Laurence developed an interest in buses and bus routes while still at school, and he has many memories of Coventry Corporation Transport dating from the late 1940s. He left school at the end of 1962 with few qualifications and spent a short period of time in the Royal Signals where he worked in the fields of digital electronics and cryptography.
Subsequently, he became an analogue electronics technician repairing mainly televisions and audio equipment. Later, he transferred into a career as a training professional, where he began teaching electronics and microprocessor applications before specialising in team building and leadership.
In 1987, he gained a first class honours degree in maths and physics before undertaking post-graduate studies in neutron scattering and computer modelling. After obtaining his PhD in 1990, he worked as a computational physicist with the Atomic Energy Authority. During this time, he developed the VEDENS traffic simulation, which was published in 1997. He also developed his own website that has been running on the internet since that time. As a result of his experience in the field of traffic modelling he was summoned to the National Traffic Control Centre (NTCC) in 2004 to help improve the accuracy of the traffic flow data. The following year, he was appointed Chief Scientist at NTCC, a post which he held until his retirement in May 2010. After retirement he developed both a website and a "Ning" social network for the Solihull branch of the MS Society, where he also works as a volunteer driver of their wheel-chair minibus.
He has written a paper "Coventry Corporation Bus Routes 1926 - 1962". It was while planning this that he discovered CWK205. He published the first draft of the paper on his website and as a result, became involved with the production of the "Coventry Corporation Transport" website, which he now manages for the society in the role of webmaster.
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Facebook