notably its Future of Transport programmes.

Roger worked on the early planning and implementation of Putrajaya as well as having supported a number of Malaysia’s toll road projects including the Sprint Highway, the East Coast Expressway and the Jelutong Expressway in Penang.  The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is presenting a wide range of transformative and large scale projects, for which Roger’s team is playing its part in bringing the best advice to ensuring important legacy with key sustainable outcomes at the fore.