Mobility

Tim Lamerton has been working with Community Transport in Devon since 2005.  His roles have encompassed transport coordinator, minibus and volunteer car driver and lately (since 2012) as Project Manager for the Devon Access to Services (DAS) with the aim of improving access to information, services and representation.  

A significant part of his work consists of assisting Community Car Schemes across Devon to increase collaborative working and information sharing among themselves and with health and social care providers.  This is achieved via the Devon County Car Forum (currently 60 members in three local Forums who between them provide 140,000 journeys a year, mostly with volunteer drivers). 

Mark is founder and Managing Director of Co Cars and Co Bikes which is the largest on-demand shared mobility provider for people, communities and businesses in Exeter and the South West. In Exeter, Co Cars currently has 30 hybrid and electric cars available to hire via an App from as little as half an hour. Cars are also available from locations in Cornwall, Plymouth and Salisbury. Co Bikes is the UK’s first on-street, city- wide electric bike network and is currently expanding to almost 100 bikes at 14 locations around Exeter. Co-cars works with cities, developers and local authorities to help develop low and zero carbon mobility provision and partners with railway operators. Together, the cars and bikes form an economical, equitable and low carbon network of shared transport options to help reduce the dependence on private car ownership and creating space for people. Co Cars and Co Bikes is a not-for-profit social enterprise. Mark is also a consultant specialist in the wider shared and circular economy and has worked across the world on sustainable development projects.

Paul has worked in the electricity industry since graduating in 1988.  He joined the South Western Electricity Board in the nationalised industry, and has experienced the changes through privatisation and market separation.  He remains with his original employer, now Western Power Distribution (WPD) and part of the New York Stock Exchanged listed PPL group.

Paul trained as an operational engineer and experienced all aspects of distribution network maintenance, replacement and construction.  In 1995 he became a Distribution Manager and was responsible for service delivery, operations and performance in a geographical patch which covered most of Devon.

In 2011 Paul left his operational roots to take up responsibility as Policy Manager for WPD.  In this role he brought innovative solutions into a business as usual world whilst retaining the more traditional elements of management of an electricity distribution network.  In 2019 Paul’s focus moved to the new Distribution System Operator (DSO) area for WPD and he is currently DSO Development Manager. Paul is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Gabriel had a very environmentally-conscious upbringing through his mother and was gifted a creative streak by his grandmother, Mary Wondrausch, who was awarded an OBE for services to the arts. He initially qualified as a renewable installer at another company, but quickly began to feel that there was a gap that could be filled by a better quality offering. So, in 2005, he founded SunGift. Gabriel knew that the industry needed a pioneer, to provide top quality energy installations that were suited to customers’ needs. Driven by this, and believing strongly that renewable energy made sense both environmentally and financially, the rest was a matter of hard work and dedication. Within 4 years, SunGift had won its first award and could properly call itself an industry leader. In 2013, Gabriel’s personal achievements were recognised when he was named Environmental Entrepreneur of the Year at the Devon Environmental and Business Initiative Awards. In some respects it’s been a bumpy journey for renewable energy over the past few years. But, Gabriel’s passion for all things renewable and for remaining at the forefront of the fast-moving clean energy sector, has allowed him to steer SunGift to success. His insight into the sector is second to none and he’s frequently invited to speak at events, both about the industry and entrepreneurship.

Will is part of the Devon County Council Transport Planning Team. He leads a team responsible for the Exeter Transport Strategy 2020-2030 and preparing business cases to support the delivery of transport infrastructure in the Exeter and East Devon growth Point area.

Will has previously worked as Highways Development Management Officer for Exeter, involved in a wide range of developments from single dwellings and supermarkets to strategic allocations and IKEA Exeter.

Will is a Chartered Engineer with a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Warwick, an MSc in Transportation Planning and Engineering from the University of Southampton and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transport (MCIHT)

Zsolt is a Transport Planner with approaching 20 years experience specialising largely in cycling and sustainable travel. He has a breadth of knowledge and experience ranging from delivery of infrastructure and behaviour change programmes through to organising major events.

Zsolt led Exeter’s Department for Transport funded Cycling Demonstration Town Project between 2006-2011 and then a number of Devon-wide programmes including a project to improve cycling links to Dartmoor National Park. Currently, Zsolt is working on a Sport England funded project in Exeter and Cranbrook leading on an Active Travel and Active Environment theme aimed at encouraging physical activity amongst the most inactive people in the area. He is also a Trustee with The Bikeability Trust, the national charity for the UK government’s cycle education programme.

Tim is a Senior Policy Advisor at Sustrans. He also leads Sustrans Bike Life programme, the largest assessment of cycling development in cities in the UK and Ireland. Tim has over 15 years’ experience working in the third sector on a wide-variety of social and environmental issues. Tim has worked across research, behavioural change, design, social-innovation and policy. Tim’s interests lie in how we design better places for people to live in and move around.

Liz is the Managing Director of Exeter City Futures, a community interest company working to deliver a carbon neutral, sustainable, citizen-engaged City of Exeter.

Her current objective is to develop a collaborative roadmap for the City to achieve its carbon neutral aspirations in a way that ensures the City remains a great place to live. With a PhD in Electrical Engineering and over 15 years’ experience working in systems engineering, open innovation, and change management for the public and private sector, Liz works collaboratively to design strategies, systems, and processes that deliver benefit to the people who use them.

Olly is a Project Manger at Regen and the Electricity Storage Network. He manages a wide variety of complex projects. He has developed a strong knowledge base in electric vehicles, asset management, community energy, domestic energy storage and microgeneration. He works across a large spectrum of technologies, providing detailed advisory support for the industry, and is involved in supporting the sector to deliver a renewable revolution.

In his spare time he volunteers as a director for Totnes Renewable Energy Society and attempts to run up hills (ideally off-road).

Stewart Barr is Professor of Geography at the University of Exeter and has 20 years’ experience as a social science researcher in the field of behavioural change, mobilities and public engagement for sustainability. He has published widely in international and inter-disciplinary journals, contributing to debates on the challenges of embedding sustainable behaviours into everyday practices, most recently in the fields of everyday travel and leisure mobilities.

His most recent research has explored the notion of smart cities and sustainable mobility through a UK Government funded project on Engaged Smart Transport in the city of Exeter. He has also worked with Devon County Council and other partners to develop methods for working with publics to co-produce knowledge about how climate change will impact on the places we live.

Stewart is currently Director of Education in the Geography Department at the University of Exeter and teaches a second year module called Volatile Planet and a final year module on Geographies of Transport and Mobility. He chairs the University’s Sustainability Committee and was the founding co-director of the MSc Sustainable Development at Exeter.

Michael Watson began his career in 1996 in the Bus Service Planning department at London Transport. After five years in Planning and Procurement roles, Michael joined Go Ahead subsidiary Metrobus as the Assistant Operations Manager at their Orpington depot. This was followed by spells elsewhere in Go Ahead, in consultancy and then Arriva. In 2012, Mike joined Stagecoach and has performed a variety of Managing Director and Regional Director roles since then. Having previously managed the South West business between 2013 and 2015, Mike has recently returned there as Interim Managing Director, after being Regional Director England and Wales for two years. Mike lives locally in Dawlish with his family.