Barrett named Young Transport Planner of the Year

Devon Barrett has been named Young Transport Planner of the Year by the Transport Planning Society. He is Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer and at Podaris, the online collaboration platform for transport infrastructure planning, engineering, and public engagement.

He said: “My knee-jerk reaction to being called a Transport Planner is to reel as an imposter. I co-founded Podaris almost ten years ago as a Software Engineer without the appreciation I now have for the discipline. Over the last decade, I've led the development of Podaris, which has been used to improve transport systems for hundreds of millions of people worldwide. 

“Growing up public-transport-dependent, I took transport for granted. I thought good public transport was abundant. As a child, I lived in a London suburb that was at the intersection of two different high-frequency bus routes taking me directly to school. That distorted my perspective of transport. 

“Through the networks I’ve helped analyse, the demand models I’ve helped build, and the schemes I’ve helped design, I’ve come to understand the sheer importance of transport.”