THE 61st UITP World Congress and Exhibition being staged in Milan on June 8-10 comes at a time when the public transport industry is facing an unprecedented number of challenges. Though the theme of the event, Smile in the city, is light-hearted, the message behind it is a tough one: the sector must embrace the opportunity for change and position itself at the forefront of the urban mobility system. The acronym Smile represents the guiding theme for the congress as well as the objective for the sector: positioning public transport as a key ingredient in building sustainable and competitive cities.