At the TRB Annual Meeting this year, Steer co-presented with WSP a paper on the potential impacts of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on intercity travel, or more specifically, on intercity rail travel. Passenger rail advocates tend to dismiss the question of whether AV may decrease rail demand – arguing AVs are not a serious competitor in terms of speed, reliability and capacity; or that they do not compete with the same markets.
Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) are already taking high-speed rail (HSR) short-haul riders in Europe. Can intercity rail systems in the U.S. adapt and take advantage of that competition? In the U.S., ride-hailing and other shared mobility services are also stealing riders from transit agencies and regional or commuter rail services. A recent study from the University of Kentucky that looked at ride-hail and transit trends in 22 of the largest U.S. cities suggests that “for each year after TNCs enter a market, heavy rail ridership can be expected to decrease by 1.3%”. It doesn't take much imagination to see where this could lead once AVs take over the auto fleet and can reach further, faster. It won’t be just the commuter rail market who will be threatened, but the long distance market as well. This has direct policy implications for Amtrak and its under-utilized corridors, and for any new rail corridors.
There are tremendous untapped opportunities that AVs and other disruptive technologies can bring to rail. Passenger rail transportation professionals should embrace those new technologies and move forward with them rather than ignore them. Travel time is one of the most significant factors impacting market share. AVs are unlikely to compete for travel between distant hubs, as auto travel times will be much longer than HSR bypassing the congestion in each urbanized area. AVs at the urban scales will facilitate accessibility to rail. AVs will also revolutionize public transit and HSR as we know it. Fixed-route transit operators might be the first to implement true driverless technologies as they operate in a known environment (in contrast with private cars whose driving environment is always changing and new). Adding autonomous features to trains will also reduce operating costs, while new autonomous public transit systems including fleets of shared AVs can make HSR more flexible and accessible. Autonomous trains may add capacity, increase speed, and improve reliability so that mass public transportation services such as HSR remains competitive with autonomous private vehicles.
The ability to tolerate longer trips in an AV than current driving allows will also trigger more vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and stretch the distances people might travel for economic and social opportunities. More urban sprawling is plausible, but this phenomemon might increase the catchment area of HSR systems, potentially making it more attractive and improving accessibility to and from underserved areas. Combined, those impacts have the ability to greatly increase demand for intercity rail travel. But those impacts are based on scenarios that haven’t materialized yet, and even if they do, they might well be negated by the larger market share that AVs will take on intercity travel.
As such, states across the country and cities need tools that help them ensure sustainable travel modes are prioritized over single occupant vehicles. Steer can provide insightful modeling tools and propose policy insights as policymakers debate mobility solutions for streets and highways that will only become more congested with time.
Read the full TRB paper here. To learn more, contact Lucile Kellis at [email protected].
Steer is pleased to announce the appointment of Daniel Loschacoff to Head of Commercial Advisory Canada.
Daniel has more than 20 years of experience in strategic and commercial planning for large infrastructure projects in Canada and abroad. Daniel’s expertise encompasses business case development and modeling, franchise and concession bidding and procurement, market development, partnering and stakeholder management.
Daniel has supported public authorities and private companies in global markets for commercial considerations in procurements and contracts. Daniel led the commercial review of technical requirements and contracts of the REM LRT project and developed the project implementation strategy for the California High Speed Rail project. He also has established hybrid funding solutions to maximize private efficiency and maintain low financing costs on the REM LRT and several other projects.
Daniel is well versed in public-private partnerships (P3s) and establishing new risk allocations between each party, new funding and financing instruments, and adapting procurement routes to speed up the process to mitigate failure risk. As a public employee, Daniel was responsible for the development of several ‘first-ofs’ in private delivery in transit. He introduced private ridership and revenue exposure in traditional P3 (availability based) projects, advancing acceptable transfer mechanisms in high speed rail, transit and roads. Daniel is a recognized global authority on transit programs, known for his strategic mindset in complex projects and programs, project leadership capabilities, industry insights, and ability to lead teams.
Prior to joining Steer, Daniel was a founder of the Netherlands Ministry of Finance Infrastructure team and led KPMG’s Global Rail Practice for 10 years.
At Steer, Daniel will lead the Canadian commercial advisory practice. In this role he will ensure consistency and quality, developing this offer to assist both public and private clients.
Ian Druce, Head of Canada at Steer said: “We are thrilled Daniel has joined our team. His broad experience across the transportation sector developing business cases, financial strategies and innovative project delivery methods will bring depth to our talented North American team.”
An excellent turnout of attendees joined a high-profile panel of experts at County Hall in central London, sharing an insightful discussion regarding the role of Britain’s stations in placemaking.
