Arup expert Catriona Swanson joins PJA as Associate

National transport planning, placemaking and engineering consultancy PJA has appointed Catriona Swanson as its newest Associate. Swanson joins the firm’s Manchester office, and joins the firm from Arup.

PJA is an independent transport, engineering and placemaking advisory firm. Founded in 2003, it has since spread from its Birmingham headquarters to locations in London, Cambridge, Reading, Bristol, Exeter and Melbourne Australia. Most recently, PJA also opened an office in Manchester less than one year ago, and as it looks to bed into the new business community, it has made an important new hire.

Catriona Swanson has joined the Piccadilly Place office, which serves the North West of England. As an Associate there, she will support director Chris Sibthorpe in advising public and private sector clients on cycling and walking schemes as well as PJA’s wider expertise in designing better places.

Speaking on the new hire, Sibthorpe said, “We opened the PJA Manchester office less than a year ago to respond to the rush in demand for advice on active travel schemes in the North West. Our client base is already quickly growing and I’m delighted to have Catriona on board to deliver our high quality, people-focused design solutions… She brings a wealth of experience as well as knowledge of the political landscape that will hugely benefit our clients – who include local authorities, developers, housebuilders and land promoters.”

Swanson joins from Arup where, as Senior Transport Planner, she set up and ran the North West and Yorkshire active travel team and worked on regional and national projects. She also led Transport for Greater Manchester’s Active Neighbourhoods programme, working with Sustrans and 10 local authorities to deliver pilot active travel neighbourhoods – and prior to life in consulting, she also spent 11 years at Salford City Council, leading on active travel schemes in addition to public realm and development planning projects.

Commenting on her new challenge, Swanson stated, “I consider PJA to be the UK’s leading active travel consultancy so am really thrilled to be the team… These are exciting times for active travel with more funding and political will than ever. I’m very excited to be able to combine my experience as well as my own personal passion for better walking and cycling infrastructure in this new role. I look forward to delivering transformational schemes and growing our presence in the North West.”