Brian Large Bursary Fund

Tom Horrell was awarded the 2014 Voorhees-Large Prize.

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Tom is an engineer with Balfour Beatty’s Living Places business has been awarded the 2014 Voorhees-Large Prize for his dissertation ‘What are the effects of a ‘shared space’ scheme on different users?‘ submitted for his Masters in Transport at University College London (UCL) and Imperial College London.

 

On being told he had been awarded the Voorhees-Large Prize, Tom said:

"I am thrilled to win the prestigious Voorhees-Large Prize and that the hard work and time put into the project is being recognised.  I hope that the recommendations and guidance concluded in the study will be adopted to improve streets for all users."

 

Since Tom graduated from the University of Exeter with a Geography degree in 2006, he has worked in transport and engineering, first as a land surveyor and then as an engineer, managing schemes from conception to construction.  He project manages a range of highway schemes, and is experienced in designing projects to seek layout improvements for areas with high traffic accident rates, as well as sustainable travel solutions that encourage the use of cycling and walking.  Enjoying the challenge of finding ways to balance the efficient movement of all modes in the urban environment, he found his recently completed part-time Masters in Transport, at the Centre for Transport Studies at UCL and Imperial College, valuable in expanding his knowledge of transport issues and enabling him to work closely with some distinguished researchers and future professionals.

 

His Masters dissertation assesses the effect of a shared space streetscape on the users of the street, by comprehensively analysing a high-profile scheme at Bexleyheath Broadway, London.  Video surveys, kindly funded by Transport for London,  were used to study the movements of vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and bus passengers and questionnaires were used to obtain the opinions of businesses both prior to, and after, the project's construction.  His dissertation concludes by recommending the use of informal crossings and median strips in areas of high vehicle and pedestrian flows, whilst also suggesting the need for improved stakeholder engagement and a renewed investigation into the effect of shared space on vulnerable users.