Victoria's role keeps the community moving

“I can physically see on street the improvements that I’ve been involved in delivering."

“It’s very rewarding because I feel that I’m doing something for the community,” says Victoria Geffert of her role as Principal Transport Planner at Warwickshire County Council. 

Victoria’s engineering background and qualifications are put to the most practical uses in her work for the Transport and Highways department of the council. Engineering is a broad church with many and varied directions in which you can go – in her case, the chosen direction is transport and it’s one she much enjoys. 

“I’ve always had an interest in transport,” Victoria said. “I think with Coventry being a motor city and my grandparents and dad working in car manufacturing, transport was always in my blood. 

“I studied Transport Design at Coventry University and intended to go into the car industry but at the time I graduated there wasn’t the recruitment drive like we see at JLR now. I went to a Jobs Fair by Jacobs Babtie as they were known then, and they accepted me on to a graduate scheme for transport planning - and that’s what I have continued with ever since.” 

Through Jacobs, Victoria was seconded to Coventry City Council for 18 months and Transport for London for six months, gathering the experience and knowledge which is now benefiting travellers across Warwickshire. 

“When I started at the County Council, I worked for the County Highways team as a highway’s maintenance delivery engineer," she said. "This job included being out on the road marking out highway for patching and surface dressing. I worked closely with the highway’s maintenance contractor, Balfour Beatty to ensure highway works were undertaken safely in accordance with the New Roads and Street Works Act. Now my role is strategic rather than design and delivery but still with an engineering cap on. 

“I am currently in a small team of Transport Planners that looks at bus infrastructure improvements as part of the County Council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). We undertake the preliminary work to identify upgrades to bus stops, provide signal priority at junctions, and improve bus services generally through better buses, better management of roadworks etc. My team do the scoping, business case writing, and pre-planning work. We also liaise with councillors and ensure we have their backing before we go out and engage with the public.’’ 

“My job is very rewarding because I can physically see on street the improvements that I’ve been involved in delivering. I can pick out things that benefit the community and say, ‘I did that red route’ and ‘I did those drop kerbs’ and show my children. 

Victoria strongly recommends engineering as a career option, especially for those with a passion for making a difference in their local community. 

“You have to be a certain type of person,” she said. “You have to be interested in public affairs in your local area and want to do good. This role enables me to do that.”