The International Road Traffic Safety Analysis and Data (IRTAD) Group and the International Transport Forum (ITF) organised with great success the 38th Meeting which was held in s’-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, on 13-14 November 2024. In this meeting, the latest international road safety developments were discussed. Members and observers from many countries enriched the discussion aimed to help improve road safety across the globe. Particular emphasis was given to road safety data collection and analysis.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

• Video recognition Machine Learning for automatic collection of Pedestrian Safety Performance Indicators

The Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT/CERTH) in cooperation with the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE) are organizing the 12th International Congress on Transportation Research (ICTR 2025), which will take place on 16-18 October 2025 in Thessaloniki, Greece. The spotlight theme of the 2025 Congress is “Transportation in the era of Artificial Intelligence”. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 31 January 2025.   

The Road Traffic Safety Directorate (CSDD) is organizing the 24th Road Safety Hackathon, which will take place in Riga, Latvia, on November 15-17, 2024. This event aims to collaborate, innovate and create solutions to improve road safety. Members and observers from many countries will enrich the discussion aiming to help improve road safety.     The Road Traffic Safety Directorate (CSDD) already organized with great success three Warm-up Events prior to the main event which were held online on 25 October, 4 and 8 November 2024, with the active support of NTUA which contributed with the following presentations:

• Critical issues and priority actions for road safety in Europe
•  Artificial Intelligence and Big Data for Supporting Road Safety Actions

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) in cooperation with the Automobile Club d’Italia (ACI) are organizing the PIN Talk “Improving the safety of e-scooter riders”, which will take place in Rome, Italy, on November 15, 2024. This event aims to address current challenges, share best practices, and propose safety measures to support the safe integration of e-scooters in urban environments across Europe.   

The University of Twente together with TRAIL organized with great success the Cycling, Micromobility and Road Safety Seminar in Enschede, Netherlands on 1 November 2024. The primary focus of this seminar was to support micromoblility efforts toward safer roads across Europe. NTUA Professor George Yannis actively contributed with the following presentation:

•   Safer Micromobility

POLIS, the European Cities Network, has organized with great success the Safety and Security Working Group Meeting which was held online on 30 October 2024. The POLIS Safety and Security Working Group focused on the effectiveness of lower speed limits and Low-Traffic Neighborhoods in enhancing road safety. NTUA Professor George Yannis actively contributed with the following presentation:

•   Review of 30 km/h speed limit benefits in Europe

The International Cooperation on Theories and Concepts in Traffic safety (ICTCT) together with the Traffic and Transportation Safety Lab of Delft University of Technology organized with great success the 36th Conference which was held in The Hague, Netherlands, on 17-18 October 2024. This conference with theme “Inclusive and interdisciplinary road safety research” served as a platform for global leaders, industry experts, academia and diverse public and private stakeholders to engage in insightful discussions and collaborative efforts. Particular emphasis was given to vulnerable road users, micromobility, road infrastructure design, innovative research methodologies and inclusive road safety policies.  

NTUA actively contributed with 2 presentations:

•   Using KPIs to assess speeding
•   Selecting KPIs on enforcement of traffic regulations

The International Road Federation (IRF) in cooperation with the Turkish Road Association organized with great success the IRF World Congress 2024 in Istanbul, Turkey, on 15-18 October 2024. This conference with theme “Connecting to Empower Mobility: Roads as Enablers of a Sustainable Future for All” served as a platform for global leaders, industry experts, academia, and diverse public and private stakeholders to engage in insightful discussions and collaborative efforts, addressing pivotal issues and exploring innovations within the road and mobility sectors.   

NTUA actively contributed with 7 innovative presentations:

•   Assessing the effectiveness of 30km/h speed limit in cities
•   Quantifying the impact of driver, vehicle and environment on crash risk using big data
•   Exploring the Influencing Factors of Active Commuting Choices for Work-Related Trips: The Case of Athens
•   Exploring the Relationship Between Unsafe Traffic Events and Crash Occurrences Using Smartphone App Data
•   Enhancing cyclist safety: Predictive analysis of injury severity and advocacy for evidence-based interventions
•  The ESRA initiative
•  Key results on vulnerable road users’ performance and attitudes across 39 countries

The Road Traffic Safety Agency (RTSA) of the Republic of Serbia in cooperation with several Serbian and international road safety Governmental, Academic and other organizations, is organising the 20th International Conference Road Safety in Local Communities (RSLC 2025) in Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia, on 23-26 April 2025. The Conference was organized within the second Decade of Action for Road Safety (2021-2030) and the second national strategy for road safety (2023-2030) highlighting the significant changes in road safety regulations.  

Road Safety Support organized with great success the National Safer Roads Partnerships Conference which  took place in Manchester, on 25-26 September 2024. Key topics discussed in this conference were science and technology within policing, a new way to measure traffic safety and  road safety as a government priority. NTUA Professor George Yannis actively contributed with the following key-note presentation:

•  Review of 30 km/h speed limit benefits in Europe

The Transportation Infrastructure Scientific Association of Italy (ASIT) in cooperation with the Order of Engineers of the Province of Naples organized with great success the Traffic Moderation Conference, which was held online, on 9 October 2024. This conference aims to provide an overview of the results of the most recent national and European experiences related to the implementation of the speed limit of 30km/h in urban areas and traffic moderation.   NTUA Professor George Yannis actively contributed with the following key-note presentation:

•  Review of City-Wide 30 km/h Speed Limit Benefits in Europe
  

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) is organising the 26th International Symposium on Transportation and Traffic Theory (ISTTT) which will be held in Munich, Germany, on 20-24 July 2026. The primary objective of ISTTT is to facilitate scientific discourse and collaboration by convening leading experts and promising young researchers. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 9 December 2024.  

