Annual Report 2011

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Sponsored by :

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I. INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 4

Foreword from the President ........................................................................................................................................................... 4

Foreword from the Director General ................................................................................................................................................ 5

ERF Seminar: « Engineering and Financing Safe and Sustainable Roads » .......................................................................................... 6

II. ERF PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES ...................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Road Safety Programme ................................................................................................................................................................. 8

Sustainability Programme ............................................................................................................................................................. 12

Intelligent Roads Programme ........................................................................................................................................................ 14

III. ERF RELATED FORA ................................................................................................................................................................................... 17

ENBF - European Noise Barrier Federation .................................................................................................................................... 18

ENRA - European National Road Association Forum ....................................................................................................................... 18

IV. COMMUNICATION/ PUBLIC RELATIONS ...................................................................................................................................................... 19

Contents

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Foreword from the President

During my second year as ERF President, it has been a pleasure to see the ERF present in many political and institutional events, fora, congresses and conferences all over the world, highlighting its essential role as one of the major European stakeholders of the Road Infrastructure sector.

At the same time, the ERF has confi rmed its presence not only in Europe, but also outside the old continent, by establishing and fostering fruitful contacts with inter-national organisations and companies.

2011 has also seen the launch of the SMART ROAD concept, which explores and highlights the many positive attributes of roads and proposes a road transportation model that is adapted to the needs of the population and plays its rightful role in the framework of global transport.

The year 2011 was also characterised by a nice economic stability for the ERF, with a balanced mix of membership and participation to projects.

This excellent performance for 2011 makes me look at the future of the ERF with great confi dence and optimism.

Jacobo Díaz PiñedaPresident

I IntRoDUCtIon

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Foreword from the Director General

2011 has been a very exciting and active year for the ERF and I am quite pleased to present you with this second edition of the new styled version of the ERF Annual Report.

The road infrastructure sector, like all other economic sectors in Europe, has been par-ticularly hit by the current political and economic situation. The budgetary constraints and the uncertainties regarding the economic growth in Europe have severely impacted public investments in all areas of major economic activity.

In the face of this negative outlook, the ERF has not only succeeded in maintaining its activities to their superior level, moreover it has increased them by incorporating new activities, new members and new areas of infl uence.

In terms of new activities, 2011 has seen the launch of 2 new Working Groups (WG) on Work Zone Safety and Road Asset Management. These new WG’s have highlighted the high interest of the profession for the issue of road safety, in particular on zones of road works and the preservation of the road infrastructure as an essential economic asset.

For the fi rst time in its life, the ERF accounts now more than 50 members. Moreover new members from outside the EU (Turkey, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia) have decided to join the ERF, mainly because of its leadership and experience in the specifi c fi eld of road restraint systems and the European norms (EN 1317)

The ERF has also intensively participated to the activities developed in the framework of the EU Polish Presidency and strengthened its presence in the Adriatic-Ionian area, with the launch of a Regional Working Group Programme.

All these activities are highlighted in this 2011 ERF Annual Report and I am confi dent that you will fi nd it interesting and informative.

Christophe Nicodème Director General

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ERF Seminar: “Engineering and Financing Safe and Sustainable Roads”

The two-day ERF Seminar held in Warsaw on 25 and 26 October 2011, constituted a landmark event for the road sector in Poland.

The seminar, entitled Engineering and Financing Safe and Sustainable Roads and organised in cooperation with the Polish General Directorate for National Roads and Highways (GDDKiA), saw the participation of around 60 stakeholders from all over Europe, mainly from Poland.

A representative of the City of Warsaw welcomed the attendants and thanked the ERF and GDDKiA for organising this event. Christophe Nicodème, ERF Director Ge-neral, who opened and moderated the seminar, briefl y presented the ERF and its main activities.

The four dedicated sessions addressing Road Safety, Intelligent Transport Systems, Sustainability and Road fi nancing & Preservation, were animated by well expe-rienced panellists coming from different countries and road sectors.

The successful event was closed by Mr Maciejewski, deputy director of GDDKiA, and was followed by a technical visit to the Polish motorway S8 Marki – Modlinska under construction. It is a major road in Poland which, when completed, will run along the route Wrocław - Łódź - Warsaw - Białystok.

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II eRF PRoGRAMMe ACtIVItIes

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ERF Panel Discussion at the European Parliament

The ERF organised in November a Panel Discussion in the European Parliament to raise awareness of the importance of connecting road infrastructure fi nancing and safety following the latest political movements in transport at EU level.

Endorsed by MEP Michel Dantin, the event brought together representatives of the EU institutions and industry who had the opportunity to discuss about the new policy orien-tations for the TEN-T, presented by the European Commission a few days earlier. During the debate, moderated by Director General Christophe Nicodème, panellists agreed on the key role of roads as a link between different modes of transport.

