Urban transport expert joins TRL

Date: 23/8/2011

TRL (Transport Research Laboratory) has welcomed an internationally-renowned urban transport expert to its team.

Heather Allen has joined the Transportation Division of the Company, where she will take on the role of Programme Director of Sustainable Transport.

With 15 years of experience in areas including city travel options, Ms Allen was responsible for setting up the Charter on Sustainable Development programme at Brussels-based UITP - International Association of Public Transport, where she previously worked.

This went on to become the gold standard for voluntary commitments to environmental and energy efficiency.

Here, Ms Allen will be leading her team in the multi-stakeholder initiative Bridging the Gap, which encompasses representatives from groups including Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Veolia Transdev and the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, among others.

The aim of the project is to encourage global recognition of the role land transport could play in tackling climate change and to build a bridge between this sector and environmental policy going forward.

"Transport and particularly urban transport is a hot topic all over the world and there is a huge potential to take TRL's solid scientific research and experience, especially in training, to a wider public," Ms Allen said.

During her career, the expert has worked alongside the likes of the United Nations Environment Programme, UN-HABITAT and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Posted by Mary Treen