Holistic approach essential for sustainable transport in Europe
The Transport Research Arena (TRA) 2010 closed on 10 June 2010 on a positive note as the benefits of a holistic approach to sustainable mobility in Europe were merited. The four-day event in Brussels highlighted a lot of admirable research on different modes of transport, but also called for greater effort in promoting and applying research findings. It also demonstrated the excellent results of student research showing multinational involvement.
Meeting point for all sectors
“TRA 2010 has served as a meeting point for all sectors of surface transport, giving an excellent opportunity for experts to promote and exchange their ideas and to communicate with public authorities at all levels – local, regional, national and European,” said Claude van Rooten, chairman of the 2010 programme committee, Director General of the Belgian Road Research Centre (BRRC) and President of the Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories (FEHRL), as he brought the third TRA event to a close.
Building sustainable road transport needs a systematic approach that links vehicles, infrastructure and users, as well as providing links between users. ”It means maximising capacity of road transport infrastructure, optimising traffic flows, integrating safety solutions, providing new intelligent mobility systems for urban environments and improving links between different modes of transport,” he added.
Enabling sustainable choice
“Everywhere, and every journey, is different and we need an adequate provision to allow individual choice while ensuring overall sustainability,” pointed out conference reporter, Professor Mike McDonald of the University of Southampton. “This requires much stronger integration of public-private partnerships and more innovation in funding the necessary research, particularly into encouraging behavioural and organisational changes. However, to meet the challenges, we need to understand the problems, develop the solution approaches required and make change happen.”
Challenges include the effect of emissions on climate change, the need to develop viable low carbon alternatives to fossil fuels, congestion, road safety, maintenance of infrastructure and services, and improving the quality of life. A range of presentations showed that mobility can be improved by enhanced vehicle design, greater planning and better traffic management.
Key political and industry speakers supported the key themes of greener, smarter and safer transport for Europe. European Commission Vice-President and Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas emphasised the need for integrated transport systems, building on the strength of each mode. Chris Caestecker, chairman of the TRA 2010 management committee pointed to the need for more sustainable, competitive and efficient transport systems. And Ivars Pāže, chairman of the Conference of European Road Directors (CEDR) 2010, stressed the major contribution that roads make to the economy.
Aligning European research
The mission of the TRA is to support the alignment of European, national, regional and private research and development actions on road transport by enhancing the networking and clustering of Europe’s research and development capacity, based on a shared Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) and Research Framework. TRA is supported by Conference of European Road Directors (CEDR) members as the driving force to implement the ERA, the European Commission and ERTRAC – a body of crucial importance for creating and implementing a shared European Research Framework on Road Transport.
The TRA focuses on the future problems and challenges facing road transport that require a multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary system approach. In addition, the Management Committee is keen to strengthen contacts with other modes of transport, including their interfaces, which should become a constituent part of future TRA events, primarily with providers of urban mobility.
Three quarters of European traffic depends on roads, but all modes of transport are required. While TRA was originally started by the CEDR, other sectors such as rail have an important and growing role, as do the interfaces between the various modes of transport. Urban mobility is not only streets or roads. Even though everything has to physically pass through one place, the cohabitation of all users and modes of transport basically makes it the most interesting transport interface that we have.
About TRA 2010
TRA is now the leading European forum on research and development in transport and road construction, attracting stakeholders from industry and public authorities. The 2010 event focused on sustaining transport mobility through innovation at general, strategic and specific levels, with 50 different sessions and 216 presentations. Some 900 participants attended the various sessions; the accompanying exhibition was also open to the general public on 9 June.
In addition, winners of the Young Arena of Research (YEAR) 2010 awards were announced for young researchers. The YEAR 2010 competition was particularly successful with 338 abstracts submitted from 33 countries. 18 medals were presented in six categories: safety and security; energy, environment and resources; mobility and inter-modality; design and production of vehicles and infrastructure; societal importance of transport; and future visions of transport. The YEAR 2012 competition is already being prepared.
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