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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - TRA2020 (The Transport Research Arena 2020 in Helsinki)

Teaser

Summary

The overall objective of the Coordination and Support Action is to prepare for and provide support to the Transport Research Arena Conference (TRA), to be organised in 2020 in Helsinki, Finland, in April 27-30. TRA is \'a tradition\', a transport research -oriented conference with already some substantial history.

The transport sector today is witnessing and undergoing a change, where the advent of disruptive technologies is shaking existing structures and creating novel ways of using transport systems. Upcoming transport-related services and businesses have a great potential to enhance the quality of life if â€“ and hopefully when - the upcoming innovations can be brought to market in congruence with technical, commercial and political challenges. The recent advances in the transport sector have created a lot of hype in media, and even transport professionals find it hard to grasp what is currently developing in the market place, what are the realistic expectations, and technological time frames. For these reasons, the goal of the coordination and support action, in addition to contribute to the planning and smooth running of the event, is to solidify the TRA platform reaching out to the future by strengthening the transport sector expertise in creation of the conference programme. This platform will serve the transport sector developments and identify the emerging challenges.

The TRA2020 CSA will pursue seven specific objectives:

1. Contribute to the master planning of the TRA2020 Conference.
2. Structure and determine the contents of the event programme.
3. Focus on the scientific quality of the conference outputs.
4. Select and plan the demonstration activities and technical tours including related logistics.
5. Coordinate and carry out liaison activities with all relevant stakeholders.
6. Promote TRA2020.
7. Monitor and measure the conference success and identify development targets and the future of TRA.

Work performed

OBJECTIVE 1: Master planning of the TRA2020 Conference & OBJECTIVE 2: Structuring and determining the contents of the event programme:
The Conference programme planning has progressed expectedly until September 2019 without any major delays. The first conference themes (\'storylines\') were introduced in the summer of 2018 (June 29, 2018) with ideas to \'tag\' the interesting topics and areas of interest, as well as research disciplines, covered in the conference. Also the idea of conference app with the possibility to personalise conference programme planning and attendance through a mobile app was introduced. Venue inspection was made by partners and the Organising Committee. Also the first master architecture for the programme was introduced then. The Call for Papers was drafted and issued early 2019, preceded by a Pre-Announcement in November 2018. The 12 main topics - storylines - were identified in the call as well as the initial process for reviewing researchers contributions. Side Event Policy as well as Call for Invited Sessions was drafted in the Spring 2019 and issued.

OBJECTIVE 3: Focus on the scientific quality of the conference outputs: Two or three special issues for two high-impact academic journals have been planned and de facto realised: European Transport Research Review (ETRR, published by Springer) and Utilities Policy (published by Elsevier). Both journals are well-recognised and rated for example Finland\'s Publication Forum, which is mandated by the Academy of Finland to rate the scientific quality of peer-reviewed academic journals. With ETRR a publications service contract was signed in 2019 in order to publish 20-40 best papers from the conference submissions. By the time of this Periodic Report, the review process has almost been completed (ca. 80%). CSA assembled a Scientic Panel, comprising recognised world-leading academics, that selected the best-of-the-best articles for ETRR so that publication fees were covered.

OBJECTIVE 4: Select and plan the demonstration activities and technical tours including related logistics:During this period, City of Helsinki has been coordinating technical site visits for the conference. Altogether 10 tours with 8 unique topics have been included in the program so far: VTT - Smart energy for smart mobility, HSL West Metro, LIKES - Bike to School, Finnair Cargo - COOL Nordic Cargo Hub, Posti Group and Intralogistixx, JÃ¤tkÃ¤saari Mobility Lab, Aker Arctic Technology, ABB Marine and Ports. has assisted especially Aalto in demonstrations and Helsinki regarding technical tours. Aalto University has led the organisation of demonstration activities for TRA2020, by organising a series of workshop with the conference organisers and relevant stakeholder to develop a common vision of the demonstration area, building also on the previous experience at TRA2018. This resulted in the preparation of the Call for Demonstration that was issued in February 2019. After the call was closed, Aalto University took the lead of the Demonstration Selection group, actively organise various meetings to evaluate demonstrations and supporting potential demonstrators in further developments of their demonstration concepts. By the time of the Periodic Report, 25 demonstrators have been invited to participate at TRA2020. In addition, Aalto University supported the PCO in the practical planning of the demonstration area.

OBJECTIVE 5: Coordinate and carry out liaison activities with all relevant stakeholders: CSA through its partners has chaired and prepared all the Management, Programme and Organising Committee meetings (agendas, materials, minutes).

OBJECTIVE 6: Promote TRA2020. CSA through its partners have sent out thousands of marketing and promotional emails, taken part in dozens of transport research related events and held numerous presentations, pitches and talks to promote and market TRA2020. Also the personal and institutional networks of the partners have been incorporated. Dedicated

Final results

Implementation of the technical tours will provide the conference an additional, interactive forum where leading transport and mobility organizations in Helsinki region can showcase their latest innovations in their field of operations to an international audience representing industry, academia, and policymakers.

The scientific quality is superior due to two notable journal issues alone. Of the more than 700 submissions, 616 will be presented in the conference both in oral and poster sessions. Out of the roughly 600 papers, about 25% dealt with non-motorised and multimodal issues, which signals \'rethinking\' which is the primary theme of the conference. Most of the papers come from Europe, but also contributions outside Europe are also present, from countries such as India, Indonesia, Australia, Hong Kong, United States, Mexico and Qatar. This signals the global interest and impact.