Abu Dhabi, the Capital City of United Arab Emirates (UAE) is hosting the 26th World Road Congress from 6th to 10th October 2019. It's for the first time the 110-year-old has come to a middle east country since the first World Road Congress held in Paris in 1908. This is in pursuance of the recognition to UAE by the World Economic Forum as having the best roads in the world from 2015 to 2018.
The organizers – World Road Association (PIARC) and Abu Dhabi Department of Transport (DoT) – are expecting over 5,000 delegates from 120 countries including 40 government ministers to share views on techniques, trends, innovations, experiences, narratives, product descriptions and also the press releases etc. on road transport around the theme – Connecting Cultures, Enabling Economies.
Devdiscourse, being a proud media partner of the event, brings you a LIVE DISCOURSE on the World Road Congress 2019 where you can share your ideas, views, techniques and products in the form of comments, pictures and videos etc. This is purely an interactive media platform that would be live until the event concludes.
The need for driving change for sustainability, connected and automated vehicles and road safety were among the topics addressed during the fifth and final day of the 26th World Road Congress.
Continuing the momentum of the previous four days of high-level discussions, hundreds of delegates including thought-leaders, engineers, and academics gathered for the last day to reflect back on the success of the Congress as a major step was taken in reshaping the future of the roads sector worldwide.
At Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), eight sessions took place in the morning before the first Congress to be held in the Middle East was officially closed during a spectacular ceremony. Read more.
Jean-Luc Di Paola-Galloni, Valeo Group Vice-President, addressing the gathering on the 4th day of the 26th World Road Congress in Abu Dhabi highlighted the role of technology in the transport sector.
"Technology is going to play an integral role and this will change the experience of travelling. However, it will need companies to work together to transform the infrastructure for smart mobility and we have to rethink the design of the systems, as well as parking," said Jean-Luc Di Paola-Galloni. He further added, "A revolution will be brought by electrification, digitalization and autonomous cars,".
Also Read: Electrification, digitalization & autonomous cars to bring revolution: VP Valeo
The World Road Association (PIARC) in a study has concluded that electric road systems can play a crucial role in the decarbonisation of the Road Transport helping governments to meet their greenhouse gas emissions. The findings of the report were shared by the PIARC Technical Director Mr. Miguel Caso Flórez on Tuesday in the 26th World Road Congress being held in Abu Dhabi.
"Sweden has established courageous & ambitious targets to achieve Climate Goals goals through decarbonisation of road transport - 70% reduction by 2030 and zero net emissions by 2045. Electric Road Systems will play a major role & will be integrated with other systems," said Miguel Caso Flórez.
Also Read: Electric Road Systems could play crucial role in achieving Climate Goals: PIARC
"Globally, every year, 1.3 million people are killed in road accidents and it is the number one cause of death of children. The key factor that will help road safety is a decision from the top and that includes the government. We have to implement what we know will work. We also have to recognize that tackling speed is one of the important things to improve road safety," said Dr. Krug. He further added, "Roads are not just for cars; it is for everybody. The infrastructure that is being built should ensure that children can cycle and walk safely to school while there should be better accessibility for disabled people to move around the roads." Dr. Krug focussed on the importance of stopping unsafe road construction and highlighted that safety should be central to any road.
Also Read: Roads are not just for cars: Etienne Krug, Director, WHO at 26th WRC
Admitting the gender gap in the transport sector throughout the world, the Global Director of the World Bank's Transport Global Practice Mr. Guangzhe Chen has announced to focus on closing the gender gap in the transport sector as his future policy in 26th World Road Congress in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
Also Read: In future, focus on closing Gender Gap in transport: Guangzhe Chen in 26th WRC
“Sustainable road infrastructure and road are more relevant than ever,” said Claude Van Rooten, President of PIARC. In the five days event at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC) in Abu Dhabi, transport ministers of 50 countries and over 3000 delegates of about 150 countries are participating.
Also Read: Cultural plurality & high-level discourse on Day 1 of 26th World Road Congress
Keynote speakers for upcoming World Road Congress have been announced. The organizers, World Road Association (PIARC) and Abu Dhabi Department of Transport (DoT), are expecting 120 nations and 50 transport ministers at the event being held from October 6 to October 10.
Mattar Al Tayer
Mattar Al Tayer is the Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai. Prior to taking up RTA’s leadership role in November 2005, Al Tayer worked in Dubai Municipality since 1983. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, USA. He has received multiple accolades in recognition of his successful leadership of the RTA.
Under his leadership, RTA has made remarkable achievements in a variety of fields including radical development of the mass transit system through megaprojects, like Dubai Metro (Red and Green Lines) and Dubai Tram. It has made a major shift in the bus and marine transit services as well as the developments in the road network including multiple crossings on Dubai Creek such as the Business Bay Crossing, Al Garhoud Bridge and the Floating Bridge. RTA has also developed key roads and interchanges on the Sheikh Zayed Road, Al Khail Road, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road, and Emirates Road.
Luis Castilla
Luis Castilla is the CEO of Infrastructure at ACCIONA since January 2014. It covers the Construction, Concessions, Water, Industrial and Services divisions of the ACCIONA Group, employing over 33,000 people in 39 countries.
Guangzhe CHEN
Guangzhe CHEN is the global director of Transport Global Practice, the World Bank Group and also holds the position of Regional Director for the South Asia Infrastructure Department. An economist by training, Mr. Chen has over 25 years of international experience in the field of sustainable development, infrastructure finance and management with the World Bank Group and the Asian Development Bank.
He oversees the formulation and implementation of World Bank strategy and programs for sustainable road, urban, rail, logistics, water and air transport, and as well as key cross-cutting agendas such as road safety, climate adaptation/mitigation, gender, human capital development, disruptive technologies, and financing.
Jean-Luc di Paola-Galloni
Jean-Luc di Paola-Galloni is the Group Corporate Vice-President for Sustainable Development and External Affairs at Valeo. He is also the President of Artemis-IA, the European association representing the embedded systems industry and research actors in the ECSEL Joint Undertaking.
Dr Etienne Krug
Dr Etienne Krug is Director of the World Health Organization’s Department for Social Determinants of Health. He holds a degree of Medical Doctor from the University of Louvain in Belgium and a Masters Degree in Public Health from Harvard University. Dr Krug has lead WHO road safety efforts for 2 decades, including preparations for Ministerial Conferences, development of the Global Status Reports, the UN Road Safety Weeks and technical advice to countries. Dr Krug also chairs the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration.
Nazir Alli
Nazir Alli is the founder and the former Chief Executive Officer of the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL). He transformed SANRAL into a fully corporatized entity with over ZAR365 billion in assets under management. He has over 40 years of experience as a civil engineer and in management, in both the private and public sectors. During his tenure, the agency was responsible for introducing a number of innovations in the field public-private partnerships, corporate governance, funding of roads including the use of technology in the collection of tolls and asset management. He has consulted internationally to a wide range of governments including the World Bank on public-private partnerships, institutional reform, and change management.
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Charles Goldenbeld, SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research, Hague, the Netherlands in his study in 2017 has presented a relation between the increase in fines for traffic violations and its effect on driving behaviour. He refers to the deterrent theory, which states that a sufficiently high chance of detection of a violation and a sufficiently high penalty will deter road users from committing traffic violations.
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