The Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) has recognised outstanding achievement across the highways, transportation and infrastructure sector at its annual Awards Dinner 2026, bringing together professionals from across the industry to celebrate innovation, leadership and impact.

Taking place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London and hosted by Justin Webb, the evening highlighted the individuals, teams and projects that are helping to shape a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable transport network.

CIHT President Mitesh Solanki welcomed guests by emphasising the importance of resilience, adaptation and collaboration within the profession, noting the sector’s continued progress in responding to climate challenges, advancing professionalism and strengthening equality, diversity and inclusion.

Reflecting on the significance of this year’s winners, CIHT Chief Executive Sue Percy CBE said:

“The CIHT Awards showcase the very best of our profession. This year’s winners demonstrate not only technical excellence but also a strong commitment to professionalism, collaboration and delivering positive outcomes for communities.

They represent outstanding examples of best practice across the sector, highlighting how innovation, leadership and evidence-led approaches are helping to address some of the most pressing challenges we face today. From resilience and decarbonisation to inclusion and digital transformation, these achievements set a benchmark for others to learn from and build upon.”

Celebrating excellence across the sector

The 2026 awards recognised achievements across a wide range of categories, reflecting the breadth and diversity of the profession.

Institution Award

The CIHT Institution Award was presented to Martin Tugwell FCIHT, a past president of CIHT in recognition of his long-standing leadership and contribution to the transport profession. 

CIHT Awards 2026 – Category Winners

• Transportation Professional of the Year (sponsored by Kier): John Paterson, Technical Director, AtkinsRéalis
• Creating Better Places Award: The Strand Harbour Public Realm, Torquay (PJA on behalf of Torbay Council with Kay Elliott Architects, BD Landscape Architects, Ward Williams Associates, and Ginkgo
• Resilience Award (sponsored by FM Conway): Cool Streets and Greening Programme, City of London Corporation
• Product of the Year Award: TJ17 Concrete Joint Repairs on the M25, TechJoint
• Road Safety Award (sponsored by Ringway): Abu Dhabi Model for Motorcyclist Safety, Abu Dhabi Mobility Integrated Transport Centre
• Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Award: Spatial Planning: Night Time Assessments for Women’s Safety, Transport for London
• Technology & Digital Transformation Award: Tees Valley Traffic Digital Twin, Tees Valley Combined Authority and Aimsun
• Infrastructure Award (sponsored by AtkinsRéalis): Coastal Pedestrian Access, Ma Wan Chung Village, CEDD (HKSAR), Arup, Build King – a Richwell Civil JV
• Research Award: The Economic and Social Lifeline: Making the Case for Bus Investment, West Midlands Combined Authority
• Sustainability Award (sponsored by WJ Group): Green Kerb in Action, London Borough of Hackney
• Decarbonisation Award: Decarbonising Street Lighting Through a Visibility Led Infrastructure Model, East Riding of Yorkshire Council
• Health & Safety in the Workplace Award (sponsored by Winvic): Safe System Capacity Building in Scotland, Transport Scotland & Agilysis
• Team of the Year Award: A421 Flood Response: Teamwork in Action, Ringway National Highways East M&R
• Collaboration Award (sponsored by Arcadis): Kirutamwogo 116m Pedestrian Trial Bridge in Rwanda, Balfour Beatty & Mott MacDonald

Bus Centre of Excellence Awards

• Emerging Professional of the Year: Eliza Hylands, BSIP Project Manager, Portsmouth City Council
  
• Bus Person of the Year: Isabel McAllister Chief Sustainability and Compliance Officer, First Bus
  
• Bus Initiative of the Year: The Thomas Pocklington Trust, Bus Driver Vision Awareness - Helping Blind and Partially Sighted Passengers

Recognising leadership, innovation and impact

The judges highlighted the exceptionally high standard of entries this year, noting strong evidence of innovation, collaboration and measurable impact across all categories.

From advancements in digital technology and infrastructure delivery to leading examples of inclusion and sustainability, the winning entries demonstrate how the sector continues to evolve to meet the challenges of climate change, urban growth and changing user needs.

Creating best practice

CIHT extends its congratulations to all winners, highly commended and shortlisted entries. The awards continue to play a vital role in sharing best practice, raising standards and inspiring the profession.

