Track Focus: People Centricity
If people can’t easily use public transport, they simply won’t use it at all. But public transport is – and can be – for everyone.
Evolving mobility habits, workforce changes, technological advances, and the sustainable transition; all these shifts give us both the chance and reason to implement strategies that put people first.
At the UITP Hamburg Summit on 15-18 June 2025, the world’s public transport professionals will hold four days of activities and discussions covering the most important topics in the public transport sector. And that includes how to make public transport people-centric.
What is people-centricity in public transport?
When we focus on individuals and communities, we can better reflect and meet the values, needs, and well-being of passengers and employees.
Mobility is an essential aspect of social inclusion, as well as an important pillar of public transport services. The people- and community-centered approach takes into account social aspects such as workforce management, diversity and inclusion, safety, and affordability.
6 discussions about people-centricity you can expect at the UITP Summit 2025
How to package the benefits of public transport for people
Sustainable. Efficient. Space-saving. We know what public transport offers people and cities, but sustainable public transport betters people’s lives in many ways.
Sustainable mobility leads to cleaner air, increased physical activity, and ultimately improved health.
And when we discuss these wider benefits and externalities, we are more ready to advocate and communicate for what we in the public transport sector do – let’s be clear, we make cities liveable, sustainable, and accessible to all.
Diversity & inclusion – public transport as a public service
You cannot have a people-centric service without diversity & inclusion. In short, a service that is both accessible and welcoming for everyone.
As a public service, public transport must serve people with all sorts of different backgrounds and needs.
Sessions at the UITP Summit 2025 will explore how to build a diversity & inclusion strategy, share how different cities made fares affordable and inclusive, and highlight the experiences of women in transport, whether workforce or passenger.
Meeting the needs of our workforce
Our sector can only go as far as our workforce takes us. And right now, public transport employees are going through quite the transition – from aging staff, to recruiting more women, and the impacts of AI on staff and HR operations, retaining staff and making our sector a more attractive employer is one of the sector’s key challenges today.
At the UITP Summit 2025, you will hear insights shared by operators and authorities from across the world.
Making public transport safe and secure
People want four things from public transport – easy planning, simple payment, quality information, and last but not least, safety.
Safety and security is a big discussion, and it encompasses gender considerations, tackling gender-based violence, the training of our workforce, and physical network design.
The solutions for safety and security often involve all kinds of strategies and stakeholders, which is what makes connecting with peers and collaborating with others like at the UITP Summit so important.
Designing people-centric networks and stations
The passenger journey extends far beyond just the vehicle they use to get from A to B. Indeed, the entire network must be people-centric.
At the end of the day, a great passenger experience from start to finish means well-managed crowd flow, clear wayfinding and information, and seamless multimodality. How do we design networks like this?
How can infrastructure projects best deliver on passenger expectations? In Hamburg, experts, designers, and public transport planning professionals will share their expertise.
What’s more, technical sessions at the UITP Summit 2025 include visits to see people-centric design first-hand:
- An Ahoi depot, home to an on-demand ride-pooling fleet designed for a dense urban area
- Multimodal mobility hubs dubbed hvv switch, where passengers across over 220 stations can access car-sharing, ride-pooling, and bike-sharing all accessible through one app
- Inclusive design with the hvv custom assistance app for those visually and hearing impaired. Discover how the app makes public transport more accessible for these passengers – and how this white-label solution can be used by other operators and authorities
Take note; technical visits have a limited number of places! Register for the UITP Summit with an Exchange or Expertise pass, and you will receive an email where you can reserve your place.
A global vision for public transport
Given that the UITP Summit brings together over 10,000 public transport professionals, it is a great place to gain global insights.
When participants from more than 110 countries come together to share their expertise and experience, it is they who make the UITP Summit the world’s most important public transport event.