The Horizon 2020 research project SHOW (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) final event was held with great success in Tampere, Finland, on 26 September 2024. SHOW has generated a wealth of knowledge by directly addressing the mobility needs of passengers and logistics clients. The SHOW Final Event took stock of all project achievements, with a look forward to how that knowledge can be applied and replicated by cities.   NTUA actively contributed with the following key-note presentation:

•  SHOW Simulation Suite

The 24th International Walk21 Conference on Walking and Liveable Communities will take place in Lisbon, Portugal, on 14-18 October 2024. The future city needs to be able to adapt to transitions with smart urban design and new mobility solutions. Key topic areas that will be discussed concern pedestrian safety and include positive public space, inclusivity, investing in walking and good governance. Researchers can register until 14 October 2024.  

The European Commission together with 2Zero, ERTRAC, CCAM and BATT4EU are organising the  Road Transport Research Results Conference (RTR Conference) which will be held in Brussels, on 11-13 February 2025. For the past seven years, the RTR Conference has been a unique entry point into the achievements of EU-funded projects in road transport. Once again this year, participants will have the chance to learn about results and expected impacts of CINEA supported Horizon 2020 projects, and the next steps in key areas for road transport research.   

The I-Sense Group of the Institute of Communications & Computer Systems (ICCS) organised with great success the “Hi Drive International Summer School 2024“, which was held in Athens, Greece, on 25-26 September 2024. This Summer School session with theme “Navigating the Future with Advanced and Safe Automated Driving” aims to delve deeper into the latest advancements, challenges, and opportunities in the dynamic field of Automated Driving (AD), which is a major component of road safety.   

ERTICO and Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) co-organised with great success the 30th ITS World Congress which was held in Dubai, on 16-20 September 2024, under the theme: “Mobility Driven by ITS”. ITS World Congress is the forum to make meaningful connections, experience inventive conference program presented by industry experts, and see cutting-edge technology in the Exhibit Hall. ITS World Congress allows the smart mobility community to come together to explore the deployment of intelligent transportation technologies that saves lives, improves mobility, promotes sustainability, and increases efficiency and productivity.​  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:

•   Exploring the benefits from 30 km/h speed limit to enhance urban sustainability
•   Examining Factors Affecting Takeover Time in Automated Driving using Machine Learning Algorithms
  
•   Enhancing Road Safety: Insights from Delivery Drivers’ Perspectives in Attica Region
•   Investigation of the Impact of Eco-driving on Fuel Consumption Using Smartphone Data

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and the Unipolis Foundation organised with great success in the framework of the European Mobility Week, the City Flows 2024 event which was held in Trento, Italy, on 20 September 2024. This year’s hybrid event with theme “Shared public space” focused on the promotion of a space in which people, different transportation modes and activities should contribute to social equity, road safety, pollution reduction and improved quality of life.    NTUA Professor George Yannis actively contributed with the following presentation:

•   Review of 30 km/h speed limit benefits in Europe

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) in cooperation with the Slovenian Traffic Safety Agency organised with great success  the PIN Talk “Improving the safety of vulnerable road users”, which was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 19 September 2024. This event focused on improving the safety of vulnerable road users.   NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•   Review of 30 km/h speed limit benefits in Europe

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) in cooperation with the Latvian Ministry of Transport and the Latvian Road Traffic Safety Directorate organised with great success the PIN Talk “Speed and improving the safety of vulnerable road users”, which was held in Riga, Latvia, on 11 September 2024. This event focused on speed and improving the safety of vulnerable road users. Invited guests from Greece, Lithuania and France also shared work that they have done nationally to this direction.    NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•   Review of 30 km/h speed limit benefits in Europe

The 13th Symposium of European Association for Research in Transportation (hEART2025) will take place in Munich, on 10-12 June 2025.  The Symposium will offer an opportunity for in depth discussion in all scientific methods and analyses in transport. Researchers can submit their papers until 31 December 2024.  

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is organising the 104th Annual Meeting, which will be held in Washington DC, on 5-9 January 2025. The meeting program covers all transportation modes, with sessions and workshops addressing topics of interest to policy makers, administrators, practitioners, researchers, and representatives of government, industry, and academic institutions. Early bird registrations are until 20 November 2024. 

The European Association of Operators of Toll Road Infrastructures (ASECAP), supported by the Asociación de Empresas Constructoras y Concesionarias de Infraestructuras (SEOPAN), is organising the ASECAP days conference, which will be held in Madrid, on 26-28 May 2025. This conference with theme “Challenge of Future Mobility – The Role of Road Infrastructure” will focus on various topics concerning road safety, such as how to reach zero fatalities, driving innovation, digital twin-based maintenance and monitoring for road infrastructure solutions and the impact of deployment of zero emission vehicles on road infrastructure. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 27 September 2024. 

Elsevier’s Transportation Research (TR) family of journals is organising the Transportation Research Symposium (TRS), which will be held at the Postillion Hotel, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on 25-28 May 2025. This conference will cover various themes concerning road safety, including policy & practice, methodological operations research, implications of emerging technologies, transport, environment, sustainability, logistics, traffic psychology and behaviour safety. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 15 November 2024. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) in cooperation with the Ministry of Transports and Logistics of Morocco are organising the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety which will be held at Marrakech, Morocco, on 18-20 February 2025. This conference with theme “Committed to Life”, will bring leaders and experts together to assess the progress made in implementing the Global Plan 2021-2030 during its initial five-year period and to generate support for the new vision of safe and sustainable mobility. Registration until 10 February 2025.  

The 9th Road Safety & Simulation International Conference 2024 (RSS2024) hosted by the Kentucky Transportation Center will take place in Lexington, Kentucky, on 28-31 October 2024, under the theme “Improving Decisions Through Safety and Simulation Tools”. The Conference aims to improve upon the existing knowledge in the area of road safety and contribute to reducing the number of crash fatalities and injuries occurring worldwide, through the dissemination of innovative research and applications. Participants can register here. 

