Presentation forms part of overall visit to discuss projects of mutual interest and possible new areas for cooperation

The John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), whose mission is to improve the US transportation system. Its work is performed for the US Department of Transport, as well as other Federal, state, local, and international agencies and entities.

Below is an extract of the Volpe Center's news item that appeared recently on their website (link given below).

Officials from the Dutch Centre for Transport and Navigation (DVS) visited the Volpe Center on 15th July  to discuss projects of mutual interest and possible new areas for cooperation. Discussion topics included regional planning for transportation infrastructure and sustainability, the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP 2), and performance measures. Dr. Joseph Sussman, JR East Professor Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Systems at MIT also participated in the dialogue.

Joris Al, General Director of DVS, also participated in the Volpe Center's information exchange series "Straight from the Source." Mr. Al's talk focused on Forever Open Road, the core of the Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories' (FEHRL) fifth Strategic European Road Research Programme, launched in the spring of 2011. The initiative aims to transform the way roads are built, designed, maintained, and operated and addresses the research and innovation challenges now facing the European road and transportation system. Forever Open Road envisions a road that is adaptable, automated, climate-change resilient, and based upon a concept for building and maintaining roads that can be applied across Europe, regardless of region or country.

"I'm going to talk about innovation. It [the talk] is about cooperation maybe even more than innovation because we are beginning to find out that innovation without cooperation is just no deal. The whole transport industry has just become so complicated, has so many disciplines, there are so many requirements from the public. Transport research has become so expensive and the implementation of that research has become even more expensive. In the FEHRL organization, which I represent also as president, we thought that we would have to get together and work together to really innovate."

• Original news item on Volpe Center's website
• Video clip of this quoted portion of the presentation
• Previous article about the presentation