Doing more with less thanks to innovation and collaboration - the 2025 SWARCO User Group panel discussion

Do you want to hear how you can keep innovating in your highways network when your budget barely covers the basics? Well you’ve come to the right place on this Highways Voices!

With funding under pressure and increasingly complex transport demands, councils and suppliers alike are searching for smarter, scalable solutions. If you’re navigating the challenges of integrating new technology, sweating aging assets, and justifying ROI to stakeholders, this episode unpacks how industry leaders are doing just that — with realism, creativity, and collaboration.

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We're at the SWARCO User Group, where Highways News was invited to host a panel discussion to discuss driving innovation with budgets under pressure, and heard the council view from Sean Bulmer of the City of York, Rob Whiteside from Kirklees and Cambridgeshire's Richard Ling alongside John Pickworth and Andrea Newman from SWARCO.

In this episode you will learn how modular system design is helping authorities build tech gradually, even with tight funds, and how collaboration across departments, and budgets unlocks new opportunities, while you'll also hear real-world insights into the shift from traditional loop detection to smarter, above-ground solutions and how they stack up in practice.

Listen now to hear directly from local authority leaders and SWARCO experts on how they’re making innovation possible—even when every pound counts.

Highways Voices is brought to you with our partners the Transport Technology Forum, LCRIG, ADEPT and ITS UK.