People & Teams Awards
Young Transport Decarbonisation Professional Award
Recognises a professional aged 30 or under on the date of the ceremony, 19 March 2027 whose work is making a clear contribution to reducing transport emissions. The award assesses achievement in the context of the nominee's role and career stage.
Who can enter?
Individuals working in the public, private, academic or third sector, including apprentices and researchers. Self-nominations and nominations by others are welcome, with the nominee's consent.
Include the following within your entry:
- Identify the nominee, role and organisation, and confirm that they meet the age requirement. Explain their own responsibilities and contribution.
- Show what their work has changed, with examples of transport carbon outcomes or how their contribution enables carbon reduction.
- Give evidence of initiative, collaboration, learning applied in practice and sharing useful knowledge. A testimonial is helpful but optional.
Transport Decarbonisation Champion Award
Recognises an individual whose leadership and practical contribution have advanced transport decarbonisation. This category replaces the Hero title and welcomes leadership from local government and every other sector. There is no age restriction.
Who can enter?
Officers, elected representatives, practitioners, researchers, campaigners and other individuals across all sectors. Self-nominations and nominations by others are welcome, with the nominee's consent.
Include the following within your entry:
- Identify the individual and explain the actions and decisions for which they were personally responsible.
- Demonstrate a sustained or significant contribution to transport carbon reduction, using results and corroborating evidence where available.
- Explain how they influenced others, overcame barriers and helped spread effective practice. Distinguish their contribution from that of the wider organisation.
Transport Decarbonisation Team of the Year
Recognises a defined team or partnership whose collective work is delivering transport carbon reduction. Teams may sit within one organisation or bring together several organisations. The entry should demonstrate what working as a team made possible.
Who can enter?
Teams in authorities, operators, businesses, universities, charities and community organisations, including partnerships spanning different sectors.
Include the following within your entry:
- Identify the team, its lead contact, participating organisations and the roles relevant to the achievement.
- Provide evidence of the team's collective contribution to transport carbon outcomes and explain how responsibilities were shared.
- Describe effective collaboration, leadership, development of team members and sharing of practice. Show how these supported delivery.
Category Awards
Public Transport Decarbonisation Award
Recognises initiatives reducing emissions from public transport or enabling a shift from higher-carbon journeys to public transport. Eligible work includes bus, coach, rail, tram, light rail and demand responsive services, alongside their supporting infrastructure.
Who can enter?
Operators, transport authorities, infrastructure organisations, manufacturers, suppliers, consultants and delivery partnerships.
Include the following within your entry:
- Describe the service or intervention, its delivery stage and the transport problem it addresses.
- Evidence changes in energy use, fleet or service emissions, patronage or modal shift, and explain the resulting carbon benefit.
- Explain operational delivery, passenger access, partnership working and prospects for replication. Distinguish fleet savings from savings attributed to modal shift.
Highways & Infrastructure Decarbonisation Award
Recognises reductions in the carbon associated with building, maintaining or operating transport infrastructure. Entries may cover highways and other transport assets, including surfacing, structures, lighting, drainage, maintenance and the reuse of materials.
Who can enter?
Asset owners, authorities, infrastructure operators, contractors, designers, consultants and materials or equipment suppliers.
Include the following within your entry:
- Define the asset, works or maintenance intervention and the conventional alternative used as the comparison.
- Evidence embodied, operational or whole-life carbon savings, with clear boundaries, quantities, lifespan assumptions and methodology.
- Explain delivery at the required safety and performance standard, durability, practical learning and potential adoption across other assets.
Active Travel & Shared Mobility Decarbonisation Award
Recognises initiatives that reduce transport emissions by enabling walking, wheeling, cycling and shared mobility. Eligible work includes routes, services and integrated schemes supporting these modes, including shared bikes, e-bikes, scooters and car clubs.
Who can enter?
Authorities, mobility providers, community organisations, charities, employers, developers and delivery partnerships.
Include the following within your entry:
- Explain the scheme or service, who it serves and how it enables lower-carbon journeys.
- Evidence use, changes in travel behaviour or reduced car mileage. Explain which journeys were replaced and how carbon savings were calculated or estimated.
- Describe inclusive access, delivery partnerships and how benefits will be sustained or expanded. Usage alone should not be presented as proof of displaced car travel.
Freight, Logistics & Fleet Decarbonisation Award
Recognises initiatives reducing emissions from freight, deliveries, servicing or organisational fleets. Eligible work includes consolidation, cargo bikes, alternative fuels, fleet transition, depot operations, route planning and changes that reduce unnecessary vehicle mileage.
Who can enter?
Logistics and delivery operators, fleet managers, businesses, authorities, suppliers and public or private delivery partnerships.
Include the following within your entry:
- Define the fleet, freight operation or delivery activity, the baseline and the intervention.
- Evidence changes in fuel or energy use, mileage, load efficiency or emissions, and identify the resulting transport carbon reduction.
- Explain operational viability, service performance, delivery barriers and how others could adopt or scale the approach.
Behaviour Change & Public Engagement Award
Recognises initiatives that help people change how, when or whether they travel and thereby reduce transport emissions. Eligible work includes campaigns, incentives, community programmes, travel planning and engagement that leads to action.
Who can enter?
Authorities, charities, community organisations, employers, schools, operators, businesses and engagement or delivery partnerships.
Include the following within your entry:
- Identify the audience, the behaviour being addressed and the engagement or intervention delivered.
- Evidence changes in travel choices or demand and explain the link to carbon reduction. Separate campaign reach from demonstrated behaviour change.
- Explain participation, inclusive engagement, evaluation and whether the change is sustained. Set out lessons others could use.
