“Participating in the Bursary Competition has been a remarkable journey of growth and learning. I would like to thank the TPS for this invaluable opportunity to expand my knowledge, hone my professional skills, and establish myself in the wider industry. I highly recommend the Bursary Competition to other young professionals eager to delve into a new topic and make a meaningful contribution to the field of transport planning.”- Sarah Garvin, 2023 Winner

What a busy and rewarding year overseeing the TPS Bursary competition! At our recent AGM, I was delighted to announce Sarah Garvin the Winner of the 2023 TPS Bursary Competition. Congratulations again to Sarah, and hope the trophy and certificate will be proudly displayed!

Sarah Garvin, 2023 Bursary Winner 

A big thank you and congratulations to all our finalists, who have been awarded the £500 Bursary for completing their research. Please do take a chance to read the Bursary reports, available here.

• Sarah Garvin – Jacobs: “20-minute neighbourhoods: The vital role of transport in creating inclusive communities in Dundee”.

• Greg Sinnett – AECOM: "Metrolink for the Masses: an exploration of the social impacts of extending Greater Manchester’s light rail network into Stockport" 

• Omar Ajaz – Mott Macdonald: “Bus Rapid Transit [BRT]’s Green Revolution: Investigating Environmental Mitigation, Social Inclusion, and Transferrable Solutions for Sustainable Mobility”

• Anshel Cohen – KWC: “What impact did Sheffield's Grey to Green scheme have on social inclusion? Could lessons learned from the Grey to Green scheme be used in other urban regeneration projects?”

And if you’d like to join a lunchtime webinar, to hear directly from Greg, Omar and Anshel, please register here.

“I really enjoyed being a part of the Bursary Competition this year. A standout feature was being paired with a fellow professional who is not only an expert in their field, but is also genuinely interested in the paper you are working on!” – Greg, 2023 finalist

Why am I involved?

I have been involved with the Bursary on and off over the past 5 years and when Jo Ward stepped down from her amazing stewardship of the competition, I took on this new challenge of organising it. And I had big shoes to fill! 

I wanted to ensure the Bursary continued to thrive, as it is an important part of what TPS offers. For example, I was particularly proud when our 2022 winner (Jamie Smith) went on to win the Best Paper by a Young Professional at TPM 2023 with his paper on: Changing the parameters of Community Transport to deliver greater economic and social value to rural areas across the UK.

To me, the Bursary is an opportunity to:

· support development of young professionals, some of whom go on to present at conferences, others use the Bursary to contribute to their Professional Development Scheme, and build stronger professional networks;

· support research on wide-ranging themes of interest to the society, particularly in response to environmental and social challenges, often filling gaps in literature;

· support a community of young professionals and helping attract new and diverse people to the Board (three of our current Board Directors previously took part in the Bursary!). 

Luckily Jo was always willing to talk things through, and I had Ruby’s support and volunteers from the Board helping to review abstracts, papers and act as mentors. This initiative wouldn’t be possible without their time and energy, so thank you very much to James, Jim, Georgia, Daisy and Kieran. 

I was initially nervous about whether the question was too ambitious, and how many applicants there would be. But after promoting the theme at the Transport Practitioners Meeting in June, and on social media, I felt confident it would generate a lot of interest. 

The research question was:

‘Investigate a transport intervention that has been shown to reduce environmental damage. How did it interact with poverty / social exclusion? How transferrable is that solution for other places/problems?’

We had case studies from Dundee (20 min neighbourhoods), Manchester (MetroLink), Sheffield (green infrastructure); and insights on Bus Rapid Transit schemes in Brazil, Colombia, India and Indonesia.

The case studies showed different ways that transport interventions have been designed to contribute to improved environmental outcomes, and also discussed the social challenges that can make or break a scheme, as well as challenges of data collection and stakeholder engagement. Political relevance and support (or lack of), perceived fairness in delivery, accessibility and inclusion all played in a part in how successful the interventions were. It really highlighted to me the complicated and critical role we, as transport planners, play in shaping the places we live and work. 

The quality of the research was very high. A particular achievement when this work is being undertaken alongside paid jobs and with a short timeframe.

To give a sense of the timeline:

-          July: deadline for submission of abstracts

-          August: successful abstracts confirmed and mentors assigned

-          September to November: research and report writing

-          December: submit final papers

-          January: papers and presentations to Review Panel

What’s next? 

Based on feedback, one thing we hope we may be able to re-instate in future years is an in-person Review Panel. As that gives more of an opportunity to build relationships and a sense of working together. 

If you’d like to find out more, or would be interested to take part in the 2024 Competition, please keep an eye out for the announcement of the Research Question, which should be published in June. The timings will follow a similar pattern to those above. 

If you’d like to hear more, join the webinar on 27 March, or send me a message at bursaries@tps.org.uk

"Participating in the bursary competition was my entry point to wider engagement with TPS. It allowed me to meet many members in the society and learn how accessible TPS truly is! Since then, I have been getting involved in more events and have now even joined the Board. I would definitely encourage any young practitioner to participate in the bursary and, in general, to get more involved in TPS. We would love to hear from you!" – Liani, current Board Member and former Bursary winner

- Laura Putt