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The Award for Services to the Bus Industry recognises a significant and sustained contribution to the success of the industry by an individual who has gone consistently beyond the call of normal duty to improve and promote the bus indistry for its users or the wider community. The annual recipient of the award is decided by the Management Committee.
in 2017, the committee made two awards, as follows:
Winner, Gold Award
Steven Salmon – UK Bus Awards
After graduation in 1981, Steven ran his own coach business for a time and was, in the mid-1980s, the local government officer responsible for schools transport in South West Surrey for Surrey County Council. He joined the British Bus Group (now part of Arriva) and was appointed Director and General Manager of the group’s Southend and Colchester subsidiaries in 1995.
He joined the Confederation of Passenger Transport in July 1997 as Director of Policy Development and continues to serve in that post. He has been hugely influential in shaping the industry’s response to several major pieces of legislation – as well as the day to day flow of economic, social and employment legislation which affects the industry. He is President of the International Road Transport Union’s Social Affairs Commission and a Vice President of its Passenger Transport Council. He is also a member of the employers’ delegations for European social dialogue in the road transport and urban transport sectors and one of the UK representatives on the EU Committee of the International Public Transport Union (UITP).
In addition to his day job, Steven is a professional freelance organist and served as Choirmaster at St Mary’s Church Guildford between October 1997 and June 2013. The UKBA Management Committee paid tribute to Steven’s hard work and dedication to the industry for more than 30 years. In his role at CPT, he has worked tirelessly to get the industry’s point of view across at domestic and international level, and has been the source of wise counsel and thoughtful analysis of the many issues which the industry faces.
Winner, Gold Award
Leon Daniels – UK Bus Awards
Leon Daniels joined the bus industry in 1984 at Engisnbus,a leading operator of sightseeing and London bus services. By the end of the decade, he was running the company’s tendered bus operations. These were sold to Hong Kong-based CNT Group in December 1990 and Leon became MD of the newly established Capital Citybus company. In 1995 he led a management buyout of the company, but the business was sold to FirstGroup in July 1998.
Between 1998 and 2011, he held a variety of posts at FirstGroup, including Managing Director, London, and latterly Operations Director UK Bus. He also worked for the group on projects in Hong Kong and the USA and served as a director of the Confederation of Passenger Transport for six years from 2004.
In April 2011, Leon joined Transport for London as Managing Director, Surface Transport. His first major task was to oversee the delivery of surface transport for the London 2012 Olympic Games, in what is now recognised as a hugely successful event. In addition to the bus network, Leon’s role at TfL includes London’s strategic road network, taxis, cycle hire, river services, London Overground, DLR, Emirates Air Line and Trams. In September 2017, he announced his intention to retire.
In making this award, the Management Committee paid tribute to Leon’s leadership and inspiration throughout his career, but particularly in the run up and during the 2012 Olympics. Despite the many challenges he has faced in some very tough jobs over the years, he has never lost his open-mindedness, slight irreverence and his sense of humour.
