NEWSLETTER N°85
March 2020

Dear colleagues and friends,

In recent days, a large majority of our member countries have been faced with very strict measures to stem the rapid spread of the COVID 19 virus. This dramatic situation has upset the world economy, but above all the lives of several billion people on our planet. You are all concerned by what is happening, both personally and professionally.

Our Association has always worked in a spirit of healthy collaboration to help each other with our knowledge and best practices. Of course, we have no medical expertise, but we have the good fortune to know each other through the work we do together [...]

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COVID-19: Tools for the road community 

March 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health and societal emergency that requires effective immediate action. All of us have a key role to play in minimising the likelihood of transmission and impact on society.

In this context, road transport, which is critical to the economic vitality of a country, has to remain operational. An effective management of emergency situations for combined and large hazards that may disrupt road operations requires cooperation and coordination among several stakeholders including government agencies, road operators, emergency services and road users.Some existing PIARC reports are very relevant in the current situation. They are available for free from our website. What’s more, PIARC organizes ad-hoc webinars. A dedicated webpage on our website presents all those activities.

>> Visit the special website on Covid-19 and PIARC's response

Planning and the Finance Commissions meetings 

3–5 March 2020, Paris (France)

Strategic Planning Commission (SPC) members met in Paris in order to review and discuss work plans of PIARC TCs and TFs, and to ensure that progress is made on cross-cutting issues e.g. road safety, climate change, resilience and innovation.

The first PIARC deliverables (briefing notes for example) are expected at the end of 2020, in line with PIARC’s renewed ambition to produce value-added and timely solutions for its members. The Finance Commission met in Paris as well on March 3 and 4, 2020, with its chairman Friedrich Zotter in attendance. It took an overview of the Association's financial situation, following the decisions taken at the Abu Dhabi Council in October 2019, and noted the validity of the multi-annual financial strategy approved at that time.

>>More information about PIARC Commissions

PIARC at UNECE 82nd Inland Transport Committee 

25-28 February 2020, Geneva (Switzerland)

PIARC is acknowledged as an observer at the UNECE Inland Transport Committee. At the end of February, Member States/Contracting Parties and transport leaders from strategic partners forged common solutions, shared region and country-specific challenges from around the world in the implementation of existing, and the development of new, UN Conventions, and took strategic decisions on cutting-edge areas such as road safety, autonomous vehicles and transport digitalization.

>>Further information

The General Secretariat of PIARC welcomes new Technical Advisors 

Technical Advisors are qualified road professionals, seconded by a country to the Association in order to enable the activities of its General Secretariat and to help provide services to its members. Technical Advisors seconded by Sweden, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Mexico and Poland are currently working at the General Secretariat, under the coordination of Miguel Caso Flórez, Technical Director (seconded by Spain).

>> Discover them here

“From Abu Dhabi to Prague. New cycle same commitments” organised by PIARC Spanish National Committee 

25 February 2020, Madrid (Spain)

ATC, the PIARC Spanish National Committee, organised a Conference on the work carried out by the committees over the last four years, namely their results and methodologies. This Conference developed a detailed vision of the future achievements and guidelines of national and global road activities. 

>> Further information (in Spanish)

Seminar on Tunnels - How are the three Belgian Regions organised to meet the challenge?

11 February 2020, Brussels (Belgique)

On February 11th, more than one hundred seventy people participated in this seminar organized by the Belgian Road Association. The aim of this seminar was to discuss topics such as the renovation or safety of tunnels in the three Belgian regions. Members of the PIARC Tunnel Committee participated to bring its international vision on the subject.

Listen to a podcast on the role of artificial intelligence in automated vehicles released by the PIARC Italian National Committee 

9 March 2020

PIARC Italian National Committee released a new podcast on automated driving focusing on the role of artificial intelligence. The following topics are discussed: Who drives who? – Responsibilities and accountability – Ethics and algorithms.

>> Podcast (in Italian)

Framework on Measuring Effectiveness and Efficiency of Transport Administrations 

The Technical Committee strategy within this framework was to “define concepts and measures used in establishing a strategic approach to achieving performance goals including the use of information collected to make investment and policy decisions” and to produce “a report and recommendations based on case studies, where appropriate, adopted by countries at different development stages illustrating the [...]

>> Read the technical report

Evaluation of organizational approaches to risk 

This document provides an overview of organizational risk management in transportation organizations based mostly on the AASHTO Guide for Enterprise Risk Management (aka The AASHTO ERM Guide) published in 2016. The AASHTO ERM Guide is the result of an international scan, thorough literature review, and subsequent research to develop a document for use by transportation organizations. This report will also provide [...]

>> Read the technical report

Sustainable Multimodality in Urban Regions 

This report reflects the richness of approaches, the diversity of situations that are the result of the history of each territory and the culture of each country, and the complexity of the challenges faced by road administrations in the different territories that make up urban regions, whether they are developing or industrialized countries. Indeed, mobility needs are similar, and while development solutions necessarily depend on the context in which they are implemented, the issues and methods are shared.

>> Read the technical report