The 2025 conference

Cllr Phil Jordan, acting chair, Solent Transport Joint Committee

Cllr Phil Jordan is Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure on the Isle of Wight, a role he has held for much of the past ten years.  In addition to this role, he is also the Leader of the Isle of Wight Council and interim Chair of the Solent Transport Board.

He is very much involved in the strategic management of the Islands Highway PFI contract and a Member of the Island Transport Infrastructure Board.

Rob Gloyns, Sustainable Logistics Theme Lead, Solent Transport FTZ

Rob Gloyns is the FTZ Theme Lead for Sustainable Logistics at Solent Transport, working on projects to improve how goods move around the Solent. He is leading the introduction of micro consolidation hubs in Winchester and Portsmouth to trial sustainable last mile deliveries using cargo bikes and help understand how this can benefit overall delivery cost, speed, and ease.

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Rob also leads the FTZ’s Drones for Medical Logistics Project, investigating how drones could facilitate medical logistics in the Solent area for the NHS.

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His background is in local government project management, transport, and air quality management.

Charlie Nichols, Marketing Communications Manager, Solent Transport 

Charles is the Marketing Communications Manager for Solent Transport and the Solent Future Transport Zone. He leads the Solent FTZ’s strategic approach to marketing, communications and behaviour change. With a particular interest in applying the principles of behavioural economics to deliver growth in awareness and engagement with mobility innovation projects, Charles champions an approach that keeps the customer’s objectives and user experience at the centre of developing projects.

Charles has provided advice and guidance to numerous organisations trialling MaaS in the UK, including: Kent County Council, HITRANS and the three other Future Transport Zones in the West Midlands, East Midlands and South West of England.

Steve Longman, Mobility-as-a-Service Programme Lead, Solent Transport

Steve Longman is leading the development of the Breeze platform for Solent Transport, which has pioneered the UK’s first multi-city MaaS application. He is a chartered transport planner and qualified project manager focussing on future mobility and sustainable transport, having worked on projects across UK, Europe and the MENA region.  

Ben Foulser, Future Mobility Lead, KPMG 

Ben is a Partner in KPMG’s Transport Practice and leads KPMG’s Future Mobility team, advising clients on environment, sustainability, intelligent mobility, and innovation. He supports clients across the business model life-cycle, from market analysis and development of strategy and operating models through to policy and regulatory model definition, change portfolio & delivery roadmap development, Business Case development, funding and financing, and procurement of complex digital and zero emissions capital programmes.

Ben advises public and private sector clients spanning transport authorities and operators, supply chain partners, and funders & financiers.

He has significant experience working with central and devolved government on future mobility policy and zero emissions pathways, and with operators and major metropolitan transportation authorities around the globe on asset commercialisation, partnerships, and new business models.

Annabel Knightley, Principal Behavioural Researcher, TRL

Annabel is a Principal Behavioural Researcher at TRL,  currently leading projects relating to transport, mobility and sustainability. I explore people's attitudes and behaviour, advise on behavioural strategies, and evaluate the impact of schemes - with the aim of making schemes or products more accessible and effective.

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Andy Bullock, Future Transport Zone Project Manager, Solent Future Transport Zone

Andy is part of University of Portsmouth's contribution to the Solent Future Transport Zone, helping manage research on freight micro and macro consolidation projects, MaaS and Drones. His 16 years in the transport industry has taken him through start up, medium size and global consultancies in the UK and the Middle East and most recently as an officer with Portsmouth City Council working on Air Quality behaviour change and active travel infrastructure in the city.​​​

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Cllr Phil Jordan is Cabinet Member for Transport and Infrastructure on the Isle of Wight, a role he has held for much of the past ten years.  In addition to this role, he is also the Leader of the Isle of Wight Council and interim Chair of the Solent Transport Board.

He is very much involved in the strategic management of the Islands Highway PFI contract and a Member of the Island Transport Infrastructure Board.

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Christina Moe Gjerde, VP Northern Europe, Voi

James West, UK Business Development, Padam

James leads Padam's UK development, working with clients to support their needs in both DRT and the Digitalisation of Supported Transport services such as DAR, SEND and Home-to-School. James has 8 years' experience in DRT. He began his DRT career as Operations Manager for Slide Bristol. He then mobilised and managed further deployments for RATP including Slide Ealing as part of the TfL DDRT trial. 

