What would it take to make local transport in the East Midlands safer, more reliable and better connected? Over the summer, ITS UK put that question to councillors and transport technology providers at our first Local Government Exchange, held in Derby.

It was an opportune time to hold the event. With the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) taking on new powers and funding, the region is rethinking how transport is planned and run. Discussion looked at five key areas – safety, congestion, public transport, active travel and innovation – and one message was consistent throughout: the technology largely exists, the barriers are governance, funding, procurement and collaboration.

Here are four take aways from the discussions.

1. More proactive, less reactive

Many councils can only justify safety interventions once collision and casualty thresholds have been met. Councillors described junctions and crossings that residents had flagged for years, where action was hard to justify because nobody had yet been hurt. Participants worried this can create a perception of ‘waiting for injuries’ before acting.

There was a strong call for a shift from reactive to preventative. Smart CCTV that spots near misses and crowding, sensors that pick up conflict points and sudden manoeuvres, and temporary monitoring at sites of concern could all help build the evidence before an incident occurs.

Safety also means feeling safe. Poor lighting, isolated bus stops and inaccessible stations put people off public transport, particularly women travelling alone, older passengers and vulnerable users. Perceptions, as well as statistics, could help decide where improvements go.

2. Integrated transport needs integrated data

Fragmented data was the issue raised most often by all parties. Bus operators, rail operators, councils and technology providers frequently run separate systems that don’t talk to each other. Passengers feel the result: participants described journey planning apps showing conflicting information for the same service. Rail data was singled out as particularly hard to integrate.

The Bus Open Data Service was recognised as an important tool and a sign of progress, although implementation and data quality remain inconsistent. Participants pointed to the Netherlands as an example of what stronger expectations on open data and common standards can achieve.

Better data matters for congestion too. Congestion slows buses, unreliable buses push people into cars, and more cars mean more congestion. Intelligent traffic management, AI-driven prediction and digital twins can help break that cycle, but only if road and public transport data are brought together. The best passenger-facing technology, participants said, should be almost invisible: integrated ticketing and journey planning that simply make the trip easier.

3. From pilots to deployment

There was widespread frustration at how often successful projects stall after the trial. Funding for pilots and demonstrations is comparatively easy to find; money for operational delivery is not. Many attendees felt some technologies get tested repeatedly without ever becoming part of day-to-day operations.

Long procurement timescales, revenue funding constraints and caution around spending public money, all add to the problem. Local government reorganisation brings opportunity, but the transition can also slow decisions down.

Participants called for funding that rewards scaling proven solutions, and for better sharing of lessons between authorities, including from projects that didn’t work. Too often, councils run similar trials without knowing what others have already learned. Combined authorities such as EMCCA are well placed to coordinate that learning across the region.

4. Technology is the enabler

Perhaps the clearest conclusion of the day was that technology is an enabler, not an end in itself. Success should be measured by better journeys, not by the number of technology deployments.

This came through strongly on active travel. New walking and cycling infrastructure doesn’t automatically change habits, and schemes can meet resistance when they feel imposed on communities rather than developed with them. Participants saw a role for counters and video analytics to show what is working, alongside engagement tools and shared mobility such as bike hire. They also argued that active travel and accessible travel share many of the same goals and should be planned together.

The same principle applies to other areas too. Bus lanes and road space reallocation can be contentious even when the evidence supports them. Clearer data, and clearer communication about what a scheme is meant to achieve, can help councillors make the case.

What comes next

As devolution beds in across the East Midlands, there is a real opportunity for local authorities, industry and policymakers to work together on safer, more reliable and better connected transport. The common thread from Derby was that progress depends as much on data integration, funding models and collaboration as on new technology.

Want to be part of the conversation? To join or sponsor the next Local Government Exchange, get in touch with me at Eduardo.pitts@its-uk.org.

With thanks to our sponsors, Clearview Intelligence and Unity5.