Transport accounts for one fifth of global CO2 emissions.
There’s no avoiding the need to get to places, which means the change needs to be on how we get there.
Below are Zag Daily’s top 50 mobility industry leaders fuelling the sustainable transport shift from the realms of policy, advocacy, tech, VC and journalism.
Tobias Balchen
Ryde CEO
The micromobility company launched in 11 new cities, sustained EBIT profitability, and ranked number one in all its tenders across the Norwegian market…Tobias helped all that happen in 2023.
Eilis Barrett
Electroheads Content Lead
Eilis is the face behind those YouTube videos telling us everything we need to know about micromobility – the trends, the laws, the reviews. It would be rude not to link one that has over 200,000(!) views here.
George Beard
Head of New Mobility at TRL
Bringing science to the solution, George works on behalf of the Department for Transport to shape the technical requirements of the UK’s future e-scooter regulations.
Rebecca Bellan
TechCrunch Transport Reporter
From journalist to journalist, a shout out to Rebecca who’s covering some of the industry’s biggest news. She is an expert on all things transportation (and writing some of the stories we wish we’d written…)
James Black
WMG Innovation Manager
Working in collaboration with UK bank NatWest, James runs the Clean Transport Accelerator, connecting new mobility startups with technical expertise from the University of Warwick’s academic department WMG to spearhead the UK as a hub for mobility innovation.
Damian Bown
MaaS Master
From founding Kizoom which developed the world’s first public transport journey planner for phones, to joining Trafi as CEO, Damian has been at the forefront of Mobility-as-a-Service before it was even a concept.
Kristian Brink
Urban Sharing CEO
Not only CEO of global micromobility software platform Urban Sharing, Kristian is also President of Cycling Industries Europe Bike Share Expert Group which was behind the first ever mention of bike share in the European Declaration of Cycling.
Isabelle Clement
Director of Wheels for Wellbeing
The UK-wide voice for disabled people who cycle, Isabelle has for over a decade worked tirelessly to close the gap between active travel stakeholders and disability groups.
Horace Dediu
Coiner of the term ‘Micromobility’
Founder of the Micromobility podcast, Asymco, and The Critical Path, Horace is one of the leading voices in the global micromobility revolution.
Richard Dilks
Chief Executive of CoMoUK
With over a decade of transport expertise, Richard is now heading up the UK’s national organisation for shared transport that is committed to promoting its social, economic and environmental benefits.
Skye Duncan
Global Designing Cities Initiative Executive Director
The Global Designing Cities Initiative transforms streets for the people who use them, shaping cities that allow everyone to prosper. Its team of designers, planners, and urban strategists seeks to inspire leaders, inform practitioners, and invite communities to imagine what is possible when designing streets that put people first.
Phil Ellis
Beryl CEO
Phil is instilling micromobility into the younger generation with a bike share system that’s partnered with a number of universities across the UK. Take Bournemouth University which has had 34,000 journeys across 110,000 kilometres.
Andrew Fleury
Luna Systems Co-Founder
With two decades in the field of telematics, Andrew is throwing out the rule book and mapping out the place for software defined vehicles in micromobility.
Augustin Friedel
Senior Manager | Mobility Transformation at MHP – A Porsche Company
We’re always browsing the LinkedIn feed to get Augustin’s insights into autonomous driving, shared micromobility, and software defined vehicles. If we’re lucky, he’ll leave a comment on a Zag post.
Sinje Gottwald
Cake Account Manager and the first person to cross Africa solo on an electric motorcycle
Sinje completed her 124-day journey of 13,000 kilometres from Spain to South Africa on the Cake Kalk AP. Talk about being committed to the company.
Jeyda Heselton
Fettle Co-Founder
The story of how a 32-year-old totally transformed the UK’s cycling service landscape after being acquired by the country’s biggest automotive service Kwik Fit.
