Small Company Dominates Transportation Awards

Thursday 6 November 2008

Small Company Dominates National Transportation Awards

Christchurch transportation consultants Steve Abley, Paul Durdin and Reuben Williams from Abley Transportation Engineers all won awards at the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) Transportation Group three day Conference held in New Plymouth yesterday.

The annual conference is the premier forum for the traffic engineering, road safety and transportation planning community. It is intended to stimulate debate and was attended by about 200 professionals and has been running for over 30 years. The awards were judged by a three person panel from the private and public sector based in Auckland and Wellington.

The award for best technical note was presented to Steve Abley and Reuben Williams for their work determining the accessibility of Christchurch's public transport system. Paul Durdin was awarded highly commended for his work regarding access management of Christchurch's roads. Both awards were presented by IPENZ Transportation Group Chairman of the Bruce Conaghan.

The Director of Abley Transportation Engineers Steve Abley says "These awards are important for our firm and show some of the fantastic work being done in Christchurch. Our firm is small but is able to tuff it out with the big national consultancies based on high quality thinking" Steve points out that transport and the management of Christchurch’s roads for cars, buses, cycling and walking will become increasingly difficult and it is only the best quality thinking that will manage these conflicting needs. Other cities in New Zealand are facing similar problems and maybe it is time for some new independent thinking to resolve some of these issues.

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Background Notes

About Steve Abley

BE(Hons)(Civil), NZCE(Civil), MIPENZ, CPEng, MICE, CEng(UK), IntPE(NZ), MInstD

Present Position: Director of Abley Transportation Engineers (www.abley.com), a local consultancy providing specialist advice to central, regional and local government as well as private developers and not for profit agencies on transportation issues.

Qualifying with a New Zealand Certificate in Engineering in 1992 and later graduating with a civil engineering degree from Canterbury University in 1997, Steve has held consulting and contracting roles in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. He returned from the UK to his home town of Christchurch in 2003 and leads Abley Transportation Engineers Limited.

Steve is a Chartered Professional Engineer and has been a national Board Member of IPENZ since 2006. Steve is married to Michelle and has an eight month old daughter Isabel.

About IPENZ

The Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) is the professional body which represents professional engineers from all disciplines in New Zealand. The Institution sets internationally bench-marked qualifying standards for degree qualifications in engineering, and serves engineers by securing formal recognition for their professional standing. IPENZ provides services for about 10,000 members.

About IPENZ Transportation Group

The IPENZ Transportation Group is one of a number of Technical Interest Groups of IPENZ. The object of the Group is the advancement of the fundamental knowledge of the art, science and practice of road traffic and transportation engineering. The Group has about 1,000 members.

ENDS

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