ERTRAC - ERTRAC European Road Transport 2020: a Vision and Strategic Research Agenda
Overview
Background & policy context:
The Lisbon European Council introduced a strategic goal for the EU 'to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010'. European Technology Platforms (ETPs) were established to contribute to this goal, focusing on strategic issues where achieving competitiveness and sustainable growth depends upon important technological advances. Led by industry, they bring together all stakeholders within a given sector to define medium- and long-term research and technological development objectives.
In the transport sector, ETPs were established for air, waterborne, rail and road modes, the latter one being ERTRAC - the European Road Transport Research Advisory Council, which was launched in June 2003. ERTRAC consisted of high level representatives from all road transport sectors including consumers, vehicle manufacturers, component suppliers, road infrastructure operators and developers, service providers, energy suppliers, research organisations, cities and regions as well as public authorities at both European Union and national level.
Its goals were to mobilise all stakeholders, develop a shared vision, and ensure timely, co-ordinated and efficient application of research resources to meet the continuing challenges of road transport and European competitiveness.
Objectives:
ERTRAC's funding under FP6 enables it to address the need to accelerate the development of sustainable, integrated transport solutions related to road transport, by providing a research framework to focus co-ordination efforts of public and private resources.
In particular, the objectives of this Co-ordination Action were to establish a Vision and a Strategic Research Agenda, in order to support the development of a truly sustainable road transport system.
The purpose of the ERTRAC Vision is to provide a vision of European road transport in 2020, particularly with respect to R&D focused on breakthrough technologies. The Strategic Research Agenda aims to set out strategies and road-maps to realise this vision.
The Vision and Strategic Research Agenda aim to address the key economic, technological, environmental and societal challenges of the 21st century for the road transport system, for instance:
- meeting the future demand for road transport and mobility;
- further improving road safety;
- promoting sustainable development;
- contributing to European security of energy supply;
- enhancing EU competitiveness;
- developing a fully integrated European transport system.
Methodology:
Due to the complexity of the issues and the number of stakeholders involved with road transport, ERTRAC structured the discussion and development of its 2020 Vision and Strategic Research Agenda around four pillars (while taking into account inter-dependencies between them):
- mobility, transport and infrastructure;
- safety and security;
- environment, energy and resources;
- design and production systems.
In order to carry out its work, ERTRAC was organised into a Plenary (a forum of all stakeholders), a Support Group (a management level working body) and a Work Group (expert support).
The ERTRAC Work Group was responsible for developing the Strategic Research Agenda, in consultation with ERTRAC members (including infrastructure providers, vehicle and fuel manufacturers and suppliers, non-governmental organisations, Member States, local governments and the European Commission). Extensive consultation also took place with other experts throughout Europe and a series of Workshops and internal reviews were held in order to reach consensus on each of the above four thematic 'pillars'.
The work involved the development of a logical flow from the vision statements in each pillar to the targets for 2020 and the description of the research areas needed to achieve them. Every effort was also made to incorporate the results of other relevant European studies and roadmap projects.
Although all research actions identified are considered to be priority, it was recognised that there are differences in the timing, technical difficulty, investment and other factors. Assessments of the 'Benefits to Society' and 'Difficulty to Achieve' were therefore given on a scale of 1 to 5 for each. Champions and Supporters were also identified for each research area. Champions take the initiative to lead the research and ensure the implementation of results, while Supporters conduct research and develop the required technologies. Champions and Supporters may be Industry, Research providers or Public bodies.
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