Why the Future of Transport Depends not just on Technology

Transport is undergoing a transformation. Driving this transformation are digitalization and sustainability, the two megatrends identified in the WIPO Technology Trends 2025 Report on the Future of Transportation.

Along with all the excitement and optimism over new technologies, there is also a quieter challenge in public transport. Not enough workers, not enough workers with the right skills, not enough women workers.

Public transport has a people problem.

“Something not often highlighted is a shortage of staff within the public transportation sector in many regions of the world. This impacts not only the hiring of drivers, but also hiring people with the types of skills that electrification and digitalization will need,” says Mohamed Mezghani, Secretary General of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), and one of the expert contributors to the WIPO Technology Trends 2025 Report on the Future of Transportation. That means technicians, engineers, data analysts, digital operators; talent that the public transport sector will have to compete with other sectors for, like banking and manufacturing. If talent flows into higher-paying private sectors, public transport struggles not only to modernize but to maintain basic service quality.

Added to this is the gender imbalance. Only about 20% of the public transport workforce is women, says Mezghani. More striking when considering who uses public transport: in France for example, 60% of passengers are women. This pattern repeats across many countries. Women rely more on public transport yet remain vastly underrepresented among the people who design, operate, and manage it.

On top of these challenges, there is the financial aspect. Increasing costs and not enough revenue.

So, what will it take to make public transport ready for the future?

According to Mezghani, there is a need to take an integrated view of mobility, which means tackling the infrastructure, the system and the passengers as one. Starting with proactively finding skilled workers, finding novel ways of generating revenue and making public transport more inclusive.

Making public transport inclusive is something that Grigore Havârneanu, a Transport Psychologist and Senior Research Advisor at the International Union of Railways (UIC) in Paris, France, another expert contributor to the WIPO Technology Trends 2025 Report on the Future of Transportation, also cares about deeply. “UIC is advancing initiatives to accommodate vulnerable passengers, including persons with disabilities, women, children, and those unfamiliar with local transport systems,” he says. Vulnerability affects not only traditional groups like women and children, but anyone can become vulnerable, depending upon the situation. For example, if you are a tourist in a new country where you don’t speak the local language. Electrification, automation, and AI will reshape transport, but inclusive design will determine if these advances serve all passengers.

The world is racing to build sustainable, digital, smart transport systems. But technology alone cannot deliver the future of mobility. A successful transition to green, connected mobility requires investment not only in buses, trains, and charging stations but also in people.

Then, what does the future public transport workforce look like? Data from the WIPO Technology Trends Report 2025 can help identify the key technical skills the public transport workforce of tomorrow will need.