Angela Ellis: Senior Transport Planner

A Transport Planner is a professional who designs, manages, and improves transportation systems to optimize traffic flow, safety, and efficiency for both individuals and the movement of goods.

They work at various levels, from local to national, and consider factors like safety, climate change, the economy, and the environment.

We asked CIHT Member, Angela Ellis about her career as a Senior Transport Planner

Can you please describe the route you took to get into transport planning and why you chose that as a career?

My route to transport planning was not a typical one. I studied Art and Design at college, going on to study 3-Dimensional Design at University learning how to design the built environment around the needs of people.

After leaving University I began work as an assistant building surveyor and spent much of my time out on various sites assisting the lead surveyor to undertake condition and asset surveys. After a year I relocated and was offered a graduate role in Transport Planning with Atkins who had a comprehensive graduate training scheme that provided a solid foundation for where I am today.

What does your role as a transport planner involve on a day-to-day basis, and what do you find most rewarding about the work?

My role involves writing a variety of reports to support planning applications for both residential and commercial developments. A key part of this is to develop solutions that encourage walking, cycling, and public transport use not only for the end users of a site, but for those who live and work in, and around a proposed development.

To give me an understanding of an area I would undertake a desktop study of facilities and amenities within the local area, alongside a review of local and national policies, active travel strategies, existing public transport provision and local design guidance. This provides me with the foundation to develop solutions to improve accessibility for non-motorised and users taking into consideration key guidance documents (such as the DMRB, LTN 1/20 and Inclusive Mobility).

For me, the most rewarding part of the work is engaging with the public and working with them to develop and deliver facilities that would meet their needs whilst at the same time, working towards the objectives of local transport and decarbonisation policies.

Why do you think transport planning is a vital role?

Growing up I was always out on my bike either cycling to friend’s houses, the park, or the shops. I can’t remember there being any formal cycling infrastructure, but there were less vehicles on the road, so it was easier to get around safely. For my friends and I, having the ability to take ourselves wherever we wanted to go was a rite of passage.

For many reasons, nowadays, roads are much busier, and vehicles much larger meaning that riding a bike may not be the automatic choice for getting around, particularly for shorter journeys.

As Transport Planners we can change this by actively engaging with the community through public consultation and workshops, and using the information gathered when working with local authorities and developers to deliver infrastructure that is safe and welcoming, and to provide routes that are direct, so that active travel becomes the default choice.

Can you tell us about a project that you worked on that you’re particularly proud of and why does that one stands out to you?

There are so many projects that I have enjoyed working on it is hard to pin down just one. I would say however, that the projects that I have worked on that have included workshops with local residents and key stakeholders have been the most rewarding. In my opinion, this kind of collaboration brings a different energy and is where a real difference can be made.

How has the focus on decarbonisation in recent years, shifted your approach to transport planning?

For me, Transport Planning has always been about reducing transport poverty through the delivery of safer routes to school, walking and cycling links, and public transport improvements so the recent focus on decarbonisation has provided a platform to deliver these more easily than in the past.

What do you think leaders need to be thinking about or doing today that perhaps wasn’t part of the equation for leaders five or ten years ago?

Decision making appears to follow a very logical, economic process, but logical thinking does not address the emotional logic behind human decision making.

I think there needs to be more round table discussions and collaboration between those delivering services such as health, social care, education and transport, as they are all connected.

What common misconceptions do you think people have about transport planning, and what’s something that you wish more people understood about your work?

The most common misconception is that it is boring, but I find that many people have never realised how much to allow them to be able to move safely around the places they live and work.

There also seems to be poor view of road congestion and new development, I think that if there was more interaction between professionals and the public it would help to dispel misconceptions and help to deliver projects that work in real life.

What skills or behaviours do you think people should have to thrive as a transport planner, and what advice would you give to someone considering that as a career?

Research, and both written and verbal communication. Attention to detail and being able to connect the dots between planning policy, design guidance and the needs of end-users are especially important, but I think it is most important to be able to be subjective and unafraid to think creatively.