Mr Jean Eric Paquet, Director of the European Mobility Network (DG MOVE) explained the rationale behind the future orientations, describing them as a tool for shaping the future European policy of transport infrastructure. The role of the roads will be fundamental for establishing the necessary backbone that will interconnect the other transport modes in the core network. The objective is to reach a fully functional transport system in Europe by 2030.

The ERF was represented by Vice-President Rik Nuyttens who described the challenges facing the road infrastructure industry in Europe, e.g. the ageing of the population, the focus on vulnerable road users and the increased demand for mobility. Representing the new ERF WG on Work Zone Safety, Luca Felappi insisted on the need to harmonise and create common standards in regulations for safety in work zones across the Member States.

Further information can be downloaded from the following link:http://www.erf.be/index.php?option=com content&view=article&id=356:erf-holds-a-successful-political-debate-about-road-safety-and-road-infrastruc-ture-at-the-european-parliament&catid=1:press-release&Itemid=2

ROAD SAFETY PROGRAMME

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 Road Restraint Systems Working Group

At a time of tight public fi nances, road restraint systems can be a cost-effective solution for improving road safety on our roads.

In this context, the Road Restraint Systems Working Group worked in 2011 to produce a policy statement that highlights in a simple and clear way, the contribution road restraint systems can make to increase levels of safety on our roads, especially on the secondary network. The Policy Statement will be launched in March 2012.

In addition, the Working Group continued its work on a dedicated website on road restraint systems that aims to become an authoritative point of reference for users, policymakers and experts at European level. The website will be offi cially launched in February 2012.

Last not least, the Working Group was actively involved in the correct implementation of the EN 1317, which as of 1 January 2011, has become legally binding in all Member States. Amongst other things, the Working Group dealt with the update of the supporting standards 1, 2, 3 of the EN 1317 as well as the correct application of the CE marking in the Member States.

 Work Zone Safety

Road maintenance is essential for preserving a high quality and safe road network. Given that road infrastructure is subject to ever increasing demand for transport, it seems unavoidable that, in the future, works on road maintenance and extensions will occur on a higher frequency than in the past.

Nevertheless, despite the overall progress being made in the area of road safety, road works remain particularly hazardous zones as they represent an unexpected change to the usual driving environment. Preliminary research by the ERF has found that safety signs, markings and barriers in work zones are different in EU countries although all aim to transmit the same safety message.

In order to examine this topic more vigorously, the ERF launched in March 2011 a new Working Group with the objective of indentifying best practices in work zone safety and looking into possibilities of harmonisation in work zones regulations across the EU. Up-to-date, this WG has been very active and at this moment there are two main lines of action to improve visibility of the problem at EU level: raising awareness at the EU decision-making level and contributing to wider standardisation at CEN level.

The new WG has held 4 meetings this year and has produced, amongst other results, a matrix of regulations in fi ve different countries: Spain, France, Germany, Italy and Austria. The WG will continue carrying out more focussed research on national guidelines, legislations and practices in order to compare discrepancies between countries in three areas: approach to works zone, activity area and termination area.

 Road Markings and Signs

In 2011, the ERF was informed that the RAINVISION project, which seeks to evaluate the impact of wet-night visible markings on driving behaviour in view of an ageing population, has been accepted for co-fi nancing by the European Commission. Following a long negotiation, the project was offi cially launched in January 2012 and will report back in two years.

The RAINVISION project will also feed into the workings of the Road Markings and Signs Wor-king Group, which will launch its activities alongside the RAINVISION project. Amongst other topics to be touched upon, the working group is expected to discuss how to increase the use of wet-night visible marking by public authorities as well as to investigate how road markings and signs need to be adapted in order to interact with intelligent vehicles, the concept of ‘roads that cars can read’.

Working Groups

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Projects

 ROSA (ROad SAfety for motorcyclists) - “On the road, stay alive together”

The ROSA Project fi nished with a fi nal conference in March 2011 at the European Parliament, where the “European Handbook on Best Practices in PTW Safety” was pre-sented.

In addition to other two conferences in Germany and the Netherlands, the ERF was responsible for the organisation of the fi nal event endorsed by MEP Ms Inés Ayala Sender (S&D-Spain). The conference gathered MEPs, representatives from the Euro-pean Commission, stakeholders, industry and research centres. In addition, important personalities participated as panellists such as the President of the FIM, Mr Vito Ippolito and the General Director of Traffi c of Spain, Mr Pere Navarro.

The symbolic presentation of the Handbook to the European Authorities was delivered by two pilots representing the motorcycle community, i.e Héctor Barberá and Xavier Simeon. The event had an important media impact bringing together press agencies, television channels, newspapers and specialised magazines from different countries.