Since joining Padam, James oversees the commercial aspects of the Solent Transport DRT services, working with the wider team and their operators to ensure the services maximise accessibility. He also helps many other councils across the UK deliver their DRT services, bringing together his operational and technical knowledge to deliver the right product for their users.

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Stewart Chandler, Transport Strategy Manager, Isle of Wight Council

Stewart is the Transport Strategy Manager for the Isle of Wight Council. With over 20 years of experience working in local government and in particular the area of Transport. I love living, working, and raising a family on the Island.

My roles of over the years have covered many aspects Transport, including public transport, home to school transport, transport policy/strategy, community transport, active travel, the Cowes Floating Bridge (local chain ferry service), fleet management, traffic regulation orders, in-house bus operations, highways improvements and road safety.

I have been involved in some exciting projects working with colleagues on the Island and in neighbouring authorities, as well as with key stakeholders. In recent years these have included the Transforming Cities Project for the Portsmouth City Region (SEHRT) and Solent Transport's Future Transport Zone.

Having taken on the new role within the Isle of Wight Council last year, my remit has widened to include Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure and Active Travel. This leads directly into successful bids for the Island including the Green Link Project (LUF round 3), LEVI Fund and the ZEBRA Fund.

Kieron Bridges, Ring and Ride and DRT Service Lead, Transport for West Midlands

Kieron is a Ring and Ride and DRT Service Specialist for Transport for West Midlands. With a background in Bus Operations and Management, Kieron has been involved in West Midlands on Demand since the inception of the service in Coventry, and has overseen the merging of demand responsive transport with a previously members only ring and ride network in Coventry, using spare capacity to create a service with a higher utilisation rate.

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When not working, Kieron is normally travelling across the continent and beyond ticking off a wide list of sports stadia, and of course learning from best practice globally in transport and access

James Bolton, General Manager, UK, Voi

​Thomas Ableman, Founder and CEO, Freewheeling

 Thomas helps transport and mobility organisations drive 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, deliver 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲, and achieve 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 results, drawing on 20 years of leadership across public and private sectors.

Conrad Haigh, Solent Transport

Solent Transport is a partnership between Southampton, Portsmouth, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, focusing on strategic transport issues and partnership working. Solent Transport is the recipient of a Department for Transport Future Transport Zone grant which looks at developing innovative transport solutions and bringing them to fruition.

Conrad as more than 30 years experience in transport ranging from campaigning, commercial experience, and experience at every level of government. He as significant experience in sustainable transport and behavioural change. His past employers include Transport for London, the Rail delivery Group and the Department for Transport.

Linda Spanner, Future Transport Zone Project Manager, Solent Transport

Linda Spanner is a project manager working on a variety of behaviour change and stakeholder engagement projects within the Solent Transport FTZ Programme, which is trialling innovative transport solutions.

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Linda is also a qualified solicitor and leads on data, governance and finance across the Programme.   Her legal experience has proved invaluable in supporting the programme as a whole as well as individual projects. Linda and the FTZ team are working to drive sustainable mobility solutions forward.

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Anthony Ferguson, Head of Traffic & Technology, Department for Transport

Anthony is a Deputy Director in the Department for Transport in charge of Traffic & Technology. This role encompasses traditional traffic management policy such as traffic signs, street design, streetworks and the Blue Badge scheme. His role also involves exploring the potential for data and emerging technology to improve the safety, efficiency and environmental performance of our road networks.  Anthony’s team runs the Street Manager digital service and work on digitalisation of traffic orders and the National Parking Platform. Anthony is also responsible for developing policy on micromobility, managing national trials of e-scooters, and of course the four Future Transport Zones.

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Tim Forrester, Future Transport Zone Programme Manager, Solent Transport 

Tim has over 20 years of professional transport programme and project management experience. Having worked in the public sector for a large part of his career his background covers sustainable transport, behavioural change and transport infrastructure delivery programmes; together with a strength for effective stakeholder engagement.

​Oliver Coltman, FTZ Programme Manager, West of England Combined Authority

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Djamila Ouelhadj, Professor of Operational Research and Intelligent Computation, University of Portsmouth

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Djamila Ouelhadj is a Professor of Operational Research and Intelligent Computation at the University of Portsmouth. She is the Director of the Intelligent Transport Research Cluster and Chair of the Logistics, Operational Research and Analytics Research Group. She has carried out successful research in transport, operational research, intelligent computation and  analytics for 35 years. She has over 300 publications in international distinguished journals and refereed conference proceedings, and she has led nearly 60 R&D and EU grants with world-leading organisations. She is the Chair of the Southern Operational Research Society and a member of the Advisory Board of the Transport for the South East to represent 12 regional universities. She is the Principal Lead at the University of Portsmouth of the Solent Future Transport Zone for Theme 1 (MaaS) and Theme 2 (Freight Logistics).

