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ITF in India: Importance of accessibility highlighted
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India, ITF member since 2009, was in the focus of the Forum Secretariat's activities in September and October. José Viegas, ITF's new Secretary-General, visited Delhi from 15-19 October to meet Indian government officials and participate in the
4th OECD World Forum on
"Measuring Well-Being for Development and Policy Making". Addressing
the session on urban infrastructure, Mr. Viegas stressed the importance of
accessibility as a component of well-being: Health and education facilities
or jobs that are not within the reach of people have no real impact - better transport is thus crucial for better lives.
In meetings with Mr. Kamal Nath, Minister of Urban Development, and Mr. B.K. Chaturvedi, member of India's Planning Commission, Secretary-General Viegas reiterated the desire to engage ITF's non-European members more. Other meetings were held with Pradeep Kumar Sinha, Secretary of the Ministry of Shipping, and representatives of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) that works with ITF in the field of statistics.
In mid-September, Delhi was the venue for
TRANSED, the
International Conference on Mobility for Elderly and Disabled Persons. The
theme of the event was "Seamless access for all: universal design in
transport systems and built infrastructure, a key element in the creation of
liveable cities". In her plenary speech, Mary Crass, ITF's Head of Policy and Summit Preparation, highlighted the engagement of
ministers at the Forum's 2012 Summit to strengthen seamless transport and drew on findings
from ITF's 2012 Transport Outlook as well as earlier work in ECMT on door-to-door accessible transport.
ITF was a supporting organisation of the event.
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| Promote ITS via information
exchange, SG tells ministers |
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Governments must take the lead in promoting information exchange between
partners to gain "network economies", was the ITF
Secretary-General's key message at the Ministerial Roundtable in
Vienna, Austria this week.
Speaking to worldwide transport
ministers on "Accelerating ITS Deployment - The role
of policy making", José Viegas underlined the economies of scale
achievable if public initiatives can be integrated by international
organisations.
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| Can PPPs fill the public funding gap? |
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International experts from government, academia and international
finance institutions, banks and project developers met for a Roundtable on Public Private
Partnerships for Funding Transport Infrastructure on 27-28 September to discuss
risk management and alternative funding and financing models. As many governments seek new ways to
invest in transport infrastructure following the 2008 financial crisis, this Roundtable
aimed to contribute to the evidence base
for policy-making in the build-up to the 2013 Summit on "Funding Transport",
22-24 May in Leipzig, Germany.
More info. | Discussion Papers | Multimedia
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| Road Transport Group meeting in Albania |
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The meeting of the Group on Road Transport was held in Durres, Albania on 11-12 October upon the invitation of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport of Albania. Secretary-General José Viegas and Minister Sokol Olldashi opened the meeting. The Minister underlined the significance of the work of the ITF, its Road Transport Group and the Multilateral Quota system. Secretary-General Viegas expressed his satisfaction with the latest developments in the Group and later held a bilateral meeting with Minister Olldashi to discuss the transport issues important to Albania. The meeting brought together 80 participants from member countries and resulted in a lively debate inducing constructive decisions for future work.
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The bi-annual meeting of the Transport Management Board (TMB), representing
the Forum's 54 member countries, was held on 3-4 October in Oslo, marking Norway's Presidency
year. José Viegas outlined his strategic vision to member governments as
new Secretary-General. Ministers discussed ideas for a new strategic funding
framework for ITF developed by a high-level group and approved the 2013 budget
on the basis of a 5% reduction. A back-to-back meeting of the 2013
Summit Task Force, chaired jointly by Korea and Poland, finalised the framework
for the 2013
Summit programme.
Policies and technologies that help create integrated public transport solutions and foster Green Growth were the focus of the 3rd International Public Transport Forum held in Seoul, Korea, on 9 October. ITF's Head of Communication Michael Kloth opened the conference with a keynote on
"Public Transport in our Life". The event was hosted by the Korea Transport Institute (KOTI) and Korea's Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.
At the SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research 50th Anniversary
Congress in Amsterdam, Netherlands, ITF's Head of Research, Stephen Perkins,
presented recommendations of the Forum's International Traffic Safety Data and Analysis
Group (IRTAD)
for an international definition for serious
injuries, currently under discussion initiated by a European Commission
high-level group.
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| José Viegas to speak at The Economist event on infrastructure |
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Secretary-General José Viegas will join other high-level speakers to
discuss "New policy frameworks for new strategies" during The Infrastructure
Summit 2012 organised by The Economist's conference unit on 6 November in London, UK. This Summit aims to explore new
approaches to infrastructure and the opportunities these present. ITF
Newsletter recipients are eligible for a £200 reduction on the attendance
fee.
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