The 2018 STA Annual Conference and Innovation Awards

Join the third STA Annual Conference and Innovation Awards on Tuesday 27 November 2018

Join us this year at a new venue in Brussels (Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport of Belgium) for the 3rd STA Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony.  Become a part of our feature event, where transportation and mobility experts share insights and developments on future challenges for transportation infrastructures. 

Please note the change of date: the event will take place on Tuesday 27 November 2018 (and not on 29 November 2018 as previously announced).

 Featured Speakers:

• Mr José F. Papí, Chairman, STA & Founder & CEO, Etelätär Innovation

• Dr Elena de la Peña, Chair TC1, STA & Deputy Director General for Technical Affairs, Spanish Road Association

• Dr Davide Lo Presti, Principal Research Fellow, University of Nottingham, accompanied by Ignacio N. Ruiz Riancho (University of Nottingham), Giulia Siino (AECOM) and Ronald A. Roberts (University of Palermo)

• Mr Laurent Poutrain, COO, Vizimax

• Mr Jorge Alfonso, Researcher, Technical University of Madrid

• Dr Raffaele Alfonsi, Technical Coordinator, STA

The Final Programme of the Conference is now available for download here!

To register for the conference, please send an e-mail to info@smart-transportation.org stating your name, position and organisation details. Seats will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. In order to secure your place, please register before Wednesday 21 November 2018 (18:00 CET).

We look forward to seeing you, whether you are a novice or a veteran attendee, at the 2018 STA Annual Conference!

The 2018 STA Best Innovation Project/Solution (ex-aequo)

BEST INNOVATION PROJECT : Sustainable Pavements & Railways Initial Training Network (SUP&R ITN) – Award collected by Dr Davide Lo Presti, Principal Research Fellow, University of Nottingham

The Sustainable Pavements & Railways Initial Training Network, SUP&R ITN is a training-through-research programme that has educated a new generation of multi-disciplinary professionals capable of conceiving, planning and executing sustainable road and railway infrastructures.

SUP&R ITN ran from October 2013 to October 2017 and was funded entirely by the European Commission through a Marie Curie Action. The University of Nottingham led this effort, a first of its kind, involving partners between universities, research centres and companies/industries, from five EU countries (UK, Italy, France, Ireland and Spain) and the USA.

The results obtained through the programme are of interest to engineering consultancy, contractors, road and railway authorities and policy makers supporting sustainable development in civil engineering. Most of the technologies developed and researched have proved to be worthy of being further developed and are already making an impact. For example, the bio-asphalt investigated within the ESR2 are now being validated in full scale within the BioRePavation project that further developed the technology relying on the initial results obtained within the SUP&R ITN project. 

BEST INNOVATION SOLUTION : Apertum, Real-Time Guide to Step-Free Mobility – Award collected by Mr Francisco Aletta, Innovation Manager, Etelätär Innovation OÜ

Everyday the lack of information on public transport accessibility prevents 1 billion people to leave home, be properly employed or meet with their friends at the other side of the city. As a result, relying on the kindness of strangers or being ‘stuck’ at a metro station is a daily practice for users with mobility constraints.

Apertum is a free transport mobility app offering real-time accessible routeing to vulnerable and non-conventional public transport users: disabled, elderly, pregnant women, baby strollers and travellers with heavy baggage.

Apertum builds dynamic ‘bridges’ (step-free routes) that avoid non-accessible metro, light rail and tram stations/stops for the vulnerable and non-conventional population segment. The app combines i) on-site assessments ii) Open Data from the City transport operators, and iii) real-time feedback from users.

Already rolled out in Madrid (Spain), the 8th largest public transport network in the world, Apertum has also been awarded the prestigious EU Seal of Excellence, which recognises high-quality innovations and recommends them to investors.

The 2018 STA Person of the Year (ex-aequo)

Dr Aniceto Zaragoza, Director General, Spanish Cement Association (OFICEMEN), Spain

Dr Aniceto Zaragoza, CEO at the Spanish Cement Assoaiction (OFICEMEN), is a PhD Civil Engineer (Polytechnic University of Madrid, UPM). He also holds Degrees in Economics and Business Administration, in History and in Political Sciences. He is also a Transport Professor at UPM.

