This year's AGM included the Chair's Annual Report - to access a copy of the summary document please click here. 

The TPS Transport Planner of the Year also gave a presentation - access a pdf copy by clicking here - or watch it online by clicking here.

Chair’s Annual Report

The last year has continued to be a very difficult one for the profession, and this has been reflected in the challenges faced by all of us as individuals, as well as members and Board members of TPS.

Quite a lot of time has been devoted this year to TPS itself, for example we have already completely revised our job opportunities section on the website, and have further changes which will go live very shortly.  This will be achieved within a significantly reduced budget for the website.  On skills and employment more generally, we are close to completing our round of discussions on the impact of the recession and how we should react.  The next step is to present the findings publicly, and seek to raise them with Government and the relevant Select Committees during 2012.

I want to say a word about why this is so important.  It is not just a question of maintaining skills for the sake of it, it is a question of what those skills produce.  Despite the lively debate which occurs around any piece of transport infrastructure, this is usually conducted in a spirit of objective enquiry, always seeking out the best available evidence.  Without this approach, public spending on transport will be wasted, or worse it will be counter-productive. 

I am concerned that an overly aggressive emphasis on growth is being used as a smoke screen to cover the shortcomings of projects which will simply not deliver either growth or, just as importantly, environmental benefits. On climate change, for example, it is too easily forgotten that the UK balance of payments (and thus borrowing) is strongly influenced by the significant imports of fuel for transport. 

Worryingly, our member survey revealed concerns that schemes are decided on political grounds alone, and that objective appraisal is often ignored.  This has not been helped by the way in which the technical sections of the appraiser’s bible – Webtag – have not kept pace with initiatives such as Smarter Choices.  TPS will be gathering views on this topic during March to make a major input on the DfT’s draft proposals – they need improvement!

For this reason, our events programme this year reflects both the issues of transport and climate change, and looking beyond what we are currently doing with appraisal and what we might do better.

I would also like to say that I have been concerned to build a closer working relationship with CIHT on skills issues.  The two organisations are as one on the need to promote the TPP, and also to review its operation.  With the help of the Rees Jeffreys Fund, we are about to launch research among both our memberships to uncover any barriers which are holding back applicants. 

Meanwhile, we are promoting the TPS Professional Development Scheme, not just as a means to the TPP, but as structured way of developing transport planning skills in their own right.  We have just launched a special initiative for local authorities who wish to participate, and are promoting this throughout 2012.

One perennial skills issue is how to widen the knowledge and experience of transport planners.  The problem is that if you’re good at something, you get to do more of that something, and less of other types of work (modelling is the classic example).  We need depth but we also need breadth – this is active in our thoughts and is relevant whatever the economic situation.

This is related to the key issue of promoting the profession and the work that we do. 

On the policy front we have responded to Government on major topics, such as HS2 and the aviation framework, but I think we should try to become more proactive this year.  There is a need to ask the fundamental questions about what we should expect from our transport systems in the future years, and, increasingly important, how they relate to our communications networks.  I think this is more important in a time when money is short, not less.  We are setting up new ways for members to get involved.

As regards membership itself, I am continuing to get out to meet our regional groups, and we have reallocated part of our budget to give them more support this year.  I was in Liverpool for the North West Transport lecture in February, and will be in the North East in May and Scotland in June, the latter for an event on climate change.  Despite the increasingly testing issue of earning a living, I would also like to thank the Board for their great support during the year.

Finally I would like to say that transport planners do need to relax a bit and TPS has always tried to provide some opportunities to do this, and I went to the pub quiz in March.   Rumours that I got a question on Webtag wrong are sadly correct.  It’s all part of that very useful function called networking.  I am glad to say this is flexible enough to cover a drink in the pub as well as lively debate on microsimulation, and many members partake in both, sometimes at the same time!

Keith Buchan
March 2012
A summary of his Chair’s report given to the 2012 AGM