Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am pleased to note that the second Preliminary Programme for the 2010 International Transport Forum is now available. "Transport and Innovation: Unleashing the Potential" is the theme, and we have a truly impressive line-up of speakers for this exciting event to take place in Leipzig from May 26-28. The keynote will be delivered by Swiss explorer and inventor Bertrand Piccard, who is aspiring to circle the globe in an airplane solely powered by solar energy – an exciting endeavour that highlights the enormous potential for innovation in transport. Of course, Transport Ministers from our 52 member countries will be there and participating in policy panels. The recent air transport crisis in the wake of the volcano eruption in Iceland is only one issue that policy makers will have an opportunity to discuss in Leipzig, and at a global level. Here is a selection of only some of the top-level speakers you will be able to hear in Leipzig at this year’s International Transport Forum:

• Bertrand Piccard, Chairman and Initiator, Solar Impulse
• Amar Bhidé, author of “The Venturesome Economy: How Innovation Sustains Prosperity in a More Connected World”
• Ian Goldin, Director, James Martin 21st Century School at the University of Oxford
• Henry Li, Senior Director, ByD Auto
• Wolfgang Mayrhuber, CEO Lufthansa AG
• John Micklethwait, Editor-in-Chief, The Economist

There will also be an impressive exhibition of technology, as well as many opportunities for networking, in what promises to be the event of the year for the transport sector. Please visit our web site, at http://www.internationaltransportforum.org/2010/index.html, for more detailed information, including on registration. Lower registration rates apply until 30 April, so I encourage you to reserve as early as possible.

I look forward to seeing you in Leipzig.
Best wishes,
Jack Short
Secretary General
International Transport Forum

As in past years, the 2010 International Transport Forum will be enriched by a number of very interesting side events that we would like to draw your attention to, among them:

• The bi-annual roundtable of the Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) will take place in Leipzig on 27 May, during the Forum. It will take stock of the work of the International Transport Forum and its partners IEA, UNEP and the FIA Foundation on CO2 and fuel economy standards, tax incentives, scrapping schemes and other measures to drive innovation for cleaner cars, and set a path for future work. All Forum participants are invited to attend. To register, see: www.50by50campaign.org/updates/Roundtable/Pages/Roundtable.aspx.
• The International Union of Railways and Deutsche Bahn will host a side event for Forum 2010 delegates entitled "Initiative for Green Logistics - EcoTransIT World: An innovative approach for global carbon foot-printing". The EcoTransIT web application will be demonstrated, showing how it provides carbon foot-prints of logistical chains, including all transport modes on global level. The side event takes place on 26th of May from 13.20 to 13.50 at the exhibition stands of UIC and DB.

In time for the 2010 Forum, the International Transport Forum has created a completely new page on its website dedicated to transport statistics. It provides free and easy access to all latest ITF statistics on transport. The data include:

• Historical time series on inland transport provided by member countries since 1970;
• Global transport trends for all modes drawn together from international sources;
• Road safety indicators;
• Detailed data on emissions from the transport sector; and
• Unique data on transport infrastructure investments and maintenance.

The ITF statistics page also presents seasonally adjusted quarterly transport statistics for the latest analysis of transport trends.

• Quarterly data show that rail freight decline ended the third quarter of 2009. However, the volumes in the EU, for example, are still over 20% below the pre-crisis levels (see latest Quarterly Briefing).
• 2008 data on transport infrastructure investment show declining GDP share trends to continue in Western European countries (0.8% of GDP), while growth in Central and Eastern European countries continues, reaching 1.9% of GDP, the highest ever reported by these countries (see latest data on Infrastructure Investment - available from 12 May).
• In 2008, for the first time ever the number of people killed in road accidents fell below 150 000 in the ITF member countries (not including India). First indications concerning road fatality figures for 2009 reveal a continuing significant reduction in the number of road deaths in most countries (see latest data on Transport Trends).

• Innovative technologies for trucking can increase safety, improve more effective compliance of regulation and enhance truck productivity. They are a key element of a future sustainable freight transport system. A number of such measures are now presented in the new JTRC Discussion Paper “Innovation in Truck Technologies”, which has just been published. Many of the measures evaluated in this paper are already available or will be in the very near future – among them measures to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions of CO2, to increase payload capacity or improve driver support and communication systems.

• A summary of the ITF experts workshop on transport and innovation on 26 January 2010, along with presentations and papers is now available on the ITF website.
• A survey of member countries’ policies, initiatives and views regarding transport and innovation coproduced by ITF is now available. It contains a summary and individual country case studies on the web.
• We have been provided with helpful input for the 2010 Forum from international transport organisations regarding their priorities for transport and innovation.
• Read Jack Short's latest blog on transport’s most important innovations.
• Louis Thompson wrote about A Vision for Railways in 2050.
• David McCollum, Christopher Yang and Dan Sperling from the University of California's Institute of Transportation Studies wrote about Achieving 80% Reduction in Transport Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Using the USA as a Case Study.
• The report, papers and presentations from the Round Table on ICT for Innovative Global Freight Transport Systems, held in Genoa, Italy, on in February 2010, are now available online.. Great thanks to the Instituto Internazionale delle comunicazioni for helping to organise this.
• The Forum Advisory Board gave us its views on transport and innovation at their meeting in November 2009.

ITF has a new Head of Communications. Michael Kloth joined the ITF team on 15 April and is already in full swing, trying to drive international media attention for the 2010 Forum. Michael has spent 15 years in journalism, most of this as a politics editor with German news magazine DER SPIEGEL. From 2007 he was responsible for developing and then running SPIEGEL ONLINE’s prize-winning Web 2.0 portal, einestages.de. In 2004-5 he was an APSA Congressional fellow in Washington DC, where he worked in the office of U.S. Representative Brad Miller from North Carolina. Michael is looking forward to being in touch with all interested in the work of ITF and can be reached at Michael.KLOTH@oecd.org and +33-1-45 24 95 96

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About the International Transport Forum

The International Transport Forum is a strategic think tank for the transport sector. Each year, it brings together Ministers from over 50 Countries, along with leading decision-makers and thinkers from the private sector, civil society and research, to address transport issues of strategic importance. An intergovernmental organisation within the OECD, the Forum's goal is to shape the transport policy agenda, and ensure that it contributes to economic growth, environmental protection, social inclusion and the preservation of human life and wellbeing. The 2010 International Transport Forum, to be held on 26-28 May in Leipzig, Germany, will focus on Transport and Innovation: Unleashing the Potential.