During its one year life span, the ROSA consortium gathered opinions from users and safety experts to compile the Handbook of best practices aimed at policy-makers in order to improve current legislation on vulnerable users. The Handbook is divided in dif-ferent sections which represent the various factors in motorcycle safety: infrastructure, vehicle, human factor, motorcyclist equipment, enforcement and education.

The Handbook, methodology, videos and press kits can be downloaded from the following link: www.rosaproject.eu

From left to right: Ms Isabelle Kardacz (EC), Mr Brian Simpson (MEP), Mr Giacomo Agostini (15 times FIM World Champion), Mr Antonio Cancian (MEP), Mr Héctor Barberá (MotoGP pilot), Mr Xavier Simeon (Moto2 pilot), Mr Vito Ippolito (FIM) and Ms Inés Ayala (MEP)

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 WhiteRoads - “For a better and safer road network in Europe”

AEC (Spanish Road Association) and ERF are still in search of the best road sections of the Trans-European Road Network (TERN) from an infrastructure perspective. During 2011, the consortium has worked closely to gather data from all Member States. The task has been developed well and results will become available very soon.

WhiteRoads is an innovative project aiming at identifying the safest road sections of the TERN called White Spots: stretches of road where no accidents have occurred from 2004-2009. In addition, the project will provide road safety experts with infrastructure design and maintenance guidelines based on an analysis of the characteristics of these road sections.

During the data collection phase, the consortium has been able to get in contact with national authorities from all the Member States. This project will bring a positive and constructive contribution to the improvement of road safety in Europe. The fi rst results will be published at the beginning of 2012, followed by 2 workshops (Brussels and Madrid) and a fi nal conference in Brussels where the project’s fi nal results and Safety Guidelines will be presented to the European Commission and stakeholders.

You can visit and check the fi rst results in the following link:www.whiteroads.eu

Extreme weather changes and heavy road traffic have a negative impact on

road surfaces. Road safety implications of bad road maintenance are serious.

It is important to ensure proper investment levels in road maintenance.

Road markings and road signs guide us in the night and during extreme driving

conditions. A good level of quality in markings and signs prevents accidents.

Installation of road barriers ensures a minimum safety level for drivers.

Road barriers should also consider safety requirements for all users.

✗

✗

✗

✓

✓

✓

WhiteRoads “the + approach”:

For a better and safer road [network in Europe]

The main objective of the Project is to identify the safest road sections of the

Trans-European Road Network (TERN) called White Spots: stretches of road

where no accidents have occurred in the last five years. In addition, the Project

will provide road safety experts with infrastructure design and maintenance

guidelines based on an analysis of the characteristics of these road sections.

  Positive approach

Traditionally, the improvement of road safety has been developed from 

a  negative  perspective  after  the  analysis  of  infrastructure,  user  and 

vehicle conditions  in the accident. The WhiteRoads Project will create 

for the first time a positive approach to road safety.

  Innovative approach

The  Project  will  locate  those  road  sections  of  the TERN  that,  despite 

the same density of traffic flow and similar road infrastructure, register 

fewer accidents. Those road sections are called “white spots”  in clear 

opposition to the so-called “black-spots”.

  Effective analysis

The Project aims at  identifying  the best  road sections  in Europe and 

comparing them to the adjacent stretches characterised by a higher 

volume of accidents.

  Comparative results

The undertaking of such a comparative analysis will enable the Project 

to highlight the factors responsible for a lower accident frequency. The 

conclusion will take the form of a white roads checklist and will serve 

as practical  tool  for authorities during  the design, maintenance and 

management  of  national  road  networks  as  well  as  complementing 

guidelines laid down by Directive 2008/96/CE.

✗✗✗

The fi rst positive

approach to Road Safety ][

ERFThe European Union Road Federation represents the road

infrastructure sector in Europe acting as a platform for

dialogue, formation and research on mobility issues for

public and private entities.

http://www.erf.be/

AECAsociación Española de la Carretera brings large experience

in road safety at national and international level conducting

technical assistance, research programmes and institutional

activities in road safety.

http://www.aecarretera.com/

European Commission:

Road Safety Unit (DG MOVE)

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/index_en.htm

www.whiteroads

.eu

WhiteRoads is a Project co-funded

by the European Commission (DG MOVE)

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ERF-STOA WorkshopRoad transport sector at the forefront of efforts for a quieter Europe

On 23rd November, around 100 interested stakeholders from all over Europe gathered in the European Parliament in Brussels to take part to the ERF-STOA Workshop “Paving the way for a quieter Europe”.

The successful event, hosted by Salvatore Tatarella, Member of the European Parlia-ment and Member of the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee, was a unique opportunity for EU policy makers, industry representatives, NGOs and experts in the fi eld, to share opinions and ideas about how to achieve a systematic approach that reduces traffi c noise and ensures a quieter and healthier environment for Europe’s citizens.

