ITS UK revealed the winners of our prestigious annual Awards at its 20th President’s Dinner on 10 November.
Hosted by ITS UK President, Steven Norris, the evening took place at the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane. 350 guests gathered to hear the winners of 16 awards across 15 categories, including a joint win in the Better Accessibility through Technology Award.
The Awards cover the use of technological solutions in areas like safety, digitalisation, connected and automated mobility and the environment, as well as celebrating those organisations and individuals who have made a special contribution to the sector.
Minister for Roads, Justin Madders MP, gave the keynote speech, addressing attendees on the Government’s priorities for transport and the role they see technology playing. Addressing guests on the evening, Minister Justin Madders said:
“We need transport that prioritises people, rather than routes, schedules, and area boundaries. Transport that makes life simpler, not more complicated, and that works for all people, everywhere. Tonight was a well-earned celebration of this industry’s track record in innovation, of the brilliant solutions shortlisted for the awards, and of British ambition.”
ITS UK’s Chief Executive, Max Sugarman, celebrated all those who took part:
“Many congratulations to all the winners of the ITS UK Awards. Celebrating their 20th anniversary, our Presidents Dinner remains a highlight of the sector’s calendar. It was wonderful to see so many people from industry join us in London to celebrate.
“This year’s winners range from individuals who have shaped our industry over decades to start-ups, public sector clients and projects putting new technology to work for transport users every day. Together they show how the transport technology sector is delivering a smarter, safer, more sustainable network for everyone. Well done all!”
Project Awards
Better Accessibility through Technology Award, sponsored by Yunex Traffic
Joint winner: Inclutech – TapSOS
Judges’ Comments on Inclutech – TapSOS: “A worthy winner, TapSOS helps people who find it hard to make a voice call in an emergency, particularly those with hearing needs. TapSOS enables users to communicate essential information and request help through a non-verbal digital interface, thereby making all four UK emergency services more accessible to a wider range of people.”
Joint winner: QRoutes – Breaking Down Transport Barriers for SEND Pupils Through Intelligent Accessibility Planning
Judges’ Comments on QRoutes: “Using QRoutes’ Vantage platform, Hertfordshire County Council took a network-wide approach that considered mainstream and SEND transport requirements together across a whole district rather than school-by-school. The judges felt this scheme has real impact – routes fell from 249 to 186, and the council identified £1.5 million in annual savings – a massive achievement.”
Greater Sustainability through Technology Award
Winner: Telent – Design Carbon Appraisal Tool – Unlocking Better Infrastructure Outcomes Through Carbon Intelligence
Judges’ Comments: “The Carbon Appraisal Tool enables project teams to assess the embodied carbon in goods and services before they’re bought, thereby turning carbon reporting into carbon reduction. The judges praised how, although initially developed to support ITS infrastructure projects, it can be applied across highways, rail, communications and wider public transport programmes.”
Digitalisation & Digital Services Award, sponsored by Project ROUTE
Winner: Immense Simulations – A382 Dynamic Diversion Routes – Newton Abbot, Devon (pictued below)
Judges’ Comments: “The judges found this an impressive end-to-end project. Clever digital modelling shaped the A382 scheme from early planning through to live delivery. A strong sustainability focus was obvious, with up to 12 months cut from the programme and around 15 tonnes of CO₂ saved per week. The judges praised how this fundamentally changed how traffic management decisions can be made.”
Connected and Automated Mobility Award
Winner: WSP – The Connected Vehicle Services (CVS) Strategic Implementation Programme
Judges’ Comments: “This is an excellent example of ‘teamwork makes the dream work’. The project, led by DfT with a team of specialist partners, has turned connected mobility from a policy ambition into a practical national framework. And it wasn’t all theory: live deployments and demonstrations at TTF Live showed services improving safety, cutting congestion and strengthening resilience.”
Better Safety through Technology Award, sponsored by Kier Transportation
Winner: FORS – Professional Safe Driving with Virtual Reality
Judges’ Comments: “The FORS Safe Urban Driving course was developed to address the disproportionate involvement of HGVs in cyclist fatalities, and since the launch in 2011 more than 150,000 drivers have completed training. What impressed the judges was the shift to include virtual reality technology with immersive 360-degree scenarios, so that drivers see hazards through the eyes of cyclists and pedestrians but without the dangers of cycle training on busy roads.”
Changing Behaviour with Technology Award
Winner: Amey – SPaTS3 Seamless Travel Across Networks – Changing Travel Behaviour Through Integrated Mobility in Greater Manchester (main picture)
Judges’ Comments: “Amey, National Highways, Transport for Greater Manchester and SYSTRA worked together to understand and influence how people travel to major events in Greater Manchester, such as football and cricket matches. The judges praised how the project put customer behaviour at the centre, combining data, travel information and coordinated planning to encourage alternatives to the car. This project is a practical, transferable blueprint for moving from managing traffic to managing journeys.”
