FOX

Knowledge transfer in the transport sector While millions of people use Europe’s roads, railways, airports and sea-ports on a daily basis, our transport infrastructure still needs to develop in line with modern demands. We spoke to Dr Thierry Goger of the EC Horizon 2020 FOX project, about their work in supporting research and encouraging knowledge transfer across different modes of transport A reliable and efficient transport network is the lifeblood of the economy, providing a channel for the passage of people and products, connecting cities and countries and bringing us the goods and materials that we all rely on. Every day, thousands of tonnes of raw materials and products are transported by road, rail, air and sea across Europe, so it’s essential that our transport networks are robust, reliable and efficient.

The European transport network is generally of a high standard, yet our roads and railways require regular inspection and maintenance, while there are also significant regional variations in the availability of specific modes of transport. Continued research into the construction, maintenance and inspection of transport infrastructure, as well as the efficient recycling and reuse of materials, is central to its continued evolution.

FOX project This topic lies at the core of the FOX project, an initiative bringing together partners from across Europe to collaborate and coordinate research into challenges affecting the major transport modes. The wider goal is to encourage crossmodal research into innovative techniques and also knowledge sharing between the different modes of transport, building a network of relationships that will endure beyond the project’s funding term.

The cross-modal research environment is designed to help in the development of an integrated transport infrastructure, reflecting the way we travel today. Many people start the commute in their car for example, before taking the train and then getting a bus; while there are clear differences between these modes of transport, they also face similar challenges, such as trying to modernise infrastructure and reduce their environmental impact, all at a time of rising demand.

A great deal of attention in the project has centred on coordinating research into transport infrastructure. This has been built on a foundation of detailed understanding of how companies and organisations in these four different modes of transport currently operate, the technologies they use and the challenges they face, from which FOX

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Project Coordinator, Dr Thierry Goger and his colleagues aimed to identify the most effective solutions.

“The project has been primarily about looking at which technical solutions, operations and regulations could play a role in the development of an integrated transport infrastructure,” he outlines.

Technical innovation While technical innovation is key to addressing many major challenges, Dr Goger says that it’s also important to share existing knowledge and identify other areas in which it could be applied. “In some cases, the technical solution already exists, or is already under development in a different mode of transport. So instead of re-inventing the wheel, why not try to transfer the technical knowledge?” he asks.

There are a number of common challenges between road and rail for example, particularly around managing the network.

New signalling technologies allow more trains to be run simultaneously, while road transport also faces challenges around congestion; Dr Goger says the project is also looking at other technologies. “We are working to transfer the on-time information systems which were developed for bus systems onto the rail network, and also to the water-based transport system. That’s a good example of technology transfer,” he outlines.

The relevance of a technology will depend on the circumstances in which it is to be applied. The project has investigated transport infrastructure across Europe, in very different climates and economic conditions.

“Norway for example has different standards, techniques and approaches to countries in southern Europe. In the majority of cases we have identified relatively generic solutions, which can then be adapted for different modes of transport,” says Dr Goger.

This can then help to inform the development of a plan for the development of the transport sector, a key part of the project’s agenda. “Our main role has been to develop a roadmap, to help policy-makers and funding bodies to identify research priorities,” explains Dr Goger. With traffic

levels forecast to increase further, our ageing transport infrastructure is set to come under even greater strain, underlining the need to support research. “This project lays down the basis for future work,” continues Dr Goger.

The impact of the project will be felt well beyond its funding term, as a well-established research environment, together with a network of deeply engaged technical experts, will be in place to pursue further investigation in future. One topic high on the agenda is generating renewable energy from transport infrastructure; three technologies have been identified as holding particularly rich potential, namely photovoltaics, combined renewables and regenerative braking.

The cost of some of these technologies has dropped significantly over the past decade, at the same time as concern has deepened over the environmental impact of the transport sector. There have also been moves to accelerate the transition towards electric vehicles, with France announcing plans to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040. With change in the air, continued research is essential to ensure that our transport infrastructure keeps us moving, at an environmental and financial cost that we’re all willing to pay.

