Mobility For Life: UITP President Khalid ALHOGAIL

The world has lived through great change in the past eighteen months with the coronavirus pandemic impacting our way of life.

As the only international association of its kind to bring together all stakeholders within the public transport sector, UITP has worked alongside the global membership to continue making the case for public transport throughout COVID-19.

We know that public transport is an essential component to city living, and although the pandemic has changed the ways in which we move around, it has not impacted the dedication and sense of community within our sector.

You will hear people within the sector refer to public transport as the beating heart of our cities and at UITP, advocating for the sector is central to all messaging.

With a focus on rebuilding after the pandemic, UITP is launching a new campaign dedicated to the next steps for our cities: Mobility For Life.

This campaign sends a positive message to remind people how essential public transport is to urban life.

The pandemic may not yet be over, but with cities in certain parts of the world now able to reopen, people are moving around once more. As we look to go back to our places of employment, education, leisure and the arts, public transport is ready and able to take us there.

I’m proud to have dedicated my career to advancing public transport. I know how important it is to society, but I also know how it can fall down the list of attention when it comes to political and financial incentive.

This year I was honoured to be selected as the association’s new President. I am looking forward to collaborating with the global membership, and the dedicated team at UITP, to make sure we grow beyond the pandemic.

Our messaging must remain strong in showcasing to everyone how public transport is about more than getting us from point a to point b. It should be a way of life for all of us. To go to work, to meet our loved ones, to explore cities, regions, and culture; public transport is ever present.

Public transport also plays an important role in the ongoing debate over climate action by contributing towards reducing pollution and bringing healthier and cleaner air to our cities.

As we go back to school, to sports clubs, cafés and to our workplaces, public transport is ready for us. Ready to link our society together, ready to innovate as mobility evolves, ready to foster our relationships, and ready to enhance the cities we live in.

But we need to keep investing, developing, and innovating. If we continue to nurture public transport, it will draw people into cities and create a better, more sustainable environment and economy. Only with commitment from policy makers, industries, and citizens, can public transport and its workers, continue to bring cities to life.

We will collaborate with the UITP membership and relevant external stakeholders to spread the message that public transport is here and ready to play its part.

Mobility links, innovates, fosters, and enhances life.

I hope that you will join UITP in making sure public transport thrives beyond the pandemic. Our cities depend on it and we must all be invested in its future. Mobility is for life.

This blogpost is part of UITP’s Mobility For Life campaign. You can find all its content on our campaign page.

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Mobility for Life

22 Sep. 21