Transport

The motoring giant Ford has launched a new team to work with local authorities to help shape the changing face of transport infrastructure. Ford’s City Solutions team is part of the international company’s vision for a ‘city of tomorrow’, which was unveiled last month at the North American International Auto Show by executive chair, Bill Ford. The team is believed to be only one of its kind in the automotive industry and will work with civic leaders around the world to develop and pilot projects to address issues like the advent of electric vehicles, pollution and congestion.
Environment Journal’s Jamie Hailstone spoke to Ford Smart Mobility’s director of city solutions, Jessica Robinson, about the company’s vision and the role civic authorities can play in shaping the city of tomorrow.

Why is a company like Ford interested in issues like infrastructure, congestion and the urban environment?

Ford is expanding its business to be both an auto and mobility company, while making people’s lives better by changing the way the world moves. For more than 100 years, Ford has been part of the community and the trusted source for automotive transportation. But it is clear that the transportation system we developed over the last 100 years will not work for the next 100. Half of the world’s population lives in cities, by 2030 that number is expected to grow by 60%.

Infrastructure is complex and often controversial. This is because infrastructure platforms underpin how urban areas function, how they generate wealth and how they create a basis for inclusive and sustainable growth.

The challenge is that for the platform to work properly, the individual ‘bits of kit’ – whether they be transport, energy, water or technology related – often constitute major, multi-million (sometimes multi-billion) pound investments.