Phil Goodwin Reflects on the Evolution of TSU on its 50th Anniversary

At the TSU 50th Anniversary celebrations this June Phil Goodwin, the longest-serving TSU Director, discussed the pivotal moments in TSU's history. During his tenure, the TSU shifted from a self-funded, research-oriented entity to a more integrated and influential player within the academic landscape. 

Goodwin also touched on significant research projects, such as the investigation into young people's changing travel behaviour and the TSU's contributions to the understanding of transport's impact on climate change, expressing his concern about the current lack of urgency in addressing climate-related issues within the transport sector.

He said: ‘Although the harmful effect of transport on climate change has been an explicit theme in national and international transport policy since the late 1980s (and had been foreshadowed in research by the coal and oil industries and others for a century), this knowledge had little influence on transport projects and strategy until much more recently.’

He underscored the TSU's progression from a small research entity to an influential centre for reshaping transport policies and practices. The ongoing importance of addressing climate change and the potential for TSU to continue playing a pivotal role in shaping the future of sustainable transportation.

To read the whole presentation, visit his website.

Phil Goodwin was a Visiting Fellow at TSU in 1976, after a degree in economics, a PhD in civil engineering, and 5 years on policy appraisal at the Greater London Council. He was appointed Assistant Director in 1979, then Director and Reader in Transport Studies, and Professorial Fellow at Linacre College, until the end of 1995, when he and TSU decamped to continue its research programme at UCL until 2004. Goodwin highlighted that the TSU's transformation from its inception in the 1950s as a hub for intellectual activity within the transport industries. He emphasized the shifts in TSU's focus and approach, from challenging prevailing transport economic models to influencing policy decisions based on research.