GoodGeist
A podcast on sustainability, hosted by Damla Özlüer and Steve Connor, brought to you by the DNS Network. Looking at sustainability issues, communications, and featuring global guests from a wide variety of sectors such as business, NGOs and government.
GoodGeist
Celebrating a World Connected, with Mohamed Mezghani
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A new global day is being launched for something no city or region could function without: public transport. We sit down with Mohammed Mezgani, Secretary General of UITP, to unpack the story behind World Public Transport Day on 17 April 2026 and why a simple celebration can become a serious lever for sustainable transport and better urban mobility.
Mohammed takes us from his childhood in Tunisia, where the bus to school meant friendship and freedom, to decades of public transport advocacy across more than 70 countries. Along the way, we get practical about what drives real modal shift.
It is not about blaming people for choosing cars or taxis. It is about political will, investment, and systems that feel effortless: dense networks, frequent and reliable service, integrated modes, and a user experience that works for occasional riders as well as daily commuters.
And above all, it's about connecting people to each other, and to the places that give them joy. A world, of public transport.
So if you care about sustainable cities, public transport policy, and how to make everyday travel happier and cleaner, this positive and progressive conversation is for you.
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Welcome To Good Guys
SPEAKER_02Good guys a podcast series on sustainability hosted by Damla Uzler and Steve Connor. Brought to you by the DNS Network.
SPEAKER_03Hello, hello everyone. You are listening to Good Guys, the message on sustainability, which is brought to you by the DNS Network, the global network of agencies dedicated to making the world a better place. This is Dana from Mila Agency Istanbul and this is Steve from Creative Concern in Manchester.
Meet Mohammed Mezgani
SPEAKER_01This podcast series explores global sustainability issues, how they can't.
SPEAKER_03So in this episode, we are going to talk to Mohammed Mezgani, Secretary General of UITP, the International Association of Public Transport. Mohamed has more than 35 years of experience of public transport and has worked in every field from professional development to technical research, training, and advocacy. Since June 2024, he has also served as president of the European Society of Association Executives.
SPEAKER_01So over the course of his career, Mohammed has led advocacy campaigns, technical assistance projects, research studies, and professional events in more than 70 countries. Amazing. Across all continents. He strongly believes that public transport is about connecting people and improving lives. So, Mohammed, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to Damla and myself.
SPEAKER_00Thank you very much for inviting me, Damla. Steve, thank you.
A Childhood Love Of The Bus
SPEAKER_01Oh, excellent. So, first of all, we love to hear our guests' personal stories, Mohammed. So, what led you to pursue the path that you're on now? Are you fueled by a passion for public transport?
SPEAKER_00Yes, it's obvious. And you know, my passion for public transport started when I was eight or nine years old in Tunisia at that time. And my my father used to drive me to school every morning. And when I arrived there, I could hear my classmates, you know, telling stories about uh about taking the bus and having fun together in the bus. So I was jealous, I must say, uh, and and compared to my boring car trip. And after a few tentatives, my father understood and allowed me to take the bus back home in the afternoon with them. And for me, the bus was like the continuation of the uh of the courtyard atmosphere, the school courtyard atmosphere. And and yeah, I it means it's a place where I was having fun and playing with my with my friends. And I must say, I have been a regular public transport user since then. And when I, like a few years later, when I was studying engineering, also in Tunisia, I had a visiting professor from Switzerland who uh who gave us some lectures on public transport. And I started discovering the benefits of public transport, starting discovering that it goes beyond being a place where I could spend a nice moment with friends and and really much more than than uh than traveling from A to B. So it was really a revelation for me. And I decided to study public transport and I joined the master in Paris. And since then I have been working in public transport and urban mobility-related fields, so as you said, more than 35 years now. And my whole career has been entirely dedicated to, I would say, to this noble cause, because for me it's uh it's really noble cause, and I had I had different roles, but always advocating for the benefits and the people centricity of public transport. I this mission is really important uh and close to my heart. And you know, I tell you, when I when I travel uh with colleagues, for example, they don't like when I force them to take a bus when or a metro when we are at the airport, you know, instead of taking a taxi. And now uh I see my my children, they are now sending me pictures of buses and trains in the cities they visit. And also I'm very proud that my son refused the company car when for his for his job. And uh really uh so for we are we have the we share this together, and even we can we travel with the four of us the family we travel we travel by train or or by bus when uh yeah or it happened it happened many times. So that's to say that my relationship with with public transport has been uh I would say a 50-year old that's 50-year love story, yeah.
