Our Trainers

Mohamed Abou El Enein, MSc., studied mechanical engineering with a focus on digitalized product development and drive technology at the University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien. Joined “Wiener Linien”, the operator of the largest regional transport network in Austria, in 2019, working in the main department for Vehicle Technology in various innovation & digitization projects. Currently holding the position as a Project Manager for Hydrogen & E-mobility in the department for Motor Vehicles to investigate into battery-electric powertrains and hydrogen powertrains for the decarbonization strategy of Wiener Linien’s bus fleet.

Hans Arby is a senior researcher at RISE Research Institute of Sweden and adviser for public and private mobility actors, focusing on business model and eco system innovation and governance. He is also a member of the Gothenburg City Council and the Urban development board.

He has 20 years of experience within sustainable transport, ITS and has been providing strategic support to cities in developing transport strategies and long term planning and marketing of public transport. He is a member of the UITP Combined Mobility Committee and lead trainer for the MaaS trainings.

He founded UbiGo that launched one of the first commercial, subscription based MaaS (Mobility as a Service) operations in Stockholm.

He holds a MSc in electrical engineering as well as a BA in journalism and have been working with business development, marketing and sales in different high tech industries before entering the mobility industry.

Spanish 

Ignacio tiene un MBA ejecutivo en el IESE Business School, Madrid y estudió inicialmente como ingeniero civil, Universidad Técnica de Cataluña, Barcelona. Ignacio cuenta con una amplia experiencia profesional en RENFE (Ferrocarriles Nacionales de España) actuando como Director de la Oficina de Renfe en Bruselas desde marzo de 2020. Ha trabajado en diversas funciones como director internacional de proyectos especiales en estrategia y desarrollo para RENFE desde 2017. Además, trabajó originalmente en los Ferrocarriles Nacionales Españoles entre 1981 y 1997 en la Dirección de Planificación y Control de Gestión, operaciones, estudios técnicos y departamentos comerciales en los países de habla hispana.

También ha trabajado con la Unión Internacional de Ferrocarriles (UIC) durante más de 10 años como director del Departamento de Pasajeros, Alta Velocidad y Estaciones, así como Coordinador de la Región de América Latina.

Ignacio ha publicado regularmente numerosos artículos, informes y libros relacionados con el ferrocarril y ha asesorado a diversas organizaciones gubernamentales de todo el mundo. Es formador y conferenciante habitual para organizaciones de formación y diversas universidades de China, Corea y España.

English 

Ignacio has an executive MBA at IESE Business School, Madrid and studied initially as a civil engineer, Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona. Ignacio has vast professional experience with the RENFE (Spanish National Railways) acting as Director of the Renfe Office in Brussels since March 2020. He has worked in various roles such as international director for special projects in strategy and development for RENFE since 2017. On top of that, he originally worked with the Spanish National Railways between 1981 and 1997 in the Planning and Management Controlling Direction, operations, technical studies as well as commercial departments across Spanish speaking countries.

He has also worked with the International Union of Railways (UIC) for more than 10 years as director of the Passenger, High Speed and Stations Department, as well as Coordinator of Latin America Region.

On a regular basis Ignacio has published numerous articles , reports and books related to railways and has advised various governmental organisations across the globe. He is a regular trainer and lecturer for training organisations and various universities in China, Korea and Spain.

Carlo Bianco is a highly experienced senior rail Operations Director with railway management roles stretching back to the 1980s. He has extensive international experience across a broad spectrum of rail mobilization, rail operations and maintenance delivery. He developed his career into ATM group, the operator of Public Transport in the city of Milan (Italy). Recently he focused his activity on driverless metro operation and has been for five years Operations manager in Copenhagen Metro (Denmark), system currently operated by ATM.  

In 2011 he has been responsible for the startup of the automatic people mover of Princess Noura University in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). In 2012 he returned in Milan as responsible for the startup of the new driverless line 5 which started commercial operation in February 2013. Carlo’s operations experience also extends to the project phase – pre-revenue operation 

He is currently serving as Safety Director for Metro Network and Operation Director for automatic metro lines in ATM Milan. He is also Deputy Chairman of the Board of Metro Service A/S Copenhagen. 

