EDITORIAL
Dear Reader,
I hope this new issue of the IRF CROSSROADS Newsletter finds you in good health while we enter the last month of this challenging year.
The IRF online conference on “Roads to Recovery” hosted on 12th November not only brought a wide range of transport stakeholders together but also inflated hope in the future as we looked at the immense level of expertise, number of tools available and the strong industry commitment that a better mobility and a better future are possible.
The Multilateral Development Banks’ (MDBs) statement on Road Safety has further strengthened that feeling of renewed hope by setting the tone for the action that will characterise the second UN Decade of Action for road safety kicking off in 2021.
Resilience will be a key word going forward. We at the IRF have made a commitment this year to work even more in the field through a number of projects. We are grateful to the High Volume Transport Programme (HVT) funded by the UK government for the grants that will allow us to work respectively with the University of Birmingham on resilience and with the Global Alliance of NGOs for road safety on assessing COVID-19 impacts and responses in seven African countries.
You will be able to read about this and a lot more in this newsletter issue. I wish you good reading and invite you to follow us on our social media handles to keep abreast of developments.
Best wishes
Susanna Zammataro
Director General
International Road Federation
IRF gathers top executives to discuss “Roads to Recovery”
Under the banner “Roads to Recovery: a Sustainable Mobility for a Sustainable Future”, the International Road Federation (IRF) held its online conference on 12 November to discuss recovery post-COVID and its implications for the road sector. The virtual event gathered over 20 panellists from renowned private and public organisations as well as hundreds of participants across the globe. “A confirmation of our industry’s strong commitment to support a sustainable recovery” as IRF President, Bill Halkias, said in his opening remarks.
COVID-19 Response & Recovery: IRF at work on two HVT Projects
As part of the UK Department for International Development’s (DFID now called FCDO) response to COVID-19, IRF was awarded two projects under the COVID-19 Response & Recovery Transport Research Fund: 1. Perform an assessment of COVID-19 impacts and responses in 7 African countries 2. Develop a knowledge hub on COVID-19 and transport.
Multilateral Development Banks step up efforts for Road Safety
In a joint statement, on 16 November, 10 of the world’s largest Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) committed to an ambitious and integrated approach to road safety. The MDBs also welcomed the global call for ambitious road safety action, international cooperation and multilateralism to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals for road safety.
Explore the new IRF Data Warehouse!
Learn more about the recently released IRF Data Warehouse featuring the World Road Statistics (WRS) data for the years 2000 to 2018 by watching our new tutorial video. Obtain access to the latest data on over 180 road and transport-sector related indicators ranging from Road Network to Road Expenditure & Revenues!
IRF President Halkias addresses WTC 2020
Collaborative Development, Digital Transformation, Intelligent Construction, Maintenance and Intelligent Mobility were the key topics that the President of the IRF, Mr. Bill M. Halkias, touched upon during his opening video address at this year’s World Transport Convention (WTC) organised by China Highway Transportation Society (CHTS) in Chengdu, China.
World Day of Remembrance (WDoR) for Road Traffic Victims
On Sunday, 15 November, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the World Day dedicated to remembering road traffic victims and being observed internationally. Established by the United Nations and celebrated every third Sunday in November, WDoR is a major advocacy day for road traffic injury prevention. Numerous commemorative events had taken place across the globe and activities were relayed on social media under the theme REMEMBER – SUPPORT – ACT.
Launch of the project CRISPS – Climate resilient sustainable road pavement surfacings
Led by the University of Birmingham (UoB) in collaboration with the University of Auckland (UoA), the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and the International Road Federation (IRF), the aim of the CRISPS project is to achieve an affordable high-volume road resilient approach to climate change and traffic demands, by assessing the suitability of three global best practice types of road surfacing technologies.
Record attendance for Road Safety Audits Technical Workshop
IRF hosted on 8-10 November together with the Qatar Transportation and Traffic Safety Centre (QTTSC) of the University of Qatar a three-day technical workshop on road safety audits and road safety engineering. With over 1’200 registered participants from all over the world, the workshop provided unparalleled opportunity to learn and exchange and proved yet again the value of IRF’s trainings and IRF’s contribution to capacity building worldwide.
Infrastructure financing: Switzerland is considering mobility pricing
On 26 November, RouteSuisse (RoadsSwitzerland) hosted an on-line seminar on road infrastructure financing back-to-back with its annual General Assembly. The Seminar welcomed presentations from the IRF Director General on international trends and practices and from the Director of the Swiss Federal Roads Office on the Swiss proposal on mobility pricing.
