Centro will be hoping to hit the opposition for six at this year’s National Transport Awards, after picking up nominations in half a dozen categories.
The West Midlands transport authority will be vying for six accolades at the Awards, regarded as the transport industry’s ‘Oscars’, to be held in London in October.
The event at London’s Lancaster Hotel will see Centro hoping to scoop the awards for:
- Travel Information and Marketing
- The Joe Clarke Passenger Transport Authority of the Year
- Excellence in Technology
- Improvements to Bus Services
- Most Innovative Transport Project
- Contribution to Sustainable Transport.
The awards, now in their eleventh year, recognise the transport sector’s best initiatives and successes and Centro will be aiming to reclaim the coveted Transport Authority of the Year award which it last won in 2009.
Centro has been developing wide-ranging plans aimed at reducing congestion and bringing wider economic, environmental and social benefits by attracting more people on to public transport.
In the West Midlands, rail saw a 6.4% increase in users during 2009/10 with more than 40 million passenger journeys made during the year. A further 320 million journeys were made by bus.
Centro chairman Cllr Angus Adams said: “I am proud of the work Centro has done over the past year and very pleased that this has been recognised by these nominations.
“We have made great strides forward in getting more people onto public transport and I hope we can continue to build on that work in the future.
“I’m particularly pleased that our work with the Prince’s Trust and Virgin has been nominated for Most Innovative Transport Project.
“This saw us offer 12 young people valuable experience working in public transport and we were delighted to see six of those go on to secure jobs immediately at the end of their course.”
Judges will hear how Centro has worked hard over the last year to deliver innovative projects which contribute to the sustainable transport agenda and how it has moved forward on integrating different forms of public transport.
They will also be told how Centro has ‘excelled at effective partnership working to improve public transport as a whole across the West Midlands’.