Guido Bruggeman is an urban transport expert with 40 years of experience. After he graduated in 1975 as a transport engineer at the Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, he started his career at the Municipal Transport Company in Amsterdam.

In 2000, he joined the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London as an Urban Transport Specialist and was involved in many transport projects in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Since 2007 he is acting as an independent consultant and advising international clients on the planning, organization, regulation and operation of urban transport. Among others, Guido acts as project advisor for the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. He is also a Lead Trainer at the UITP Academy. As an international expert he has worked in over 30 countries worldwide.

Büşra Buran received the M.Sc. degree in Industrial Engineering from Galatasaray University, in 2012 and is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Management Engineering at Istanbul Technical University (ITU). She is working for ten years. She worked in different departments of IETT such as planning, BRT (Bus Rapid Transit), and service improvement. She currently works as a strategy development manager at the IETT that is the bus transportation authority for Istanbul. She is responsible for the strategic plan, key performance indicators, project management, quality management, energy management, innovation, benchmarking.

Jug is an architect and mapmaker with 12 years experience in transit mapping. He has designed official public transport maps and traveler information systems for numerous cities around the world including Barcelona, Geneva, Luxembourg, Utrecht, Riyadh, Dubai. He is the founder of the mapping and wayfinding studio inat in Paris and a consultant for digital mapping platforms Apple Maps and Google Maps.

Since 2017, Jug has been a partner at the Dubai-based wayfinding consultancy DezignTechnic. The company builds wayfinding solutions for shopping malls, hospitals and entire cities. Jug posits that wayfinding is “the art of influencing flows” and he is on a permanent quest to reveal the hidden structure and beauty of transport networks.

A senior railway professional with wide ranging management expertise and front line experience in railway systems, operations and maintenance, planning, project development, design and rolling stock manufacturing in Europe, North America, South Africa and Asia. Piers has an MSc in Railway Systems Engineering from the University of Sheffield and was awarded Doctor of Philosophy by the University of Birmingham.

Piers has professional membership of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) and is a Fellow of the Institution of Railway Operators (IRO). He is a railway systems consultant and has worked as an operator, planner, project manager and facilitator, writer, lecturer and expert witness. He is Lead Tutor for two IRO Railway Systems modules and visiting lecturer for the University of Birmingham.

Ingeniero de Caminos, Canales y Puertos por la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) y Master of Science en Planificación Urbana y Regional por el Technion: Instituto de Tecnología de Israel.

Durante más de 28 años trabajó en el Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid (autoridad de transporte público de la Comunidad de Madrid) desarrollando trabajos relativos a Movilidad; Planificación de los diferentes modos transporte, Estudios multimodales del sistema de transporte público; Participación en diferentes proyectos europeos; Planes de Movilidad Urbana Sostenible (PMUS) y Planes de Transporte al Trabajo (PTT); etc.

Desde octubre de 2014 trabaja como consultor experto en transporte público y movilidad sostenible, colaborando con el Banco Mundial, Banco Europeo de Inversiones-Jaspers, la UITP y diferentes administraciones en España.

Es ponente en múltiples seminarios, congresos, conferencias a lo largo de diferentes países del mundo. Es profesor ad honorem en la UPM y en masters de transportes.

After my studies in Technical Transport Engineering, I have been working in the public transport sector for over 35 years. Over the past decades, I have built up a broad knowledge in the field of public transport and an extensive knowledge of the competitive tendering.

Before I worked at the Vervoerregio Amsterdam, I worked as consultant for many years on this topic, helping authorities to organize competitively tendered contracts. Since 2009 I have been working at the Vervoerregio Amsterdam and I am intensively involved in our tender processes. That’s how I was involved in the tender for one of the Amsterdam cases which I will present.

