INSPIRING TRANSPORT PROJECTS REWARDED AT NATIONAL TRANSPORT AWARDS CEREMONY

INSPIRING TRANSPORT PROJECTS REWARDED AT NATIONAL TRANSPORT AWARDS CEREMONY

The people making a real difference to transport across the country were recognised at the prestigious National Transport Awards in London last night, with Leicestershire County Council picking up the top prize of Transport Local Authority of the Year while the London Borough of Ealing won Most Improved Transport Local Authority of the Year.  Northern Rail and Southern Vectis were joint winners of the Chris Moyes Public Transport Operator of the Year award.  Keith Ludeman, former Chief Executive of The Go-Ahead Group plc, was also honoured for his lifetime contribution to transport.

Hosted by radio and television presenter Grant Stott, the awards drew over 500 transport professionals to the ceremony at the Lancaster London Hotel.

Transport Local Authority of the year Leicestershire County Council impressed the judges with its strength on future proofing and forward thinking, making big efficiency gains and major innovation in many areas.  The council was praised by the Audit Commission for finding creative solutions to deliver schemes during the recession.

Named as one of the joint winners of The Chris Moyes Public Transport Operator of the Year award, Northern Rail’s annual PPM exceeded 90% for thirteen consecutive periods and has attracted more passengers – it now carries 86 million passengers, a 3% increase year on year.  Over £8.5m has been invested in improving passenger facilities at stations across the network and their fleet reliability has increased by 45% since the beginning of the franchise. 

An innovative partnership between Southern Vectis, the other Public Transport Operator of the Year winner, and Isle of Wight Council has helped combat funding cuts.  The partnership has created enough stability for Southern Vectis to increase the frequency on its routes between Ryde and Sandown and Newport and the west of the island, and to return a number of evening services to other areas. This stability has cut the cost to the council of its supported bus services by a third, with Southern Vectis adopting more journeys commercially.

This year’s Most Improved Transport Local Authority of the Year, the London Borough of Ealing, has produced hugely impressive results across the board including road safety reduction, travel to school mode shift and cycling improvements.  Investment in cycling has increased by 30% over the last three years to over £700,000 annually, walking and cycling to school has increased by almost 8%, and there has been a 5% reduction in road safety casualties.

John Jarvis was presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Transport award.  For the past 7 years John has masterminded transport strategy in the north of England.  Employed by the Northern Way - an organisation which was founded by the three Regional Development Agencies in the North of England- he brought a diverse group of stakeholders and transport providers together produce a coherent and robust transport strategy.  

This year’s winner of the Lifetime Contribution to Transport award, Keith Ludeman, has enjoyed a 40 year career in the industry.  The latter part of his career was spent at Go-Ahead, initially leading the London Bus Division, before moving across to manage the Rail Division in 1999. He subsequently grew annual rail turnover from £250m to £1.2 billion, securing the Southern, Southeastern and London Midland franchises for the Group.

The National Transport Awards, in association with Transport Times magazine, are supported by the Department for Transport and Passenger Focus. The awards were judged by Chair of the Judging Panel and Transport Times publisher Professor David Begg; John Dowie, Director, Regional and Local Transport Policy, DfT; Andy Southern, Managing Director of Transport and Planning, Atkins; Anthony Smith, Chief Executive, Passenger Focus.

The Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, Secretary of State for Transport said:

"I welcome this opportunity to recognise and reward the excellent work that is taking place across the transport industry, making a real difference to the lives of passengers.

Good transport is vital to our communities and gets to the very heart of the economic growth agenda – helping to create jobs and prosperity. At a time of economic challenge it is more important than ever that our transport system supports growth and regeneration.” 

The full list of award winners and those who were highly commended is as follows:

Transport Local Authority of the Year sponsored by Atkins

WINNER - Leicestershire County Council 

Most Improved Transport Local Authority of the Year

WINNER - London Borough of Ealing

Joe Clarke Integrated Transport Authority of the Year sponsored by AECOM

WINNER - Nexus/ TWITA

Dedication to Access for All

WINNER – Torbay Council – 67 Flyer

Highly Commended - Gloucestershire County Council - LIFT (Learning Independence For Travel) Programme

Improvements to Bus Services sponsored by National Express

WINNER - Peterborough City Council

Achievements in Cycling

WINNER – Essex County Council – Colchester Cycling Town

Highly Commended - South Ayrshire Council - Cycle usage in South Ayrshire

Road Safety, Traffic Management & Enforcement Project of the Year sponsored by FirstGroup

WINNER - Brent Council - Road Danger Reduction Success

Highly Commended - Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City and The Moray Councils & Road Safety Grampian – Operation Zenith

Excellence in Walking & Public Realm

WINNER - Southwark Council in partnership with Mouchel - Reclaiming the Streets - Salisbury Row: the people’s project

Highly Commended - Glenn Howels Architects - Lime Street Gateway

Chris Moyes Public Transport Operator of the Year sponsored by Go-Ahead

WINNER - Northern Rail

WINNER - Southern Vectis

Highly Commended - National Express C2C

Highly Commended - Merseyrail

Rail Station of the Year sponsored by Keolis

WINNER - Merseytravel – Sandhills Station Revitalisation

Highly commended - Southern - Streatham Hill

Contribution to Sustainable Transport sponsored by Heathrow Airport Limited

WINNER - Office Depot – Office Depot Cargocycles

Highly Commended - World Health Organisation Regional Office for Europe - Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) for cycling and walking

Most Innovative Transport Project sponsored by BT

WINNER - Transport for London - Barclays Cycle Hire

Highly Commended - ScotRail – Keeping Scotland Moving

Excellence in Technology sponsored by VolkerWessels

WINNER - Go-Ahead Group - The Key ITSO smartcard for bus and rail travel

Highly Commended - TfL London Rail, Cubic & ATOC - Oyster Extension to National Rail

Transport Team/Partnership of the Year

WINNER - Network Rail and The Samaritans –National Suicide Prevention Programme

Highly Commended - South West Smart Applications Ltd (SWSAL) - Smart and Progressive Partnership Working in the South West – a national first

Travel Information & Marketing

WINNER - Centro - The ‘Theo’ Summer Campaign

Highly Commended - Greener Journeys - Sometimes you can't beat the bus

Highly Commended - Metrobus Ltd - Metrobus acquisition of the Horsham Town bus network - getting the basics right

Frontline Employee of the Year

WINNER - Lisa Barnes, Bus Station Supervisor, Transport for Greater Manchester

Highly Commended

  1. Stephen O'Hara, Lothian Buses
  2. Keith Garton, Station Supervisor, Northern Rail
  3. Ken Holmes, Southern
  4. Dave Smith, Buckinghamshire County Council
  5. Steve Underwood, Buckinghamshire County Council
  6. Ann Murdoch, Service Delivery Manager, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
  7. Willie Dickson, ScotRail

Lifetime Contribution to Transport

Keith Ludeman

Outstanding Contribution to Transport

John Jarvis

Transport Journalist of the Year

Andrew Forster, Local Transport Today

 

For further information contact:

Contact Grant Poulton

Tel: 0207 828 3804

Fax: 0207 828 3803

Email: [email protected]

 

Photographs can be purchased at www.simply-photography.co.uk

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