Sharon Banks Award for Humanitarian Leadership in Transportation

The Award is intended to recognize outstanding people-oriented initiatives across all areas of transportation. It honors individuals whose accomplishments reflect Sharon Banks’s compassion and strength of character by making a meaningful impact on the lives of those who use, deliver, or support transportation services.

This award goes beyond general managerial excellence. Nominees may be recognized for either a singular, impactful program or leadership achievement with lasting influence on the transportation industry, or for sustained contributions over an extended period. Candidates from all sectors of the transportation community, including all modes, as well as government, industry, and academia will be considered.

Established in 2002, the award honors Sharon D. Banks. She was the General Manager of AC Transit, Oakland, California, from 1991 to 1999 and served as Chair of the TRB Executive Committee in 1998. She was nationally recognized for her personal integrity, her dedication to mentoring young transportation professionals, and her ability to unite individuals in the pursuit of organizational excellence. She championed the principle that transportation agencies should treat both their customers and employees with the utmost respect. Sharon Banks led by example, and this award honors individuals who embody her ideals of humanity and service.

Who Can Nominate

Anyone in the transportation research or research implementation fields

Nomination Process

The nomination portal will be opened during the beginning in June during odd years. All nominations must be submitted no later than July 31 of that year. A single nomination may be jointly-submitted/supported by multiple nominators, but nominators must designate a corresponding nominator.

Nominators will be expected to summarize information on their candidate in each of the following areas: 1) Innovative and successful leadership in areas such as education, training, and mentoring of transportation professionals; 2) Development or promotion of community-sensitive transportation facilities and services; 3) Efforts to unite individuals in pursuit of organizational or industry-wide excellence; 4) Impact on the lives of those who use, deliver, or support transportation services; and 5) Intangibles that demonstrate your candidate’s eligibility for recognition in humanitarian leadership in transportation.

Summary information for a candidate for each of these areas may not exceed 400 words for a total of no more than 2,000 words per nomination. Nominators will have the option to upload their candidate’s bio or provide a link to their candidate’s bio online. Nominators are limited to nominating no more than one candidate per nomination cycle. Current TRB staff are not eligible to receive this award.

Nominators will be notified upon a decision by the selection committee. The award recipient will be notified in October and a formal announcement is released later in the Fall. The award is dated the year the recipient is named and is presented at the Chair’s Plenary Session at the January TRB Annual Meeting.

Selection Committee is appointed by the Chair of the TRB Executive Committee. It may include some past award recipients and others necessary to reflect the multimodal nature of the award.