In my work I try as much as possible to convert the ideas of the political directors into concrete and realistic plans, so that they can actually be realized on the road or rail. In this way I also try to get to the results of the tender processes.

Mis intereses han evolucionado con el tiempo pero todo converge. Adoro el mundo académico, allí aprendí mucho de lo que todavía aplico y trato de seguir colaborando tanto desde un lado, formación continua a lo largo de mi vida, como desde mi experiencia profesional para motivar a las siguientes generaciones. Además el desarrollo sostenible ha inundado toda mi carrera profesional como ingeniero, investigador, proyectista y gestor de proyectos y hace que busque cada día algo que mejorar en mi entorno profesional.
En los últimos años estoy buscando ambos objetivos (el pedagógico y la contribución a la sostenibilidad desde la ingeniería) pero a través de la gestión de equipos y personas buscando incluso el desarrollo personal y profesional de mi entorno. El cambio organizacional e individual es posible. Y por qué no, también de un colectivo como el de los Ingenieros de Caminos que solo puede ir a más.

Josep is Partner and Director of Moov, a mobility and transport consultancy. He is a Civil Engineer by training and has developed his professional career to date in transport and sustainable mobility, at advisory, operational, and executive management levels. As a consultant and designer, Josep has undertaken transport infrastructure projects, Urban Mobility Plans, service usage assessments, urban and interurban public transport network modelling, traffic and parking demand studies.

As a service operator, Josep developed the technical office of the Transvia Group and was Managing Director of the Municipal Transport Company of València (EMT), where he led an intense process of transformation turning the organisation into a mobility management company, focused on efficiency, digitalisation and with a completely transformed network. As a result, EMT València service usage grew by 10%, becoming public transport company of the year in Spain in 2017 and awarded one of the best 50 companies to work for in Spain according to Forbes in 2018.

Paul is currently International Business Development Director at INIT GmbH, HQ in Karlsruhe. INIT is the German based leading supplier of integrated telematics and ticketing solutions for more than 700 public transport organizations worldwide.

Paul is originally an electronics engineer, has a 45 year career in military and civilian technologies, the last 20 years in helping people to use Public Transport. Projects in London, Dublin, Nottingham, Pilzen Portland, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia & New Zealand.

Paul is a long serving member of (15 years) the UITP, he’s chaired the technology committee, been member of the Policy Board. He currently chairs the UITP Cyber Security working group; which is developing UITP strategy and a working cyber framework for members.

Paul is a well-known speaker on Public Transport Technology issues at UITP, American Public Transport Association (APTA), Bus and Coach Association (NZ), Bus Industry Confederation Australia, Asia-Pacific Rail and various technology and education events globally.

After graduating from the industrial engineer department, she completed her MBA in London. She completed his PhD in Industrial Engineering at Istanbul Commerce University and completed her PhD thesis on the subject of trasportation hub centers in Istanbul. In 2011, she started working at the Strategy Development Department at IETT and worked on Total Quality Management, Integrated Management Systems, 5S studies and innovation in public institutions. Since 2021, she has been working as the training manager at IETT and is responsible for the training of a total of 15,000 employees, including private public bus drivers. In the last 4 years, she has increased the driver training hours in the institution by 5 times and contributed to the passenger satisfaction of the institution and the development of the individual competencies of the employees. She has been working in the fields of strategic human resources by introducing the OKR (next generation performance system) for the first time in public institutions.

Alok is the CEO & Managing Director of Trans-consult. He is an international expert in public transport operations and management, with specialisation in new technology, artificial intelligence, data analytics, and clean fuel technologies. With 30 years of experience in the industry, Alok has worked with an array of international consultants and leading transport operators such as MTR Corporation Hong Kong and Kowloon Motor Bus Hong Kong.

He is an international expert trainer and a Fellow of Civic Exchange, a Hong Kong-based non-profit independent think tank. He regularly teaches at the University of Hong Kong and serves as a Member of the Transport Policy Committee of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in Hong Kong. He has several publications to his credit, including contribution to a book on best practice in railways operations and management.