Anne Hidalgo
Mayor of Paris, and the first female to claim the crown
Anne is not only bringing the French capital to the forefront of climate action but as C40 Vice Chair for Europe she’s also monitoring where other cities are in light of the COP28 Global Stocktake.
Dirk Hoke
CEO of Volocopter
Former CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, the aviation enthusiast is now set to launch the Western hemisphere’s first ever eVTOL vehicle commercial services this summer.
Camilla Iftakhar
Swifty Scooters Co-Founder
Winner of Best Start-Up at Micromobiltiy America 2023, Camilla’s scooter impressed the judges with her novel LFP battery design used in Teslas. Oh…and she co-created the UK’s first road-legal e-scooter.
Oliver Ivens
Head of Consulting at MP Smarter Travel
Oliver’s work with MP Smart Travel is helping the sustainable transport consultancy be at the forefront of the cargo bike revolution and give clean air to communities across the UK.
Prabin Joel Jones
Mayten CEO
At the top of the Twitter feed for his number crunching, Prabin is one expert voice that’s on Zag’s must-read list. Not just the Founder of mobility tech company Mayten, Prabin also co-founded the healthy meal delivery venture Freshkart, encouraging a healthy and active life all round.
Sadiq Khan
Mayor of London
Away with the Big Smoke. Sadiq has made London a trailblazer in tackling air pollution by introducing the world’s largest-ever clean air zone.
Gabe Klein
Joint Office of Energy and Transportation Executive Director
During his time in the Washington D.C District Department of Transportation, Gabe added sustainability to sustainability with the launch of two of the first solar-powered bike share systems in the US.
Nikolina Kotur
Vianova Head of Market, Nordics & UK
Nikolina ensures road safety never leaves the conversation when sustainable mobility enters. Sustainability = Safety
Kevin Mayne
Cycling Industries Europe CEO and lifelong cyclist
Kevin has more than 20 years experience in cycling advocacy and moved from the European Cyclists’ Federation to Cycling Industries Europe. He brings his expertise from one trailblazing association to another.
Irene McAleese
See.Sense Co-Founder
Irene casually started an award-winning cycling tech business with husband Philip after he cycled home one day in Singapore and said he didn’t feel safe on a bike. 10 years on and See.Sense has partnered with cities across the world to provide instrumental data insights.
Erika Myers
Executive Director of The Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN)
Nearly two decades of service to decarbonising transport, the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI) called her a Remarkable Woman in Transport, DriveElectric called her a Top Woman in Electric Vehicles for Policy and Advocacy, and Zag calls her…simply extraordinary.
Will Norman
London’s first Walking and Cycling Commissioner
Nike’s former Director of Partnerships, Will went from footwear to footpaths and now works with the Mayor of London to see 80% of journeys in the capital made by walking, cycling or public transport by 2041.
Adam Norris
Serial entrepreneur
Having retired from the multi-million valued company Pensions Direct at just 36, Adam has diverted his natural business instinct into tackling pollution with his e-scooter brand Pure Electric.
Ercilio De Oliveira
Delivery Mates Chief Innovation Officer
Think last-mile logistics? Think Ercilio. Ercilio is behind a microhub trial that could trigger a London-wide sustainable logistics revolution, and brings a new dimension to innovation by replacing lorries with electric water shuttles.
Sandra Phillips
Founder of movmi
Movmi has worked with organisations including TransLink, Volvo and Toyota to support the launch of new mobility services. A ‘shared mobility’ connoisseur, Sandra has steered her company’s involvement in over 70 on-demand projects worldwide.
Eric Quidenus-Wahlforss
Co-Founder of Dance
Former Soundcloud owner went from software to hardware and took success with him, having built an e-bike subscription service that’s becoming one of the biggest fleet operators in Paris.
Marvin Rees
Former Bristol Mayor
A voice for the city on how decarbonising the lives of residents comes hand-in-hand with tackling poverty. It’s no easy feat being the Mayor of the UK’s first-ever European Green Capital.