Public Transport Award, sponsored by Interchange
Winner: Tees Valley Combined Authority & Aimsun – Digital Twin-Bus Reliability: The UK’s First Regionwide Automated Traffic Digital Twin
Judges’ Comments: “The Tees Valley Digital Transport Programme is the UK’s largest deployment of operational traffic digital twin technology, monitoring more than 1,700 miles of urban and rural road network across five constituent authorities. The judges thought this was a truly leading project – the UK’s first operational traffic digital twin to automatically evaluate and implement traffic management interventions within a live UTMC environment.”
Project of the Year Award
Winner: Tees Valley Combined Authority & Aimsun: Digital Twin-Bus Reliability: The UK’s First Regionwide Automated Traffic Digital Twin
Judges’ Comments: “The judges selected a project that showed three things: technology, innovation and real-life deployment to deliver benefits for users. It hugely impressed them and was seen as an exemplar for ITS projects both in the UK and across the world.”
Individual Awards
Rees Hills Award for Outstanding Personal Contribution
Winner: Chris Lane, formerly WMCA
Judges’ Comments: “Closing a career of nearly 40 years at Centro and Transport for West Midlands, Chris has too many major achievements to list; he led the Swift smartcard programme, one of the UK’s most successful integrated ticketing schemes, used by hundreds of thousands of passengers; as Strategic Head of Transport Innovation, he led the West Midlands Future Transport Zone, making it a national testbed for connected vehicles, Mobility as a Service and micromobility. And he played a pivotal role in managing the competitive process that is bringing the 2027 ITS World Congress to the West Midlands.”
Eric Sampson Award for Early Careers Professional of the Year
Winner: Oscar Law, Transport for Greater Manchester
Judges’ Comments: “Oscar joined TfGM as a graduate ITS engineer in 2023. He takes on the difficult, unglamorous work that keeps Greater Manchester’s network running, from upgrading connectivity to bringing TfGM’s legacy variable message signs back into reliable service. He already mentors TfGM’s degree apprentices, runs training on UTMC systems, and is a qualified drone pilot. An outstanding early-career professional.
Jennie Martin Award for ITS Woman of the Year
Winner: Andrea Reacroft, Tees Valley Combined Authority (pictured above)
Judges’ Comments: “Andrea has steered Tees Valley’s Digital Transport Programme since 2022, after roles at Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council and Cubic Transportation. Under her leadership Tees Valley has delivered the UK’s first region-wide automated traffic digital twin, more than doubling bus speeds during disruption. She also helped bring autonomous vehicles into commercial service airside at Teesside International Airport. Technically expert, quietly determined and generous with her time, Andrea is a role model for women in ITS.”
Richard Harris Award for International Achievement
Winner: Ian Patey, WSP
Judges’ Comments: “For more than 40 years, Ian has connected the UK with the global ITS community. He has brought international expertise to pioneering UK schemes such as the M42 Active Traffic Management pilot, and he built an ITS team in Australia. Through PIARC he has helped shape the guidance used worldwide by road authorities and has been a familiar face at ITS World Congresses since 2003. He leads WSP’s Global ITS Network of nearly 800 professionals.”
Organisations
Start-Up or Scale-Up of the Year Award
Winner: Littlepay
Judges’ Comments: “Littlepay’s cloud platform lets more than 600 merchants worldwide accept contactless payments on public transport without building their own ticketing systems. The judges felt this start-up clearly showed innovation at its core – their platform handles 370 million journeys a year and launched the world’s first prepaid travel pass linked to a bank card, with Google and Go-Ahead, and the first iPhone ticket-inspection app, with Apple. An amazing achievement for a start-up and a great example of what can be achieved in the sector.”
Client or Public Sector Body of the Year Award
Winner: South East Coast Ambulance Service with HAAS Alert
Judges’ Comments: “Emergency vehicles spend their working life in hazardous environments: driving at speed, against the grain of ordinary traffic behaviour, towards an emergency. Working with HAAS Alert, SECAmb became the first UK ambulance service to roll out digital alerts across its whole fleet, with drivers warned through apps, dashboards and OEM infotainment systems of an approaching emergency vehicle. The judges were hugely impressed that more than 600,000 drivers were alerted in June 2026 alone, and collisions involving the fleet have fallen by 10% over the same period.”
Exporter of the Year Award, sponsored by ITS World Congress Birmingham 2027
Winner: Yunex Traffic
Judges’ Comments: “From its manufacturing base in Dorset, Yunex Traffic designs, manufactures, tests and exports a comprehensive portfolio of intelligent traffic management products and software solutions. The judges thought that Yunex’s footprint, selling to over 40 countries across Europe, Scandinavia, North and South America, the Middle East, Asia and Australasia, was a great example of British innovation and expertise being exported globally.”
(Pictures: ITS UK)
