Season’s Greetings from PTRC! This is the time of year we reflect on past glories – it’s the ’10 best this’ and ‘top unusual animal friendships of the year that’- it is no different at PTRC, as I take this newsletter as an opportunity to reflect both on PTRC’s year and its connection to my infrequent lunchtime exercise regime.

Despite the fact that Guy Fawkes Night has all the trappings of a great holiday – fireworks, creepy masks and  its beginnings rooted in religious zealotry- as an American I find it a bit difficult to get behind a celebration that so overshadows Halloween. 

Shared Space has continued to spark controversy over the past year, and concerns are leading to questions being asked about its consistency with particular aspects of the Equality Act.  The concept of Shared Space involves removing the on-street demarcations between pedestrian space and vehicular space and designing for lower traffic speeds, in the expectation that this will naturally lead to greater freedom for the pedestrian and greater caution on the part of motorists due to increased uncertainty regarding each other’s movements.  

Over the last few years transport planning has seen yet another roller coaster in terms of demand for skilled and experienced transport planners. We are now very much in a growth part of the cycle, with the result that employers, at least in the private sector, are again recruiting graduates and seeking to broaden their knowledge and experience while at the same time undertaking productive transport planning work.  However, local authorities outside London have continuing problems and the picture is one of very tight budgets and skills development too often having to take second (or...

Many councils are blissfully unaware of a hidden but substantial risk of significant financial and reputational damage, which often only comes to light when a hard-done-by motorist delves into the detail of a traffic regulation order and successfully challenges their fine.  Staple fare for the Daily Mail and other tabloids, which gleefully report that the local authority concerned will now be forced to pay back thousands of pounds of illegal fines.  Meanwhile, the council faces a race against time to ensure that errors are corrected and traffic movement and/or parking activities...

At a time when the government is under pressure over future transport provision – particularly regarding decisions on rail electrification schemes in the north and new runway capacity in south-east England, three leading transport experts set out their contrasting views of what the government should prioritise at the annual Transport Practitioners Meeting. 

On this the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta, celebrations, discussions and exhibitions around the UK and the world mark the significance of a document hailed as the foundation for political freedom, human rights and countless democratic movements throughout history.

For decades we have been demanding ever more from our streets. It is not just that people are travelling more. Now there are multiple elements to manage: reconciling the movement and place functions our roads have to perform; prioritising various users in the competition for road space; servicing the economy and society through the utility services under the surface; and more.

The Urban Transport Design Award recognises highways, traffic and transport schemes that do much more than just facilitate movement, and urban realm schemes that do much more than look good...

New highway schemes and developmental infrastructure should ideally be designed and implemented in accordance with safe systems principles.  One way to help achieve this is through the appropriate use of road safety audits, non-motorised user audits and quality audits.  There have been significant developments in this field in the last 12 months with Transport for London introducing a new Safety Audit Procedure in May 2014 and more recently the publication of the long awaited departmental standard for Road Safety Audit; DMRB HD19/15.  The new HD19/15 standard, which...