Highways Voices: Talking Roads and Transport Technology innovation

Hosted by Paul Hutton

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200

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Jun 2026

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About the show

The Highways Voices podcast is a must-listen for professionals in the Highways and Transport Technology industries covering construction, maintenance, Intelligent Transport Systems and Public Transportation. Presented by leading journalists Paul Hutton and Adrian Tatum, you’ll hear industry leaders sharing insights you won’t hear anywhere else, giving you a taste of the latest thinking about the sector's new techniques and technologies, collaborations and innovations. All in the time it takes for an average daily commute (or dog walk!). We bring you keynote-speaker quality guests into your phone or laptop, ensuring every time you listen you’ll learn something new you can use in your day-to-day job. Plus, you'll catch up with the top stories from the daily newsletters sent by Highways-News.com and hear the latest from our podcast partners LCRIG, the TTF, ADEPT and ITS UK.

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60 recent

June 16, 202644 min

Rennicks at 50: Learning about five decades of innovation and resilience

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 systems and intelligent transport technologies. He recounts how founders Robin and Maureen Rennicks identified an opportunity in reflective materials before expanding into traffic signage and eventually the wider road safety market.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.The podcast also explores some of the biggest challenges the company has faced, including a patent dispute that temporarily removed a key product line and threatened a significant proportion of the business. We hear how the setback forced Rennicks to diversify and innovate, helping lay the foundations for future growth.Looking to the future, Mr Tait discusses the growing role of intelligent transport systems, connected vehicle technologies and data-driven solutions. He highlights the opportunities presented by the government's RIS3 investment programme and the move towards digitally enabled road networks, while explaining how Rennicks is developing technology-led products to meet emerging customer needs.Throughout the discussion, Mr Flanagan returns to the themes that have underpinned Rennicks' success over the past five decades: putting customers first, investing in people and maintaining the agility to adapt to changing markets. As the company looks ahead to its next chapter, the podcast provides a fascinating insight into the growth of one of the UK's longest-established road safety businesses.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

June 9, 202634 min

Starling Technologies: A candid post-mortem on innovation in transport

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 generating excitement with its vision for smarter, more responsive traffic management. The company appeared perfectly positioned to help local authorities harness the power of AI and machine learning to improve network performance. Yet despite strong interest in the technology and a clear market need, the business ultimately closed its doors.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.So, what went wrong?Andrew shares the deeply personal story behind Starling’s rise and fall, revealing why success in the intelligent transport sector requires far more than great technology. He discusses the challenges of lengthy procurement cycles, delayed project delivery, uncertain funding streams, and the difficulties of sustaining a start-up while waiting for opportunities to convert into contracts.But this is about much more than one company’s story.The conversation explores the wider barriers facing innovation across transport and asks some difficult questions. If the industry wants to benefit from rapid advances in AI, data analytics and digital services, are current procurement and funding models fit for purpose? How can local authorities and suppliers work together to create an environment where innovators can thrive rather than struggle to survive?Despite the disappointment, Andrew remains remarkably optimistic about the future and passionate about creating better, more efficient cities through technology.Whether you're a local authority leader, technology supplier, consultant or anyone interested in the future of transport innovation, this episode offers valuable lessons, honest reflections and important insights into how the sector can avoid losing the next generation of game-changing ideas.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

June 2, 202628 min

Beyond EVs: Practical ways for highways authorities to cut carbon thanks to lessons from Live Labs 2

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 sector is trying to move from climate ambition to practical delivery.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.The conversation goes well beyond the standard “net zero” conversation. Mr Perkins explains that while the industry has focused heavily on reducing tailpipe emissions, Live Labs 2 is looking at “everything else” - the carbon generated by the infrastructure itself, from pothole repairs and asphalt production to verge maintenance, lighting and procurement processes.One of the most insightful parts of the discussion centres on risk. Mr Perkins describes how many local authorities are reluctant to be first movers because of fears around liability, standards and unintended consequences. Host Paul Hutton recalls conversations around East Riding of Yorkshire’s street lighting trials where officers worried that removing lighting, even with alternative safety measures in place, could expose them to criticism or even coroners’ investigations after collisions.The podcast explores how Live Labs 2 is trying to “de-risk” innovation by generating evidence authorities can trust. Projects discussed include low-carbon asphalt trials, carbon-negative road upgrades in Devon, Liverpool’s work on procurement reform, and experiments turning highways grass cuttings into biofuels.We also learn why the programme’s newly funded fourth year is perhaps the most important phase yet. Rather than building more demonstrators, the focus is now on dissemination: helping councils, contractors and suppliers understand what has worked and how it can be scaled nationwide. For example, applying some of the East Riding street lighting principles nationally could save around 100,000 tonnes of carbon and cut £1 billion from public spending.For anyone working in highways, local government, infrastructure innovation or transport policy, this episode provides a rare opportunity to hear how the sector is attempting to turn sustainability from isolated pilots into “business as usual”. It is also a revealing look at the cultural, procurement and behavioural barriers that still stand in the way of faster change.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

