Transport, energy and the environment
One of the most exciting emerging innovations in transport is Passenger Rapid Transit, providing dedicated point-to-point services on demand, like a driverless taxi. The world leading PRT is ULTra, developed by Advanced Transport Systems Ltd and currently being deployed at Heathrow T5. Pitchill has worked with ATS for many years and Chris Elliott chairs the independent Safety Verification Team for the Heathrow deployment. An overview of the safety philosophy was presented at the Automated People Movers conference in Vienna in 2007.
APM safety paper More information on ULTra can be found at www.atsltd.co.uk
Chris Elliott acts in a personal capacity as a non-executive Director of the Office of Rail Regulation.
The Union Internationale des Chemins de fer is the Paris-based organization that represents the world’s railways. Pitchill was retained for several years by its Safety Platform and still advises it on an ad hoc basis. Much of that work is on the interpretation and implementation of the European Rail Safety Directive 2004-49, including some basic challenges of agreeing the meaning technical and management language. One of the outputs was a first version of a Glossary.
The Safety Directive strongly supports an objective, evidence-based approach to decisions that affect safety. The Safety Platform endorsed this approach and Chris Elliott subsequently published some of the results.
Chris Elliott chaired the international road safety conference, sponsored by Scania, in Brussels in 2005.
The House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology investigated renewable energy in 2004. Chris Elliott was one the Committee’s Specialist Advisers, dealing particularly with regulation, economics and alternative network concepts.
www.publications.parliament.uk
Woking Borough Council has an integrated environment policy, based on a 100 year vision to make "Island Woking" self-sufficient. It already has its own Combined Heat and Power station, over 10% of the installed photovoltaic capacity in the UK and a successful programme to reduce energy use. Pitchill advised Woking on the regulatory challenges that it had to overcome.
