About
John Preston is Professor of Rail Transport within the Department of Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering at the University of Southampton. He was Head of the Transportation Group for eight years (2008-2010 and 2015-20). He was Head of the Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering and Science Academic Unit (2011-2014) and Head of the School of Civil Engineering and the Environment (2010-11).
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Demand, capacity and cost modelling for sustainable transport infrastructure.
- The design, monitoring and evaluation of transport interventions designed to promote sustainable choices.
- The determination of pathways for future mobility transitions to net zero carbon.
Current research
His current research at Southampton includes leadership of Theme 1 (Personal Mobility) of the Solent Future Transport Zone project. He is also providing expertise to the EPSRC Decarbonising Transport through Electrification project and he leads the Faculty’s Centre of Excellence of Re-engineering for Electric Mobility (RE4EM).
Research projects
Active projects
Completed projects
Publications
Teaching
Teaches engineering economics and management, with a focus on transport. Module lead for CENV6016 (Transport Economics), CENV6112 (Transport, Energy and the Environment) and CENV6152 (Project Economics and Management). Also contributes to CENV3062 (Architecture 3), CENV3065 (Railway Engineering and Operations), CENV6153 (Transport Modelling) and CENV6169 (Transport Planning: Policy and Governance).
External roles and responsibilities
Biography
Professor Preston joined the University of Southampton in 2006, having previously held positions at the University of Leeds (1982-1997) and University of Oxford (1997-2005). He has almost 40 years of experience in transport research and education. He has taught transport options on Economics, Engineering, Geography, Management and Planning courses. His research in transport covers demand and cost modelling, regulatory studies, land-use and environment interactions and economic appraisal and evaluation. His initial work concentrated on rail but subsequent work has covered all the major modes of transport. He has held almost 160 research grants and contracts, worth over £22 million, and has published almost 400 articles, book chapters, conference and working papers. He has successfully supervised over 30 doctoral students. He is an elected Fellow of the Transport Research Foundation (now TRL Academy) and a Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation.
Prizes
- Rees Jeffreys prize (2016)
- William W. Millar prize. (2017)
- Foundation Inductee to the UTSG Hall of Fame (2023)