The 11th International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems (VEHITS) will be held as a hybrid event in Porto, on 2-4 April 2025. The purpose of this conference is to bring together engineers, researchers and practitioners interested in the advances and applications in the field of Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems. This conference will cover areas such as Connected Vehicles, Data Analytics, Intelligent Transport Systems and Infrastructure, Intelligent Vehicle Technologies and Smart Mobility and Sustainable Transport Services. Researchers can submit their papers until 29 October 2024. 

ERTICO is organising the 16th ITS European Congress which will be held in Seville, on 19-21 May 2025. This event will focus on clean, resilient, and connected mobility, which is a major component for road safety. Furthermore, during this conference, Seville’s green transport achievements will be promoted and its role in broader European objectives, such as the European Green Deal and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, will be highlighted.  

The Transport Community organised with great success a hybrid event about the Capacity Building on Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale 3+ in Belgrade, on 21 June 2024. During this conference, the conclusions of the SafetyCube project regarding the collection of serious injury data were presented. Furthermore, the MAIS3+ database and several best practices from EU Member States were discussed.  NTUA Professor George Yannis actively contributed with the following presentation:

•   Serious road injuries current practices & problems discussion on possible solutions

The Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) in cooperation with the University of Leeds are organising the Road Safety on Five Continents (RS5C) Conference, which will be held in Leeds, United Kingdom, on 3-5 September 2025. The Conference aims to be a leading source of research results and interaction in the transport area with focus on safety and health associated with road transport. 

The 12th Symposium of European Association for Research in Transportation (hEART2024) took place with great success in Espoo, on 18-20 June 2024.  The Symposium offered an opportunity for in depth discussion in all scientific methods and analyses in transport. Several road safety topics were discussed, regarding micromobility, traffic management and transport policy .   

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) organised with great success the ETSC PIN Conference 2024, which was held in Brussels, on 19 June 2024. During this Conference, ETSC presented the findings of the 18th PIN Annual Road Safety Performance (PIN) Report looking at progress in reducing road deaths and serious injuries across Europe. Two key road safety issues were analysed in more detail: the safety of powered two wheelers and safety on rural roads. NTUA Professor George Yannis actively contributed with the following presentation:

•   Powered Two Wheelers’ key challenges in Greece and Europe

The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) published the 18th edition of PIN Annual Report, with the active contribution of NTUA, presented at the 2024 ETSC Road Safety Performance Index event which took place with great success on 19 June 2024 in Brussels. According to this PIN Report, 20,418 deaths were killed on EU roads in 2023 representing a decrease of only 1% compared to 2022, falling far short of the 6.1% annual reduction needed to achieve the EU target of a 50 % reduction by 2030. The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has also awarded its 2024 Road Safety Performance Index (PIN) Award to Finland, recognising its long-term performance in improving road safety.  

The Hellenic Association for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS Hellas) together with the Research University Institute of Communication and Computer Systems of NTUA, co-organised with great success the 9th ITS Hellas Conference, which took place in Athens, on 5-6 June 2024.  This Conference was held under the theme “Smart Transport & Logistics 2024: Explore. Innovate. Transform”, focusing on the developments in the field of Intelligent Transport Systems in Greece.   NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•   Smart maps for safe and ecological driving behaviour through large-scale data from mobile phone sensors
  

The 2024 International Research Council on the Biomechanics of Injury (IRCOBI) Europe Conference will be held in Stockholm, Sweden, on 11-13 September 2024. Through scientific conferences, training courses and other activities, the IRCOBI Council provides an academically rigorous forum for dissemination of the latest research into injury causation and protective systems. 

The Università degli Studi di Brescia and the Friendly City Study Center (CeSCAΜ) are co-organising the LWC International Conference, which will take place in Brescia, on 11-12 September 2025. The LWC International Conference traditionally deals with the topics of urban mobility and quality of life in urban areas, with a specific focus on vulnerable road users. Τhis year’s LWC Conference focuses on defining smart mobility and shared urban spaces. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 31 December 2024. 

ETSC and Fundación MAPFRE are organising the 2024 edition of the European Traffic Education Seminar, which will be held as an online event, on 17 September 2024. The aims of the seminar are to equip young road users to become safe road users, given the appropriate education. This seminar features presentations on the latest traffic education projects from across Europe. Researchers can register here.  

The Centre for EU Transport Projects (CEUTP) is organising the 20th Scientific and Technical Conference, which will be held in Katowice, Poland, on 10-11 September 2024. This conference titled “Transport Systems. Theory & Practice” (TSTP 2024) aims to show and discuss the issues in regard to the transport systems and allows presenting the most up-to-date solutions in the field, evaluating the current state and developing perspectives for the transport systems within the urban areas, regions, countries and the world. Among the main topics of this conference, road traffic safety assessment issues, such as strategies, programs and solutions, are included. Researchers can register here.

The Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) in cooperation with the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) are co-organising the Africa Road Safety Seminar, which will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, on 8-9 October 2024. This key regional seminar will include leading topics in current road safety conversation and is designed to give participants a deeper understanding of effective, evidence-based interventions which can be applied towards the goals of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030. 

The International Transport Forum (ITF) organised with great success the  Safer Micromobility – Ask the Author session which was held online, on 17 April 2024. During this question and answer session, Philippe Crist (ITF) together with George Yannis and Virginia Petraki (NTUA) presented the findings of the latest ITF Report titled Safer Micromobility. According to this Report Micromobility is becoming safer (per miles driven), but an increase in severe injuries from e-scooter crashes is cause for concern and a comprehensive set of recommendations in line with the Safe System Approach are proposed.

•   Safer micromobility

The European Commission organised with great success the EU Road Safety Conference which was held in Dublin, Ireland, on 16 April 2024. The Conference provided an opportunity to engage with EU Member States Authorities, Experts and all Stakeholders across the road safety community. In addition, it facilitated exchanging views and experiences on the efforts to reach Vision Zero.  