Diversity in traffic culture and unsafe behaviour discussed at the 6th Global Interactive Forum on Traffic and Safety
On 26 November, the International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences (IATSS) in Tokyo, Japan held its 6th Global Interactive Forum on Traffic Safety. Supported by IRF and organised around the theme “Diversity in Traffic Culture and Unsafe Behaviour”, discussions at this 6th edition aimed at paving the way for implementing more effective traffic safety measures in order of importance and urgency. Invited to speak, IRF Director General, Susanna Zammataro, shared insights on pedestrians road-crossing behaviour.
IRF expresses concern at increased number of fatal road Accidents in India
The year 2019 has seen an increased number of road accident deaths in the state of Gujarat, in India, which recorded Thirteenth highest number of road deaths in the country. Mr. K K Kapila, President Emeritus, IRF, expressed his concerns as India is nowhere near to reaching the target of reducing road fatalities by 50% by the year 2020 as per the United Nation’s Decade of Action plan for Road Safety.
Read More
ARRB receives the Sustainable Transport Infrastructure Award at Australia’s National Transport Research Awards
The National Transport Research Awards celebrate and recognise research excellence across the transport sector. The annual awards, hosted by the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB) – Australia’s National Transport Research Organisation – recognise the great work that has been done in Australia’s roads, transport and mobility sector during what has been a most challenging year in 2020. Winning one of these prestigious awards reflects talent across the transport industry and leadership in shaping our transport future.Read More
HOVITA launches the Motor Third party insurance compensation project for Uganda’s road crash victims
Motor Third party insurance compensation project is administered by HOVITA and is supported by Uganda Insurers Association. This project’s major objective is to help road crash victims access compensation before they are discharged from hospital. This concept was born after realising the huge burden road crashes were exerting on victims and their families and also the health care system especially in Uganda’s main hospital. While victims were not claiming because of ignorance, among other reasons, UIA and HOVITA took the initiative to sensitise the public about MPTI, their rights under Third Party Risks Act, and also to compensate the victims and bereaved families.
Turkish Road Association (TRA) candidate for hosting the World Tunnel Congress 2023 in Antalya, Turkey
TRA is a candidate with Antalya, Turkey, for hosting the “ITA-AITES World Tunnel Congress 2023 & 49th General Assembly” that will be held in 2023. This would be an opportunity to show participants the tunnels and underground spaces built in Turkey, to be updated about other countries’ developments in tunnel planning and construction technology and to provide mutual knowledge sharing. Furthermore, it will be the occasion to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the foundation of Turkish Republic.
The idea of ethical business during COVID-19: the Italian experience of Ecogest
The pandemic has had a devastating impact on the Italian economic system, aggravated by the delays and failures of the state in health matters, as well as in support of businesses and workers.
In this extremely uncertain situation, some companies have chosen to replace the state to guarantee minimum levels of welfare, aimed at retaining employment and ensuring assistance for their employees and collaborators.
Among these is Ecogest Spa, Italian leader in the maintenance of green areas along roads and highways, which guaranteed its site workers an increase in net remuneration, an internal welfare system and a supplementary health coverage.
Factual is a boutique innovation and strategy consultancy focused on mobility. Its value proposition is differential in that it addresses the whole innovation cycle by providing foresight advice to its customers, specialised training, seek public or private funding for disruptive ideas, and develop proof-of-concept before launching to the market.
www.factual-consulting.com
Meet the team:
The Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT) is part of the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), a non-profit organisation that directly reports to the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT), of the Greek Ministry of Development and Investments. HIT’s main objective is the conduct and support of applied research activities in the field of transportation in Greece, more specifically on issues relating to the organisation, operation, planning and development of infrastructure, the standardisation, economic analysis, management, vehicle technology and the impact assessment of land, maritime, air, and multimodal transport services. HIT’s services also include the provision of training and education activities in related fields, the dissemination of research activities and the Representation of Greece in Transport Research and other relevant scientific fora abroad.
Meet the Team:
ROSDORNII is the only state research Institute of the Russian Federation with more than 60 years of experience in scientific and innovative activities in the field of road management.
Areas of activity of the Institute:
- Scientific and technical activities;
- Diagnostics of roads and bridge structures;
- Construction control;
- Economic research;
- Road safety;
- Transport planning;
- Intelligent transport systems;
- Designing of highways and artificial structures;
- Laboratory test.
ROSDORNII has an extensive network of branch offices and representative offices in the regions of the Russian Federation. Since 2019, the Institute has been involved in the implementation and monitoring of the national project “Safe and high-quality roads”. The Russian road research Institute has been given the functions of an Industry-wide competence center that brings together experts to modernise the road industry.
Meet the Team:
Webinar on the CRISPS Project – Climate Resilient Sustainable Road Pavement Surfacings
10 December 2020
Traffic and Transpotech Digital Week 2020
14–15 December 2020
EIT Urban Mobility Scale-ups Virtual Networking
16 December 2020
19 January 2021
21–22 and 25–29 January 2021
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