Why Launch World Public Transport Day
SPEAKER_03Oh a try to a dream come true. That's great, actually, to hear and to see. So this Friday, it's a very big day, the very first World Public Transport Day with events and celebrations in hundreds of locations across all time zones. Tell us what led you to the idea of staging a global celebration of public transport. Where did this come from?
SPEAKER_00I think you know, yeah, I think it has been a dream actually for many for many years, not to say decades, to have to celebrate public transport, to have this uh global day dedicated to public transport. You know, when you look at the UN uh international days, you have days, you have the international day, the world day of potato, the world toilet day, the world bee day. You have hundreds of this of these dates, you know, days. And and and and most of them are endorsed by the United Nations. So why not a public transport day? I mean, so many years ago, we tried to approach the United Nations to have them endorsed the idea, and we we we didn't have any reaction at all. I must say that the process is very heavy, you know, to have this endorsed day. The process is heavy, the initiative needs to be introduced by government, you know, or by uh or by organization which is recognized uh and allowed to do that. Uh, it was not our case. And until one day a colleague told me, but uh Mohammed, why are we waiting for the UN to endorse it? Uh let's launch it on on behalf of UITP. At the end, you know, we represent the profession, we are legitimate enough to speak on behalf of the of the sector. So we decided to launch it with our members who are who are present all over all over the world. UITP is a big organization, you know, it's 2,000 members in 100 countries. So from now on, I would say the 17th of April will be the World Public Transport Day. And this year and the years and the years to come, hopefully. And uh and you know what? Now the the formal announcement was made at the United Nations, actually. It was made last December when the United Nations launched the UN Decade for Sustainable Transport 27, 26, 2038. So we were invited to speak on behalf of the public transport sector, and we announced that we are going to organize this World Public Transport Day, and it will be our contribution, one of our contributions to the decade for sustainable transport. And so with our members and partners in more than 150 cities, now up today, maybe it could be more in the next days, and with the support of Creative Concern, with whom we we work, of course, closely. So the 17th of April will be memorable day, I hope. And and and certainly the launch of something uh of something the sector could be could be proud of, and we are doing our best to make the sector being proud of. So a great day for public transport.
What Success Looks Like
SPEAKER_01It will be. And honestly, Danla, I can tell you, it's been such an exciting project. I love public transport, not almost as much. Almost as much as you, Mohammed. And so it's just a dream project. And and also some of the events that are taking place are just so fun and it's just really exciting. So a global awareness day, Mohammed, it can be a powerful tool because it aggregates everything from lobbying efforts through to campaigns around behavior change, you know, announcements worldwide at the same time. So it is a it's a great tool and a great tactic for making change happen. So, what shift do you uh think, sort of both real and perceived, do you want to bring about through this day? What does success look like for you?
Make Public Transport Easy To Use
SPEAKER_00I I think the day is first to bring attention to the sector, to the public transport sector, the attention of policymakers, the media, the business community, the civil society. So I would say the the whole the whole ecosystem in and around cities. For us, this is very important. So we want first to celebrate the impact of public transport has on people, those who use public transport and those who work in the sector as well. So the people focus and the people dimension for me is is is very important. Because also we don't realize enough the the benefits it it brings to the society, to the economy and to the environment. So first we of course we want policymakers to realize that when we invest, for example, when we invest one euro or one pound in public transport, it generates four to five euros or pounds in the local economy. So the the weight of public transport in the economy is is considerable. Also, we we see that cities which have a good public transport system, they have better numbers in road safety, for example. In many cities, you I don't know if you you realize this, that in many cities public transport is the first employer. And and certainly the only viable solution for people, for many people to go to work, to visit their families, to go shopping, and and so on. And also the public transport emits emits four to five times less greenhouse gas emissions. So if we speak in terms of climate change and and and so on. So there are so many benefits for everyone. And I would say even for car users, because the more people use public transport, the less cars will be on the road, and and then therefore less traffic congestion for those who drive. So at the end, it benefits to everyone. But I must say, we don't want to make the day boring by sharing numbers and statistics. And so we just want to bring a smile on the face of people and celebrate with them to make them really enjoy that day and realize how much important is public transport. So our members from all over the world, so the public transport stakeholders, authorities, public transport companies, those also supplying and producing vehicles and and so on, technologies will be will be organizing events and communication activities locally to show how cool public transport is. First, we we we cannot blame people for not using public transport. I mean, for me, the priority and the is part of the magic recipe, if there is one, is to convince political leaders and uh and uh decision makers to invest in public transport, to offer their citizens a quality and easy-to-use system. And and I would say model shift because you you mentioned mass model shift, so will only happen if we we have a dense network and a frequent and reliable service. So that's very important. So the the service should be integrated between the different modes, and it must be simple to use. If you have to think more than very few seconds, it's too late. You know, it often happens you arrive in a new city, you are at the station or at the airport, and you want to use public transport, you you stand up in front of this ticket uh machine and you start trying to understand, and after 10 seconds you say, okay, I'm