Technology, Data & Digital Innovation for Decarbonisation Award
Recognises technology, data or digital applications that support lower-carbon transport. Eligible work includes analytics, AI, software, modelling, monitoring, optimisation and digital services. Research and tested prototypes are eligible where their transport carbon pathway is clear.
Who can enter?
Technology businesses, research organisations, authorities, operators, consultants and development or delivery partnerships.
Include the following within your entry:
- Explain the application, the transport decision or operation it changes, and its development or deployment stage.
- Provide test, deployment or evaluation evidence. Show how the application reduces carbon or enables a measurable reduction, separating forecasts from achieved results.
- Explain reliability, relevant limitations, user adoption, implementation requirements and prospects for wider use.
Innovation in Transport Decarbonisation Award
Recognises new products, processes, delivery models or systemic approaches to transport carbon reduction. This is the route for innovations whose main contribution is outside technology, data and digital applications. Tested pilots and research can qualify.
Who can enter?
Organisations and partnerships across the public, private, academic and third sectors developing or applying an innovative approach.
Include the following within your entry:
- Explain the innovation, the existing approach it improves upon, and the problem it solves.
- Provide evidence of testing or implementation and a credible carbon benefit or measurable pathway to carbon reduction.
- Explain feasibility, barriers and wider application. If a digital or data application is the central innovation, choose that category instead.
Place-Based Transport Decarbonisation Award
Recognises an integrated programme reducing transport emissions across a defined neighbourhoods, town, city, rural area or region. Entries should bring together complementary transport, demand management or place interventions within a coherent programme.
Who can enter?
Councils, combined authorities, regional bodies, community partnerships and other organisations delivering a programme for a defined place.
Include the following within your entry:
- Define the place, baseline transport challenge and connected package of measures. Explain how the interventions reinforce each other.
- Evidence progress and transport carbon outcomes across the programme, avoiding double counting between individual measures.
- Explain governance, community involvement, funding and delivery, with lessons relevant to other places. A single-mode project should normally enter its specific category.
EV & Zero Emission
Transport Award
Recognises initiatives enabling or delivering electric and other zero emission vehicle use, including charging, energy systems and deployment. Zero emission at the point of use must be distinguished from the wider energy and lifecycle emissions of the solution.
Who can enter?
Authorities, operators, infrastructure and energy providers, businesses, developers, researchers and delivery partnerships.
Include the following within your entry:
- Describe the vehicles, infrastructure or enabling system, its delivery stage and the barrier it addresses.
- Evidence deployment, utilisation, energy use or displaced fossil-fuel travel. State the baseline and relevant electricity, fuel and lifecycle assumptions for carbon claims.
- Explain accessibility where relevant, operating performance, adoption and scalability. Installing infrastructure or buying vehicles alone does not demonstrate the full carbon benefit.
Decarbonising
Leisure Travel Award
Recognises initiatives reducing emissions from journeys made for tourism, culture, sport, recreation and leisure. Eligible work includes visitor travel plans, low-carbon access, ticketing incentives, transport partnerships and destination-wide programmes.
Who can enter?
Attractions, destinations, venues, event organisers, leisure operators, tourism bodies, authorities, transport providers and partnerships.
Include the following within your entry:
- Describe the visitor journeys addressed, the destination or activity, and the measures delivered.
- Evidence changes in visitor travel, vehicle mileage or transport emissions, with clear treatment of seasonality and the baseline.
- Explain practical access, visitor engagement and delivery partnerships. Focus on travel carbon; reductions in a venue's building energy alone are outside the category.
Decarbonising the
Commute Award
Recognises initiatives reducing emissions from journeys to work. Eligible work includes workplace travel plans, public transport incentives, walking and cycling programmes, car sharing, parking reform, employee EV schemes and measures reducing commuting demand.
Who can enter?
Employers, NHS organisations, universities, campuses, business parks, authorities, developers, operators and workplace travel partnerships.
Include the following within your entry:
- Define the workforce, workplaces and commuting baseline, and explain the measures implemented.
- Evidence changes in commuting modes, car mileage or travel demand and the associated carbon benefit. Explain survey methods and participation.
- Explain employer commitment, access for different workers, sustained results and lessons for other workplaces. Business travel and operational fleets belong in other categories.
Transport Decarbonisation through Procurement & Supply Chain Award
Recognises procurement, contracting and supply-chain decisions that reduce the carbon associated with transport delivery. Eligible work includes tender requirements, whole-life assessment, lower-carbon products and materials, circular approaches and collaborative supplier programmes.
Who can enter?
Authorities, operators, infrastructure owners, contractors, procurement teams, consultants, manufacturers, suppliers and supply-chain partnerships.
Include the following within your entry:
- Explain the procurement or contract mechanism and how it changed supplier decisions or delivery compared with the previous approach.
- Evidence transport-related embodied, operational or whole-life carbon savings, or early delivery against measurable contractual requirements.
- Show implementation, supplier engagement, verification and practical learning. An unimplemented procurement policy or general corporate purchasing claim is insufficient.
Transport Decarbonisation through Planning & Development Award
Recognises planning and development approaches that embed lower-carbon travel through location, land use, design and transport provision. Eligible work includes transit-oriented development, station-led regeneration, car-free or car-lite schemes and integrated land-use and transport planning.
Who can enter?
Planning and transport authorities, developers, regeneration bodies, property owners, architects, masterplanners, consultants and delivery partnerships.
Include the following within your entry:
- Explain the development or planning approach, its delivery or adoption stage, and how it reduces car dependency or the need to travel.
- Provide implemented or adopted measures, travel evidence or a credible appraisal of transport carbon benefits, with assumptions and commitments stated.
- Explain delivery mechanisms, transport access, monitoring and lessons for other developments. Building energy reductions alone and uncommitted concepts are outside the category.
