Arup’s Smart Mobility enthusiast Zoe Eather heads overseas on Churchill Fellowship

Arup’s Zoe Eather has started her nine-week international research trip as a Churchill Fellow, looking at Smart Mobility projects, trends and technologies.

Zoe will investigate Smart or Intelligent Mobility – digitally connected transport systems that improve mobility (transportation) for people in small and large cities.

A senior transport engineer based in Queensland, she will visit 11 cities in nine countries to explore how adopting digital technology can make our cities more accessible, liveable and sustainable for all. 

She will meet with, and hear from, entrepreneurs, academics, consultants and government officials and report on how Australia can implement some of their solutions to improve local transportation. 

Her research will focus on mobility-as-a-service, connected and autonomous vehicles, developments in car-sharing and ride-sharing, road-user charging and how mobility is integrated in the cities and communities.

“With all these emerging technologies, the only way to learn is to test and trial them. There’s lots of hype and misunderstandings about terms and impacts and that’s what I want to cut through. I want to bring back to the Australian community real learnings, not just the ones you read in the glossy reports.” Zoe Eather Senior Transport Engineer

Zoe aims to take a snapshot of the current state of Smart Mobility around the world by visiting projects, meeting with organisations and agencies working in the space and by having first-hand experience of the cities’ transport networks.

Believed to be the first person from Arup to receive the prestigious Fellowship, Zoe will spend time in San Francisco, Mexico City, Toronto, Orlando, Denver, London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Cape Town and Seoul.

The Churchill Fellowship funds international travel for Australians to investigate practices that will benefit Australian communities.

“The Churchill Fellowship recognises new ideas. It is a celebration of expertise, innovation, expanding knowledge and creating new and better ways of addressing issues that matter in Australia right now.” Adam Davey CEO, Churchill Trust

Zoe joined Arup’s Queensland Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering team in 2018. She is passionate about Smart Mobility and Smart Communities and connects with other professionals to discuss ideas through her podcast series, The Smart Community Podcast.