AET Awards 2024: Congratulations to Iain Macbriar and Conall Mac Aongusa

During the European Transport Conference in Antwerp, we celebrated outstanding contributions to the Association

AET gives awards in two categories for outstanding contributions to the Association’s activities: the Excellency Award for noteworthy efforts and achievements contributing to AET’s annual activities, and the Fellowship (or, in the case of a non-member, Honorary Fellowship) for long-term dedication to the objectives of the Association.

In 2024, based on the decision of the Awards Committee (Sally Scarlett, Austin Smyth, Pete Snelson, and András Munkácsy), the following members were honoured at a ceremony during the gala dinner of ETC2024 in Antwerp:

The AET Excellency Award was given to Conall Mac Aongusa (above, left) in recognition of his outstanding work leading the Transport and Mobility Forum. His leadership helped safeguard the future of AET and ETC during the most challenging period in its history—the COVID-19 pandemic. He initiated a series of online meetings (COVID-19 Conversations) as a prompt response to the lockdown and its effects on the transport sector. He also led the team that transformed these conversations into thematic webinars and, upon their success, into the Transport and Mobility Forum, which has since become a well-known monthly online event of AET. Starting in 2023, TMF has included an annual hybrid event, offering a second opportunity for members to meet in person and discuss pressing topics.

In 2024, Iain Macbriar (below) became a Fellow of the Association in recognition of his official roles as Programme Committee Chair, AET Council and Election Committee member, as well as for his modesty and good humour, which have helped promote AET and, particularly, ETC as an annual opportunity for friends to meet.

For many years, Iain has been an active member of the Local Public Transport (LPT) Programme Committee. He has been a member of AET since its early years and rejoined the LPT committee in 2008, assuming the role of committee chair in 2012, which he held until 2019. The LPT committee has a tradition of convening its annual March/April meetings in different cities across Europe, during which authors are selected.

Iain was the first to introduce technical visits during these meetings, inviting public transport operators and authorities to present their networks and policies. This initiative significantly enhanced member participation. Iain has dedicated considerable energy to organising these visits, leveraging his extensive network of operators. In the committee’s selection process, he consistently prioritised the practical aspects of public transport operations, integrating them with research and policy considerations essential to the committee’s work.

Beyond his contributions to the LPT committee, Iain played various roles within AET. As a member of the UK Electoral Reform Society, he served on the AET Election Committee, overseeing elections and vote counting before the transition to an online system. He also served on the Council from 2004 to 2006.

The European Transport Conference is praised by many participants for its friendly atmosphere, much more so than other international conferences. This is due in large part to people like Iain, whose humour and engaging style have left a lasting impact. Before the Association took over and it became ETC, Iain organised fun social events during the conference. One notable event involved volunteers being given five random slides to present a "coherent" short presentation—always funny, with often surprising outcomes!

Congratulations to Conall and Iain! Their achievements and sustained excellence serve as an inspiration to other members.

Discover previous AET Award Winners here >