New vision boosts road transport research in Europe
The European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC)(opens in new window) has set an ambitious yet realistic vision for an improved European road transport system. To support ERTRAC, the EU-funded FOSTER-ROAD (Future of surface road transport European research) project brought together a broad and diverse range of road transport stakeholders to define future research activities, priorities and roadmaps. These outlined key societal, environmental, economic and technological challenges in various areas, including road transport safety, urban mobility, long-distance freight transport, connected and automated driving, global competitiveness, and all issues related to energy and environment such as the electrification of road transport. Further, the FOSTER-ROAD activities involved monitoring of selected European road transport research projects, focusing on technological and societal challenges, as well as the project results’ potential for successful innovations. A holistic survey about innovation in collaborative projects lead to an analysis of barriers and success factors for the commercialisation of RTD results in the automotive sector. The project also oversaw joint activities and synergies with other transport-related technology platforms and associations in Europe. Comprehensive dissemination and communication activities involved a new graphic design identity, presence at important conferences such as TRA and enhanced social media coverage supporting all the project’s published roadmaps. The latter cover subjects such as urban mobility, connectivity and automatic driving and road transport electrification. FOSTER-ROAD helped ERTRAC as well as the EGVI(opens in new window) (European Green Vehicle Initiative) to contribute to a better guidance of European transport research and to prevent unnecessary fragmentation and duplication of research efforts. Overall, the project’s activities and roadmaps have given way to enhanced transport solutions in terms of energy use, air quality, safety and security, and mobility.