National Transport Award Winners 2008

Transport authority of the year Buckinghamshire has consistently been judged “excellent” on its Local Transport Plans. Bus priority improvements have helped to increase passenger numbers by 17% and their successful campaigns have improved road safety, and local communities have been given a voice in plans for their areas. And for its record on staff development, the council has been named an Investor in People.

Lothian Buses was names as best bus operator of the year for recently achieving a  customer satisfaction ratings of 80% in an independent Mori poll and crucially, it has succeeded in achieving passenger growth of 40% over the past nine years. Regarded as the UK’s leading municipally-owned bus company, Lothian Buses has introduced state of the art real time information systems and a new luxury service from Edinburgh city centre to the airport; its bus fleet has an average age of less than five years.

Chiltern Railways was named as best rail operator of the year for improving passenger growth by 14% whilst scoring an average of 94.3% measurement on public performance. Chiltern is extending the London-Amersham line to the new Aylesbury Vale Parkway station, due to open two years early this December and is piloting an innovative “tickets by text” service. It has been working with Buckinghamshire Council and Arriva to integrate bus and rail services, and through Project Footprint Neutral is powering its buildings through renewable energy.

Most improved authority Slough Borough Council achieved significant improvements in public transport and integration; reducing road casualties, changing the face of Slough and delivering 95% of the core Slough cycle network; enabling a £6m project to go ahead to improve Slough’s high street and town centre.

Former engineer, Roy Wicks OBE was presented with an award for his outstanding achievement to local transport.  For 10 years, Roy has been a highly successful Director General of South Yorkshire’s Passenger Transport Executive, leading the rebuilding of passenger transport interchanges, the introduction of real time passenger information and the pioneering smartcard ‘Yorcard’.

The late Gwyneth Dunwoody MP was also recognised for her lifetime contribution to UK transport, her daughter Tamsin was there to accept the award. 
 
Secretary of State for Transport the Rt Hon Ruth Kelly said:

“"The National Transport celebrate the considerable innovation and excellence from the largest local authorities and transport operators to single employees and individuals who have shown particular dedication to their work over the past year."
 
The full list of award winners and those who were highly commended is as follows:

Road Safety, Traffic Management & Enforcement, sponsored by FirstGroup – Cheshire County Council. Highly commended - Essex & Durham County Councils.

Improvements to Bus Services - Nottingham City Council.  Highly commended - Peterborough City Council

Cycling Improvements sponsored by DFT - Buckinghamshire County Council.  Highly commended – Kirklees Council

Walking & Public Realm, sponsored by DFT - Brighton and Hove City Council.  Highly commended - Devon County Council

Accessibility Award – Centro.  Highly commended Norfolk County Council & Liverpool City Council

Contribution to Sustainable Transport, sponsored by Highways Agency - Brent Council.  Highly commended - c2c

Travel Information & Marketing - Mersey Travel.  Highly commended -  East Midlands Airport Bus Service

Most Innovative Transport Project, sponsored by Detica - Walkit.com.  Highly commended Dublin City Council & Highways Agency

ACT TravelWise member, Walkit won the ‘Most Innovative Transport Project’ category at the National Transport Awards on 15th July.

 Walkit MD, Jamie Wallace, said of the win,

"We know from our survey work that we’re making a significant contribution to changing people’s transport behaviours – and we’re now reaching a lot of people: over 60,000 unique visitors a month generating over 130,000 routes a month."

Technology - Southern Railway.  Highly commended: Startraq

Transport Team/Partnership of the Year, sponsored by Transport Times – TfL.  Highly commended Stansted Airport Transport Forum & Gatwick Surface Area Partnership(West Sussex County Council)

Joe Clarke Passenger Transport Authority of the Year, sponsored by Faber Maunsell - Metro

Rail Station of the Year, sponsored by Serco - Flintshire County Council.  Highly commended - Coleshill Parkway, Warwickshire County Council

Most Improved Transport Local Authority, sponsored by Acis - Slough Borough Council

Frontline Employee of the Year - Tony Fletcher, Storeman, Gloucestershire Highways.  Highly commended - Mark Leary, Sales Clerk, Southern Railway; Annie Stephens, School Bus Driver, West Sussex County Council; Mrs Jennifer Hooke, Crossing Patrol, Leicestershire County Council; Teresa Steer, Customer Assistant, Huntingdon Station, First Capital Connect; Dave Hawkins and Tereasa Lamb, Bus Drivers, First Eastern Counties Buses

Transport Journalist of the Year, sponsored by BAA - Robert Wright, Financial Times
 
Outstanding Contribution to Local Transport, sponsored by Atkins - Roy Wicks OBE

Lifetime contribution to UK transport - Gwyneth Dunwoody

Outstanding Transport Project of the Year Award, sponsored by Transport Times - Joint winners: Bechtel/Rail Link Engineering & Eurostar

Chris Moyes Award for Public Transport Operator of the Year (Bus), sponsored by Go- Ahead - Lothian Buses.  Highly commended - First Leeds

Chris Moyes Award for Public Transport Operator of the Year (Rail) - Chiltern Railways.  Highly commended - Eurostar & Northern Rail

Transport Local Authority of the Year, sponsored by DFT - Buckinghamshire County Council.  Highly Commended - Kent County Council.