Alok is a civil engineer and holds post-graduate degrees in transportation engineering and management.

Alok Linkedin

Alok Twitter @alokjainhk

Graduating university as a civil engineer, Yo joined RATP in 1980. He began in the marketing team and was duly put in charge of Passenger Information. Over the ensuing years, Yo worked to build up RATP’s Design Management function – progressively integrating all the creative disciplines related to transport environment design – product design, information design, architecture, arts and culture management – becoming Head of Design Projects Management in 2011. Yo retired from RATP in December 2023 after 35 years with the company.

Yo’s department steered many of RATP’s infrastructure investment projects, coordinates policies and ensures the inclusion of Design Quality in RATP Group’s corporate strategy.

He serves on the boards of several organizations focussed on design promotion and design education in France and is a former Chair of the UITP Design & Culture Committee.

(EN)

Joe Kenny, CEO of  the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), Ireland and former Chief Human Resources Officer, Bus Éireann, has over 35 years’ experience in a variety of roles within urban public transport covering Human Resources and Operations Management. He holds BBS and MBA degrees from University College Dublin. He has been directly involved in the design and delivery of many training and coaching initiatives and is Honorary Chairman of the UITP Human Resource Commission and a former member of the UITP Policy Board.

He is a Chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) and a Chartered member of the Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT). Mr. Kenny has operated in a consultative capacity within Operations and Human Resource management and delivers coaching and training interventions. He is currently International Social Dialogue Coordinator with UITP and is also Chairperson of the UITP delegation of the ITF/UITP working group.

(ESP)

Joe Kenny, CEO del Instituto de Logística y Transporte (CILT) de Irlanda y ex Director de Recursos Humanos de Bus Éireann, cuenta con más de 35 años de experiencia en una variedad de roles dentro del transporte público urbano que abarcan Recursos Humanos y Gestión de Operaciones. Posee licenciaturas en BBS y MBA de University College Dublin. Ha participado directamente en el diseño y la implementación de numerosas iniciativas de formación y coaching, y es Presidente Honorario de la Comisión de Recursos Humanos de UITP y ex miembro de la Junta de Política de UITP.

Es miembro colegiado del Instituto Colegiado de Desarrollo de Recursos Humanos (CIPD) y miembro colegiado del Instituto de Logística y Transporte (CILT). El Sr. Kenny ha trabajado en calidad de consultor en Gestión de Operaciones y Recursos Humanos, y realiza intervenciones de coaching y formación. Actualmente se desempeña como Coordinador Internacional de Diálogo Social con UITP y también es Presidente de la delegación de UITP del grupo de trabajo ITF/UITP.

Arno Kerkhof was born in 1972 in The Netherlands. In 1996, he graduated as a Civil Engineer at the Engineering University of Delft after having obtained in 1995 a Certificate in Transport and Planning at the French Ecole Nationale des Ponts and Chaussées in Paris (ENPC). Arno joined UITP in 2003 where he carried out the Bus of the Future project.

He is currently Global Head of Bus Division and is directly in charge of all content and knowledge-related bus activities within the Association, coordinating members’ work on the Bus Committee, the Trolleybus Committee, its four Technical and Operational Working Groups and the UITP Industry Committee and acts as senior trainer on a worldwide basis in the development of the UITP training services.

Arno develops cross sectoral activities (Tender Structure platform, SORT fuel consumption referential, Standard Bus Activity Model) and is doing research on Bus Systems.

Arno Kerkhof is a confirmed public transport professional with a long practical and field experience in the services as described above.

Chris is the Operations Manager of International Development Department at Shenzhen Bus Group Co., Ltd., which owns the world’s first and largest pure electric bus fleet and taxi fleet. Chris has worked at SZBG in fleet management, employee training, corporate management and international development. Chris’ current objective is to share the company’s knowledge on electric public transportation, and work with other companies to explore the future of a robust, sustainable and customer focused public transportation system.

