Steve Gooding is to leave his current post at the DfT to become the new director of the RAC Foundation.
Mr Gooding, who will succeed Professor Stephen Glaister CBE who is retiring, is expected to take up the post in May 2015.
Steve Gooding has been director general of roads, traffic and local group at the DfT since 2013. Recently he has been leading the work that will result in the transformation of the Highways Agency into Highways England. He has also been responsible for overseeing the work of the DVLA, the DVSA, and the VCA.
Mr Gooding joined the Civil Service in 1983 and moved into the central transport department in 1988 where he has worked ever since, except for periods spent in the Cabinet Office, the Government Office for London and the Office of the Rail Regulator.
Steve Gooding said: “I have been aware of the RAC Foundation and its excellent research for many years, and to have the opportunity to join the organisation is a great privilege and a considerable responsibility, building on the work of my predecessors.
“I have long been fascinated by transport and travel, and am very conscious of the fundamental part mobility plays in all our lives, not least those of the UK’s 38 million drivers.
“Some of the biggest political and social debates touch on transport including climate change, public health, infrastructure provision, and the funding and financing of public services. I am looking forward to leading the Foundation’s contribution on these issues.”
Joe Greenwell CBE DL, chair of the RAC Foundation, said: “Steve Gooding will be a great successor to Stephen Glaister who has steered the Foundation so admirably over the past seven years.
“On behalf of the Foundation’s Board and staff I would like to thank Stephen Glaister for his outstanding leadership of the Foundation, and for the rigour and illumination he has brought to the transport debate.”
Can anyone clarify if their are 32 or 38 million drivers? Looking at the UK gov website, it says 32 million licence holders, 35 million vehicles, of which 28 million are cars. I therefore assume 32 million drivers, not 38?
Paul Biggs, Staffordshire
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