I'm gonna ask an Uber or or take a taxi. So we need to make sure that everyone, and especially the occasional users, can easily use public transport, not only those regular commuters, because for the regular commuters, you know, it's already the same connection, they are using the same network, so it's easy for them, I would say. And uh and this is important. And also we need to consider the needs, the needs of the most vulnerable ones, the children, women in many situations, people with reduced mobility. So if it's good for them, it's good for everyone. And this we need to look at it from their perspective. So so it means that the the magic recipe is to put ourselves in the shoes of those we want to attract in public transport. We don't do it enough. We don't do enough, we don't put ourselves enough in the in the shoes of the public transport users or those we want to attract. And uh and I meet a lot of policy makers, a lot of decision makers, and you know, most of them they have never used public transport. They speak about something they don't know sometimes. And I would like to to ask them just to come and and and experience it. And when you experience it, you see the service it renders to the to the people, and you see also the challenges that the people have, and maybe you can better understand how how how how to to make it successful for everyone. Yeah, and and a very important aspect is that by putting ourselves in the shoes of the people is also to put people at the heart and stop designing public transport from a purely engineering or of or technical perspective. Public transport is not an infrastructure only. Public transport is not a technical issue, it's a political one. And and and achieving a large-scale model shift depends primarily on political will. So for me, the this magic recipe starts from the political willingness to change things and to make mobility system people focused.
Redefining Public Transport Beyond Transit
SPEAKER_01See, I love I get very excited about this, Mohammed. Transport for Humans, just to plug the book, I love, and it sort of gets stuck into the whole idea of user-focused design and the user experience of transport. And and I think it's one of the reasons why you mentioned you mentioned Uber a moment ago. And I think Uber are really interesting because one at one moment you might think, hang on a second, what have Uber got to do with public transport? But I know you've worked with Uber and they've and they're getting into the public transport world. And I've taken an Uber boat in London, and their app can serve me up public transport solutions, can't it?
SPEAKER_00Yes, and Uber is a member of UITP, by the way. Because our our vision of public transport, our approach to public transport, public transport is not limited to mass transit, it's not limited to buses and trains, and is, I would say, everything which is not the individual use of cars. So that's how we see public transport. Means car sharing, car pooling, uh bike sharing, you know, uh ride hailing, it's part of public transport. And and so, and if we succeed to combine these different modes together, different solutions, you know, at the end people will not even feel the need to own a car or to use a car. And they can they can always find a door-to-door solution by combining the different modes. So that's how we see public transport. And we we have the ambition to redefine public transport, to avoid limiting it to mass transit.
SPEAKER_03Wow. Can we just add a special place for the ferries because they are my love?
SPEAKER_00Of course, and especially and especially Istanbul. You know, it's it's it's one of the uh one of the uh of the I would say capital cities of of of water waterborne transport, of course. And and it's it's part, and you know in UATP we have even a waterborne division, so because it's really yeah.
SPEAKER_01I know that's too that's too exciting.
SPEAKER_00It's an integral part of public transport, of course, certainly.
SPEAKER_01Oh I'd like to hang out with the waterborne division, Damla. I think that's the most exciting thing.
Policy Beats Tech For Sustainable Cities
SPEAKER_03I know I got us a little bit off trail. I'm coming back now with the fairies. I'm sorry. So we've talked a lot on this podcast about sustainable urbanism and the future of cities. We often find ourselves returning to the intersection between planning, economies, and connectivity. Are we finally breaking through now and see public transport as well as cycling for Steve and walking placed at the heart of sustainable urban development?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, certainly there has been a lot of progress in in this field in seeing, we see more and more uh mobility plans combining public transport, walking, cycling, and and uh and public transport is now commonly recognized as a key element of sustainable development. But the focus is often on introducing clean technologies rather than rethinking mobility policies. So I would say we tend to improve the status quo rather than challenging it. It's it's because for example, if we introduce electric buses, if we introduce electric buses, it will not necessarily attract more people if the bus is stuck in traffic. So we need first dedicated lanes that will increase the commercial speed of buses, and then if the bus is electric, it's of course better. But but if it is just about bringing a new technology without rethinking the whole system, it will be much less efficient. So we must give priority to working, cycling, and public transport by by giving them the space based on the number of people and not the number of vehicles. So this is very uh very important. And also I would say that sustainability has three three pillars. It it's about avoid, shift, and improve, as we commonly say. So it's important that the all three dimensions covered, they are integrated and not not just one of them. If we if we only introduce a new technology, we are working on the improved pillar. But then what about the shift and the avoid pillar? So that's very important that we we integrate the three pillars together. And here again, it's it's important to increase awareness. And and it's our role at UITP to be heard in in key arenas, like uh I mentioned uh earlier the United Nations, but also the annual uh COP summits, you know, the climate conference, the International Transport Forum, a number of national public transport conferences, and so on to increase awareness. There is a lot about awareness raising because technically we know the solutions. We know the solution, and they have led to to excellent results in many cities in the world. But we need to make them known and and uh and to convince those who will decide on the uh on the relevance of these solutions.
