The Freewheeling Podcast

This edition looks back at the themes that emerged from the 2025 episodes of The Freewheeling Podcast.We look back at inspirational city leaders who have transformed places for the benefit of their residents (and faced death threats for doing so), we revisit the entrepreneurs building great transport products to improve journeys and we discuss the big ideas that came out of last year’s conversations.I hope you enjoy this retrospective - there’s also a preview of the next season at the end.Thank you so much for listening in 2025 - and, above all, Merry Christmas!

Jane Cole is MD of the best bus company in Britain, at least according to the judges of the UK Bus Awards. In fact, that’s not all: she also leads the best tram company in Britain, according to the judges who awarded them Tram Operator of the Year.Today’s podcast is all about change, but it’s not primarily the sexy kind of technological change that we often think of when we think about change.It’s about culture, community and people - but it’s the stuff that makes the difference between success and failure in the transport sector.Jane describes the changes she’s made happen in Blackpool Transport and how empowerment, community focus and investment have transformed the transport service in one of the most deprived towns in Europe.

Caroline Seton is the co-founder of the London bike share firm Forest.They’re in unambiguous second place to Lime, the great global bicycle behemoth - but, famously, being second makes a firm try harder.In today’s episode, we talk about the challenges of being a shared mobility firm in a municipal environment, the realities of whether cities actually want sustainable transport and the changes she would make to transport policy.Above all - more bike parking and less car parking please!

The Budget has finally been unveiled.But what does it mean for transport?In this week’s episode, I review the budget with Sir Michael Holden, former Chairman of Directly Operated Railways.We discuss the impact on railway economics (and whether there’s money for the fares freeze), whether the fuel duty increases will actually happen, the Government’s commitment to capital investment and - above all - the need for an overarching strategy.

The world’s moving faster than ever, and policy changes with dizzying pace.It was only in 2021 that the Conservatives issued the most pro-bus policy document probably ever published by a British Government.The National Bus Strategy was something of a marvel for those of us who want to see better public transport.It promised a vision of bus lanes in every town, coordinated networks and exceptional quality - all backed up by billions of pounds of new investment.Today, Leon Daniels and I look back in time to publication day and review how it’s gone since then.