The University of Southampton has played a key role in helping Southampton to be named as ‘Transport City of the Year’ at the recent prestigious National Transport Awards, hosted by Jeremy Vine.
The top local authority awards went to Southampton City Council and Hertfordshire County Council who picked up Transport City of the Year and Transport County of the Year respectively.
As Transport City of the Year, Southampton has achieved an impressive shift from private car use to sustainable modes of transport, with a large increase in cycling to school and a wide range of improvements to public transport. It has established a number of effective partnerships, the most innovative of which is with the University of Southampton and Sustrans, the active travel charity, to form the ‘Centre for Sustainable Travel Choices’ which has been overseeing the delivery and monitoring of the Council’s major travel behavioural change initiatives since 2012.
The Transportation Research Group at the University is an important part of this partnership with Professor John Preston as Principal Investigator of the Centre for Sustainable Travel Choices. Commenting on the prestigious award, Professor Preston said, “With support from the University and other stakeholders, Southampton City Council has been highly successful in winning funding from Central Government for a series of transport initiatives across the City. These initiatives are already beginning to demonstrate positive outcomes, with increases in cycling and walking and reductions in congestion on some corridors. The City Council’s award is a well-deserved reward for its clear and far-sighted vision for transport.”
Southampton City Council has a bold and ambitious vision that has sustainable transport at its heart. A vision that, once completed, is estimated will bring £3billion of investment, create 24,000 jobs and bring 5,000 new homes to the city by 2030.
Southampton City Council has made great strides in the past year towards becoming one of the most sustainable and vibrant cities in the UK, creating a place that people truly want to live, work, study, visit and invest in.