What to expect from ETC 2023

The 51st European Transport Conference will be held from 6th to 8th September 2023.

For the second and final year we will be at the Bovisa Campus of the Polytechnic of Milan, where we successfully re-established our in-person conference in 2022 after two years online. We are very grateful to our friends and colleagues at the Polytechnic for their ongoing support.

For ETC 2023, the call for papers highlighted the following conference themes:

• Human wellbeing – delivering transport schemes for the health of future generations
• Transport equity – enabling inclusiveness in travel in diverse societies
• Sustainable travel – shaping tourism and daily travel in the face of climate change and energy transition
• Supply chain challenges – impacts of labour and resource constraints in freight and passenger transport
• Regulatory issues – impacts of national and international legislation on infrastructure and services
• Funding and financial sustainability – challenges from Covid recovery and energy prices
• Cities and transport – integrated planning, liveable cities and active transport

We received a record number of abstracts this year and the programme committees have been able to compile a great and topical programme.

Plenary Sessions

The opening plenary on Wednesday will focus on new mobility patterns after Covid and guest speakers will include Professor Rosário Macário from the Universities of Lisbon and Antwerp, and Mona Björklund, Director of the Policy Coordination Directorate of the EU Commission

A second plenary on Thursday will include a panel discussion under the heading “Will National Plans Achieve Transport Emissions Targets across Europe?” Guest speakers include Filip Boelaert, Head of Flanders Department of Mobility and Public Works;  Amanda Rowlatt, Chief Analyst, Analysis and Science Directorate, UK Department for Transport; John Martin, Principal Climate Lead in Department of Transport Dublin; Francesco Petracchini, Director, Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research, National Research Council (CNR) Italy; and Thierry Vanelslander, Professor at the Department of Transport and Regional Economics of the University of Antwerp

The link with Flanders and Antwerp in both plenaries is intentional – this will be our conference venue in 2024 and 2025.

Special Sessions

In addition, there will be a number of special sessions, including a discussion hosted by the Transport and Mobility Forum on the issues and challenges for transport research presented by ChatGPT and a session by our Inclusion Working Group on diversity and inclusivity in AET.

Technical Visits & Social Programme

Accompanying the conference programme will be, as always, a series of technical visits and a social programme. These include a pre-conference drinks reception on the Tuesday in the conference venue, a welcome reception at the iconic La Collina building of the Polytechnic on the Wednesday and the Conference Dinner at the Osteria del Treno in Milan on Thursday.

As with last year, there will be the opportunity to participate in a Bicycle Tour by Bici e Vancanze and eScooter Tour sponsored by Tier. Azienda Trasporti Milanesi will offer two technical visits again to the Messina Tram Depot and Metro Control Rooms and there will be a daily opportunity to experience the Politecnico di Milano Driving Simulator.

Awards will include the AET, Jacobs, Goudappel and Neil Mansfield Awards and AET will hold its General Assembly during the conference.

We look forward to welcoming as many of our friends and colleagues as possible to ETC 2023 and hope to host many new participants. See you in Milan!