Roadmap development One significant achievement of the project is the Summary report of recommendations that is available on the website. Throughout the project, the FOX consortium has worked closely with its sister project USE-iT, which focused on User information, Safety and Security and Energy & Carbon. The report incorporates USE-iT results, as well as those of the associated project REFINET. All the partners selected specific research topics, identifying actions and working out timeframes to produce a common roadmap linked to the cross-modal challenges. A significant number of technologies have been identified, which were validated and improved with stakeholder interviews and a workshop. These technologies were then prioritised, along with further interviews and a second stakeholder workshop. Each challenge needed to cover at least two

EU Research

transport modes, resulting in 42 challenges.

For each research challenge, a headline ‘from-to’ statement detailing the current state and the desired future state – should the research topics identified within each research challenge be successfully undertaken – was put forward, with an indicative timescale of 2017 to 2030 (see the example below).

Each challenge was mapped as to whether the research challenge was focussed on one or more domains, covering technology, infrastructure, governance or customers, in accordance with FEHRL’s Forever Open Road, Rail, Runway and River (FORx4) programme, which will be the mechanism in which the outputs of the projects are taken forward.

In addition to the modes and domains identified in the FORx4 programme, the challenges have also been mapped against a ‘level of application’ identified in the REFINET project, determining the area in which a particular research challenge is most applicable, namely; urban mobility, long distance corridors, multi-modal hubs and a system level.

For simplicity of reading, icons have been developed and used to illustrate the different modes, domains and levels of application, as shown in the diagram below.

Each individual research topic was mapped against the FORx4 modes (road, rail, air, water and multi-modal) and domains (governance, infrastructure, technology and customer) and also the ‘level of application’ identified in the REFINET project.

For each research challenge, a headline ‘from-to’ statement detailing the current state and the desired future state, should the research topics identified within each research challenge be successfully undertaken, with an indicative timescale of 2017 to 2030.

The research challenges were assigned to nine ‘Drivers influencing co-modal transport research’ based largely on those developed for the FORx4 co-modal transport initiative ‘point of view’ document, as detailed below. It was recognised that a number of research challenges could be relevant to more than one driver; rather than repeating the information, they were assigned to the most appropriate driver and referenced to others they could affect.

Drivers influencing co-modal transport research: 1. Change in transport demand 2. Globalisation: 3. High costs of operation and use 4. Ageing infrastructure 5. Scarcity of natural resources 6. Decarbonisation of transport and environmental and social impact 7. Safety 8. Security 9. Rapid development of technology and social behaviour The research challenges identified will be used as an investment plan to both research funders and as an investment or strategy document for public and private infrastructure owners, operators and contractors. An exploitation and implementation plan has also been prepared, which outlines the business priorities and risk appetite of the stakeholders and suggests how they might use the results of the project.

FOX Forever Open infrastructure across (X) all transport modes Project Objectives

The 24-month USE-iT project’s vision is to better understand the common challenges across transport modes to develop common research objectives. In the longer term, create a vibrant community of stakeholders and a European transport network that is safer, more secure, with lower carbon emissions and focussed on user needs.

The 30-month FOX CSA project aims to develop a highly efficient and effective cross-modal R&D environment and culture which meets the demanding requirements of transport and connectivity. FOX will identify common needs and innovative techniques in the areas of construction, maintenance, inspection, and recycling & reuse of transport infrastructure.

Project Funding 930,000 euros

Project Partners

FEHRL • BASt • ZAG • IFSTTAR • TNO • EURNEX • STAC • NETIVEI • IBDiM • DNDI • CDV • VGTU • AIT • LNEC Full details can be seen at: • http://www.useitandfoxprojects.eu/ contact/fox-consortium

Contact Details

Project Coordinator, Dr Thierry Goger FEHRL – Europe’s National Road Research Centres Boulevard de la Woluwe 42/B3 1200 Brussels | Belgium T: +32 2 775 82 45 E: thierry.goger@fehrl.org W: www.useitandfoxprojects.eu/welcome-to-fox Ongoing projects related to multimodality are already being developed within FORX4 and its sister programme Forever Open Road, a FEHRL’s flagship initiative.

Dr Thierry Goger

Dr Goger has been the Secretary-General of FEHRL since January 2014. He works closely with the European Commission and is a member of the European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC) and European Construction Technology Platform (ECTP). Dr Goger worked in the Transport and Urban Development section of EU COST.

www.euresearcher.com

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