Further details on all entries are available below.

Full list of shortlisted entries

Transportation Professional of the Year (sponsored by Kier)

• Winner - John Paterson, Technical Director, AtkinsRéalis
• Michael Barratt MBE, Construction Advisory and Innovations Manager, Transport for London - Highly Commended

Creating Better Places Award:

• Winner - The Strand Harbour Public Realm, Torquay (PJA on behalf of Torbay Council with Kay Elliott Architects, BD Landscape Architects, Ward Williams Associates, and Ginkgo
• Breathing New Life into Derelict Assets - Baltic Mill Riverside Park - Highly Commended
• Hong Kong East Coast Boardwalk - Highly Commended
• Royal Docks Corridor - Highly Commended
• Ashbourne Reborn - Commended   
• Maid Marian Way Improvement Scheme - Commended      
• White Hart Street Public Realm, High Wycombe - Commended

Resilience Award (sponsored by FM Conway)

• Winner - Cool Streets and Greening Programme, City of London Corporation
• Kitson Road Project - Commended​
• From Flood Risk to Resilience: Retrofitting Climate Adaptation at Dean Gardens - Commended​
• Precast Kiacrete Cycleway at Upper Pitt Street, Liverpool - Commended​
• Predict, Prevent, Protect: A Smarter Flood Resilience Model - Commended​
• Wiltshire’s Resilience in Adverse Weather - Commended​ 

Product of the Year Award

• Winner - TJ17 Concrete Joint Repairs on the M25, TechJoint
• Colas Active Seal with Pentack: Sustainable Asphalt Rejuvenation - Highly Commended
• Eco Phalt Bio: The Industry’s First certified Carbon Negative CRBM - Commended
• SYBus: The Integrated Ticket Setting a New Standard in Bus Travel - Commended
• TJ17 Concrete Joint Repairs on the M25 - Commended

Road Safety Award (sponsored by Ringway)

• Winner - Abu Dhabi Model for Motorcyclist Safety, Abu Dhabi Mobility Integrated Transport Centre
• A3102 Wiltshire Safer Roads Scheme - Highly commended
• Danish Road Directorate Data Ingestion Discovery - Highly commended
• Royal Docks Corridor - Commended
• Safe System Practitioners Network - Commended
• Signalling for Roadworks (SfR) National Roll out - Commended

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Award

• Winner: Spatial Planning: Night Time Assessments for Women’s Safety, Transport for London
• Blue Badge Not for Reassessment Project - Highly Commended
• Creating Accessible, Inclusive Workplaces - Highly Commended
• 30 by 30 - Commended
• Smart System for School Transportation / Inclusion of Students of Determination, Integrated Transport Centre (Abu Dhabi Mobility) - Commended
• TPT Bus Driver Vision Awareness – Helping Blind and Partially Sighted Passengers - Commended

Technology & Digital Transformation Award

• Winner - Tees Valley Traffic Digital Twin, Tees Valley Combined Authority and Aimsun
• Pioneering Bridge Construction through an Innovative Approach and Technology for the Loop Development - Highly Commended
• Signalling for Roadworks (SfR) National Roll out - Highly Commended
• Digitally Transforming Reactive Pothole Maintenance on the Strategic Road Network - Commended
  Seeing the Unseen: Digital Transformation of Islington Tunnel - Commended
  Transforming Electrical Inspections across Birmingham Highways – Commended

Infrastructure Award (sponsored by AtkinsRéalis)

• Winner - Coastal Pedestrian Access, Ma Wan Chung Village, CEDD (HKSAR), Arup, Build King – a Richwell Civil JV
• Kirutamwogo 116m Pedestrian Trial Bridge (Rwanda) - Highly Commended
• A40 Llanddewi Velfrey to Redstone Cross Improvements - Commended
• Infrastructure Redefined: A Lifecycle Optimised, Low Carbon Model for Night Time Highways - Commended
• iPort Bridge - Commended
• Milton Road, Cambridge - Commended
• Smart Underwater Asset Inspection - Commended
• Transforming M1 Maintenance Delivery - Commended

