The prestigious Transport Planner of the Year award was presented to Sally Gibbons, Head of Traffic Signs and Street Design Policy at the Department for Transport, by TPS Chair, Stephen Bennett at this year's Transport Practitioners' Meeting at an online Awards ceremony held on 2 September for for her work in producing the government's guidance on 'Reallocating road space in response to COVID-19: statutory guidance for local authorities'.  This guidance has played a significant role in supporting the recovery from the COVID-19 emergency through encouraging safe and active travel.

In making the award Stephen said

"This year we had a very strong field, but there was a clear winner as voted by the TPS Board. I am delighted that the award this year goes to someone who played a substantial role in producing the government's guidance on 'Reallocating road space in response to COVID-19: statutory guidance for local authorities'

This guidance set out and clarified how local authorities can quickly, easily and cheaply make roads car-free through local road closures, widen footways, or install temporary cycle lanes. This guidance has played a significant role in supporting recovery from the COVID-19 emergency through encouraging safe and active travel and enabling social distancing during restart

Never before have so many small scale active travel improvements been made across the country at such speed and it provides a platform to deliver a lasting transformative change.

We look forward to hearing Sally's presentation on the Guidance at the TPS Guest Lecture to be held after the TPS AGM in March 2021"

In accepting the Award, Sally, pictured above, said

“I’m very pleased and flattered that the TPS has selected me for this award. The Guidance on reallocating road space was a fast-paced response to the challenges of delivering a green restart and it has been great to see it lead to real changes on the ground.”