Tough times for profession, but plenty of reasons for optimism 

Last week’s LTT discussion on the topic ‘Can we retain the transport planners’ skills after the furlough?’ generated a good mix of views, ranging from gloomy assessments about prospects for new entrants, to optimism about the profession’s role in the new challenges facing society, whether those be repercussions of the pandemic or the equally significant decarbonisation agenda. 

TPS Chair, Stephen Bennett, was a member of the panel, and said it was 

“a really challenging time for the transport planning profession. In local authorities, officers have been redeployed to Covid emergency roles or have had to rapidly process new guidance and advice from central government. In the private sector consultants had to cope with major reductions in some areas of work and had to adapt to a much more competitive market. Some areas of work have remained resilient."

“Many larger consultancies have already made cuts to their workforce with many transport planners sadly losing their jobs recently. Others have elected to furlough transport planners through the Government's Coronavirus job retention scheme. But this is reducing its level of support and will close at the end of October. So we could see further cuts to come.” 

But he thought nevertheless that there grounds for optimism for the next generation of transport planners. “The pandemic has created an opportunity for transport planning, particularly around a sustainable recovery that gets us on the right trajectory for decarbonisation of the transport system. And with the Government likely to invest in transport infrastructure to stimulate the recovery, and with its publication of bold ambitions for active travel, there is and will be a huge need for transport planners and transport planning skills.

“Some of this will be for our traditional skills in things like major scheme development, transport, modelling, assessment, appraisal, and street design, planning for local transport. But we will need to develop skills in new areas. It might be things such as data analytics, carbon assessments, engagement with local communities to deliver some of the active travel changes we want to see, and collaborating with other sectors such as spatial planning, education, and health."

Read the full report on LTT’s online discussion which looked at how transport planners have fared during Covid-19 and the future prospects for the profession.

Can we retain the transport planners’ skills after the furlough?