NTUA Professor George Yannis actively contributed with the following key-note presentation:

•   European Road Safety Observatory

The European Commission and the An Roinn Iompair (ARI) together with the European Transport Research Platforms ACARE, ALICE, CEDR, ECTP, ERRAC, ERTRAC, ETRA and Waterborne organised with great success the Transport Research Arena Conference (TRA2024) which took place in Dublin, Ireland, on 15-18 April 2024. The pillars of the Conference were the safe & inclusive transport, the sustainable mobility of people and goods, the efficient & resilient systems and the collaborative digitalisation regarding the European Transport Research and Innovation and the cooperation of Europe with other continents.  

NTUA actively contributed with 35 innovative presentations:

•  European Road Safety Observatory
•   Road safety in Low- and Middle-Income Countries – Analysis and recommendations
  
•   Monitoring National Road Safety Strategies in the EU
•   Naturalistic Spatial Road Safety Analysis: The SmartMaps Project
•   Traffic simulation and safety assessment requirements for enhancing road safety prediction tools
•   Bicycle traffic analysis before and after mobility interventions using crowdsourced data
•   Assessing the Impact of Athens Great Walk on VRU Volumes: A Temporal Analysis
•   The HADRIAN Novel Human-Machine Interface Prototype for Automated Driving: Safety and Impact Assessment
•   Safety evaluation via conflict classification during automated shuttle bus service operations
•   Outcome Evaluation of i-Dreams (H2020 Project) Interventions: Comparison of Multi-Country Driving Behavior
•   Unveiling driving behaviour patterns during a naturalistic driving experiment
•   Investigating the effect of driver-vehicle-environment interaction with risk through naturalistic driving data
•   Predicting risky driving behavior with classification algorithms: Results from a large-scale filed-trial and simulator experiment
•   Unfolding the dynamics of driving behavior: A machine learning analysis from Germany and Belgium
•   Investigating the Influence of Mobile Phone Use on Driving Behaviour with Machine Learning Analysis
•   Exploitation of naturalistic driving data to estimate crash risk through machine learning techniques
•   Examining the influence of traffic enforcement on the development of traffic safety culture
•   Analyzing Acceptance of Reduced Speed Limits on Greek Motorways
•   Economic Assessment of Free Public Transport in Athens
•   Examining the impact of driver distraction on speeding through the exploitation of smartphone sensor data
•   Impact assessment of governance models on the integration of connected and autonomous vehicles
•   Assessing the Readiness of European Cities for Distributed Traffic Management: A Smart Infrastructure Readiness Index
•   Does Eco-Routing Even Work? Some Experimental Findings
•   Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to Prioritize Network Benefits When Applying Novel Traffic Management Strategies
•   Comparing Random Forests and Multinomial Logit Models for Urban Travel Choice under Innovative Traffic Management Strategies
• E-Survey of Road Users’ Attitudes
• Optimising driver behaviour for safe, green and energy efficient mobility
• Injury Mitigation to Promote Vision-Zero Achievement
• CulturalRoad: Cultural, regional and societal factors to overcome barriers to connected, cooperative and automated mobility deployment
•  SHOW simulation suite: A guide for simulating shared automated mobility
• metaCCAZE – Flexibly adapted MetaInnovations, use cases, collaborative business and governance models to accelerate shared Zero Emission mobility for passengers and freight
• Flexibly adapted MetaInnovations, use cases, collaborative business and governance models to accelerate shared Zero Emission mobility for passengers and freight
• Artificial Intelligence for Vision Zero in Road Safety
• Integration of road user behavior models to traffic safety analytic tools
•  Artificial Intelligence boosting Road Safety

The Road Traffic Safety Agency (RTSA) of the Republic of Serbia in cooperation with several Serbian and international road safety Governmental, Academic and other organizations, organised with great success the 19th International Conference Road Safety in Local Communities (RSCL 2024) in Zlatibor, Serbia, on 17-20 April 2024. The Conference was organized within second Decade of Action for Road Safety (2021-2030) and the second national strategy for road safety (2023-2030) highlighting the significant changes in road safety regulations.   NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Benefits from city-wide 30km/h speed limit

The International Road Traffic Safety Analysis and Data (IRTAD) Group and of the International Transport Forum (ITF) organised with great success the 37th Meeting which was held in Helsinki and online, on 10-11 April 2024. In this meeting, the latest international road safety developments were discussed. 80 members and observers from more than 40 countries enriched the discussion aimed to help improve road safety across the globe. Particular emphasis was given to safer micromobility and the evaluation of road safety measures. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:

•  Safer Micromobility
•  The EU Methodology for Network Wide Road Safety Assessment

The Centro Nazionale per Mobilità Sostenibile (MOST) in cooperation with Politecnico of Milano organised with great success the G7 Transport Academic Workshop, which was held in Milan, on 10 April 2024. This workshop with theme “Planning for Resilient Transport Systems” consisted of 4 sessions, including issues related to road safety, such as principles and measures for network resilience, decision-making and trade-offs and policies and practices for mitigation and adaptation. The Workshop results were presented to the Meeting of the Ministers of the G7 world’s advanced economies.  NTUA Professor George Yannis actively contributed with the following presentation:

•   The role of digitalisation in preventive transport resilience policies
  

The European Association of Operators of Toll Road Infrastructures (ASECAP), supported by the Associazone Italiana Societa Concessionarie Autostrade e Trafori (AISCAT), is organising the 51st ASECAP Study & information days conference, which will be held in Milan, on 13-15 May 2024. This conference with theme “Innovation as a key tool to reach safe, inclusive and green mobility solutions” will focus on how to provide equal access to mobility services being a key point for social and economic developments. 

