David Ashmore, Director

David is an international transport policy and sector reform specialist who leads LeighFisher’s Asian surface transport practice from the Delhi office. He has over eighteen years experience having led projects all over the world, predominantly in an advisory capacity but also within government itself. His clients have included government agencies, operators, audit firms, financiers and manufacturers. The sectors within which he has worked include rail, urban transit, bus, ferry, and intelligent transport systems (ITS).

David has recently directed a job advising an infrastructure firm on the development of a tolled highway in Karnataka and an investor assessing an equity stake in a toll road in Bangladesh.

He was based in London during the early part of his career which initially focussed upon performance improvement and benchmarking; he then specialised in strategic advice on the development and risk management of ITS, and public private partnerships. In 2002 David left the United Kingdom for a nine year period in the Southern Hemisphere (Wellington, Sydney, Cape Town and Auckland) where he continued to advise on ITS risk management and efficiency improvements. It was during this period overseas he became heavily involved in public transport sector reform through contracting and outsourcing.

Between 2008 and 2010 David was a critical liaison between Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) and the New Zealand Ministry of Transport for the development of the initial 2008 Public Transport Management Act (which set out the regulatory parameters of bus and ferry procurement) and subsequent definitions of a potential operating model which maximised opportunities for commercial services whilst ensuring value for money. Whilst with ARTA he also played a key role in developing open access agreements in both the ferry and rail sector.

In 2007 David was the lead advisor to the Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works on the consolidation of the bus industry in Cape Town through performance based contracts and recapitalisation of the minibus industry.

Between 2007 and 2008 he was the lead advisor to the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (and previously the Auckland Regional Council) on an appropriate bus and ferry procurement framework and contracting mechanism to meet stated policy goals.

In 2005 and 2006 David was heavily involved in the reform of New South Wales’ bus sector both acting as lead negotiator for bidders in an urban context and as an advisor to the Ministry of Transport for the reform of the Rural and Interurban sector. In 2003 he led a technical team assessing the performance of Indonesia’s rail and ferry sectors. Between 1998 and 2001 he assisted the Department of Transport and several UK Local Authorities with the development of business cases for their smartcard transport ticketing systems.

David holds a Masters degree in Transport from Imperial College London and a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from University College London. He is also a Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, and has lectured on postgraduate programs at the Universities of London and Newcastle.