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Matthew Clark, Associate Director, Steer

Matthew is the Head of New Mobility at Steer. He has over 20 years specialising in understanding the potential for new mobility services to maximising the benefits to users and society.  His work for the public sector helps to assess the potential for using new transport technology to achieve policy objectives.  His work for the private sector helps to analyse the market for new services and help to deliver new services that provide a wider range of transport options for users. Matthew’s work includes a focus on shared mobility projects including car clubs, bike share and shared e-scooter schemes in the UK, Ireland, Europe and North America.

Rasita is the Innovative Transport Manager at Nottingham City Council. Her role encompasses the delivery of future transport and electric vehicle related schemes. Rasita is currently Programme Manager for the £16.7m Derby-Nottingham Future Transport Zone. This spans e-scooter rental trials, roll out of publically accessible electric vehicle charging infrastructure, delivery of a series of electric mobility hubs across the area and Mobility as a Service applications.

Rasita has significant experience in developing local sustainable transport policies, bidding for funding, leading complex procurement of services and project and programme management. Over the past 15 years, she has played a key role in helping to secure investment into the area to help improve the local transport proposition making the city more accessible and clean.

Damian Bown, CEO, Trafi

Damian Bown is CEO at Trafi. He draws on his experience of innovation (working with some of the most successful transport apps) and operation (he launched and ran a bus company) to assist cities as they procure and implement MaaS schemes.

Before joining Trafi, Damian was Business Development Director at Citymapper, a popular city navigation app. Prior to that, he was UK Sales Director at Trapeze, a leading supplier of scheduling and tracking software for large transport operators and cities.

In 2000, Damian was a founder of Kizoom, which went on to build the world's first transport journey planner on a phone. He sold Kizoom to Trapeze in 2010. Damian has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from City University in London, and an MBA from Insead, France.

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Wade Holmes, Service Manager Integrated Transport, Southampton City Council

Wade is the Manager of Integrated Transport for Southampton City Council, with over twenty years of experience in the field. He ensures that transport solutions effectively address residents' issues such as the cost of transport, rising obesity rates, rebalancing deprivation rates in the city, the impact of climate change, and the infrastructure needs to accommodate an increase of 30,000 new residents. Wade is committed to creating sustainable and efficient transport systems that improve the quality of life for the community.

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Indira Joseph, Project Manager (DDRT), Solent Future Transport Zone

Indira started her career in 2008  as a geographic information system specialist in electric utility industry in South Africa. This period of self- discovery inspired  her to find  interest in project management which she has pursued since 2013. Since then she has been a project manager for several utility asset management projects  ranging from technical engineering to research projects. 2022 marked her journey into dynamic world of transport. Since then , she has been navigating the complexities of the Solent DDRT project, one that is both challenging and rewarding . She has earned her Masters degree in GIS from ITC , Netherlands and her Diploma in Business Administration from University of Pretoria, South Africa.

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Indira is currently the  Project Manager (DDRT) for the Solent Future Transport Zone.​

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Chris Gregory, Future Transport Zone Personal Mobility Programme Manager, Solent Transport

Chris leads the Personal Mobility Theme of the Solent FTZ. This part of the programme is focused on delivering projects that will improve the way individuals travel around the Solent region. This includes; rental e-scooters, bike and e-bike share schemes, a Dynamic Demand Responsive Transport system and trialling the effectiveness of providing mobility credits. Chris has over 20 years experience in the sustainable transport, tourism and recreation sectors, working across the public and private sector.

​Paul McCormack, CEO, Decarbon Logistics Solutions

Paul is an entrepreneurial leader with 20+ years’ experience within final-mile logistics. A genuine passion for start-ups having established courier operations in UK, Europe, India, and North America.  Is currently focussed on the development of sustainable urban logistics, dynamic real estate, and the wider commitment to decarbonisation. Founded Infinium Logistics Solutions in 2019 and Decarbon Logistics Solutions in 2023. Previously held senior roles in Amazon Logistics and Hermes (now EVRi).