If there’s one thing Thomas Ableman knows better than most, it’s that good public transport isn’t just about moving people. It’s about creating experiences for people where they’d rather be, and spend time, getting from one place to another. With that, when you do public transportation well, then you get all the other bits of great cities in which to play, live and work, as he said in our conversation … “If you get the transport right, the housing will come, and then everything else—business, leisure, community—bubbles up around it.”
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? And yet, still too many places manage to make it look a more complicated puzzle to solve than a 5,000-piece jigsaw of a polar bear in a snowstorm.
London: A 100-ish year old case study in doing it right (and sometimes wrong)
We’ll start with London, where until recently Thomas led innovation with Transport for London (TfL), and clearly got to spend some time digging into the archives. Historically, London understood the mobility game. “Back in 1907, you could see Golders Green station surrounded by fields. A few years later, an entire suburb sprang up around it, built on the back of a tube line.” It wasn’t a civic gift, mind you, it was a commercial enterprise led by Charles Yerkes, the Chicago tycoon who tried (and failed) to make it profitable. “He died in poverty, but the city? It thrived.”
Fast-forward to the 21st century, and the formula remains the same. Thomas pointed to Walthamstow (listen the episode and it won’t be the only time he does that!), where an upgrade to the Victoria Line transformed the area. On a local hill you can observe the housing development spurred around the various underground stations. “You can literally see the tower blocks clustered around stations like mushrooms after a rainstorm.”
The thing is though, this integration of housing and transit didn’t happen because politicians had a sudden burst of common sense. It happened because they are forced to plan strategically. “The Mayor of London is legally required to produce both a spatial plan and a transport strategy, and they have to align. Without that, who knows what chaos we’d be living in?”
Why do Swiss trains run like their watches?
Of course, if you want a masterclass in making public transport desirable, you probably end up looking at Switzerland quite swiftly with spotless trains, punctual almost to the second and often with amenities for those that don’t fit the railway commuter stereotype.
"I was on an SBB train, and they’d put some hopscotch things in the vestibules for kids to be able to play on. Some of the intercity trains have full-scale playgrounds with slides and climbing frames”, Thomas enthuses after two recent visits. When he asked the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) team why they go to such lengths, their response was delightfully un-British, or American for that matter: “Pride”.
It’s not just about shiny trains, though. The Swiss fund their transport intelligently. “They have a hypothecated tax system, so they know exactly how much money they’ll have for infrastructure every year. And they reinvest religiously—half for new projects, half for renewals.”
Isn’t that simple, effective, predictable and frankly, enviable.
Oslo and the Autonomous Dream
Oslo is one of the most forward-thinking cities in urban transport, blending a commitment to sustainability with cutting-edge technology. "They’ve completed decarbonization," says Thomas, referring to Norway’s aggressive push toward electrification. The country has invested heavily in electric public transport, including buses and ferries, making Oslo a global leader in clean mobility.
But Oslo isn’t stopping at electrification. The city is also reimagining how autonomous vehicles could integrate into its public transport network. "What is the role for autonomous technology in a city public transport network? It needs to collectively provide the same level of experience as a private car, and that experience is about freedom. It’s about being able to step out of your house and go anywhere instantly."
This clarity of vision sets Oslo apart. While other cities are grappling with the question of how to accommodate private autonomous vehicles like robo-taxis, Oslo is asking how autonomous technology can serve the public good. "There’s a real danger that autonomous technology will materialise as private cars or robo-taxis because it’s coming out of the car-centric culture of North America," he warns. "Oslo is one of the few transport authorities saying, ‘No, this should be part of the public transport system.’"
By prioritising public use over private ownership, Oslo aims to ensure that autonomy enhances collective mobility rather than adding to congestion. Its integration of electrification and autonomy is part of a broader strategy to make public transport as convenient and desirable as car ownership, without the environmental cost.
Trains beat buses … why? Because rails provide a promise.
Thomas is quick to point out that not all transit is created equal. “Trams and trains just feel more permanent,” he explained. “People trust them. It’s psychological. Rails signal investment and reliability. A bus? It feels like something they might cancel tomorrow.”
But he doesn’t stop at the mode of transport. He is evangelical about making the experience itself better. During his time at Chiltern Railways, he focused on what his old boss referred to as “atoms of delight”. Free Wi-Fi? Check, the first to do in fact. Table extensions for laptops? Yeah, because then you can work better. "The goal was to get people using the train, not using the car. That’s the consumer choice. So if you’re trying to change people’s consumer behavior, you’ve got to offer them a better product."
And here’s the kicker: it worked. Chiltern doubled its revenue during his time there. Proof, if any were needed, that people will use and pay for a superior experience if only you will make it for them.
Why cities shouldn’t fear change
One of the greatest barriers to urban transformation, Thomas argues, isn’t technical complexity or financial constraints, but political fear. "Politicians are afraid of the loud minority," he explained, pointing to high-profile examples where backlash threatened bold initiatives before they could prove their value.
He highlighted the expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) as a recent example of this phenomenon. "The Labour Party lost a by-election just a couple of weeks before the ULEZ expansion went into effect because people were talking about it and were fearful of it. But no one had yet seen the benefits."
Despite this fear, history shows that such policies are often popular once implemented. "Ken Livingstone introduced the congestion charge, and he was re-elected," Ableman said. In Walthamstow, where a network of low-traffic neighbourhoods and modal filters transformed the area, the local council leader faced significant opposition. Yet, as Thomas pointed out, "He was re-elected with an increased majority."
His message to city leaders is clear: "All around the world, people who just do this stuff win elections. The fear comes from the period when the change is being talked about, but it hasn’t yet been seen. Once the benefits materialise, the majority of people embrace it."
Reimagining the future travel experience
Thomas envisions a future where public transport isn’t just functional, it’s actually joy to use. Sidebar: I’m hearing that word a lot again, which bodes well given the last episode with Paul, and his book The Joy Experiments.
Thomas asks pointedly, "Why is it that car interiors get plush leather seats and mood lighting, but train carriages still feel like they’re designed by accountants?" This stark contrast underscores a missed opportunity to make public transport as desirable as private cars.
He is particularly vocal about the unspoken subsidies that prop up car culture. "The number one subsidy for cars that everyone determinedly misses is a parking space," he explained. "This is state-owned land that we provide for free to private citizens for their personal use. Imagine if I went to the government and said, ‘I’d like a bigger garden, so give me a patch of land the size of a Land Rover Discovery.’ They’d laugh me out of the room. But if I want to park a Land Rover Discovery outside my house? Depending on where you live, it’s free or a nominal charge."
The solution lies in shifting the narrative and inspiring leaders to take risks. "If we want to make cities great, we need leaders willing to take risks," he said. His magic wand for urban transport would be simple yet profound: "It would be to eliminate the fear [in politicians]. Public transport needs to be so good, so intuitive, that driving feels like the irrational choice."
In his eyes, bold leadership and a focus on customer-centric design could unlock the full potential of public transit. "If the Swiss can do it, so can we, we just need to believe it’s possible."
The ideas, tools and plan is pretty much all there. All that’s left is for cities to use them more, and in doing so, transform not just how we travel, but how we play, work and live.
To being Challengers.
You can find more from Thomas here:
https://www.freewheeling.info/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasableman/
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