Joe Ma is an urban planner with over 35 years of international experience in the field of urban design and transportation planning spanning from the UK, China, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East.  He is an Eminent Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, and a registered Professional Planner (Hong Kong).

Joe is currently an Advisor to the CEO of Saudi Arabia Public Transport Company (SAPTCO).  Prior to joining SAPTCO in 2022, he had been a Deputy General Manager for the Shenzhen Bus Group (SZBG) between 2015 and 2021, taking charge of all international development and branding, procurement, infrastructure construction, and property management, training, and the media business.  A major accomplishment when joining SZBG in 2015 was the successful procurement of over 6000 electric buses and 5,000 electric taxis resulting in SZBG becoming the first fully and largest electric bus and taxi operator in the world. He also took charge of the construction of charging infrastructure including some 2,000 chargers in 150 charging stations for both electric bus and taxi fleets.  As a result of this successful electrification transition, he represented SZBG at the Union Internationale des Transports Publics (UITP) 2019 Stockholm Summit in receiving the international highest “Outstanding Achievement Award”.  He also represented SZBG for high level international governmental and NGO exchanges and cooperation including those with the United Nations, World Bank, Asia Development Bank, European Bank of Reconstruction and Development as well as several climate change organisations such as the California Air Resources Board (CARB), World Resources Institute (WRI), and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Joe is a regular conference key speaker and trainer for the UITP. Between 2019 and 2021, he was the Chair of the UITP global Taxi and Ride-hailing Committee.

During the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020, Joe penned two articles on how SZBG combated Covid 19 and the normalisation of social and economic activities and conducted over 50 online sessions with the global organisations including the United Nations, World Bank, Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI) For this work, he was nominated as one of the 21 heroes of transportation in February 2021 by TUMI.

Prior to joining the Shenzhen Bus Group, Joe Ma was a Transport Advisory Manager for the Sun Hung Kai Properties Group (SHK)， the largest property development company in Hong Kong and the majority shareholder of Kowloon Motor Bus. Main responsibilities included providing business development advice to the Company Chairman on various business and investment portfolios in the UK, Hong Kong, and China, including TOD developments, logistics, infrastructure, as well as the Group’s franchise bus portfolio at KMB.

Before SHK, he worked in the planning and development consultancy industry for over twenty years as a Partner/Director in Llewelyn-Davies Architects-Planners-Designers, a UK-based company, between 1995 and 2006.  Between 2006 and 2012, he ran his own professional consultancy, TMA Planning, and Design Limited, serving a wide range of government, institutional and private sector clients in Hong Kong, China, Dubai, and Indonesia.

Within the public sector, Joe had served as a Planning Officer for the Housing Department of the Hong Kong Government between 1989 and 1994, responsible for the successful completion of a number of public housing projects and new town developments in Hong Kong.  Prior to that, he held the post of Senior Planner in the London Borough of Haringey between 1987 and 1989 responsible for urban improvement programmes and development control work.

Victoria Markewitz is part of the European Business Development team of Via Transportation and ViaVan, the joint venture between Mercedes-Benz Vans and Via, based in Berlin. She is responsible to drive the launch of Via’s and ViaVan’s licensing partnerships with European and Middle Eastern public transport operators and cities.

Prior to Via, Victoria worked as a management consultant for Roland Berger in the Transportation Competence Center, both in Germany and the Middle East, to consult clients on innovative mobility solutions and strategies.

Victoria graduated from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management with a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and a Master in Management degree.

ENG

Beat Mueller is since January 2019 an independent consultant in transport and finance working notably with Trans-Missions of France and Protectas Transport Security of Switzerland.

Before he was for 7½ years Director of International Markets at PostAuto/CarPostal, the main bus operator in Switzerland. He started his career in public transport as Finance Director at TPG Public Transport of Geneva. He holds a master’s degree in Economics from the University of Geneva.

He has been chairman of the Transport Economics Committee at UITP from 2015 to 2019 and was elected honorary chairman at the last UITP General assembly.

