Andrew Boyle has been appointed as the new Chairman of the World Road Association, United Kingdom (WRA UK).  Andrew was appointed to the post at the WRA UK AGM on 18 July 2014 and will serve a four-year term.  His core responsibility will be to lead WRA UK and act as its national level representative.

Andrew Boyle said: “It is with great pleasure and some trepidation that I take over today this important role within the transportation profession in the UK and worldwide. My connection with the WRA goes back many years to my time as Head of Engineering Policy Division in the Highways Agency in the mid 1990s when my predecessor as Chair or WRA UK, Joe Burns, and I worked together to run the UK input to PIARC as it was then called.

"I take over a robust organisation from Joe, but there remains much to do to raise the profile of WRA both nationally and internationally, and to return the UK to the forefront of best practice in technical excellence that we once had.

"I also see that the task of making WRA relevant to the everyday working lives of transportation professionals in the UK as one which still has much to be done. I will concentrate my efforts here to ensure that WRA not only disseminates the fruits of its work to ordinary professionals at their desks but takes on board their concerns and comes to be seen as the champion of all and not as a club for the few.”

WRA UK is a membership body made up of collective and individual members, including the UK Government.  A number of the members serve on international technical committees.  The next WRA UK Annual Congress will take place on 5 November 2014 in Belfast and will focus on Transport Resilience.  The Congress provides an opportunity for UK delegates to learn about key issues for the transport sector and also gain an insight into international issues and the work of the Association.

Andrew takes over from Joe Burns who, during his term in office, took every opportunity to raise the relevance of the Association to policy makers, network managers and transport professionals in the UK. Over his term the UK hosted a number of international technical committee meetings along with a workshop on global issues related to security of the transport network.

Joe Burns said: “It is with great pleasure that I hand over the chairmanship of the WRA UK National Committee to Andrew.  Together, with the WRA executive committee, we have delivered the 2010-14 business plan and progressed the transformation of the WRA UK such that it is now at the heart of transportation thinking. I look forward to the fresh ideas and leadership that Andrew will bring and commit to on-going service to the Association in my capacity as immediate-past Chairman secure in the knowledge that Andrew shares the same long-standing belief in the value that the World Road Association brings to transport policy and practices in the UK.”

The World Road Association PIARC/AIPCR was founded in Paris in 1908. It is the oldest international organisation in the road management and road transport sector.  The United Kingdom has a long history with the Association that includes hosting the World Road Congress in London in 1911, the early establishment of a National Committee in 1925 and holding the international Presidency in the 1970s.