Holiday Wishes

21 December 2015

The Smart Transportation Alliance (STA) would like to take this end of the year newsletter to wish each and every one of our subscribers a happy, healthy and joyous holiday season.

2015 has witnessed a continued growth that will bring STA from strength to strength in aligning with our mission to create smart, sustainable and safe transportation infrastructures globally.

We would like to thank you all for your continued support and look forward to an exciting and enriching 2016!

STA Annual Conference 03 February 2016: Programme available

4 December 2015

Following the postponement of the date initially planned due to the security situation in Belgium, we are glad to announce the Programme for the 1st STA Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony is available for download here.

This one-day landmark event brings together key opinion leaders and business professionals to explore the current and future states of Smart Transportation Infrastructures. In a unique and dynamic atmosphere delegates are invited to participate in-person on virtually through our state-of-the-art online platform.

This first edition takes place in the heart of Europe – Brussels, Belgium – on Wednesday, 3 February 2016. Offering the opportunity to reflect on current issues, learn about new trends, and engage with key thought-leaders, decision-makers and practitioners from across the globe. Register by email at info@smart-transportation.org.

Labelling Smart Roads – Discussion Paper 4/2015 published

21 December 2015

Road infrastructures must adapt their role in a smart, green and integrated transport system that today faces a number of challenges: efficiency, safety, security, congestion, climate change and budgetary tightening.

This Discussion Paper - authored by Dr. Elena de la Peña, Chairperson of the STA Technical Committee on Smart Mobility, TC1 and a group of collaborators - sets out a number of recommendations for the deployment of Smart Roads by proposing a comprehensive labelling system that measures the sustainability performance of a road infrastructure - in other words, its social, environmental and economic implications in the framework of an integrated transport system.

STA Technical Sub-Committee on Road Restraint Systems holds fourth meeting in 2015

3 December 2015

A fourth meeting of the Technical Sub-Committee on Road Restraint Systems was held last 3 December 2015. The meeting served to review the progress held towards the implementation of the ambitious roadmap of innovative measures promoted by STA members in the field of safety barriers.

The activities carried out by the Technical Sub-committee are due to be presented to the market as early as Q1 2016.

NEWS OF INTEREST

New IDEAS for Highway Systems - TRB Annual Progress Report.

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) has released their New IDEAS for Highway Systems Annual Progress Report (January 2016). This annual report presents a summary of progress investigations conducted as part of the Innovative Deserving Exploratory Analysis (Highway IDEA) program is jointly funded by the state highway agencies through membership in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

The IDEA programs are open to all individuals, including entrepreneurs, small and large businesses and institutions. The program provides an opportunity to investigate new and unproved concepts or to evaluate novel applications of technologies that have been tried, tested or or used for highway, transit, high-speed rail, or intermodal systems practice.

Mobility as a Service: A world of mobility just a click away.

As mobility is constantly evolving, the services that support it are becoming more complex. A Finnish research institute has just presented a totally innovative concept that should materialise by the end of 2016: “Mobility as a service.” What’s its leitmotif? To make life easier for users, optimise journeys and bring mobility into the 21st century.

In this new public transport jungle, a Finnish research institute has developed a concept aiming to restore some order.
The institute is thus proposing to set up a platform — accessible via a mobile application — listing all the transport service offerings available in a city, or indeed in a country.

World Leaders Commit to New Sustainable Development Agenda Calling for More Public Transport.

Global leaders from all nations agreed on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for our planet at the three-day UN Sustainable Development Summit 2015 in New York (25-27 September).

The 17 goals aim to eradicate poverty and secure economic, social and environmentally sustainable development over the next 15 years.

For the world to achieve these ambitious goals, it is crucial to utilise the strength of the public transport sector.  This is because sustainable transport solutions are necessary to achieve several of the UN’s development goals, and there is a specific target on the need to expand public transport for the cities of the future (SGD 11).