Beginning her tenure following the UITP Global Summit: Welcoming Renée Amilcar as our new President

Every two years, the candidate(s) for UITP President put themselves forward to face a vote at our association’s General Assembly.

During their tenure, they advocate for public transport through a wide range of activities and opportunities, working alongside our Secretary General, our team of international colleagues, and our global membership every step of the way.

The role of President requires leadership, experience and an ability to listen and learn.

And this year, during the 2023 UITP Global Public Transport Summit (Barcelona, 4-7 June), that honour has fallen to Renée Amilcar, General Manager of OC TRANSPO in Ottawa, Canada, who has officially been voted into office as UITP’s first female President in the association’s 138-year history.

As General Manager of OC TRANSPO since 2021, Renee has 20 years of experience across public transport, and is a respected figure among our membership.

Beginning her career in Montreal, spending almost two decades with the Societe de Transport de Montreal, in a variety of leadership positions, Renée made the move to Ottawa to lead the city’s public transit endeavours.

Educated at the Polytechnique Montreal and the University of Sherbrooke, Renée was awarded the Leadership Femme d’exception from the Quebec Chambre of Commerce in 2018.

An active Executive Board member of UITP since 2019 representing the bus industry, Renée has also been the Chair of the UITP Bus Assembly, sharing her extensive knowledge of the sector with our members.

An active two-year term awaits the new President, as UITP works towards implementing our strategy to bring our first Annual Summit to Hamburg in 2025.

As the first female President of UITP, Renée holds the topics of diversity and inclusion and a better gender balance within the sector close to her heart.

She will work alongside our staff and members to shine a further spotlight on what needs to be done to bring more women into public transport as valued workers across all levels.

The new President played an active role in our 2023 output for International Women’s Day (8 March) and will be working closely with UITP to further that message through our overarching focus on Women in Leadership.

Rénee and OC TRANSPO will be familiar faces to our international audience due to the huge success of our record-breaking series “The Way We Move”, produced for UITP by BBC StoryWorks.

The story of Daniel has touched the hearts of millions of our viewers in which he speaks about his daily journeys across Ottawa with OC TRANSPO and the role public transit played in helping him to rebuild his life, by allowing better ease of access for those with disabilities.

The mini-documentary from OC TRANSPO was our first award winner for #TheWayWeMove, winning a special award this year in the United States!

And now UITP is delighted to welcome Renée Amilcar to her new role as President, where we know that she will lead our association to many more successes along the way!

With the inauguration of a new President, comes the departure of the current one – a man who has travelled extensively for UITP, representing our association and leading our delegations with esteem.

For the past two years, that honour has fallen to Khalid ALHOGAIL, CEO and Managing Director of SAPTCO, the Saudi Arabia Public Transport Company.

Elected by our members during the UITP General Assembly in 2021, the President has been a visible presence in our events, communications, meetings, strategy, and global output.

The President’s tenure officially came to an end when the UITP Global Public Transport Summit concluded on 7 June 2023, allowing the Amilcar era to begin on 8 June.

A passionate advocate of putting our global membership first, the President was true to his word by engaging with, collaborating alongside, and meeting our members at every opportunity.

A long-time UITP member himself, Khalid ALHOGAIL travelled, addressed and represented our association around the world across 24 months.

This was never more important than when he had the pleasure to lead the UITP delegations at the MENA Transport Congress and Exhibition, IT-TRANS and SITCE, our three pillar events which all returned to physical editions in 2022.

But the President has not just spent his time engaging with our members – he has been at the forefront of many high-level events and meetings on the international stage.

Thank you to President ALHOGAIL for his time, his tenure, and two years of activity!

During the UITP General Assembly our new Executive and Policy Boards were elected.

The new compositions of the UITP Executive Board and UITP Policy Board were voted in for the 2023-2025 mandate.

We are pleased to welcome new and returning figures to our Boards and excited to see the progression that these posts bring.

More information on the make-up of the Boards will come very soon! 

The new President will work closely with the UITP Secretariat, led by our Secretary General Mohamed Mezghani, to achieve our vision for the coming years.

Congratulations Madam President! 

The official launch press release unveiling our new President

Header picture (c) AMTU/Jordi Borràs