He was born close to Zurich in Switzerland but has lived for the last 25 years in Geneva.

FR

Beat Mueller est, depuis Janvier 2019, consultant indépendant en transport et finance travaillant notamment avec Trans-Missions en France et Protectas Transport Security en Suisse.

Auparavant, il était pendant 7 ans et demi Directeur des marchés internationaux chez PostAuto / CarPostal, le principal opérateur de bus en Suisse. Il a débuté sa carrière dans les transports publics en tant que Directeur financier chez TPG public transport à Genève. Il est titulaire d’un master en économie à l’Université de Genève.

Il a été Président du Comité de l’économie des transports à l’UITP de 2015 à 2019 et a été élu Président d’honneur lors de la dernière assemblée générale de l’UITP.

Il est né près de Zurich en Suisse, et vit depuis 25 ans à Genève.

Vefa brings a high level of experience to operating automated and driverless metros. He has worked as a operation line supervisor and chief of operation commissioning 4 metro lines within Istanbul metro system.

His role includes planning and preparing new lines and get them ready for its first passengers, dealing with problems at the commissioning stage or just before it, as well as Budgeting and Planning inventories and staff, testing, staff training, commissioning and operating.

Vefa recently worked as a chief of  operation a driverless metro. He has more than 12 years experience in the industry.

Michael started his professional activity as Engineer in Caracas, Vienna & Barcelona.

He is involved with Public Transports since 1992 when he started at Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), Barcelona. In this company he played different roles. In 2017 he assumes the International affairs management of TMB.

He is member of the International Public Transport Association (UITP), chairman of the Transport & Urban Life Committee at UITP, member of the European Railway Research Advisory Council (ERRAC) and member of Railgrup, the Catalan railways cluster.

Michael Pellot, Head of International Affairs at TMB, Barcelona

An urban planner by training, Stéphanie has more than 15 years of experience in the transport and automotive industries and has reached internationally renowned expertise. She has vast experience in supporting authorities (cities, regions and national levels) in the development of strategic policies for transport and mobility : governance, urban planning, competition and market organisation.

In 2015, she established her own international strategic consulting agency in Madrid, Ubiquity Consulting. Ubiquity Consulting specialises in innovation and new technologies for mobility , such as shared, electric and autonomous vehicles.

Une urbaniste de formation, Stéphanie compte plus de 15 ans d’expérience dans les secteurs des transports et de l’automobile, et a acquis une expertise internationalement reconnue. Elle possède une vaste expérience dans le soutien aux autorités (villes, régions et niveaux nationaux) pour le développement de politiques stratégiques en matière de transport et de mobilité : gouvernance, urbanisme, concurrence et organisation du marché.

En 2015, elle a fondé sa propre agence internationale de conseil stratégique à Madrid, Ubiquity Consulting. Ubiquity Consulting est spécialisée dans l’innovation et les nouvelles technologies pour la mobilité, telles que les véhicules partagés, électriques et autonomes.

Matias Sevel Rasmussen, Ph.D., is currently responsible for the Transportation System and O&M for the new M5 metro line in Copenhagen, leading the M5 TS/OM project supported by an inhouse project organisation as well as a consultant project organisation. The Transportation System entails signalling, rolling stock, railway infrastructure including all systems and the depot, etc.

Prior to this he was leading the re-signalling project of lines M1-M2 and leading the design of other capacity increasing solutions. During design, testing and commissioning of the M3 circular line and the M4 line, he was working primarily with the signalling part. His responsibilities also include the company’s participation in various data science, innovation and R&D projects.

He has a large international network within the railway sector, and is a member of the UITP Automated Metros Platform (AMP) and the UITP Signalling, Energy and Automation Systems Platform (SEAS). He has been involved as an expert in the Next Generation Train Control (NGTC) EU research project as well as the Danish Ministry of Transport’s investigations on conversion of Copenhagen’s suburban rail network to a fully automated system. He was invited as a peer reviewer for Toronto Transit Commission’s CBTC implementation.