AMRKS and Tempulli Academy  are co-organising the 10th International Conference “AI – Cyber Security and Road Safety” which will be held in Prishtina, on 7 May 2024. In this conference, the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be discussed, as an important potential in increasing road safety. IA’s road safety and mobility initiative aims to increase road safety using innovative technologies to complement the action plans of the UN General Assembly Resolution on improving global road safety. 

POLIS, the European Cities Network, is organising the 2024 Annual Polis Conference, which will take place in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, on 27-28 November 2024. The POLIS Annual Conference is Europe’s leading sustainable urban mobility event, providing an opportunity for cities and regions to showcase their transport achievements, including recent safety developments, to a large audience of mobility experts, practitioners, and decision-makers from both the public and private sector. Urban Road Safety is a key conference priority. Participants can register here. 

The International Commission for Driver Testing (CIECA) in cooperation with the Roads & Transport Authority of Dubai  organised with great success the 56th CIECA Congress, which was held in Dubai, on 5-8 March 2024. This congress, titled “Preparing drivers for smart mobility and road safety”, allowed for vivid discussion on key safety measures for driver testing and safer driving from across the world.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Using Telematics for Monitoring & Improving Driver Safety Behaviour

The World Bank Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) in collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety and UK Aid have recently published the Guide for Safe Speeds Report: Managing Traffic Speeds to Save Lives and Improve Livability. This Report outlines interventions that work and provides guidance on how to select and implement speeds that are safe for all road users, including city-wide 30km/h speed limits. It also explains how barriers to changing traffic speeds can be overcome.

The European Conference of Transport Research Institutes (ECTRI) organized with great success the 7th ECTRI Safety Webinar, which was held online on 23 February 2024. The scope of the Safety Thematic Group concers safety culture, safe mobility for all, automation and digitalization safety implications, transport safety data collection and use and safety in junctions. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Overview of the PHOEBE Project: Use cases and methodology

NTUA Professor George Yannis made a key contribution to the vivid debate for the future of mobility & transport in Europe, organised by the European Commission – DG Move on 21 February 2024 in Brussels. He attempted to decode the slow deployment of vehicle automation, the role of artificial intelligence and digitalisation together with the necessary new business models for automated mobility in Europe stating that “Automation should be seen more as a social than a technology challenge“.    

On the occasion, he also promoted strongly Public Transport as the only way to serve the increased urban and interurban transport demand in Europe and the 30km/h city-wide speed limits for safer, healthier and greener cities in Europe. 

The Private Passenger Car Owners Association of Greece organised with great success the Vision Zero Road Crashes Conference which was held in Athens on 21 February 2024. This Association contributes to the improvement of the country’s road network safety, ensuring better traffic conditions for passenger cars. This conference focused on if  and how it is possible to have zero road crashes in Greece. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•   National Road Strategic Plan 2021-2030

The International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences (IATSS) is organising the 12th International Cycling Safety Conference (ICSC2024) which be held in Imabari, Japan, on 5–7 November 2024. The ICSC is a forum for researchers and experts in the field of cycling safety to exchange their knowledge and bring up new research topics and safety solutions. This year’s conference focuses on exploring cycling safety culture. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 30 April 2024. 

The  Access Management Committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) is organising the 4th Access Management International Conference which will be held in Boston, USA, on 24-26 June 2024. This conference with theme “Access Management: Safety and Design from the Curb to the Interchange for All Users” aims to promote idea sharing and showcases practitioner-ready techniques and academic work on the interaction between transportation and land use. The focus topic areas being discussed are design, safety, land use and legal issues. 

The International Cooperation on Theories and Concepts in Traffic safety (ICTCT)  in close co-operation with the Department of Transportation and Geotechnical Engineering of the University of Dar Es Salam is organising the 1^st AfroSAFE conference in Dar es-Salaam, Tanzania, on 13-14 June 2024. This conference aims to facilitate exchange of knowledge and experiences between international and African road safety scientists, professionals and policy makers, and provides a platform for a joint discussion on the future of traffic safety on the African continent. 

The International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) is organising the 17th IFAC Symposium on Control in Transportation Systems in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, on 1-3 July 2024. The main scope of the Symposium refers to the development of automatic control methods and tools for the analysis, supervision and management of transportation systems. The increasing complexity of freight logistic networks, the technological developments in transportation systems, and the necessity of managing all the transportation modes in an efficient, synchronized and integrated way for a safe road environment will be discussed. Researchers can submit their papers until 1st March 2024. 

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) organised with great success the 103rd Annual Meeting, which was held in Washington DC, on 7-11 January 2024. More than 600 workshops and sessions took place, covering all transportation modes and quite a few of them focussed on theory and practice of road safety worldwide.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations and posters:

•   Network-wide Road Safety Assessment: Methodology of the European Union
•   Interactions between road environment and driver state for the identification of safety critical conditions
•   Identifying the impact of Task Complexity and Coping Capacity on Driving Risk – Comparison among Different Countries and Transport Modes
•   Leveraging Machine Learning Algorithms to Predict and Analyze Single-Vehicle and Multi-Vehicle Crash Occurrences on Motorways

The European Commission together with 2Zero, ERTRAC and CCAM is organising  the Road Transport Research Results Conference (RTR Conference) which will be held in Brussels on 5-7 February 2024. For the past seven years, the RTR Conference has been a unique entry point into the achievements of EU-funded projects in road transport. Once again this year, participants will have the chance to learn about results and expected impacts of CINEA supported Horizon 2020 projects, and the next steps in key areas for road transport research. The conference will deliver a holistic view of how the European research scene is moving forward in these areas, bringing benefits to the environment, economy, and European society overall. Researchers can register here.   