Florent Roulet
Head of Mobility at Bryan, Garnier and Co
Florent’s expert insights on business models, M&A and revenue growth in new mobility is propelling an industry forward that has so far struggled to raise profitable businesses.
Sebastian Schlebusch
Head of Market Development at Dott
One of the select few that led Dott’s expansion into the UK, Sweden, Norway and Israel, and saw a bucket load of tenders en-route.
Brandon Schuh
Christensen Group Senior Vice President
Brandon helps the insurance brokerage cover 500,000 devices around the world. He is Zag’s go-to mobility expert for the ins on insurance trends, payouts, and more.
Caroline Seton
Co-Founder of Forest
A unique adtech business model and in-app corporate partner marketplace – Caroline helped steer Forest into becoming one of the few profitable operators globally.
Damien Shiel
Tier’s Senior Operations Manager
Flashback to when Damien was Voi’s City/Warehouse manager and worked with Key4Life to offer ex-convicts work placements with Voi to break the cycle of reoffending. Now at Tier, Damien is a micromobility force for good.
Heather Thompson
CEO of Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
Over a decade of service to the ITDP which aims to bring 25 million people closer to cycle lanes, Heather is the face of resilience to climate change.
Wayne Ting
Entrepreneur, Investor, Lime CEO
Lime – the micromobility operator that can casually boast 500 million trips taken on its vehicles, and here is the man behind the empire. In 2023, Lime had the equivalent of 5 trips per second for the entire year.
Adam Tranter
Cycling and Walking Commissioner for the West Midlands
With a track record of lobbying for walking and cycling in Coventry, it’s not surprising that the Mayor of the West Midlands appointed Adam to hold the region’s first ever role of this kind.
Alexandre Vallette
Gouach Co-Fonder
Alexandre realised it doesn’t make environmental or economic sense to throw away electric batteries and instead developed a battery with Gouach that can be repaired in just 10 minutes.
Adam Walters
NatWest Enterprise Accelerator Manager
Flipping to the other half of the Clean Transport Accelerator, Adam teaches mobility startups the right way to put your money where your mouth is.
Sheila Watson
Economist, Deputy Director of the FIA Foundation
Executive Secretary to the Global Fuel Economy Initiative and former Senior Special Advisor to the UK government at the Department for Trade and Industry, The Privy Council, The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Foreign Office – resource protection is at the heart of Sheila’s work.
Charlotte Ward
Re-Cycle Director
Charlotte works with the charity to send used bikes from the UK to Africa. 25 years on and the company has sent over 140,000 bikes and hundreds of thousands of spare parts.
Margaret Winchcomb
Chartered Civil Engineer, PACTS Deputy Executive Director
A trusted attendee of all things road-safety, Margaret has led the research on private e-scooter safety to inform future legislation, and is the name behind the associated award-winning report The Safety of Private E-scooters in the UK.
Sandra Witzel
SkedGo CMO
Co-Founder of Women in Mobility UK and Board Trustee of the Research Institute for Disabled Consumers, Sandra uses her transport technology expertise to change accessibility norms and speak out for those that don’t have a voice.
Candice Xie
Veo CEO, and one of the only industry female CEOs out there
“A female, a first-time entrepreneur, an immigrant” – against all the ‘odds’ that Candice faced when it came to VC funding, she built a micromobility company that’s been EBITDA profitable since 2020 and realised she didn’t need the funding after all.
Georgia Yexley
Award-winning inclusive active travel advocate
Georgia is the Founder of consultancy Loud Mobility and has made it her mission to boost the number of joyful sustainable journeys. Camden’s finest.
David Zipper
Senior Fellow at MIT Mobility Initiative.
With words in Vox, Bloomberg City Lab, the Washington Post and more, David has cracked the dynamics between society, transport policy and technology and we’re hooked. A morning must-read for all of us here at Zag.
