Merseyside Transport Conference 2007

Over 150 people attended the first Merseyside Transport Conference held on 17th October 2007 at St Georges Hall, which looked at how Merseyside's regeneration impacts on transport policy both in terms of ensuring everyone has the transport links they need to access job opportunities and in managing congestion arising from an increase in car travel.   Chaired by Lucy Siegle, a reporter from BBC's The One Show and Observer columnist, the event featured keynote speaker Professor Robert Cochrane from Imperial College London and a member of the Eddington Transport Study Team and was organised by the Merseyside Local Transport Partnership, featuring Merseytravel and the five local authorities. The presentations made by speakers at the conference are available for download below.

The first Merseyside Transport Awards were celebrated as part of the event.   Winners were selected by the Merseyside Local Transport Partnership from across the region for their outstanding contributions made to achieving a more sustainable transport future.  

The winners were:  

Best transport design for a new development - Liverpool's St Paul's Square developed by English Cities Fund  

Best transport operator - Northern Rail   Best travel plan - Liverpool John Moore's University  

Best school travel plan - St Christopher's Catholic Primary School in Speke (Highly commended entries included Palmerston School in Woolton, Lawrence County Primary School in Wavertree, and Grove Street Primary School in New Ferry, Wirral).  

Best transport innovation - St Helens Chamber for their lead role in establishing a new bus service for Haydock Industrial Estate. (Highly commended was the St Helens Bookstart Scheme showing collaborative working between Arriva, the library service and the primary care trust, using a bus to circulate books to community groups and health centres).

Best freight initiative - Jaguar and Landrover in partnership with NYK Logistics, reducing delivery miles by more than 1,000 and cutting CO2 by 1000 tonnes and taking 20 vehicles off the road by amending packaging, stock management and delivery.   Best active travel initiative - Liverpool Bicycle Co-operative for their bike hire and support services in Wirral.  

Best transport journalism - David Higgerson at the Liverpool Daily Post for his article "For the sake of the planet, leave your car at home".  

Best community initiative - Merseyside Community Transport Operators Forum, the independent voice of community transport offering advice and support to members.