The best of Scotland's transport industry were honoured last night at the 14th Annual Scottish Transport Awards, with 400 industry professionals in attendance. Hosted by comedian and presenter Fred MacAulay, the ceremony was held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow. Now in their fourteenth year the Awards recognise excellence, innovation and progress across all areas of transport in Scotland.
The top award of the night for local authorities, Local Transport Authority of the Year sponsored by Clear Channel, was presented to Aberdeenshire Council. Aberdeenshire have launched an innovative scheme to introduce real-time information, progressed in multi-operator ticketing, introduced more electric vehicle charge points, a money saving scheme for road maintenance, produced good road condition scores and a new integrated travel towns project.
In what was a hotly contested category, Public Transport Operator of the Year, Lothian Buses ran out winners. Since 2011, over £18.5m Lothian has invested in low-carbon buses. They operate 85 hybrids, the highest proportion of any UK bus fleet and their 113 service is on track to increase patronage by 100% over the course of four years since its introduction in 2012.
The Rail Supplier of the Year category, which is endorsed by Network Rail, was won by BAM Nuttall for the fourth year running. As well as undertaking large multi-discipline projects, BAM Nuttall has expanded its share of the market in smaller projects, including electrification route clearance work. The key achievement of 2015 was the opening of the Borders Railway, which was brought into service on time and on budget. Since opening in September it has carried more than 500,000 passengers.
Glasgow Airport picked up the award for Airport of the Year for the second year running. 2015 was another year of unprecedented growth as Glasgow Airport marked its first full year under new owner AGS Airports. Glasgow handled more than 8.7 million passengers during the year, an annual increase of 13% and a million passengers more than the previous year. In 2016 it expects to reach the 9 million mark for the first time.
Three personal awards were given out on the night, the first for Lifetime Contribution to Transport, which was awarded to John Elliot. John has served as Chief Executive of Traveline Scotland since 2002, the organisation has grown to be widely regarded as a model of best practice for multi-model travel information and journey planning. Outstanding Contribution to Transport in Scotland went to former Transport Scotland Chief Executive David Middleton who retired in 2015 after 6 years in the post. Journalist of the Year went to Alastair Dalton, Transport Correspondent at the Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday.
Transport Minister Humza Yousaf said:
"It's a tremendous honour to address the Scottish Transport Awards and properly recognise the unsung heroes across the transport sector and in our communities. The people who for example work unsociable hours in challenging weather conditions all year round to keep our buses, trains, planes and roads running.
"Of course I was particularly pleased to see Transport Scotland nominated for six awards but what impressed me most was the passion and innovation on show as we all strive to deliver an improved transport network in the months and years ahead."
Full list of winners and commendations:-
The Scottish Local Transport Authority of the Year - sponsored by Clear Channel
Aberdeenshire Council
Most Effective Road Safety, Traffic Management and Enforcement Project – sponsored by FirstGroup
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and South Lanarkshire Council -Route Action Plans
Highly Commend - Fife Council: 20mph zones
Integrated Transport Project of the Year – sponsored by Abellio
ScotRail, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport and Transport Scotland - Johnstone Railway Station Park and Ride
Best Practice in Travel to School and Work Schemes
Fife Council
Excellence in Walking & Public Realm
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport - The Redevelopment of St Enoch Subway Station
Public Transport Operator of the Year
Lothian Buses
Best Bus Service
Lothian Buses - Lothian Country Buses Service 113 - Going Your Way
Highly Commend: Prentice Coaches – Service 111-122 Connecting East Lothian with Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
Accessibility Project of the Year
Scottish Borders Community Transport Services
Highly Commend: Edinburgh Airport - Travelling with Additional Needs
Achievements in Cycling
East Dunbartonshire Council - The Bears Way
Highly Commend: Argyll and Bute Council - South Islay Distilleries Path
Rail Supplier of the Year
BAM Nuttall
Contribution to Sustainable Transport
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport - Ground Water and Air Heat Source System on the Subway
Most Innovative Transport Project of the Year – Sponsored by Hitachi Rail-EU
The ScotRail Alliance - Borders Railway - Phenomenal Demand and Growing the Economy
Excellence in Technology and Innovation – Sponsored by BAM Nuttall
Clearview Intelligence Ltd, Transport Scotland and BEAR (Scotland) - Installation of Innovative Intelligent Road Studs Scheme to Reduce Inadvertent Lane Transgression on the A720 Sheriffhall Roundabout
Highly Commend: Network Rail - Winchburgh Tunnel, Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP)
Transport Team/Partnership of the Year
Amey - Closure of the Forth Road Bridge
Highly Commend: ScotRail Alliance – Keeping People Moving During Winchburgh Tunnel Closure
Excellence in Travel Information & Marketing
Transport Scotland – Keep Scotland Moving
Airport of the Year
Glasgow Airport - Gearing up for a Golden year at Glasgow Airport
Highly Commend: Barra Airport
Frontline Employee of the Year
Sue Leaton - Glasgow Airport
Demi Wylie - Caledonian MacBrayne
Highly Commend: Aberdeenshire Council Transportation Department
Highly Commend: Martin Brand - First Glasgow
Highly Commend: Dave Hamil - Stagecoach North Scotland
Highly Commend: Nigel Harrison – First Aberdeen
Highly Commend: Colin Johnson, The ScotRail Alliance
Highly Commend: Tommy Rooney, First Scotland East
Highly Commend: Sammy Torrance, Stagecoach North Scotland
Lifetime Contribution to Transport in Scotland
John Elliot
Outstanding Contribution to Transport in Scotland
David Middleton
Journalist of the Year
Alastair Dalton, The Scotsman
For further information contact Transport Times Events
Contact name: Grant Poulton
Tel: 0207 828 3804 or 07872 488760
Email: [email protected]
Notes to editors
1. The Scottish Transport Awards organised by Transport Times Events, are supported by the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland.
2. The awards were judged by:
• Transport Times Chief Executive and former government advisor Prof David Begg (Chair of the Judging Panel)
• Roy Brannen, Chief Executive, Transport Scotland
• George Hazel OBE, Director, George Hazel Consultancy
• Prof Iain Docherty, Professor of Public Policy and Governance, Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow
3. Photos of the event / winners are available via http://www.greatscotphotography.com/ code: ttawards