Research Award

• Winner - The Economic and Social Lifeline: Making the Case for Bus Investment, West Midlands Combined Authority
• Rethinking Night Time Visibility: Evidence Led Decarbonisation of Street Lighting - Highly Commended
• Westminster City Council Side Road Zebra Trials - Highly Commended
• A47 Species Rich Grassland Trials - Commended
• Biodiverse Weed Treatment - Commended
• Inclusive Research on the Impact of Colourful Crossings - Commended

Sustainability Award (sponsored by WJ Group)

• Winner - Green Kerb in Action, London Borough of Hackney
• A382 LiveLabs2 Vegetation Strategy - Highly Commended
• Roadways Sustainable by Design - Highly Commended
• Community BlueScapes Kitson Road Project - Commended
• Decarbonising Street Lighting Through Integrated Environmental, Social and Economic Design – Commended
• Heathrow Colleague Travel Strategy and Personas - Commended
• Tolworth Sustainable Urban Drainage (SuDS) Scheme - Commended
• ZERO: Time for Change Strategy - Commended

Decarbonisation Award

• Winner - Decarbonising Street Lighting Through a Visibility Led Infrastructure Model, East Riding of Yorkshire Council
• Delivering Carbon Savings for EKFB with Solar Powered Traffic Signals - Highly Commended
• Green CBTC Next Gen: Operational Decarbonisation Through Digital Innovation - Highly Commended
• Hackney Parking and Enforcement Plan 2022–27: Transport Decarbonisation Through Strategic Reform - Commended
• Liverpool Live Labs 2: A Scalable Model for Highway Decarbonisation - Commended 

Health & Safety in the Workplace Award (sponsored by Winvic)

• Winner - Safe System Capacity Building in Scotland, Transport Scotland & Agilysis
• Ringway Removing Manual Risk in Wire Rope VRS Repairs - Highly Commended
• AML Pro - Commended
• Drive Right - Commended
• Gallows Corner Flyover Replacement Project - Commended
• Qatar Railways Company - Commended
• Roads and Transport Authority of Dubai - Commended
• Signalling for Roadworks (SfR) National Roll Out - Commended
• Standing Up for Safety: Ending Roadworker Abuse - Commended

Team of the Year Award

• Winner- A421 Flood Response: Teamwork in Action, Ringway National Highways East M&R
• Roadside Rangers - Highly Commended
• Dover Depot - Commended
• Infrastructure Programmes Group - Commended
• Kirutamwogo 116m Pedestrian Trial Bridge (Rwanda) - Commended
• TfL Spatial Planning: Night time Assessments for Women’s Safety - Commended 

Collaboration Award (sponsored by Arcadis)

• Winner - Kirutamwogo 116m Pedestrian Trial Bridge in Rwanda, Balfour Beatty & Mott MacDonald
• A New Way to Power London’s Construction: Mobile Charging for Electric Plant - Highly Commended​
• S960 Steel Footbridge at Lung Yeuk Tau Interchange - Highly Commended​
• Collaboration in Action: A421 Flood Response - Commended
• Live Labs 2 Centre of Excellence for Decarbonising Roads - Commended
• Portsmouth Buses Partnership - Commended
• SEGRO Park Coventry: Delivered in Partnership - Commended
• SYBus – Simplifying South Yorkshire Travel - Commended
• Transport for West Midlands Traffic Signal Apprenticeship Programme - Commended

Bus Centre of Excellence Awards

Emerging Professional of the Year

• Winner - Eliza Hylands, BSIP Project Manager, Portsmouth City Council
• James Ford - Senior Consultant, ITP by Haskoning - Highly Commended

Bus Person of the Year

• Winner - Isabel McAllister Chief Sustainability and Compliance Officer, First Bus
• Victoria Garcia, Accessibility and Communities Manager, Brighton & Hove Buses and Metrobus (Go-Ahead Group) - Highly Commended

Bus Initiative of the Year

• Winner - The Thomas Pocklington Trust, Bus Driver Vision Awareness - Helping Blind and Partially Sighted Passengers
• Making a b_line for Better Travel: Empowering Young People Across Derbyshire - Highly Commended​
• Bee Network Bus Franchising - Commended ​
• Kids Go Free - Commended ​

Case Studies

CIHT will be adding the winning entries to the website and will update this article when they are available.

Further information

If you require any additional details about the CIHT Awards or the entries featured above, please contact e: communications@ciht.org.uk