Editorial: Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Transport

Covid-19 has demonstrated an urgent need for transport systems to be more adaptive and resilient in order to respond promptly to any disruption so that their value and supply chains can still be enabled safely and efficiently. Transport systems are the critical urban infrastructure systems, which are the heart and veins of our nation's economy, security, and health. Their operations play an important role in sustainability, resilience, and people's quality of life, which represent the foundation for emerging ‘smart cities’. Current and future generations of transport engineers and practitioners are demanded to build new capabilities by way of life-long learning, in order to manage disruptions and emerging risks (Kaewunruen et al., 2016). Importantly, they will also need to strike the balance among societal needs, business consequences, engineering capacity and environmental impacts in accordance with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN, 2019). Imagine what would happen to our food security and supply chains if road, rail and maritime systems were disrupted during Covid-19. You will see the clear evidence of the criticality of our transport systems. The scale, scope and significance of our transport systems for the ability to respond to any crisis pave the pathway to impact for this issue of Transport.