TRANSPORT SKILLS FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM - A REPORT ON A RESEARCH PROJECT COMISSIONED BY THE REES JEFFREYS ROAD FUND

Good transport is very important to modern society. At the same time, the potential for conflict between mobility and environmental and other objectives is increasing. The need for new transport policies is raising the profile of transport studies and creating a demand for a new type of transport professional. This report sets out the findings and conclusions of a study commissioned by the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund to look into current and future skill requirements for professionals in the transport field and the actions necessary to ensure that they are met. Transport professionals need a wide range of skills, including more general skills (such as project management), which are not specific to the transport sector. Transport issues increasingly need to be addressed in a multi-disciplinary way, so that the boundaries of the subject are by no means clear. Professinals from related fields, such as planning and engineering, are well-placed to make a positive contribution to the resolution of transport problems. The authors have looked at the whole range of skills that transport professionals may need and how they may be acquired, relating this to their role in the transport sector, although the main focus is on specificially transport skills. (A)