All part of the (transport) masterplan - Welcome Martin Revill to ITP
Martin Revill is a Chartered Transport Planning Professional with over 36 years of experience and extensive consultancy experience in public sector transport planning, primarily in leadership roles. Prior to this, he spent over 16 years in local government, laterally as the Head of Transport Planning for the City of York Council.
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Martin is passionate about developing vision-led approaches tailored to the unique needs of each community. His expertise spans transport plan and strategy development, transport appraisal and business case advice and transport investment funding, but also encompasses wider transport economics; passenger transport including aspects of both rail and bus service planning, concessionary fares, park & ride development and identification of socially necessary services; sustainable transport programmes; active travel; rural transport policy and planning; parking policy and assessment; transport and land use policy.
Find out more about Martin in the Q&A below!
Find out more about Martin in the Q&A below!
What are you looking forward to working on in your new role?
Local transport planning is at a crossroads. For years, scheme-led programmes that have often focused on single modes of transport. While these investments have benefited some areas, there has been an element of feast or famine, with some areas doing really well, while others that might be in just as much need of investment have struggled to effect positive change.
Now, with a new government, an Integrated National Transport Strategy for England with a focus on people at the heart of how we design, build and operate transport, and English devolution proposals that place the reemergence of Local Transport Plans at the heart of local transport planning within Combined and Local Authorities, there's a real opportunity to work with clients to develop people-focused transport plans that integrate with strategic economic and spatial plans in an area.
Now, with a new government, an Integrated National Transport Strategy for England with a focus on people at the heart of how we design, build and operate transport, and English devolution proposals that place the reemergence of Local Transport Plans at the heart of local transport planning within Combined and Local Authorities, there's a real opportunity to work with clients to develop people-focused transport plans that integrate with strategic economic and spatial plans in an area.
I’m particularly excited by the emergence of the new paradigm of vision-led transport plans. Recognising the unique circumstances and needs of each community is important as transport planners - our work must be be driven by the wider outcomes that local people want to achieve. he revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework last year reinforce this approach, and I’m looking forward to working with Combined and Local Authorities to develop a vision-led approaches. We must also recognise that transport, or physical movement, is only part of the equation. The location of activity and growth drives demand for access, some of which is increasingly being met by digital connectivity. We must develop plans that address all three parts of this ‘triple access’: spatial, digital, and physical (transport) access.
Finally, if the pandemic has taught us one thing as transport planners, it’s that the future is uncertain. Shocks such as the pandemic have helped us to recognise that we must prepare transport plans that will be effective, or adaptable, to several plausible and possible futures, rather than being governed by a central forecast that is undoubtedly wrong. So, helping clients navigate this uncertainty and create flexible, future-proofed transport plans and investments is something I’m really looking forward to.
Finally, if the pandemic has taught us one thing as transport planners, it’s that the future is uncertain. Shocks such as the pandemic have helped us to recognise that we must prepare transport plans that will be effective, or adaptable, to several plausible and possible futures, rather than being governed by a central forecast that is undoubtedly wrong. So, helping clients navigate this uncertainty and create flexible, future-proofed transport plans and investments is something I’m really looking forward to.
What do you enjoy about working as a transport consultant?
Everything we do starts and ends with people. Over my career, I’ve been lucky to work with incredible colleagues - first in local government and then across the last 20 years as a consultant. So, the starting point is that I’m looking forward to working with some great people, both at ITP and within our client organisations.
I’m fortunate to have worked on some interesting projects over the years, from strategic transport plans in places such as West Yorkshire to prioritising investment programmes in the North East, Yorkshire, and the East of England but, ultimately, all of those projects have been made what they were by the people on both my own team and the clients we worked with.
I’m fortunate to have worked on some interesting projects over the years, from strategic transport plans in places such as West Yorkshire to prioritising investment programmes in the North East, Yorkshire, and the East of England but, ultimately, all of those projects have been made what they were by the people on both my own team and the clients we worked with.
How can your experience contribute to the success of the team?
The first thing to say about my experience is that there is a lot of it! Seriously though, I hope to be able to bring my experiences across more than 35 years in the sector to help our clients deliver their ambitions for transport as part of their local growth, economic, and spatial strategies. While I hope to be able to do this across the UK, the starting point will be to help ITP develop opportunities in my ‘home’ regions of Yorkshire and the North East, where I’ve worked for most of my career. I’m passionate about “the North” and its people. Improved transport is vital to these regions if they are to achieve their potential, so if I can help ITP open up some opportunities to use our expertise to benefit communities in the North East and Yorkshire, that will be a great starting point.Why ITP?
For me, it’s back to great people. I’ve known about ITP for around 20 years, and I’m fortunate that I already know several colleagues across the business, some of whom I’ve worked with before in other roles. These are people that I respect and can see share values that are important to me in the way that they work, and the types of projects that they undertake. When the opportunity to join ITP came up, it felt like the perfect fit. Working within a team of like-minded professionals, in the transport policy and strategy sector where I’ve spent most of my career, was an opportunity that was too good to ignore.
When you are not working on transport strategies, how do you unwind?
Many people in the sector who know me will probably think of my endless supply of fascinating cricketing stories. However, my playing days are now well in the past, and I have no direct involvement in the game for the time being.
My wife and I are in the process of moving to a beautiful Georgian terrace in central Durham, which is likely to be the focus of our summer as we settle in. And we have three grown-up children spread across the country that we do our best to keep in touch with.
Finally, having grown up in a rural community with close ties to the equestrian world, my other sporting passion has always been National Hunt racing. Alongside my now annual pilgrimage to Cheltenham, I’m actively involved through owning a few (very small) shares in some steeplechasers and hurdlers. This has taken me over the last couple of years to exotic sporting arenas such as Cartmel and Sedgefield, as well as a couple of very exciting days at Doncaster and Aintree.
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