The NTUA Laboratory of Geodesy of the Department of Topography organized with great success the RobPos4VApp Workshop which was held as a hybrid event in Athens on 18 December 2023. The results presented concerned the research project “A methodological framework for low-cost cooperative DGNSS/INS-based robust positioning in safety critical connected vehicle applications” carried out within the Research Programme of the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.).  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

• Artificial Intelligence for Connected Vehicle Traffic Safety

The Australasian College of Road Safety (ACRS) in cooperation with Austroads are organizing the Australasian Road Safety Conference 2024 (ARSC), which will be held in Hobart, Tasmania, on 30 September – 3 October 2024. This conference titled “Target 2030. What’s the pathway forward?” will bring together road safety stakeholders and decision-makers from Australasia and international jurisdictions to facilitate collaboration and share information.  

UNECE together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republic of Moldova organized with great success a workshop titled “Policy dialogue and How to move forward road safety system”, which was held in Chisinau, Moldova, on 13-14 December 2023. The objectives of the workshop were the launch of a policy dialogue with national road safety stakeholders on the main Road Safety Performance Review (RSPR) findings in Moldova and the capacity-building of the stakeholders on the preparation of a road safety strategy.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:

•  EU Strategic Action Plan on Road Safety
  
•  The Greek National Road Safety Plan 2021-2030
  

The University of Thessaly, Department of Civil Engineering, Traffic, Transportation and Logistics Laboratory (TTLog), is organizing  the 7th Conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility, which will take place in Plastira’s lake in Karditsa, on 4-6 September 2024. The theme of this year’s Conference is: “Climate Crisis and Resilient Transportation Systems” aiming at the dissemination of knowledge and the exchange of research and good practices among researchers and practitioners towards the adaptation of the transportation systems to climate change. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 16 January 2024.  

The Transport and Roads division at Lund University is organizing the 26th Euro Working Group on Transportation Conference (EWGT 2024) which will be held on 4-6 September 2024 in Lund, Sweden. EWGT is a premier international forum for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in the field of transportation and logistics. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 1 March 2024. 

The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works of the Republic of Cyprus organised with great success a workshop on Cyprus’ experience and recent developments in CEF projects on 11 December 2023, in Nicosia, Cyprus. In this workshop, the results on the Cypriot Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for road safety from the Baseline project, as well as the developments of the Trendline project were presented.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Key Performance Indicators​ in Cyprus

The Saudi Traffic Safety Society organized under the patronage of His Royal Highness Governor of the Eastern Region the sixth International Traffic Safety Conference, which took place with great success in Dammam, Saudi Arabia on 4-6 December 2023. The theme of the conference was “Artificial intelligence and big data for transportation and traffic safety”. Experts, researchers, academics from internationally renowned research centers, institutions and international scientific organizations took part in this conference.   NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Artificial intelligence and big data applications in road safety

POLIS, the European Cities Network, organised with great success the 2023 Annual Polis Conference, which took place in Leuven, on 29-30 November 2023. The POLIS Annual Conference is Europe’s leading sustainable urban mobility event, providing an opportunity for cities and regions to showcase their transport achievements, including recent safety developments, to a large audience of mobility experts, practitioners, and decision-makers from both the public and private sector. Urban Road Safety is a key conference priority. 

The European Conference of Transport Research Institutes (ECTRI) celebrated the 20 Years of Achievements in Sustainable and Multimodal Mobility Research, in conjunction with the Annual Plenary Meetings of Members and of Thematic Groups, which took place with great success in Brussels, on 16 November 2023. Key achievements were highlighted and discussions focussed on how can research drive future green and inclusive mobility and the transformative impact of research on transport policy. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:

•  Predictive Approaches for Safer Urban Environments
•  AI for Vision Zero in Road Safety

The SWOV – Dutch Road Safety Research Institute organised with great success the 11th International Cycling Safety Conference (ICSC2023) which took place in Hague, on 15–17 November 2023, bringing the conference back to the Netherlands after 10 years. The ICSC is a forum for researchers and experts in the field of cycling safety to exchange their knowledge and bring up new research topics and safety solutions. This year’s conference focused on safer cycling for a better future. NTUA actively contributed with the following paper:

•   Review on the literature on the safety of micromobility

The Network of Regional Road Safety Observatories (RSO), namely the European (ERSO), Ibero American (OISEVI), African (ARSO), Asia and Pacific (APRSO), the Easter Parnership (EaPRSO) and Arab (AIRSO), organised  with great success an informal meeting which was held in Paris and online, on 9 November 2023. The main topic discussed was the update on programme of Work and activities of Regional Road Safety Observatories. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Update on the european road safety observatory

The International Road Traffic Safety Analysis and Data (IRTAD) Group and of the International Transport Forum (ITF) organised with great success the 36th Meeting which was held in Paris and online, on 8-9 November 2023. In this conference, the latest international road safety developments were discussed. 45 road safety experts enriched the discussion aimed to help improve road safety across the globe. Particular emphasis was given to new mobility and the evaluation of road safety measures. NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:

•  ERSO Tool: Monitoring National Strategies
•  Effectiveness of city-wide 30 km/h speed limit

The Hellenic Sleep Society organized with great success the 13th Panhellenic Congress on Sleep Medicine in Athens, on 3-5 November 2023. The aim of this conference was to investigate the effects of insomnia on an individual’s health, but also on driving performance. Through a driving simulator experiment, it was observed that patients with chronic insomnia drive at a higher speed than participants without insomnia, have a reduced ability to maintain a stable lateral position of their vehicle, and their reaction time to most events appears to be slower than participants without insomnia.  NTUA actively contributed with the following poster:

•  Driving insomnia: A study of the effect of insomnia on driving performance in driving simulator

Bar-Ilan University is organising the 8th International Conference on Traffic and Transport Psychology (ICTTP), which will be held in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 19-22 August 2024. This conference is the 1st ICTTP conference in the middle East and is oriented towards the next generation of traffic psychology researchers. The aim of this conference is to provide a platform for communication between researchers, young and established, and between researchers and practitioners. 

