How do the experts think we will get back to work?

“There’s a clear duty of care for those of us who can work from home to reduce our transport footprint”

SHAUN HELMAN

Chief Scientist, TRL

SHAUN Helman, Chief Scientist at TRL, a transport consultancy and research firm that span off from the Department for Transport in 1996, agrees that “people on public transport are going to find it very difficult to maintain social distancing”, an issue partly addressed by working from home.

“People have learned very quickly that they don’t need to travel to the office,” he says. “Not everyone can do that; a lot of people have to travel. For me, there’s a clear duty of care for those of us who can work from home to reduce our transport footprint, so the limited space and infrastructure are available for those who need to travel.”

Helman also thinks that the challenges facing us require a holistic approach: “It’s people’s behaviour; it’s organisations changing their policies; it’s innovative infrastructure design; and it’s new modes of transport.”

He goes on to say: “There are bound to be new business models that get introduced, and old ones that die off. But we’re currently in a period where we are learning day by day.”

As for the future, Helman thinks we should be using multiple, flexible modes of transport, rather than relying on one single method.

“The way you think about it should be: ‘I need to get from A to B, and I need to interact with technology for that to happen’,” he says. “And it might be, initially, driving somewhere, but then it will be a ride-share, or an automated vehicle in the future, or your foldable bike down the road to a hub where you will pick up some other vehicle. That is only going to work if it’s easy for people, and the way it’ll be easy for people is if it’s on their smartphone. It should be about what people need, and what they want,” he adds. “Transport serves society, not the other way around.”