May 26, 202625 min

Vision Zero or Vision Wishful Thinking? Actually making our roads safer with Jamie Hassall of PACTS

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, policymakers and even transport professionals hold about safety on the road network.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.In the conversation, he argues that Britain’s national speed limit system is outdated, particularly on rural roads, and explains why “safe speed” is often very different from the number shown on a sign. The conversation explores the backlash against 20mph limits, why compliance with speed limits remains so poor, and whether technologies like Intelligent Speed Assistance, telematics and autonomous vehicles could fundamentally change driver behaviour.We also discuss why road safety investment still struggles to secure funding despite crashes – including many which are preventable - costing the UK economy billions each year, and whether organisations that repeatedly claim “safety is our number one priority” are genuinely backing those words with meaningful action.Perhaps most importantly, Jamie Hassall makes the case for a major focus on work-related road safety, arguing that fleet operators and employers could play a transformative role in reducing deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s roads.This is a conversation guaranteed to spark debate across the highways and transport technology sector.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

May 19, 202634 min

Odometer readings or smarter tracking? The options for EV road pricing

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 of transport funding: how do we replace fuel duty in an electric future, and can it be done fairly and effectively?Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.With warnings of a £27 billion hole in Treasury finances as drivers move away from petrol and diesel, supporters argue EV road charging is inevitable. But concerns remain around privacy, public trust, fairness for drivers without home charging, and whether the technology, and politics, are ready.This episode explores:Why EV road charging is now firmly on the political agendaWhy simple odometer charging is not necessarily enough, or if smarter location-based systems are neededThe lessons the UK can learn from countries already operating road user chargingFears around a lower EV uptakeConcerns around driver privacy, public acceptance and implementation timescalesWhy the real challenge isn’t technology, but political courageYou’ll hear passionate arguments from across the sector, including advocates for smarter road pricing, warnings from EV drivers themselves, and hard-earned lessons from those who’ve delivered complex charging systems before.Whether you work in highways, transport policy, mobility technology or simply want to understand how the UK pays for roads in a post-fuel-duty future, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.Listen now and join the debate on the future of road charging in the UK.You’ll hear from:Ben Plowden – CEO, Campaign for Better TransportSilviya Barrett - Director of Strategy and Research, Campaign for Better TransportTim Wray – UK & Ireland Sales Director. KapschMax Sugarman – Chief Executive, Intelligent Transport Systems UK (ITS-UK)Richard Sallnow – Associate, PA ConsultingVicky Edmonds – CEO, EVA EnglandSteve Gooding, RAC Foundation, DirectorHighways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

May 12, 202622 min

Sharing secrets of better industry inclusivity, and better transport for all

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 unveiling of a blue plaque in her honour, she reflects with warmth and humour on what it was really like to break barriers in one of Britain’s most male-dominated industries.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.But this episode is about far more than one pioneering career. Transport for London’s Director of Buses, Lorna Murphy, explains why inclusivity matters to the future of transport, why the industry still has a long way to go, and how getting more women into buses and highways ultimately creates better services for everyone.The conversation also broadens into a discussion about the future of public transport itself. Murphy shares TfL’s thinking on how cities can encourage more people onto buses through affordable fares, seamless interchange and giving public transport priority on increasingly crowded roads. She also offers practical advice for local authorities taking greater control of their bus networks, arguing that successful regulation must focus relentlessly on what passengers actually need, from frequency and reliability to waiting environments and easy connections.Alongside reflections on joining the industry from Highways News’s new recruit, Libby McMahon, this uplifting episode celebrates progress, challenges assumptions and explores how buses remain central to cleaner, better-connected cities.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

