blog: Celebrating 25 years of Jon Parker
Thursday 5th October 2023
As the Director of the Mobility and Infrastructure Advisory Group at Royal HaskoningDHV and Director of Transport Planning at ITP, Jon has been a leading figure in sustainable transport for over 27 years. His contributions have ranged from pioneering research projects for the UK Department for Transport to being the lead author of the DfT's national best practice guidance in the fields of car sharing, car clubs and personal travel planning. In this blog marking his 25-year anniversary, Jon takes us on a journey through the milestones, challenges, and successes that have shaped his remarkable career, all while continuing to inspire positive change in the world of mobility and infrastructure.
What was going on in the world when you started at ITP?
The big news in transport was the launch of the 1998 White Paper ‘A New Deal for Transport’ – it felt like a ‘rock star’ moment for our industry, building on a wave of optimism and assembled evidence that had seemingly heralded the end of large scale investment in new roads, and would result in a step change in the quality of infrastructure and services to support a significant shift towards public transport, walking and cycling.
And in other world news (or at least in Wolverhampton), Steve Bull was scoring his last goal for Wolves, after an incredible goal scoring career and leaving me with many happy memories of time spent at Molinuex 😊.
What is the most important lesson you have learned in your career?
In the words of Harry Styles… ‘treat people with kindness’. It’s been the fundamental basis on which we have built the culture at ITP, and even when you have to make difficult decisions, you should still always do that in a way that respects peoples values and opinion. I would also stress the importance of evidence led decision making, and paying attention to the detail – it forms part of what we broadly refer to as ‘total quality’ at ITP, and remains one of the key pillars of our approach and success over the years.
What are some of the biggest changes you have seen in the transport planning industry over the course of your career?
I hope that the biggest shift will have been the transition from ‘predict and provide’ which still prevailed when I started out in the industry in 1992, to more vision-led approaches to planning and transport. It’s frustrating to me that it is still not fully embraced across our industry, but the momentum is definitely in our favour.
What's a stand-out project from your time here?
So, so, so, so, so many…. But probably my most notable would be the DfT Research we carried out into the effectiveness of car sharing and car clubs back in 2004, followed up by the 2007 research study ‘Making Personal Travel Planning Work’. It led us into leading all kinds of fascinating behaviour change research projects and best practice guides, that still remain valid and well-read to this day.
What is your proudest moment from your time at ITP?
I know this might sound a bit corny, but it is heartfelt…. seeing our staff stay develop and grow, and achieve amazing things in the industry, from winning national awards to delivering impactful and purposeful sustainable transport programmes. It’s the best demonstration that purpose-led consultancies can thrive.
Who do you consider to be your mentor in your career to date?
I’ve been fortunate to work alongside loads of inspirational people (colleagues, collaborators and clients), but would give a special name check to Colin Brader (ITP’s founder, and who convinced me to embark on a more purpose-driven consultancy approach back in 1998) and Mike Kendrick, who sadly passed away some years ago, but who was an incredible mentor to me in my early life at ITP, and I still reflect on his wise words and approach to life to this day.
What are you most looking forward to in the next few years?
In 2020 we joined forces with Royal HaskoningDHV, and this year sees us taking that integration further, to create one consolidated, sustainable, multi-disciplinary transport planning practice. My efforts will be focused on making sure this happens in a way that maintains our purpose at the heart of what we do, ‘Enhancing Society Together’ and ‘Improving the Way the World Moves’, preserving our culture, and allowing our staff to continue to develop and lead some of the most challenging, impactful, diverse and sustainable transport planning projects.