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Birmingham-based business leader and active travel advocate Phil Jones has been appointed as technical advisor to Adam Tranter, the West Midlands cycling and walking commissioner.
Jones is the founder and chairman of PJA, the transport planning, engineering and placemaking consultancy with offices across the UK and Australia. In this latest role, he will support Tranter to deliver the West Midlands Mayor Andy Street’s vision of enabling many more people to walk and cycle short journeys instead of using the car.
He will provide high-level technical advice and support to future active travel schemes, find creative solutions to technical challenges to benefit active travel in the region and engage with engineers within Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), Midland Metro Alliance and local authority partners to ensure high-quality delivery for active travel.
“The West Midlands needs a major improvement in the quality and extent of dedicated infrastructure if we’re to meet our active travel potential,” said Tranter. “It is clear we need safe and convenient options to enable people to travel more healthily and sustainably.
“I am delighted to welcome Phil to the team as he will provide timely and authoritative advice enabling us to have maximum impact. He has immense expertise in planning and designing for walking and cycling, including in-depth knowledge of Local Transport Note 1/20 Cycle Infrastructure Design, the ground-breaking government guidance issued in 2020, which Phil co-authored.”
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Jones added: “I am really pleased to have been appointed to this very significant role in my home county. There is big ambition here and we need to make sure we support the change in the way our streets work for active travel.
“A big part of my role is to help raise knowledge and skills across the region in how to achieve world-class infrastructure that will meet the stringent demands of Active Travel England, the national funding body.”