Imagining Life Without Cars
SPEAKER_01And uh so and I I need to put you on the spot a tiny bit, Mohammed, because I just wondered, you won't, I'm sure you won't have had time, but last time I met with Mohamed Damler, I I urged him to watch a film starring Joachim Phoenix called Her. Have you had a chance to see it yet? No, I'm not interested in it. Not yet. I'm very sorry. I mean, obviously, we shouldn't. I've already plugged a book, so now I'm plugging a film. It's terrible, but in this film, Damler, it's amazing. So it's a slightly future world where Joachim Phoenix falls in love with the operating system on his phone, which is a kind of AI personality played by Scarlett Johansson, and he falls in love. And it's a sort of a slightly future world. And it's only about sort of halfway or two-thirds of the way through the movie that you realize that this entire world has no cars. It's entirely public transport. It's amazing. It's just like. Hang on, I've not seen a single shot with a car in. It's like this beautiful new world.
SPEAKER_00Um, and and you feel and you and you feel uh you feel it's normal, you feel you know, I mean that you you can live without with public transport only.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's my world right there. Oh, so Mohammed, listen, we uh we we are gonna have to ask our final question. And you know, we ask this question on every single podcast, and and we get all these different answers. I'm actually slightly nervous about asking Mohammed this question down low, because I think I I I think I know what the answer might be, but anyway, we'll we'll try it. So our final question is this our network is ironically called do not smile because we know that we need to make sustainability a subject that brings happiness into the world. So, what object, place, or person always makes you smile?
SPEAKER_00A lot of things. Actually, no, I I must say I I smile easily. So I smile easily. So, so uh, but uh you know, to make the link with what I said when I started, I would say uh I smile when I see pupils going back home from school on a bus. Because you know, in general, these people they don't like them. The the other passengers they don't like them because they make a lot of noise, they boy go, they shout, they but I when I see them I smile because in I know that they are having fun, and I imagine the dog the jokes they are making, the the way we were making jokes when I was, you know, a child and and taking the bus back home. So uh yeah, that's something that that makes me smile. And uh and it it shows that at the end public transport is making people happy. That's what we want.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, totally what do you think, Damo? Isn't that perfect?
SPEAKER_03This is perfect because it just brought a lot of memories when I was in high school and we were making our driver mad, but having so much fun.
Landmarks Light Up And Farewell
SPEAKER_01Oh, well, listen, Mohammed, um, we're really looking forward to World Public Transport Day on Friday. It's going to be amazing, and it's having the opportunity to work on it has been absolutely extraordinary. So it will be one of many, and we'll continue to talk about public transport. So, Damla, do you want to wrap us up? Oh, Mohammed, one last moment, one last yeah, yeah, on that day.
SPEAKER_00On that day, I hope you will see. I will have the opportunity to to to to look at the uh Niagara Falls lit with the colours of the Public Transport Day. Yes, yes, and the Sea and Tower in Toronto as well. And and the then the Grand Central Station in New York and many other places will be you know showing the colours of the public transport day and showing how much uh color public transport brings to life.
SPEAKER_01Well, I think I think we might be crying on Friday. There will be there will be tears. We said we smiled, we said we smiled, we keep smiling, keep smiling, smiling with tears, smiling with tears, smiling with tears.
SPEAKER_03Oh, mapping so with those big news, I'm wrapping us up. Thanks to everyone who has listened to our good guys podcast brought to you by the Do Not Smile Network of Agencies.
SPEAKER_01And make sure you listen to future episodes. We'll be talking to more amazing people about how we can work together to create a more sustainable future. So, Mohammed Damla, see you soon.
SPEAKER_02Bye.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. Bye.
SPEAKER_02Good Geist a podcast series on sustainability hosted by Damla Ozler and Steve Connor. Brought to you by the DNS Network.
