How Intelligent Transportation Systems are Reshaping the Future of Mobility: A Q&A with Paul Rendle

We’re living in the era of digital disruption and we need bold digital and technology leadership now more than ever before. Leading this change demands knowledge, imagination, new thinking, an appetite to reinvent and the courage to challenge conventions.

In this series, we're celebrating our team of digital and technology experts and visionaries, spearheading the development and delivery of our technology-forward solutions for smarter working, and better living in Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

For this feature, we caught up with Paul Rendle, our technical director of intelligent transport systems (ITS) for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, to understand how ITS helps solve complex mobility challenges amidst the surging population and growth of megacities across the world while unlocking new frontiers in future transportation.

Let's get to know Paul:

Hi Paul! Tell us a bit about your career background and role at Jacobs.

I started working in Intelligent Transport Systems when I was 16 in the United Kingdom, and did an apprenticeship with the Southwest region motorway maintenance contractor. My career quickly grew from there. I spent the next nine years working as an engineer servicing and maintaining ITS equipment, including the cameras at the top of the Severn Bridge, which linked the motorway between the U.K. and Wales. In 2005, I was offered an opportunity to become the ITS Project Engineer in New Zealand for a major junction upgrade project, which was meant to be a two-year project where I would return to the U.K. soon after.

I remained in New Zealand to carry on working on Auckland and Wellington ITS projects. In 2011, I was offered the opportunity to join SKM (later becoming Jacobs) in Brisbane and become the local ITS lead. At that time, there were no other ITS engineers in the Brisbane office, and I got the opportunity to join the team and build the ITS business. It wasn't long before we had another engineer join the team, and we started working on some great projects, including a Lite Rail and Busway project. I have been lucky enough to have been able to work on projects across Australia and secondments to our client's offices to work on developing ITS requirements. Today, 10 years later, we have one of the largest dedicated ITS teams in the region. As the technical director, my role has allowed me to contribute to our strategy, work on the team's growth with our section and team leads, and mentor the engineers. In Queensland, I also undertake design lead roles on our smart motorway projects and have been lucky enough to work on some great projects in the region, including three stages of the Pacific Motorway Upgrade Eight Mile Plains to Daisy Hill program.

What sparked your interest in pursuing a career in this field?

It was by chance that I ended up working in ITS. I was studying electrical and electronics. My lecturer approached me to be put forward as an audio-visual apprentice for Serco, repairing TVs and video players from the local schools. When I started with them, they needed another resource to help install the new camera system in the southwest of the U.K. Within six months, I was no longer the apprentice but an assistant technician working on the side of the motorway, the day after I passed my driving test, I was given the keys to a van and sent out on the road. Since then, I have been hooked on ITS and have worked in the discipline.

The surging population and growth of megacities are driving the deployment of intelligent transportation systems worldwide. How will it transform the future of transport and mobility?

When I started in the industry, ITS was the add-on or last thing that most projects would include in the scope. It was also the first thing that would get cut when budgets ran out. Now ITS is driving our major road projects. With the deployment of smart motorways on our roads, the ITS deployment leads the projects to get the operational outcome road operators need – to manage the ever-increasing transport demands. With the inclusion of autonomous vehicles on our roads, and technology being fitted in cars, ITS will continue to play a part in the future. Roadside technology will inform these vehicles of road hazards ahead, speed changes, queuing vehicles and red-light warnings at signalized intersections.