We have summarised just how CIHT has been working to deliver against our strategic objectives throughout 2025. Many of this activity is supported by the amazing work of our CIHT volunteers who take part in initiatives and help us to deliver such a wide range of projects and services to the wider membership and sector.

Promote Learning

- Providing members with the skills, training and qualifications to be the workforce that our society, the environment and the economy need

Professional Qualifications

We have carried out 156 professional review interviews (97 Engineering 30 Transport Planning Professional and 29 Transport Planning Technician End Point Assessments

We have received and processed over 630 initial assessments since the beginning of 2025. Initial assessments determine whether candidates will be eligible for interim registration with the Engineering Council.

We relaunched our Professional Development Framework and now have 11 companies using it to support their staff on their routes to professional qualifications.

CIHT Learn

We now have over 100 learning experiences on our digital training platform CIHT Learn. These include new courses on road safety, hostile vehicle mitigation, temporary traffic signage and much more. We have mapped CIHT Learn modules to both UK-SPEC and the Transport Planning Professional units to support applicants. 19% members are now using CIHT Learn to record CPD and over 35% of members have now registered for one or more courses.

CIHT won the Best Education Initiative at the Memcom Excellence Awards for our CIHT Learn courses on inclusive design in highways and transportation.

And more

We launched our CIHT Mentor platform launched in June 2025 and there are currently 117 registered mentors. The platform provides tools and training including a CIHT learn course and CIHT mentor guidance.

Our members have carried out 13,750 hours of STEM ambassador activity to inspire and support the next generation of highways and transportation professionals.

Influence the future

- Working with members, stakeholders and decision-makers to demonstrate the value of efficient transport infrastructure and services and to help improve all networks so that they are safe, sustainable, effective and able to meet the changing needs of society.

Shaping transport policy

There have been 14 consultation responses in 2025, these have included submissions on the impact of street works, buses connecting communities, ideas for the Integrated National Transport Strategy, the 10-year infrastructure strategy consultation and most recently the third cycling and walking investment strategy. We sent over 10 letters to 4 Transport Ministers on topics including the Integrated National Transport Strategy, Engagement with CIHT, and invitations to events.

We provided a formal submission into UK Governmental budgets including the 2025 Spending Review and Autumn Budget 2025. We saw CIHT recommendations and policy echoed in Spending Review 2025 and were cited in publications from DfT, NAO, PAC, Transport Committee, and the Climate Change Commission.

CIHT representatives took active participation in Department for Transport strategy development, including national transport strategy workshops.

Previous CIHT reports have been the source of engagement and are all having an impact on shaping transport policy. An example was where ‘Creating a Public Realm for All’ consistently featured in the Accessible Transport in England Evidence Session outcome write up. Similarly, CIHT mentioned in Public Accounts Committee report on the condition and maintenance of Local Roads in England.

We were cited in numerous articles and news stories across the media (including Highways magazine, NCE and LTT) and published over 250 news items on our website.

Stakeholder Engagement and Public Affairs

CIHT engagement has been widespread and some examples include meeting with UK Transport Ministers, giving oral evidence at the Transport Committee inquiry into Streetworks, being invited to be part of a Department for Transport and OZEV working group on EV Chargepoint Accessibility, taking part in various roundtables, speaking at numerous industry events, providing advice to a parliamentary assistant briefing on graduated driving licences and meeting with stakeholders including Transport Scotland, Welsh Government, Department for Transport, National Highways and UK Treasury officials.

Ministerial participation was secured across CIHT’s flagship events, including our National Conference (held for the first time for over 5 years) and the CIHT Awards. We had direct engagement with at least 8 senior political stakeholders at the Labour Party Conference 2025, including: London Deputy Mayor, Two Mayors, Combined Authority leadership, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

New policy reports

2025 policy projects included: Unlocking the benefits of longer-term funding, Reducing the impact of highway works on road users, Overcoming the barriers to implementing active travel schemes (launched at the CIHT Learned Society Lecture that was given by Professor Chris Whitty), and CIHT CLIMATES was released and its recommendations disseminated across the sector including at ADEPT Engineering Board.

We delivered a range of briefings, articles and webinars on a range of topics including on Making the Case for Investment in Active Travel, Last Mile Delivery and the Cost of potholes to the NHS. We held several workshops and roundtables on topics including Integrating Transport and Planning.

Bus Centre of Excellence

CIHT has continued in its role in support of the Bus Centre of Excellence (BCOE), this has seen CIHT and BCOE cited for their work by government. Highlights have included the sold-out Quality Rural Bus Conference rural bus conference which saw Alex Mayer MP present the plenary speech and increased engagement at senior government level.

Promoting the value of membership

- Recruiting new members and retain existing ones through a reputation for excellence and a range of attractive membership services.

We have been embarking on an ambitious membership growth strategy that saw us launch Group Membership for those in the public sector, embed the CIHT Learner category and speak to multiple audiences about the benefits of membership. We also launched our CIHT 500 member get member recruitment campaign.

To continue to support out members and deliver value we have been reviewing membership benefits and categories, refining Fellowship criteria, removing barriers and developing compelling value propositions

Launched at Highways UK, CIHT’s 2025 Sector Employment Trends report highlights the current landscape and future outlook of the sector. This report offers a comprehensive snapshot of the highways and transportation sector’s workforce dynamics, highlighting areas of strength and where focused investment, particularly in skills, net-zero readiness, AI, and inclusion, can ensure future resilience and growth.

International Expansion and Support

We have appointed 14 Country Champions to act as CIHT ambassadors in their country and be a key support link between members and CIHT. We conducted research among international members to gain a better understanding of our audience and are ongoing with targeted communications to members and non-members in India and Middle East.

We held the first (in-person) international Presidential visit since 2019 and this saw key meetings took place with senior representatives from the Road Engineering Association of Malaysia (REAM) and in Hong Kong the President met with Directors from the Hong Kong Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) and Highways Department (HKSARG), with visits to meet students at the University of Hong Kong and PolyU.

November saw the signing of Reciprocal Recognition Agreement for Professional Qualifications between HKIE and CIHT whereby Chartered Engineers in transportation in Hong Kong and the UK can be members of both institutions, with qualifications mutually recognised.

Leader in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We launched our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) hub in summer 2025 bringing together all resources about EDI in one place supporting the individual and the wider sector. We also signed up to a five-year action plan as part of our involvement with B.E. Inclusive (a collective of nine built environment professional bodies which represent over 400,000 members). This partnership will enable us to take forward and support each other on our equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) journeys to develop new initiatives and improved data on EDI.

Events in 2025

We have held over 200 events with over 13,500 attendees. The range has included national and regional webinars, conferences, site-visits and social functions. Our national conference returned for the first time in May with over 200 attendees, regions supported the delivery of 9 in-person CIHT CLIMATES workshops, a major regional EDI Conference was held by CIHT Yorkshire & the Humber and we continued to support our Emerging Professionals, with over 150 delegates attending the Emerging Professionals Conference held in April with a focus on career progression.

More to come?

2025 has been another productive time for CIHT, full of new initiatives, reports and events that pushed the Institution into new areas and extended our reach and visibility. We have exciting plans for 2026 with announcements on all this to come early in the new year.

If you would like any further information on any of the activities and initiatives mentioned above, please contact e: communications@ciht.org.uk