The 2026 Papers List will feature below as Paper Proposals are commissioned
Papers at the JCT Symposium are delivered by practicing engineers, innovators, academics and industry experts. In 2026 seventeen Papers will be delivered in a single theatre over two days, keeping the audience engaged and informed.
If you are interested in proposing a Paper and presenting it for 2026 all we initially ask for is a working title and a one or two paragraph short synopsis. You can make a proposal by visiting our Propose a Paper page. If your Proposal meets some basic criteria you will be contacted via e mail and asked to complete a formal Application.
Papers for 2026
Darren Capes Head of Road Infrastructure Technology - Department for Transport, Traffic and Technology Division, will share important and up to date information from the DfT.
Anthony Gent IEng FIHE - Principal Engineer (Traffic Signals)-Lincolnshire County Council will welcome the audience to Lincoln and The University of Lincoln and will then talk about asset management, local government revenue and budgetary pressures in Lincolnshire.
This project applies previously presented bus route analysis theories and traffic
signal timing adjustments to improve journey times and reliability for prison vehicle
movements, generating significant savings on judicial and court-related costs.
Many of the signalised junctions and roundabouts on the strategic road network have queue detection at the bottom of the off slips. At MOVA sites on short internal links the X loop may also be used to provide a queue detect/hurry call for the circulatory.
A queue on an off slip is likely to be caused by exit blocking or a gridlocked circulatory. Often this results in a battle between hurry calls for the slip road and hurry calls for the circulatory.
But are queue loops and hurry calls better than MOVA or SCOOT
Reducing stationary or very slowly moving queues is one way of reducing congestion, pollution, inefficient stop–start travel, bus travel times and carbon emissions in cities. This paper considers traffic signal control and road pricing together; aiming to eliminate queueing in at least a subnetwork.
The paper shows that policy 𝑃0 (Smith (1980, 2015)), is capacity-maximising for a general network with vertical queueing delays. It is shown that using prices (instead of delays) in the 𝑃0 control policy maximises the capacity of a general steady state network, with zero queues. This result is extended to dynamic networks.
This paper will take a systems approach to the problem, and use floating vehicle data to make the measurements necessary to initiate improvement possibilities.
By analysing the occupancy and speeds of the different possible routes through the system at different times of day, a picture will be built up.
The likeness will be drawn to that of five rivers merging together, and having their flow restricted by bridges, dams, and other obstructions.
The Symposium Learned Programme is split into seven sessions delivered contiguously over two days. Sessions are Chaired (moderated) by leading industry professionals and academics.
Professor Margaret C. Bell, CBE
Emerita Science City Professor of Transport and Environment - Newcastle University. 2006: Honoured Commander of the British Empire for services to Sustainable Transport, Queen’s 80th Birthday. Honorary Fellow of IHE, FICE, FIHT and CMILT and Honorary Editor Chief of the IET ITS. 2019: Rees-Hills ITSUK Lifetime Achievement Award. Founder, in 2000, and Chair of the ITSUK Smart Environment Forum until 2021. 2024: Roll of Honour JCT and Hall of Fame UTSG. Currently the Independent Chair of the Bus Service Improvement Plan Enhanced Partnership Board in Derbyshire. Researching the performance measures for Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory system operating in SCOOT, Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique; evaluating roadside pollution (air and noise) in the vicinity of motorways operating Automatic Traffic Management; understanding travel behaviour of the Tyne and Wear Metro users and influences of mode choice of Bangkok commuters. Exploring the integration of bus, LRT and rail systems with sustainable first/last mile options (including shared e-mobility electric cars, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-Cargo bikes) and ITS traffic control and management offering an alternative to car use to reduce carbon and improve air pollution.
Jennie Martin MBE FCILT, Trustee, PACTS
Jennie Martin has spent her working life in transport – with the then British Rail, the Corporation of London, and ITS United Kingdom. She was Secretary General at ITS (UK) from 2004 to 2023. She is a past Chair of the Network of National ITS Associations. She is the Hon. Secretary of CILT International, Chair of Bus Users UK, a Trustee of PACTS, Member of the ITS Committee at BSI, and of the National Highways Research and Innovation Advisory Board. Jennie is originally from Sweden but a happily naturalised Londoner for many years.
Paul Hutton
Transport Consultant and co-owner of Highways-News.com. Paul Hutton is one of the world’s leading journalists specialising in transport technology. A trained broadcast journalist who worked as a presenter, newsreader and sports reporter on local and national radio and TV, Paul has been in the ITS sector for nearly 25 years having run the operations of two radio traffic news companies. Paul worked on the Travel Information Highway and delivered the Traffic Radio service for government as well as providing traffic reports for the vast majority of BBC and commercial radio stations across the UK and also working in Canada, Australia and the US. He co-owns the website Highways-News.com, provides PR and communications support for the Transport Technology Forum and a number of SMEs, and regularly hosts webinars and moderates panel debates at events.