#RTR2024: Advancing European road transport towards a greener future

Over 500 delegates came to Brussels 5-7 February 2024 (with a further 100 joining online) to take part in the annual flagship event for Road Transport Research results (RTR). The event is organised jointly by the European Commission’s department for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) and the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), the partnerships EGVIAfor2Zero for green vehicles and CCAM Association for connected mobility, as well as the European Road Transport Research Advisory Council, ERTRAC.

Over the three days and across 29 sessions, attendees heard first-hand from 76 projects – all funded under CINEA-managed EU research programmes, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe – about their most promising results, innovations and challenges faced.

The event provided insights into future research needs in the areas covered by the conference from green vehicles, electrification, batteries, and connected and automated road transport, to urban mobility, digitalisation of logistics, road safety, infrastructure and more.

Addressing the opening session, CINEA Director, Paloma Aba Garrote said:

"The decarbonisation of road transport and promotion of the circular economy is a key focus of our transport programmes in CINEA. We are proud to hear about the results of so many innovative projects, all helping to share a greener future led by EU industry."

From “technology driven” to “driving the technology”

The conference delivered a holistic view of how the European research scene is driving technology forward in these fields, and bringing benefits for the environment, economy, and wider society.

Rosalinde van der Vlies, Clean Planet Director in DG RTD spoke of the importance of R&I for the green and digital transition, of reinforcing synergies with other programmes to achieve wider goals in line with the EU Green Deal, and of communicating results:  

“EU funding programmes support the pipeline from development to deployment of affordable, inclusive & sustainable technologies in road transport. Now more than ever, we need to show the positive impact of what we are doing. That is why this conference is important,” said Ms van der Vlies.

Collaboration for innovation

Many of the speakers emphasised the importance of such events for engaging with key stakeholders, and sharing ideas, methodologies and results. They stressed how vital EU research funding has been to enabling collaboration for innovation – pointing to the value of working in consortiums and within clusters of similar projects to draw on complementary expertise, learn from different cultures and perspectives, and bring a combined message to policymakers.  

Summing up, RTR Conference Chair, Simon Edwards, said:

"In these times of transition with pressures on many fronts, we need to keep society on board with all these changes. And by continuing to work together, we can accelerate innovation and the transformation of road transport for the future.”

You can find the list of all projects present at the event here.

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Event website (for official event report and recordings).