May 5, 202623 min

Tyres that talk back: Connected vehicles' real-time network intelligence

In this week’s Highways Voices we discover how connected vehicle data is transforming the way we understand and manage our roadsIndustry 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 your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.By measuring friction where the tyre meets the road, this technology can identify hazards like standing water, ice, and snow as they happen, offering a powerful new tool for highway authorities.From smarter winter maintenance and reduced salt usage to proactive drainage and asset management, Steve Isaacs explains how the potential benefits are significant. With continuous, network-wide monitoring replacing traditional one-off surveys, this could mark a step-change in efficiency, safety, and cost-effectiveness.Listen now to get a fascinating look at how everyday vehicle data can unlock unprecedented visibility of the road network.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

April 29, 202624 min

Highways Voices from Istanbul: Industry insights build momentum for Birmingham 2027

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 overview from Chief Rapporteur Professor Eric Sampson, who distils the major themes emerging from the Congress. From data-driven safety management and inclusive mobility design, to the challenges of integrating transport modes and scaling up autonomous vehicle deployment, his reflections highlight both how far the industry has come, and how much work still lies ahead.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.There’s a strong sense that intelligent transport systems are evolving rapidly, but not always smoothly. Discussions around user behaviour, equity, and affordability underline the importance of designing solutions that work for real people, while innovations in logistics, like remotely assisted electric delivery vehicles, show how technology is tackling urban challenges in new ways. At the same time, big questions remain, particularly around the business case and real-world impact of autonomous vehicles.Away from the conference sessions, the podcast captures the buzz of the exhibition floor and the value of international collaboration. A chance encounter with industry expert Neil Levett reveals how traditional civil engineering and cutting-edge technology are increasingly converging, with innovations like fibre-optic traffic monitoring systems pointing to a safer, more efficient future.The episode also explores the wider economic and social value of the ITS sector. ITS UK CEO Max Sugarman shares his research showing the industry is worth far more than previously thought, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and delivering significant economic impact, while also highlighting efforts to inspire the next generation.Running throughout the podcast is a growing excitement about what comes next, with strong international interest already building for Birmingham 2027, and you’ll hear lots about this, plus get a flavour of a special reception for UK companies with the local British Chamber of Commerce.Overall, this episode is a compelling snapshot of a sector full of innovation, collaboration and ambition, and a great way to get a feel for the conversations shaping the future of transport.For additional information about Birmingham 2027 or to make enquiries and bookings, interested parties are invited to contact salescongress@mail.ertico.com or go to: https://2027.itsworldcongress.com/Jordan Cowley – Jordan.Cowley@tfwm.org.ukJasvinder Sidhu – j.sidhu@ertico.mail.comHighways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

April 28, 202628 min

The tech exists, so how do we make connected roads happen?

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 from government, industry and local authorities, the discussion explores what’s holding progress back, and what’s starting to unlock it.Subscribe to Highways Voices on your favourite podcast platform and never miss an episode.Hear from:Joost Vantomme, CEO of ERTICO – ITS EuropeDarren Capes, Head of Road Infrastructure Technology at the Department for TransportKerry Winstanley, Managing Director of LCRIGMax Sugarman, CEO of ITS UKTheir message is clear: the technology largely exists, deployment is the challenge.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.

April 27, 202627 min

ITS European Congress: Ten voices driving innovation on today's UK Pavilion "pitwalk"

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, there’s a huge amount of innovation here and now across the sector and that, more and more, data and AI are at the heart of modern mobility.Our guests are:Inada Penman, AECOMNora Ali, Clearview IntelligenceMurat Hayri Serafettinoglu, Fides (Clearview’s Turkish partner)Giorgio Potenza, AGD SystemsHelen Garrett, MAV SystemsThomas Greene, Q-FreeLuis Miranda Hevia, Q-FreeGraham Jennings, Navtech RadarRichard Owen, AgilysisJordan Cowley, Transport for West MidlandsYou’ll hear how collaboration is driving progress globally, with our UK companies working closely with international partners, sharing expertise and scaling solutions across borders.This highlights how connected the ITS ecosystem has become, and this isn’t stuff of the future, it’s here and now and making our lives better.Highways Voices is brought to you with our podcast partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ITS UK and ADEPT.