Judith Cohen

Name: Judith Cohen
Job: Transport planner
Area of work: Transport planning
Employer: Ramboll UK
Qualifications: BA geography, University of Oxford, 2006

My experience of commuting to school led to an interest in learning about transport systems and how they could be improved upon. After university, I arranged work experience at London Underground and then looked into jobs with transport consultancies. I wanted to join a small team where I would learn a bit of everything.

Visualising transport systems

I look at the transport implications of the design and location of projects such as commercial and housing developments. I think about how people are going to want to get there and what they’re going to want to do once they have arrived. The first stage is visualising how they’ll want to travel and the ways to make it as easy as possible. I’ll also look at how environmentally viable it is – whether it’s accessible by bike, for instance – and help the client keep the environmental impact low. Getting involved at the planning stage lets us promote sustainable travel, making best use of the space and maximising the value of the land.

My involvement in a project may end by doing a transport assessment to support the planning application, to show that it won’t make a negative impact on the surrounding area or cause problems for the transport network. It’s also possible to investigate the socio-economic impact – predicting the amount of traffic at a new development means you can also, for instance, look at the number of children who might live there or predict the amount of waste that will be produced and feed that back to the relevant people.

A wide variety of work

I’m responsible for procurement (finding new jobs to work on) so I regularly look through planning magazines and European journals for interesting prospects. We work on a wide variety of projects. I’m currently working with the London borough of Hackney to develop a masterplan for land use and transport policies. The new East London Line extension will run through the borough so I’m looking at how it will change land values and local transport networks.

I am also working on the detailed design of car parks and loading bay access for a couple of big developments. One is in Ljubljana, in Slovenia: in one building there’s a hotel, retail facilities, residential areas and a train station. Finding a system that works for all of those – with a railway track through the middle – is certainly challenging!

Planning a London landmark

I'm working on a proposal for a pedestrian and cycle bridge to span the Thames by Canary Wharf. It would be London’s first dedicated cycle bridge and the first opening bridge that people see on their way into London. It’s very exciting to be part of a project that, if it’s built, will be a London landmark.

We’ve done feasibility studies to determine the best alignment, according to the proximity of transport links at either end and the suggestions of the London Transport Authority. We’ve calculated basic costs and the next stage is an economic appraisal to get more accurate figures and work out the cost:benefit ratio. If the bridge is approved, we’ll probably be involved in the public consultation. We are working with our environmental team to find out how putting structures in the river would affect the wildlife, and assessing the probability of finding unexploded bombs left from the Blitz.

Making a positive impact

On a day-to-day level, I like the problem-solving aspect of my work. It’s stimulating to work with demanding clients and work out how to combine many different elements in a confined space. It’s sometimes frustrating that it takes so long for projects to go through – it can take ten years for something to get built. On a wider level, I enjoy the fact that my work directly affects people’s lives. I’m also facilitating healthy, sustainable travel – it’s fulfilling to be doing something where you can make a positive impact.