Musketeers

James is the Director of Mobility Lab, where he works towards changing the practice of transport planning to be more focused on social justice, public participation, and meaningfully tackling climate change. He collaborates with policy makers and practitioners on everything from creating policies to monitoring and evaluation to bring about this change. His ultimate goal is to create a transport planning practice that supports these values. James joined SRITC for two reasons. Firstly, he believes that rural areas are examples of people taking matters into their own hands to create change for the better, and that working with like-minded people is the best way to support this. Secondly, he sees SRITC as a unique community of practice that works with rural communities to ensure that rural issues are taken seriously, and he is excited to be part of it.

Jenny Milne

Jenny, the founder of SRITC, is a transport specialist with over two decades of experience in delivering projects and programmes. She has a passion for rural communities and has worked on various projects such as Mobility as a Service Investment Fund (MIF) and Cairngorms Connected. Jenny founded SRITC to give rural communities a voice on mobility and transport and to address the inequalities and challenges that currently exist.

John Yellowlees

John is a retired rail professional who served as an Honorary Rail Ambassador for ScotRail after retiring from his career with the company in 2017. Additionally, he serves as the chair of the Scottish Region of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. Having first taken an interest in rural transport during his time as a civil servant with the Department of Transport in 1977, John has maintained his focus on the issue throughout his career. His interest in rural transport led him to serve as secretary to the RUTEX committee, which oversaw rural transport experiments, and he remains committed to improving transport access for rural communities.

Matthew Kendrick

Matt spent 2020-2022 working in the private sector, growing a transport technology startup focused on delivering transportation solutions in the On Demand Transporation space. Before this, Matthew spent five years in the legal sector as a litigator, resolving public/private disputes for companies working with local authorities. Now Matthew works as an innovation consultant advising businesses and government agencies on collaborating and delivering tech for good initiatives. Matthew is passionate about advancing innovation in the public sector and seeing it benefit marginalised communities. Matt joined SRTIC due to its values of bringing together a wide variety of stakeholders in the transportation sector to solve the transportation challenges of rural and island communities.

Rachael Murphy

Rachael is the Director for Scotland at CoMoUK, a UK-wide charity dedicated to shared transport solutions such as bike share, car clubs, and demand-responsive transport (DRT) in Scotland. Through her work, Rachael aims to support communities, transport authorities, government, and transport providers in promoting shared mobility options. She believes that some of the most successful community schemes are found in rural Scotland. Rachael decided to join SRITC to contribute to a platform that brings together the right people for meaningful conversations and enables tangible change on the ground.

Ruth Wilson

Ruth is a social scientist at The James Hutton Institute who specialises in rural and island communities and their ability to navigate times of change and crisis. She is currently involved in projects aimed at promoting green and resilient recovery processes, which involve conducting action research-based case studies in various rural and island communities throughout Scotland. Prior to this, Ruth joined SRITC, where she recognised the critical importance of addressing transportation challenges for the future of rural and island Scotland, and she believes that collaboration is key to overcoming these challenges.

Sheila Gilmore

Sheila is a dedicated individual who has spent many years working to promote sustainable tourism practices in the Isle of Arran. As the CEO of VisitArran, a not-for-profit destination management organisation, she has helped to encourage collaboration between businesses and community groups to ensure that the island remains in balance in terms of community, economy, and environment. Additionally, Sheila runs the Arran Trust, a visitor gifting scheme that supports environmental, conservational, and educational projects that keep Arran beautiful. She has also been very active in the local community, serving on committees ranging from Drama to Highland Games. Recognising the need for improved transport integration in rural areas, Sheila joined SRITC to help address the challenges faced by residents and visitors in accessing essential services and reducing carbon emissions.