The Most Valuable Infrastructure We Can’t See: Why Transport Data Is Transforming Everything

The backbone of intelligent transport isn't concrete or steel. It's data. 

I first noticed this shift around the early 2010s. Open data policies began unlocking real-time feeds for developers who could integrate them into passenger-facing products. Suddenly, travellers expected accurate updates on their devices. 

This rising consumer expectation fed industry hunger for more data, from more sources, about more assets. Operations and maintenance departments implemented real-time dashboards. Data evolved from passive records to active decision-making tools. 

What we're witnessing isn't simply digitisation. It's a fundamental rethinking of what constitutes infrastructure. 

From Record-Keeping to Economic Engine 

Transport for London's open data strategy exemplifies this transformation. What made their approach revolutionary wasn't just releasing real-time feeds. They recognised that they were not the only experts at building apps, so the organisation empowered developers to leverage public information. 

By opening live feeds for arrivals, disruptions, and line status, TfL enabled an ecosystem of developers, journey planners, accessibility tools, and mobility apps to flourish. 

The results speak volumes. TfL's open data strategy has generated up to £130 million in annual economic benefits for travellers, London, and TfL itself, according to their own analysis. 

Over 600 apps now run on TfL data, used by approximately 42% of Londoners, creating an ecosystem that extends far beyond what a single organisation could build internally, as reported by Silicon UK. 

This approach set a global precedent. It showed other cities that sharing data strategically can be just as valuable as building physical infrastructure and far more scalable. 

Orchestrating Fragmented Systems 

Great Britain’s Rail Data Marketplace represents the next evolution. Unlike TfL's vertically integrated network, the National Rail industry lacks coherence. 

The Marketplace isn't just a publishing platform. It functions as an orchestration layer, coordinating access, usage rights, commercial terms, and discoverability across a messy data ecosystem. 

Its purpose goes beyond convenience. It allows developers to use disparate feeds to stitch the National Rail sector back together, at least for consumers. 

Switzerland has taken this concept even further. Their federal mobility data infrastructure explicitly recognises that "data infrastructure is as systemically relevant as road and rail transport infrastructure," according to the Swiss Federal Office of Transport. 

Their approach brings together public and private operators across all modes into a shared architecture. This creates a common information layer benefiting journey planners, carbon calculators, and demand-responsive transport models alike. 

The power lies not just in interoperability of data formats but in shared accountability for the overall user experience. 

Beyond Efficiency: Reimagining Cities 

Data-as-infrastructure enables entirely new mobility models and urban planning approaches. At the city level, ride-hailing and cycling data now inform proactive modelling of future travel corridors and 15-minute city zones based on actual movement patterns rather than assumed neighbourhood boundaries. 

This represents a profound mindset shift. It means designing transport systems based not on what we've always done but on what people actually do or want to do but can't. It transforms planning from reactive to intentional. 

Investing in the Invisible 

Realising this vision requires rethinking investment allocation. It's often cheaper, faster, and more scalable to improve data systems than to fund physical interventions. 

In practice, this means allocating capital budgets not just to what moves vehicles but to what moves decisions. It means funding structured, real-time data capture from project inception rather than retrofitting it later. 

Data delivery milestones should become part of capital works packages, not afterthoughts buried in maintenance. 

If even 5-10% of infrastructure budgets were ringfenced for live data systems, integration layers, and feedback loops, we'd see a multiplier effect across operations, planning, and innovation. 

The goal isn't replacing physical infrastructure. It's ensuring it delivers its full potential. 

Overcoming Resistance 

The resistance I encounter isn't outright opposition to data's importance. Most stakeholders agree in principle. The barrier is subtler: the assumption that data layers can be fixed later, once the "main thing" is delivered. 

Time and capital constraints lead to data systems being deprioritised. Focus shifts to concrete, vehicles, or physical milestones, with data becoming something to tidy up at the end. 

By then, opportunities for integration, insight, and adaptability have been missed or become prohibitively expensive to retrofit. 

The Technical Knowledge Gap 

Despite successes and the potential for exploitation, a critical barrier remains. Procurement teams often lack the technical vocabulary to specify what "good" looks like for data and digital services. 

The issue isn't indifference; their backgrounds typically lie in policy, planning, engineering, operations, or finance. The language of digital interfaces, APIs, and live data streams remains foreign. 

This results in tenders asking for "data dashboards" or "open data feeds" without specifying frequency, format, governance, or interoperability. 

What's missing is confidence with concepts like: 

• Requirements on accuracy and reliability 

• Real-time versus batch processing 

• Machine-readable formats 

• API availability and documentation 

• Data ownership, licensing, and reuse rights 

  
  

Without this understanding, teams default to vague requirements or outsource specifications to incumbents, reinforcing the status quo. 

Specifying the Right Sort of Data 

To build integrated, future-ready transport networks, we need a standardised mandates embedded in procurement of transport schemes. This would set minimum expectations for data access, usability, transparency, and openness. 

At its core, such a mandate should include: 

• Machine-readable data output through public-facing APIs 

• Open, interoperable formats allowing different systems to communicate 

• Clear documentation, version control, and developer access 

• Defined update frequencies 

• Data ownership and licensing terms with reuse rights 

• Compliance with existing standards 

  
  

  The key is making this mandate modular and proportionate. Not every supplier needs to become a tech company. But if they're providing a data-driven system, they must meet a base level of openness. 

  
  

This allows cities and operators to build upon what's procured rather than starting over each time. 

Upskilling for the Data Age 

Upskilling procurement teams doesn't mean turning them into data engineers. It means equipping them with tools to ask better questions and recognise the value of open, usable data as core infrastructure. 

The first step is reframing data as a deliverable, not just a byproduct. Procurement teams already know how to request health and safety compliance or equalities impact. They need similar frameworks for digital infrastructure. 

We don't need everyone to become fluent in APIs. We need them to understand the consequences of closed systems, missing documentation, or one-way data flows and feel confident pushing back when data access is vague or proprietary. 

The Path Forward 

Transport data has completed its journey from back office to backbone. The organisations thriving in this new reality understand that data isn't just a technical concern but foundational infrastructure requiring strategic investment. 

The key is framing data infrastructure as value-creating, not just cost-avoiding. When it supports better decisions, clearer communication, or faster delivery, it's already generating returns. 

This ROI compounds over time. The more accessible and reliable your data, the more others can build upon it, and the more resilient your entire system becomes. 

For transport systems truly designed around people's needs, we must recognise that sometimes the most valuable infrastructure is invisible.