OTTAWA, Ont. — The Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) has announced the winners of the 2010 Canadian Transportation Awards which recognizing leadership, excellence and achievement in the transportation sector.

“The Government of Canada honours these leaders in the transportation field who have proved their extraordinary skills,” said the Honourable Chuck Strahl, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. “Through their hard work, they help Canada achieve many of its objectives relating to the environment, safety and security, and system efficiency in the transportation sector.”

“These awards provide an excellent opportunity to recognize outstanding contributions to the transportation sector,” said Robert Smart, president of TAC. “Our country is fortunate to have such fine professionals working on all aspects of a sustainable transportation system for Canadians.”

The Transportation Person of the Year award is given to an individual who has assumed a leadership role that has contributed to the improvement or advancement of the transportation industry. The recipient of this year’s award is Anthony F.D. Russell, of Mississauga, Ont., in recognition of his 38 years of innovative work in the engineering consulting field.

This year, the Award of Excellence was presented to an individual deemed to have made outstanding contributions to the development and deployment of advanced traffic management systems and intelligent transportation systems in Canada and the US: Philip H. Masters of Toronto for his work on traffic engineering.

The Award of Achievement is presented to two individuals who have made positive and measureable improvements to transportation through innovation and who have shown initiative on a particular project. This year’s winners were Dale J. Bracewell, of Vancouver, who demonstrated determination and personal drive in leading a team that developed and implemented Vancouver’s Olympic Transportation Plan, and Michael Madill of Burnaby, B.C., who showed great leadership in his work preparing TransLink for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.

The Award of Academic Merit is given to two individuals who have made a long-term contribution to the advancement of academic research and to the development of transportation leaders of the future. This year’s recipients are Dr. Said Easa of Toronto, director of Quality Assurance, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Science at Ryerson University, and Dr. Tarek Sayed of Vancouver, professor and a distinguished university scholar, Department of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia.

The 2010 Canadian Transportation Awards were presented at the closing banquet of the Transportation Association of Canada’s annual conference in Halifax, N.S. Sept. 29.