Sue Wiblin

“I am a big believer in diversity of thought. To get the big outcomes, you can’t do things on your own. You need the collective wisdom of a whole bunch of people. Whether it’s providing better bus services or train services, or improving safety outcomes, being able to get from ‘wanting it’ to ‘doing it’ is terribly complex and fraught with all sorts of tensions that need to be navigated. Getting a shared vision is critical because, no matter how much you know, you can only get part way there thinking about it by yourself. 

I love working in an environment where the intent is clear but the ‘how to’ is somewhat ambiguous or undefined. The prospect of bringing structure to uncertainty, and turning emerging opportunities into practical, sustainable outcomes really inspires me.

The challenge of modernising transport

I’ve built my career in innovation and transformation, and I’ve found that few sectors are as challenging to shift as transport. The industry has been shaped by legacy systems, complex operations that move millions of people a day, and deeply entrenched silos. The idea that bus people are bus people and train people are train people, makes it hard to get people thinking across or between transport modes. As a result, much of Australia’s transport innovation has traditionally happened at the edges of the sector rather than at its core.

Transport changes people’s lives, and with that comes a responsibility we must take seriously because when we focus on doing good and delivering real outcomes, our work can make a meaningful difference.

I started out in very technology-focused operational roles. After taking 12 months off for maternity leave, I got a job with the GPT group looking at connectivity between retail and residential precincts around Rouse Hill in Sydney’s northwest. The program focused on influencing the sustainable travel of workers, shoppers and residents in communities which were heavily car-dependent and where conversations about sustainable travel were challenging. 

We shifted the narrative by focusing on what resonated with people. Our bike program sparked a grass roots movement and led to collaboration with the University of Sydney on peer-reviewed papers that pioneered the idea of precinct-wide travel planning and a more systematic approach to changing travel behaviour. 

I went on to join NRMA, leading community programs in their new Mobility Solutions division. The focus was on expanding the organisation’s offering beyond roadside assistance, while respecting its strong heritage. There was always a tension to stay relevant to new audiences without straying so far that existing members disengaged. I learned that while many things are technically possible, not all fit the culture of an organisation and navigating that can be harder than solving the problem itself.

That balance between tradition and transformation continued at Keolis Downer, where I was brought in to turn a winning bid for on-demand transport into an operational service carrying passengers in a defined service zone around Macquarie Park and connecting customers to the Bline - an express bus service into the Sydney CBD.

We had three months to set up KeoRide, including vehicles, staff, a depot, apps, and systems. The bid was light on costs too, so essentially, I inherited an operational model that didn’t exist and financial model that didn’t make sense. 

We made the deadline but, with Christmas coming on, early patronage was low. This was stressful but gave us valuable insights to refine the service. I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved. Having constraints forced us to innovate, and the commercial models we developed were later adopted internationally.
When I got a call about a position involving emerging technologies at Transport for New South Wales, the opportunity to make large scale changes across the state was too good to miss.  It gave me a chance to work across the full mobility ecosystem: from quantum technology to aerial mobility, level crossing safety to multimodal solutions and everything in between. 
I was tasked with developing a testing facility near Orange that was doing a lot of forward-facing programs. The reality was an old airport, with hangars filled with rusty farming equipment and a mouse plague. With persistence and a great team, we secured funding and transformed it into a leading testing facility for safer, more sustainable transport technologies, the only facility of its kind in Australasia. 

As Executive Director of Emerging Technologies, I was also involved in the introduction of new technologies to improve safety at regional level crossings. Doing anything on the rail corridor can be extremely difficult but we made it work and when we launched, all the local people came out to tell us how important this was for local communities.

How diversity can change a sector

Bringing more women into transport is really important if we are to get greater diversity of thinking and the skillsets needed to breakdown siloes and encourage innovation. Women add so much value in the way we approach and do our work. We bring a practical perspective and we’re good at getting people to think differently, have different conversations and to look at something through a different lens.

Unfortunately, from front line to operational roles most transport engineering teams are still heavily skewed towards men. I don’t think girls coming through schools and universities see the stability and opportunities that transport offers. Or the flexibility it can provide that will allow them to build a career and a life. I’m an example of that. I’ve worked in government, I’ve worked in the commercial sector, I’ve worked in emerging technologies and traditional transport operations. The transport industry gives you the chance to navigate your own path and do different things.

Driving change is not easy, but anything worthwhile is hard and rewarding. Today, when I walk through the public transport spaces that I helped design and see people using them, it’s a really good feeling.”