Nick Richardson is the new Chair of TPS.  Nick has worked on a variety of transport planning projects with an emphasis on transport strategies and sustainable travel, notably public transport.  He is also a Director and Trustee of CILT and Chair of PTRC Education and Research Services.  He chairs the Professional Standards Committee for the TPP qualification and manages the PDS for Mott MacDonald.  He writes a regular column in ‘Passenger Transport’.  Nick intends to strengthen the TPS relationships with other professional organizations, academics, government and decision-makers to raise the profile of what we do and ensure that transport planning interests play a stronger role in changing times.  He is very supportive of events at activities for the Regional and Nations and to continue promoting the benefits of our skills initiatives, in particular encouraging uptake of TPP and PDS.

The new Board members include Graham Grant who is based in the North East and manages the content of our web site, Graham is a transport policy advisor to the Tyne and Wear ITA.  Alina Tuerk is a transport planner at Mott MacDonald with experience in stakeholder engagement, travel planning, behavioural change and mobility management in the UK and elsewhere.  She is particularly keen to support younger professionals within TPS.  Tim Morton is a former Mott MacDonald Divisional Director with decades of experience in a wide range of projects who will help the policy team on the Board.

The AGM also saw the award of the 2012 Bursary of the Year. This went to Rebecca Fishburn for her paper ‘Reaching the target audience: how can we encourage increased mode shift if our surveys are biased towards those already using smarter modes?'

Rebecca's paper, and those of the other finalists, are available here.

Click here for a copy of the minutes.