EPFL is organising an one-week program on 11-15 February 2024 that undertakes an in-depth study of discrete choice models and their applications. It provides participants with the practical tools necessary for applying new discrete choice techniques. The course will cover various topics such as fundamental methodology, data collection, model design and estimation issues, forecasting techniques, examples and case studies. Researchers can apply for a scholarship until 8 December 2023. 

The International Cooperation on Theories and Concepts in Traffic safety (ICTCT)  organised with great success the 35th Conference which took place in Catania, Italy, on 26-27 October 2023 under the theme “Challenges and actual opportunities offered by new technologies to improve traffic safety”. The conference was organized in close co-operation with the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture of University of Catania.   

European Commission and the European Parliament launched with great success the EU Road Safety Exchange project for a second three-year phase with the active support of ETSC and NTUA. The project connects road safety experts from various European countries to tackle specific road safety challenges through twinning activities. A high-level event in Brussels marked the official launch of the project on 18 October 2023. The project and its launch event  covered various themes, including the safety of infrastructure, effective enforcement, the protection of vulnerable road users and driver training. 

The International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences (IATSS) is organising  the 9th GIFTS Symposium, which will be held as a hybrid event (in Tokyo and online), on 1 December 2023. In this 9th forum, experts in transportation and safety as well as specialists from international organizations, have the opportunity to exchange opinions and discuss about the ideal traffic culture and sustainable society from the perspective of the “positive benefits”. 

SAFER Vehicle and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) are co-organising the 9th International Conference on Driver Distraction and Inattention (DDI2024), which will be held in Michigan, on 22-24 October 2024. DDI2024 is the primary international event on this topic, attracting delegates from more than 20 countries. It is designed to bring participants – from academia, industry and government – up-to-date on the developments and trends in the field of inattention and distraction in driving. Researchers can submit their abstracts until 3 March 2024. 

The World Road Association (PIARC) organised with great success the XXVIIth World Road Congress, which was held on 2-6 October 2023, in Prague. The theme of the congress was “Together on the road again” and provided a unique opportunity to discuss in depth all subjects related to road infrastructures and road transport, with safety being one of the Congress key topics. The program included ministerial sessions, 60 technical sessions covering all key aspects and topics of road infrastructure, valuable poster sessions, various specialised workshops and foresight sessions.  A special workshop on “Boosting Sustainable Road Safety Solutions in LMICs” was also foreseen.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentations:

• Development and Pilot Testing of a European Methodology for Network Wide Road Safety Assessment
• Road Safety Audit of Ellinikon Urban Regeneration Project
•  Traffic Modelling a Case Study for the Port of Chios Island
•  AI for Safer Road Mobility
•  Key Road Safety Management Practices

The National Safer Roads Partnerships Conference took place with great success in Manchester on 27-28 September 2023. Key topics discussed in this conference were science and technology within policing, a new way to measure traffic safety and  road safety as a government priority. NTUA Professor George Yannis actively contributed with the following key-note presentation:

  Monitoring the Safe System Approach

The “Energy Save” Conference, organised with great success by Be best company, took place on 25 September 2023 at SNFCC in Athens. The theme of the conference was “How to reduce the energy footprint in traffic” by promoting electromobility, micromobility and road safety. NTUA Professor George Yannis actively contributed with the following key-note presentation:

•   Significant Benefits from speed limits reduction

The Horizon 2020 research project SHOW project (SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption) organised with great success the 4th Pan-European Workshop, titled “Shaping Seamless AV Integration in Public Transport”, which was held in Düsseldorf, on 12 October 2023. The workshop  provided a dynamic exploration of cutting-edge advancements in automated shared mobility, along with a field trip to nearby Monheim am Rhein to experience the real-life AV service fully integrated into public transport. The workshop  combines concise presentations by industry leaders, experts, and project participants, followed by interactive panel discussions that delve deep into the heart of each topic. 

The World Road Association – PIARC organised with great success two webinars which were held online on 5 and 15 September 2023, with the active support of NTUA. The topics of the Webinars were: Infrastructure, Tunnels, Speed, Data and Management, Behaviour, VRUs, Vehicles. The webinars provided solutions and recommendations to build road safety expertise in all countries with focus on Low and Middle Income Countries, in order to adopt effectively the Safe System Approach and reduce fatal and serious crashes on road network.  NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

• Boosting Road Safety in LMICs – Human factors/behaviour

The 8th International HUMANIST Conference took place with great success on 21-22 September 2023 in Berlin. The theme of the conference is “Accelerating the transformation towards sustainable mobility by human-centred design“. The Conference brοught together researchers, experts and stakeholders from several multidisciplinary communities that are active in the field of Human Factors in Transport. It was a unique and attractive forum to present current and planned activities as well as to share ideas and experiences. 

The Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT/CERTH) and the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers (HITE) co-organized the 11th International Congress on Transportation Research (ICTR 2023), which was held on 20-22 September 2023 in Heraklion, Greece. The spotlight theme of the 2023 Congress was “Clean and Accessible to All Multimodal Transport“. Special focus was given to innovative and sustainable traffic safety concepts in Greece and worldwide. NTUA contributed actively with the following 16 scientific papers and presentations:

•   Spatial analysis of telematics surrogate safety measures across road environments (Young Researcher Best Road Safety Paper Award)
•   Road Safety Key Performance Indicators in Greece
•   A novel methodology for crash hotspot identification and network-wide safety ranking
•   Implementing traffic simulation for road safety assessment: A systematic literature review
•   Evaluation of safety interventions on risky driving behavior using data from a novel naturalistic driving experiment
•   Identification of safe driving behavior using an ensemble of machine learning algorithms and data from the i-DREAMS experiment
•   How do task complexity and coping capacity influence risk? Findings from a novel naturalistic driving experiment in Greece
•   Modelling the inter-relationship among task complexity, coping capacity and crash risk
•   Impact Assessment of a novel Human-Machine Interface Prototype: A descriptive analysis from the HADRIAN project
•   Impacts of automated driving vehicles on bus depot operation using naturalistic data
•   Modelling the behaviour of automated vehicles when interacting with pedestrians in jaywalking
•   Risk analysis of Western Greece road network using the Highway Safety Manual
•   Can we predict safe driving for the elderly through a self-assessment of driving behaviour?
•   Analysis of speeding characteristics in Greece
•   Analysis of distraction characteristics due to mobile phone use in Greece
•   Cost Benefit Analysis of reducing speed limits at the Greek interurban road network

