Valerann, Glasgow City Council, Neology, and a partnership between Atkins and Jacobs were among the winners at ITS UK's 2023 Awards in London.
Presented by former UK transport minister and ITS UK president Steven Norris, the 13 categories cover ITS in areas such as active travel, enforcement and the environment.
There are also special awards named after UK ITS luminaries Jennie Martin and Eric Sampson.
Nick Harris, CEO of National Highways, give a keynote speech at the awards dinner on the importance of transport technology to the organisation and wider sector.
ITS UK chief executive Max Sugarman said the projects, organisations and individuals who entered reflected the "dynamism, innovation and importance of the UK’s transport technology sector".
Who were the ITS UK Awards 2023 winners?
1. Active Travel Award
Winner: Ultra Smart Cycle System, Glasgow City Council
The Judges’ Comments: “The judges were unanimously impressed by this entry.
“A clear example of leadership and forward-thinking from the Council to develop and implement an innovative solution for improving the safety of the Shawlands Primary School Bike Bus.
“The judges were particularly impressed by how simple yet effective the solution was – going above and beyond the typical types of ‘softer’ road safety interventions, and providing an approach which can be expanded, adjusted and scaled to other locations and applications as needed.”
2. Better Environment through Technology Award
Winner: Urban-Air Port, Coventry City Council
The Judges’ Comments: “The project took an innovative approach to addressing what will be a practical environmental issue in the future, namely how to integrate local emergency services, passenger services and freight movements by air into a local transport operation. The judges said the project is a good demonstration of how a net zero local small-scale airport might be set up and run, changing the future use of city centres.”
3. Best Use of Data or Connectivity Award
Winner: Lanternn by Valerann
The Judges’ Comments: “Valerann has demonstrated that their technology has delivered significant benefits to Traffic Control Centres.
“It has been shown to reduce accidents and improve traffic flow. Their use of open architectures and cloud native technologies, including machine learning has unequivocally demonstrated how data is a strategic asset for the transport industry.”
4. The Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (C/AV) Award
Winner: TeCall – making the most of eCall by Vesos
The Judges’ Comments: “The solution proposed by Vesos has the ability to very quickly improve the speed of response to road traffic collisions, which will result in fewer fatalities and life changing injuries. What makes it stand out from the others is that it is built on a proven and established and growing platform that doesn’t require large deployments of roadside or in-car infrastructure, providing it saleability and longevity.”
5. Enforcement Award
Winner: Roadside Vehicle Noise Measurement Phase 3 (Noise Camera Trials) by the Atkins Jacobs Joint Venture.
The Judges’ Comments: “Problem noise from performance vehicles is a new and largely unexplored area. This project investigates the issue, offering some potential monitoring and enforcement solutions. The trials programme showed good leadership at a high level, supporting the development of the trial and technical solutions. With strong public support and significant coverage in the press, the trial provides a potential tool which could be used for unattended and targeted enforcement activities.”
6. Public Transport Award
Winner: Using people movement data to increase bus patronage in Plymouth by Amey.
The Judges’ Comments: “The project showed the impact of using data to support increasing ridership. The entry showed a highly innovative approach which sets the way for increasing bus ridership across the UK. A very worthwhile project with a clear outcome and impact!”
7. Client of the Year Award
Winner: Transport for Greater Manchester
The Judges’ Comments: “The entry showed a concrete project delivered within the context of an ITS-dependent strategy supporting the delivery of social and financial impact.
“The organisation has shown itself as an innovator through the use of bus open data and connected vehicles to improve public transport service delivery, with interoperability and transferability a key focus.”
8. Exporter of the Year Award
Winner: Neology UK
The Judges’ Comments: “Both candidates showed evidence of strong market development and user service improvement but the judges were struck by the creativity, and innovations in the Neology product range.”
9. Eric Sampson Award for Early Careers Professional of the Year
Winner: James Bullen of Transport for West Midlands
The Judges’ Comments: “James has demonstrated strong leadership and performance. His entry was backed by quotes showing his strong commitment and backing from industry. The impact he makes has also been thoroughly evidenced via the numerous teams and supply chains he leads, and the various presentations in high level forums with the industry association leadership roles.”
10. Jennie Martin MBE Award for ITS Woman of the Year
Winner: Lucy Wickham Senior Technical Director at WSP
The Judges’ Comments: “Lucy has led innovation in Intelligent Transport and Safety throughout her 35-year career, resulting in technical excellence across the industry in the operation and safety of highways schemes. She is a true advocate of vision zero and relentless in her mission to make road travel safer. “
“Lucy is inspiring to those around her and always willing to make time to educate others and share her expertise. She has earned the respect of industry colleagues and stakeholders, and has influenced the early careers of many in the ITS sector globally.”
11. Frontline Hero of the Year
Winner: Andrew Davidson, former National Operations Manager, Transport Scotland
The Judges’ Comments: “Before his retirement in July, Andrew held a number of leadership roles in Transport Scotland and was the National Operations Manager in its Roads Directorate from 2015 to 2023. In that role Andrew was responsible for Transport Scotland’s Intelligent Transport Systems, Infrastructure and Services, network resilience, incident response and planning for major events resilience.
“Andrew was always generous with his time and knowledge, working as a Council member and serving on the Strategy Committee. His generous and friendly approach made him very popular with colleagues across all levels.
“The judges want to highlight his substantial contribution to ITS UK and as a strong supporter of the organisation and industry.”
12. Project of the Year Award
All project entries that came top of their category are entered into the Project of the Year, from which the judges pick the best.
Winner: Roadside Vehicle Noise Measurement Phase 3 (Noise Camera Trials) by the Atkins Jacobs Joint Venture