At several editions of the UITP training programme on automated metros he has been invited as a trainer, and he has been invited speaker at many conferences and panel debates. At the Technical University of Denmark, he has been a member of a Ph.D. assessment committee within the field of CBTC.

Formerly, he has been working with advanced decision support algorithms in routing and scheduling software systems. He holds a Ph.D. degree from the Technical University of Denmark in operations research. He has a M.Sc. degree in computer science and a B.Sc. in mathematics from the University of Copenhagen.

Rob Roemers is a leading expert in Data & Analytics, specializing in mobility data strategy and governance. As former Head of Data & Analytics at STIB MIVB, he drove the organization to embed data at the heart of decision-making. A successful entrepreneur and former Big 5 consultant, Rob combines hands-on experience with strategic insight to help organizations unlock the full potential of their data. Today, he provides advisory services on data strategy, governance, literacy, and building high-performing data teams, with a strong emphasis on change management to foster sustainable, insights-driven decision-making.

Edgar joined RATP in 2003. He spent around ten years as an operational manager in the operation of the Paris metro, notably as Head of Transport during the automation of Line 1, and later as Director of the fully automated Line 14. He then led the automation project of Line 4 for seven years, before returning to operations to take on the role of Head of Transport for the entire Paris metro network. At the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), he conducted numerous training sessions and led work on the modernization and automation of metro systems worldwide.

Until 2023, Rikesh spent 22 years at Transport for London in a variety of Marketing and Communications roles including Communications Manager, Senior Manager – Digital Partnerships and Head of Open Innovation. He oversaw a variety of online and offline marketing activities to strengthen TfL’s brand recognition as well as its ability to measure marketing success.

Rikesh led the team in TfL that established the organisation’s reputation worldwide as a leader in the use of open data and creating partnerships with a range of technology companies, to provide public transport service users throughout the Greater London area with quality, timely MarComms information that brings tangible benefits to their daily lives.

For Rikesh, it’s critical to constantly shape and communicate the value of a city’s PT Network – to ensure it always keeps pace with the lives of residents and visitors. Public Transport needs to be passenger-friendly in every way possible, without neglecting the appropriate cost-benefit people derive from using it on a daily basis.

Remziye Tanrıvermiş is an experienced professional specializing in human resources and training within the urban railway transportation sector, with over 25 years of experience. She currently serves as the Head of Metro İstanbul Academy and Technical Training Chief. Her expertise includes designing and executing vocational and technical training programs, establishing learning management systems, and managing large-scale training projects, both nationally and internationally. A graduate of Boğaziçi University, she is fluent in English and holds beginner to intermediate proficiency in several other languages, including Japanese. Active in professional networks, she contributes as Vice President of the HR & Training Commission in TURSID and a member of BURA.

Mr. van de Velde’s research and advisory work concentrates on regulatory reforms in local public transport and the railway sector. He is expert on public transport institutional reforms and has a wide knowledge on practices and reforms undertaken in European public transport during the last decades. He participated in many European research studies on these topics and advised local authorities, ministries and the European Commission on issues pertaining to institutional reforms and the introduction of competition in public transport.

RATP group is presently operating in more than 12 different countries. RATPdev is the subsidiary company of RATP in charge of operation outside of the greater Paris region. Patrick is in charge of the corporate and product marketing activities of innovative services for passengers. He is also assisting the RATPDEV subsidiaries in their local marketing operations, such as BOC for Gautrain in South Africa, ATCM in Modena (Italy), M’Dina bus (Morocco), and many others. Within UITP, Patrick Vautier is now chairing the PRESCOM committee, which is in charge of the UITP’s strategy implementation and management.
He has also been president and founder of the Marketing and Product Development Commission (2003–2007) and he continues to be involved in the UITP Youth programme.

