Transport Planning Qualifications

 

A professional qualification is important. It provides evidence of an individual’s competence as a practicing professional, and demonstrates their commitment to continuing professional development as well as to complying with professional standards and ethics.  

Most transport planners join the profession with a degree, from a wide range of disciplines, some of which, such as civil engineering and town planning, have their own professional qualifications.  And transport planners with a relevant education may well seek to obtain the qualification associated with that education, such as Chartered Engineer (CEng) or Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute. Others might seek professional recognition by becoming a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

However, there is only one professional qualification that is dedicated to transport planning, that identifies an individual as a professional transport planner, and that is the Transport Planning Professional, TPP. 

Full details are available at www.tpprofessional.org.

 

Why do I need a Professional Qualification? 

To help explain the importance of a professional qualification, a number of leading transport planners offer their advice, responding to a series of questions.  To read them, please click here. 

 

TPP - The Professional Qualification for Transport Planners

The Transport Planning Professional, TPP, is awarded jointly by the Society and the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT).  It has been designed to provide professional recognition for transport planners in the same way that Membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute recognises professional town planners and being a Chartered Engineer identifies professional engineers. 

Award of the TPP requires candidates to demonstrate, through documents and a Professional Review interview, that they have a combination of a broad range and a depth of competence, covering both technical and generic skills. That competence embraces knowledge, experience and an ability to manage others.  The TPP qualification is based on the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Transport Planning, developed by the Society with GoSkills (the Sector Skills Council) and approved by QCA and other regulatory bodies. 

 

The Routes to Award of the TPP

For most candidates, there are three key stages to satisfying the TPP requirements:

  • the first is learning, obtaining the technical knowledge that underpins a professional career.  This can be achieved by one of four routes - completion of the TPS Professional Development Scheme (or another approved graduate training scheme), an approved transport Masters, a Portfolio of Technical Knowledge (for graduates) or a Technical Report (for those without a degree);
  • the second is obtaining the breadth and depth of experience required to work as a professional transport planner and to supervise other transport planners; and
  • the third is demonstrating professional competence across a broad range of modes and contexts through a Professional Review interview.

In addition to needing to be a member of either the Society, or CIHT, there are five routes to becoming a TPP candidate. Four of these are for those in the earlier years of their career as a transport planner, the Professional Review Routes. The fifth, the Senior Route, is for those with extensive experience and senior management responsibilities.

 

The Professional Review Routes 

There are four possible paths through to the TPP Professional Review interview.  For each of them, candidates have to demonstrate their knowledge and competence through the submission of a Portfolio of Evidence and then by participating in a Professional Review interview with two trained reviewers who are senior members of the profession.

The first path is for those candidates who have completed the TPS Professional Development Scheme, PDS, or another graduate training scheme for transport planners approved by the TPP Professional Standards Committee, and who have at least a UK Honours degree or its equivalent.  Completion of the PDS is deemed to satisfy the TPP Knowledge requirements, enabling candidates to go straight to the preparation and submission of a Portfolio of Evidence and their Professional Review interview, once they have satisfied the experience requirements.

The second path is for candidates with a transport Masters degree from a UK university approved by the TPP Professional Standards Committee, which therefore satisfies the TPP Knowledge requirements.  These candidates can also go straight to the preparation and submission of their Portfolio of Evidence and Professional Review interview, once they have satisfied the experience requirements.

The third path is for those with a UK Honours degree or equivalent, but do not have an approved transport Masters degree, nor have completed an approved training scheme.  They are required to demonstrate that they satisfy the Knowledge requirements through preparation and submission of a Portfolio of Technical Knowledge, before being permitted to submit their Portfolio of Evidence and proceed to a Professional Review interview.

The fourth path is for those candidates without a UK Honours degree or its equivalent.  They first need to submit a Technical Report through which they need to demonstrate that they have achieved learning outcomes that might be expected of a candidate entering through the three other paths.

 

The Senior Route

The Senior Route is open to candidates who

  • have extensive experience as a project manager or director across a range of transport planning skills;
  • have extensive experience as a project manager or director  across a range of transport modes, and in a range of policy and planning contexts;
  • have made a substantial contribution to the transport planning profession over their career to date;
  • are in a senior management position with responsibility for a team of transport planners, and the direction of a variety of transport planning projects; and
  • are willing to contribute to the professional development of transport planning staff and mentor younger potential TPP candidates.

These candidates have to demonstrate the depth and breadth of their experience through a detailed CV and completing a standard portfolio in which they relate their experience to the TPP competence requirements. 

 

TPP and Designated Members of TPS

Members of the TPS, who are not also members of CIHT and are awarded the TPP qualification are required to become Designated Members of the Society. As with all those awarded the TPP qualification, they are required to maintain at least 25 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) a year and to comply with the Society’s Code of Professional Conduct.  The Society has a CPD guidance document, available by clicking here, and a Code of Professional Conduct, available here.  

 

Further Information

For further documents defining the TPP routes and requirements, please click here and look at the 'guidance' page within the 'candidates' section.

For answers to some frequently asked questions about the TPS Professional Development Scheme and the TPP qualification please click here.

A leaflet providing an overview of both the TPS PDS and the TPP qualification for Local Authorities can be downloaded by clicking here.

Copies of articles on the PDS can be found in the Spring 2008 edition of All Change and Planning Magazine of 9th May 2008.

Further details on the TPP qualification are available on the Transport Planning Professional website, and from education@ciht.org.uk or from info@tps.org.

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