The International Alcohol Interlock Symposium,  organised by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF), took place with great success on 17-19 September 2023, in Oslo, Norway under the theme “Technology saving lives”. Since 2000, the Alcohol Interlock Symposium global forum has hosted leading experts to discuss ongoing research and development regarding alcohol and drug impaired driving, interlock programs, and road traffic safety. This year,  international policy makers, criminal justice and health professionals, licensing authorities, researches, government officials, innovators, and industry representatives were part of a three day exploration of new ideas and innovative technological developments in the expanding field of alcohol interlocks. 

The 11th Symposium of European Association for Research in Transportation (hEART2023) took place with great success in Zurich, on 6-8 September 2023.  The Symposium offered an opportunity for in depth discussion in all scientific methods and analyses in transport. The topics of this year’s conference were: mobility, transport, logistics.  

University of Cantabria organised the 25th Euro Working Group on Transportation Conference (EWGT 2023) which was held with great success on 6-8 September 2023 in Santander, Spain. There were 4 different topics discussed, including Transport Modeling and Control, Planning and Operation, Transport Economics and Policy and Innovative and Sustainable Solutions. This year the 25th EWGT, wanted to reward the excellent quality of all the papers received, therefore the organization had established the following 3 categories of prizes. 1. EWGT2023 Award for the best paper of the congress, 2. EWGT2023 Award to the best PhD poster, 3. Mention and diploma for the best papers in each of the congress topics.  

The Università degli Studi di Brescia and the Friendly City Study Center (CeSCAΜ) co-organised the LWC International Conference, which took place with great success on 6-8 September 2023 in Brescia. The LWC International Conference traditionally deals with the topics of urban mobility and quality of life in urban areas, with a specific focus on vulnerable road users. Τhis year’s LWC Conference focused on defining the new challenges for sustainable urban mobility. 

ETSC, Fundación MAPFRE and the Flemish Foundation for Traffic Knowledge (VSV) organised the 2023 edition of the European Traffic Education Seminar, which was held as an online event, on 12 September 2023. The aims of the seminar were to equip young road users to become safe road users, given the appropriate education. The seminar consisted of three distinct parts, focused on sustainable mobility with traffic safety, safe (pre-)driver and passenger behaviour and e-scooter education.   

A paper titled “Star rating of driver’s behavior as a tool to prevent risky behavior” authored by Milan Tešić, Suzana Miladić-Tešić, Katerina Folla, George Yannis and Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios has been published in Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour. Results were analysed regarding the following aspects: 1) star rating of driver’s behavior and 2) defining the stages of the periodic factors monitoring for each Police Administration Unit (PAU) examined. It was revelated that using a mobile phone while driving, not using child restraints system, alcohol drunk driving during the night and seat belt use at rear seats of passenger vehicles were identified as the most significant factors associated with risky driving behaviors. 

The 2023 International Research Council on the Biomechanics of Injury Europe Conference took part with great success in Cambridge, UK, on 13-15 September 2023. Through scientific conferences, training courses and other activities, the IRCOBI Council provides an academically rigorous forum for dissemination of the latest research into injury causation and protective systems. 

PAVE Europe Virtual Panel was held online on July 19th, 2023. PAVE is a broad coalition with one goal, which is to bring the conversation about automated vehicles (AVs) to the public so everyone can play a role in shaping the future.

NTUA actively contributed with the following presentation:

•  Automated Vehicles and Road Safety: expectations and potential benefits
  

NTUA Professor George Yannis contributed actively at the Scientific Workshop on: “Should we promote a 30 km/hr speed limit in cities?” organised by the Chair of Transportation Systems Engineering of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) which was held in Munich on July 6th, 2023. The Workshop hosted vivid discussions from Key – Experts on the different dimensions and perspectives of city-wide 30 km/h speed limit . Professor George Yannis contributed two key-note presentations:

•  Why city-wide 30km/h speed limit?
•  Artificial Intelligence, Big Data & Road Safety

ITS America, ERTICO and ITS Asia-Pasific are co-organising the 31th ITS World Congress which will be held in Atlanta, on 24-28 August 2025. ITS World Congress is the forum to make meaningful connections, experience inventive conference program presented by industry experts, and see cutting-edge technology in the Exhibit Hall. ITS World Congress allows the smart mobility community to come together to explore the deployment of intelligent transportation technologies that saves lives, improves mobility, promotes sustainability, and increases efficiency and productivity.​ 

The Hellenic Association for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS Hellas) in co-operation with the University of Patras, Department of Civil Engineering and TSS-Transport Simulation Systems: Aimsun & Aimsun Online, organised the International Conference ITS2023, which took place with great success in Patras on 2-3 November 2023. This Conference was held under the theme “Intelligent Systems and Consciousness Society” to ensure comfortable, fast, and safe movement of people and goods in smart cities and communities.   NTUA actively contributed with the following paper:

•  Correlations of automated mobility conditions with traffic conflict types

The Vision Zero Conference organised by the Government Offices of Sweden, Trafikverket (Swedish Transport Administration) and Vinnova (the Swedish Innovation Agency), took place in Stockholm on 26-27 June 2023. High-level representatives of road road safety Authorities and Stakeholders discussed on Vision Zero, Agenda 2030, Private sector role and engagement,  Knowledge transfer and capacity building, Safe modal shift including safety for powered two-wheelers and New technologies and innovations. The conference also provided an opportunity to link road safety to other global sustainability challenges.