1998 – 2009, leading the marketing division of RATP in Paris:
Marketing strategy, market research, PR and commercial advertising, direct marketing and loyalty programmes. In charge of CRM, internet and mobile internet strategies.
Soft mobility modes RATP policies (bicycle, car sharing, park and ride).

1989 – 1997, at TRANSDEV group:
Marketing and development Director – Saint Etienne and Montpellier Transport companies. Designer and project manager for the new tramway in Montpellier (launched in 2000 transporting 100,000 passengers per day).
Reorganisation of the tariff policy and implementation of shared payment system for concessions.

1984 – 1989, consultant in marketing and communications:
Patrick Vautier received a postgraduate certificate in Geography from the University of Grenoble in 1982. He was born in Toulouse (France) in 1958. He is married with three children. He enjoys alpine skiing and long-distance running. He is also involved as an elected member of his Burgundy village community.

Mr Dávid Vitézy is an expert in public transit and urban mobility. Since May 2022, he is Under Secretary of Transport at the Ministry for Technology and Industry of Hungary responsible for the national transport policy, preparing transport strategic decisions and regulations, supervising the state-owned national bus and railway company (MÁV-Volán Group) with over 55.000 employees and ordering the public services. One of the most important goals of his term is to increase the role of sustainable modes of transport, both in passenger and freight transport.

In 2010 he was the founding CEO of the Centre for Budapest Transport (BKK) which is the transit authority of Budapest. Under his leadership, several major public transit projects were successfully completed including tramway extensions, a new passenger information and traffic control system, new sales channels (customer service centers, ticket vending machines) and a new bike sharing system. Modernization of the vehicle fleet (new buses, trams, trolley buses) was also one of the great achievements of his management.

From 2016 until 2022, as Director General, he was responsible for the construction of the Hungarian Museum of Technology and Transport in a new location, in an abandoned former railway maintenance hall in the middle of the rust area of Budapest.

Between 2020 and 2022 he served as the CEO of the Budapest Development Agency (BFK), a government authority which provided a new institutional background for urban and regional development in and around Budapest. Under his leadership, BFK successfully prepared a new Railway Strategy for the Budapest node until 2040, started the delivery of major new transportation projects including the overall upgrade and development of suburban railway and HÉV lines, new railway stations and a planned new railway tunnel under the Danube.

MSc Antti Vuorela has since 2010 been specializing in digitalization and customer experience. He believes that one must listen to the needs of customers and work together with the customers from the beginning. He has over thirty years of varied experience in public transport and transportation systems. The new concept of Digital Dialogue enabling passengers, operators and authorities to work together is truly unique.

Antti Vuorela managed the developing of the Quality Monitoring System of Public Transport (Jola) that was the first modern real-time fleet quality operations management system in the world. He has spoken at various world conferences and UITP training programs. Expect the unexpected is his motto.

Having worked with zero and low emission buses for the last 15 years, David has gained vast knowledge and knowhow in the operation and maintenance side of bus operations.  Since the start of 2024, David is working as an independent consultant to assist and further develop the operation of zero emission heavy duty vehicles. 

The start of David’s zero emission experience started in 2009 when he worked for Tower Transit, a London bus operator.  He oversaw all aspects of the London hydrogen fuel cell buses that were part of the Clean Hydrogen in European Cities (CHiC) and Environmentally Friendly, Efficient Electric Motion (3Emotion) projects. From the start of the projects, David managed the introduction of the buses including setting up of the associated fuelling station and workshop, plus the daily operation incorporating zero emission buses as part of the overall bus fleet. 

Following his time at Tower Transit, David joined Ballard Power Systems Europe as Market Development Manager continuing to develop and promote the use of fuel cell electric buses. 

Alongside his belief in hydrogen vehicles, David is also a leading authority on other low and zero emission technologies and their operation. 

Prior to his involvement on zero emission vehicles, David worked in the manufacturing industry on new product introduction, aftersales support and quality. 

David is a European and Chartered Engineer (EUR ING and CEng), qualified to master’s degree level in both Hydrogen Safety Engineering and Electronics.