Graham has over 35 years' experience of working with community-based and public passenger transport schemes in Ireland, Britain and Australia. He has written and lectured widely on community transport, which encompasses transport services for people with mobility problems, community groups and rural communities. His work in community transport has been at all levels, as project volunteer, project co-ordinator, local and national committee member, local authority officer, national development officer and, since 1988, consultant.

Graham has undertaken feasibility studies for community organisations wishing to start a transport service, carried out evaluation reviews and development plans for community transport operators and local authorities in Ireland and Britain. This includes the preparation of business plans for local transport services under the Social Economy Programme (now Community Services Programme) and the Rural Transport Initiative (now RT Programme) in the Republic of Ireland and action plans for rural community transport partnerships in Co. Down. He has also managed rural transport audits in Cavan, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Leitrim, Limerick, North Tipperary and Sligo. He has undertaken work for the Department of Transport and the National Disability Authority on public transport accessibility. He has managed and participated in numerous EU projects since 1995 in the fields of sustainable urban and rural transport, telematics and e-working, including a pilot CarSharing project, which operated in Dublin in 1997/8.

Mendes re-introduced CarSharing to Ireland under the GoCar brand. CarSharing enables people to have access to cars located near to their home or work and to hire them for as little as an hour on a pay-as-you-go basis. Since January 2010 GoCar has been operated by a new company, GoCar CarSharing Limited. GoCar operates in Cork and Dublin city centres.

From June 2000 to May 2003, Graham worked part-time for the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport in Ireland (CILTI) as a Research Assistant in the FP5 PORTAL Project. CILTI was the Work Package Leader for Quality Assurance. From October 2005 to August 2007 he worked for the Community Transport Association UK and the Community Transport Association of Ireland on cross border advice, information and research projects funded under the EU INTERREG IIIA Programme.
Graham was (1995) a member of the Mobility & Transport Working Group of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities. He was a member of Clare County Council’s Transportation & Infrastructure Strategic Policy Committee from 2005 to 2007.
He is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport in Ireland and was the Chairperson (2003-2005) and Education Officer (1992-2002) for the Western Section, as a result of which he has served on the CILTI’s National Council and its Education Committee. He is currently the Hon. Secretary of the Western Section.
Graham has served on the management committees of various voluntary and community organisations and been elected to the positions of Secretary and Treasurer on a number of occasions. He served as the Chairperson of Clare Accessible Transport, a non profit transport operator based in Feakle, Co. Clare, Ireland from 2002 to 2005. He has considerable operational and research experience in community and rural development. He has been involved in applying a method of community accountability (Social Audits) to community-based organisations.

He has been involved in a number of EU research and technological development projects in transport since 1995.
Past projects related to:

• Transferability of sustainable transport measures
• Development of Pay as you drive CarSharing, including pilot projects in Dublin and Britain
• Multi-functional and co-ordinated rural transport
• Promoting the take up of research results for educational purposes
• Development of transport criteria required for local area ecolabelling in peripheral areas
• Management of ELTIS – European Local Transport Information Service web site www.eltis.org, which involves developing its content and keeping all aspects of the web site up to date with relevant news and case studies from around Europe
• Sustainable local transport in new and existing housing developments
• Implementing appropriate mobility services, including a CarSharing service, providing local travel information and working with the local Rural Transport Programme (RTP) group to improve passenger transport services in the area

Current projects are related to:

• Transfer of knowledge and experience from countries and organisations with many years experience of CarSharing to other countries in the EU
• Preparation of business plans for setting up CarSharing in Dublin and elsewhere
• The feasibility of CarSharing vehicles being powered by alternative fuels.

Involvement in a number of EU research and technological development projects in ICT 1994-2004.
These projects related to:

• Promotion and development of teleworking and telework centres
• Development of distance learning systems using ICT
• Development of ICT applications in peripheral areas and communities
• Design of learning materials and programmes for teleworkers and telework centres
• Design of learning materials and programmes for supervisors of teleworkers and telework centres
  

Work Experience:
Transport Operations and Development:
1980/81
Community Transport Co-ordinator in Milton Keynes
1983-86
Development Officer in the National Advisory Unit for Community Transport
2005-07
Project manager for Community Transport Association of Ireland
2009 to 2011
Managing Director, GoCar CarSharing Limited

Research:
1977
Public transport for disabled people in Greater Manchester
1982/83
Public transport co-ordination in Derbyshire
2000-03
Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport in Ireland, PORTAL (FP5 Project)

Local Authority employment:
1974
Research assistant, ACT Transport Section, Canberra, Australia
1979
Lancashire County Council, Transport Co-ordination Section.
Greater Manchester Council. Coding Supervisor:
Manchester Outer Ring Road Study
1986/87
Assistant Co-ordinator (Policy): responsible for administration
of Concessionary Travel Scheme and development of Community
Transport Policy and Strategy
1987/88
Senior Co-ordinator (Community Transport): responsible for
implementation of Community Transport Policy and Strategy
and for unconventional services, including taxis

Consultancy:
1978
Technical assistant, Wootton Jeffreys & Partners, M57 Study
1988-2004
Director, Taylor Lightfoot Transport Consultants
2005 to now
Managing Director, Mendes Limited

Qualifications:

• BSc (Hons) in Transport Management and Planning from Loughborough University of Technology 1976
• Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport CPC Exemption Certificate National and International 1990
• Royal Society of Arts Assessor Award (D32/33) 1996
• Royal Society of Arts Internal Verifier Award (D34) 2000
• Certificate in Social Auditing 2007
  

Publications:

• Various conference/seminar papers and magazine articles 1977-2011
• Co-author of "Can I Get There? Public Transport Options in the
  1980's for people with disabilities in Greater Manchester" 1979
• "Getting There" Some recent developments in door to door
  transport for people with disabilities 1982
• "Out and About - A travel guide for older people" (Age Concern) 1990