Great Britain has over 2,500 railway stations including 400 listed buildings. The independent Better Rail Stations report of 2009 made a number of recommendations for them, including that spending on upkeep and improvement should be stepped up for ten years to catch up on the backlog of upgrading nineteenth-century buildings. Ten years later, the agenda has moved on, with an emphasis on devolution and the involvement of communities in the railway and stations which serve them, to seek wider benefits such as contributions to housing and social inclusion. We brought together four experts with different perspectives to facilitate a discussion on how the rail industry, central and local government and the private sector need to work together to unlock their potential.
Mike Goggin, UK Managing Director at Steer, chaired the panel and was joined by Lord Adonis, former Secretary of State for Transport; TfGM’s Transport Strategy Director Simon Warburton; Rob Heasman, Project Director for Euston at Lendlease; and Jeremy Long, MTR’s CEO of European Business. These four eminent speakers provided stimulating and varying perspectives on how to unlock the station estate potential for placemaking and advancing the social and economic agenda of Britain’s towns and cities.
You can read a full written PDF report of the event here - Britain's stations as placemakers summary (PDF).
Linked below are six videos, one for each speaker presentation and the Q&A. Click through to access each presentation. You can also find images from the event on Flickr.
You can also find images from the event on Flickr.
We are extremely pleased to announce that Steer has been shortlisted as one of the top 100 companies of the year by New Civil Engineer's NCE100 Awards 2019.
The NCE100 Power List recognises the most forward-thinking, innovative firms operating in civil engineering today and we are proud to be part of the top 100.
The winners will be announced at the NCE100 Awards ceremony, where the top 100 companies will also be revealed, taking place on 30 April at the Brewery in London.
I joined the Steer IT team in August 2018 after completing a Level 3 IT degree at college and looking into apprenticeships as a way to start my career. At school, I always found practical training to be the most effective way to learn, therefore, undertaking an apprenticeship felt the ideal route into a career in IT for me. It allows me to learn hands-on in a full-time role, while also gaining additional knowledge in regular external training weeks outside of work.
I currently work as an IT Helpdesk Apprentice in our London office and, so far, it has been a great experience that has exposed me to a variety of different tasks. From buying new stock, to auditing and fixing the software and hardware. I’ve been given excellent support from the rest of the IT team who have assisted me with all aspects of working in an IT department. This includes learning specific technical skills, but also behavioural skills, such as how to talk users through common fixes so they are able to fix the problem themselves in the future. The external training courses build on these skills, while also teaching me the theory behind how the systems and software work. The lessons are always very well organised in both content and the communication between me and my training provider.
I would recommend an apprenticeship to anyone who enjoys learning on the job and in a working environment, rather than in a classroom. The practical experience I have gained is not only useful in my current role, but will also be highly beneficial moving forward in my career in IT, giving me a well-rounded view of both the practical and theoretical elements of IT.
I’ve really enjoyed my time at Steer so far. Everyone has been very supportive of my training and development, and there’s always someone available to help me if I ever have any issues.
Having recently completed a university degree in Business and Management Accounting, I chose the apprenticeship route because, after doing research, I found that it would be a great way for me to gain my ACCA qualification with the right balance of work and study. I attend college a few days a week every so often, which gives me all the knowledge and understanding necessary to be prepared for my exams, while also gaining experience in a full-time role.
I’m only a few months in, but I have found the apprenticeship process great so far. I have attended college for a few days for tuition and revision on a couple of occasions now and found the courses really varied and interesting. There has been a lot of flexibility and support in terms of managing the workload at work around my studies.
At Steer, I have been able to gain a lot of on-the-job training, putting in to practice a lot of things that I had been taught in my degree at university. From cash flows to bank reconciliations and processing invoices, I have learnt a lot during my time here. I have received so much support from each member of my team which has put me in a position to excel here.
I would recommend apprenticeships as it gives you the opportunity to work and study at the same time, with a set structure that makes it easy to balance the two. It allows you to gain the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in a career in your chosen field.
Helen Waters, Associate Director at Steer, has been named in the Timewise Power 50 Awards.
The awards celebrate 50 individuals who work part-time and flexibly, with a spotlight on employers that are exceptional at innovation in flexible job design and / or flexible hiring. The awards were set up to challenge people’s perceptions around what a part-time job is, or can be, and on what flexible workers can achieve.
The judges were tasked with building a distinct list of 50 individuals or pairs of people who demonstrate significant achievement as flexible workers in the broadest sense - from those succeeding in part-time hours or as a job-share team, returning to the workplace after a significant career break, through to those who have used their own start-up status to determine their own flexibility.
At Steer, we are committed to developing work practices and policies which support work-life balance. We recognise that there are times when employees may require more flexibility in the way they accomplish work, or the standard working week may not be suitable, so our flexible working policy is in place to support this.
Yes, you are in the right place. After 40 years, we have changed our name from Steer Davies Gleave to mark our growing international footprint and our expanding portfolio into sectors beyond transport.
Explore our new website to learn more about Steer: who we are, how we work and what our future holds.