Transport Planning Society
The Transport Planning Society (TPS) is the UK’s sole professional body for transport planning, aiming to raise its profile and guide the profession.
- Date
- 07 May 2026
- Time
This event has now ended
Overview
The TPS in conversation with Arthur Kay
What does car‑dependency truly mean for our societies?
This event delves into the societal, environmental and economic impacts of our long‑standing reliance on private cars.
Drawing on the research and arguments presented in Roadkill, the author will examine how the idea of the car as a symbol of freedom masks deeper structural challenges, including inequality, reduced urban prosperity, and infrastructure systems that constrain rather than enable choice.
We will also explore the practical steps that cities, planners, policymakers and communities can take to rethink mobility in ways that expand freedoms, improve wellbeing, and support long‑term sustainability.
Programme
17.30 - 18.00
Registration
18.00 - 18.30
Presentation by Arthur Kay, co-author of the book Roadkill. Unveiling the true cost of our toxic relationship with cars.
18.45 - 19.15
Discussion and Q&A
19.30 - 20.00
Networking
Speakers
Arthur Kay
Roadkill: Unveiling the true cost of our toxic relationship with cars
author
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Arthur Kay
Arthur Kay is an advisor to organisations making cities better places to live. This includes serving as a board member for Transport for London (TfL), the Royal Academy of Engineering, FastForward 2030, and the Museum of the Home. He is a professor of practice at UCL institute for global prosperity. And author of Roadkill: Unveiling the true cost of our toxic relationship with cars (Wiley, 2025), a ‘Financial Times Best Books of the Year’, with Professor Dame Henrietta Moore. Arthur founded, built and exited several start-ups: the clean technology company, Bio-bean (acquired 2023); the development, and technology company, Skyroom (acquired 2024); and the £100m Key Worker Homes Fund. Arthur’s work making cities better places to live has been recognised by The Guardian as ‘Sustainable Business Leader of the Year’, MIT Technology Review as a ‘35-under-35’, and the United Nations as a ‘Sustainable Development Goals Pioneer’.
Nicola Kane
Steer / Transport Planning Society
director / chair
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Nicola Kane
Nicola sits as the current chair of the Transport Planning Society. She is also a director at Steer, member of the Institute of Transport Studies (University of Leeds) advisory board, the CIHT professional skills committee, and the CIHT future transport visions steering group. She previously held roles on the POLIS management committee and Manchester climate change partnership board. She is also a chartered town planner (MRTPI) and transport planning professional (TPP) and was awarded TPS Transport Planner of the Year in 2017.
Sustainable Development Goals:
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