Furthermore Dr Zaragoza is currently the Vice-President of the Industrial Affairs Committee of the Spanish Employers’ Confederation (CEOE), General Secretary of IECA (Spanish Cement Institute), Secretary of the Spanish Labour Foundation for Cement and the Environment (CEMA), President of Spanish Concrete Technology Platform, and President of the Transport Committee of the Spanish Engineering Institute.

His past experience includes having served as President of EUPAVE (European Concrete Paving Association), President of the Infrastructures and Service Forum, Vice-president of the Spanish Co2 Technology Platform, President of IVIA (Ibero-American Road Institute), President of the ERF (European Road Federation), President of ITS Spain and General Manager of the Spanish Road Association.

Among his distinctions, he owns the Gold Medal of the Spanish Road Association and the Medal of Professional Merit from the Spanish Civil Engineering Institute.

Mr Dirk Van Loo, CEO, COPRO, Belgium

Mr Dirk Van Loo was appointed CEO at COPRO in April 2016. He holds 23+ years of experience in the construction and concrete sector and previously servedas COPRO’s technical director since 2013.

Founded in 1983, COPRO’s objective is to organise, coordinate, harmonise and encourage quality in the construction sector by controlling quality on construction products as on their integration on sites.

Importantly, COPRO has been appointed the sector-based body for Belgium’s BENOR certification in a range of construction products for the road network, together with the infrastructure sector, such as:

• Mastic asphalt

• Road concrete

• Bitumen for road construction

• Asphalt fillers

• Rubber seals

• Hydraulically bound mixtures

Steered by Mr Van Loo’s efforts, the BENOR voluntary quality mark guarantees that the certified product, process or service meets well-defined quality requirements and offers users to have confidence in the conformity of the product, process or service.

STA Survey on Smart Financing (TC4) highlights that cost-effectiveness of transport infrastructures and services needs to be improved and private financing fostered

31 October 2018

The STA Technical Committee on Smart Financing, TC4, chaired by Prof. José Manuel Vassallo, carried an open survey during October 2018 to assess the opinion of the expert community at large with regards to the Smart Financing of the Transportation Infrastructures of the Future. 

72 transport and mobility experts from across the world contributed to the survey by sharing their views on the state of the art and challenges of smart financing of transport infrastructures. The survey covered the different key aspects to better identify weaknesses and opportunities for improvement.

Most notably the survey highlights that:

• Over half of the respondents (65%) believe that the European infrastructures and transport services are not cost-effective.

• 45% of the respondents are of the opinion that users are aware or partially aware of the real cost of transport services and infrastructure facilities, whereas 55% of the respondents declare the users are unaware, suggesting that people do not hold the right perception of the resources needed for providing transportation infrastructures.

• Results are extremely even when asked about the most challenging issue in infrastructure financing, suggesting that respondents believe that financing is equally challenging in each phase. Nevertheless, maintenance received the highest score.

• When asked about which actors should play a more active role in the future of infrastructure financing, the European Union ranked 1st (30%), followed by National Governments (25%).

• When asked about the most suitable funding mechanism for each transport mode, tolls and fares appear to be the most suitable option for roads, railways and airports infrastructures, while the taxation option is chosen for railways and urban transport.

• Results show that respondents tend to favour the participation of the private sector financing, in particular for air and maritime transport, while a weaker interest is registered in relation to urban mobility infrastructures.

• Respondents think that both public and private shareholders should bear the risks in conjunction, when it comes to design, construction, demand, availability, operation and financial risks, while 65% of the respondents think that public sector should be mostly responsible when it comes to legislative risks.

• Contract design and risk distribution were seen to be the most critical aspects for the success of PPP contract (67% chose it as most or second most critical aspect), whereas infrastructure reversion was seen as the least important (with 66% thinking it would be the least or second to last important aspect).

• When asked about liberalisation, there is a general appreciation of the liberalisation process in all transport modes. Nevertheless, such preference is less pronounced in the road sector.

The survey clearly highlights that cost-effectiveness of transport infrastructures and services needs to be improved, even by eventually increasing the user’s awareness about costs. In infrastructure provision, the financing of maintenance activities is critical. Although European and National Institutions should continue playing a significant role, the participation of the private sector in financing needs to be further fostered. In this respect it is fundamental to provide efficient PPP schemes, with particular attention to contract design and the optimal allocation of risks between public and private actors. 

The results of this survey will be presented during the 2018 STA Annual Conference & Innovation Awards on 27 November 2018, along with the results of the three previous surveys.

Once again, STA would like to thank all participants for their valuable input!

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