The events was opened by Mr Tatarella, who expressed his deep interest in the topic of traffi c noise and the effect it has on millions of Europeans. The fi rst session laid down the European framework of the current noise related legislations with the intervention of two representatives from the European Commission. Furthermore, the point of view of NGOs and research centres were expressed, emphasising the need for the industry to undertake additional efforts to reduce noise even further.

The second session was dedicated to industry’s representatives who illustrated the advanced solutions implemented in their sectors (tyre, road surface, noise barriers). This session was closed with the presentation of the URF French publication “Silence on roule”.

During its closing remarks, Christophe Nicodème, ERF Director General pointed out the important advances achieved so far by the road and automotive sectors and their willingness to cooperate further. He rounded up the conference by saying that “real and tangible objectives in terms of noise reduction can only be reached with shared responsibility and common efforts from all the actors involved”.

SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAMME

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Working Groups

 Noise Working Group

The ERF Working Group on Noise brings together organisations active in the areas of road surface design, acoustic sound walls and traffi c management technologies. The Working Group occasionally invites external guests from different sectors in order to provide the topics of specifi c interest.

In 2011, the Noise Working Group met twice: on 20 January in Brussels and on 29 April in Paris. External guests were occasionally invited to gather opinions and share ideas from different fi elds.

The work mainly focused on:

• studying and monitoring the development of the EU Directive 70/157/CEE on permissible sound level and the exhaust system of motor vehicles recently amended.

• monitoring the development of the Commission review of Directive 2002/49/EC (European Noise Directive)

• supporting and contributing to the promotion of the URF publication “Silence on roule”

The Working Group main outputs were:

• Production and distribution of a Press Release calling for “A holistic approach to reduce Traffi c Noise”

• Participation and intervention at the event “Quiet Please: The Future of EU Noise Policy’ held by Transport & Environment on 25 May. The intervention aimed at pointing out the efforts in terms of noise reduction already made by the road industry and calling for a holistic approach.

• Organisation of a successful Workshop held at the European Parliament under the heading “Paving the way for a quieter Europe”

 QUIESST – (QUIetening the Environment for a Sustainable Surface Transport)

Focussing on surface transport noise abatement (including road and rail), QUIESST adopts an innovative holistic approach that will allow to control the actual global effec-tiveness, to reduce ground transport noise, to minimise the number of people exposed to noise, to reduce the level of noise exposure and to make Noise Reducing Devices (NRDs) more sustainable.

In its second year of activity, QUIESST carried out important and intense research acti-vities (including laboratory and on-fi eld tests). The main results will be disclosed at the end of the project (October 2012).

As dissemination leader, the ERF promoted the project at different events by delivering presentations and distributing the QUIESST leafl ets. Furthermore the ERF continued to inform the ENBF forum about the QUIESST activities and actively contributed in gathe-ring information from the ENBF members useful for research purposes.

The ERF, as the responsible for the organisation of the QUIESST Final Workshop to be held next year, already started the preparatory work.

Stay tuned on the QUIESST website for more information : www.quiesst.eu.

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 Sustainability Working Group

The road infrastructure sector is committed to fulfi lling environmental goals set by the European Union in order to decarbonise transport. Our industry has developed appli-cations and techniques able to improve the protection of the environment. The WG on Sustainability works actively to build a bridge between industry and authorities to develop sustainable solutions, while still providing the best quality service in terms of safety and mobility to road users.

The WG on Sustainability held a meeting in June to discuss among other issues the environmental impact of the White Paper on Transport presented by the European Com-mission a few months before.

In addition, the ERF Secretariat has contacted the Working Group on Construction of the EMAS (Community Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) to identify possible lines of cooperation and improve visibility of sustainable developments made in our sector.

EMAS is a voluntary initiative designed to improve the environmental performance of companies and organisations from both the public and private sector. The Working Group on Construction is responsible for developing reference documents which can be used as technical sources on how to achieve a high environmental performance through the application of best green practices.

Another important event on sustainability took place in September. The Polish Presi-dency of the EU organised a high level conference on Sustainability and Green Corridors in Szczecin (Poland). The event gathered high level representatives from governmental bodies, local authorities and the European Institutions. During one of the sessions, ERF Director General, Christophe Nicodème, presented the association’s position, together with some important progresses achieved by the road infrastructure industry for making the road more sustainable.

The conference’s principal objective was to boost politically the Green Corridors initia-tive which envisages the reorganisation of current transport chains in a manner that maximises logistical effi ciency, while minimising the environmental impact. The ERF’s intervention was warmly welcomed as bringing some new ideas to the forum.

Projects

 SCUTUM

On 9 November, SCUTUM held its Final Workshop in Rome, hosted by the EasyWay Annual Forum and on 6 December 2011, eni, the leading Italian oil company involved in the project, hosted the fi nal internal meeting of the project, in the presence of Ms. Fiammetta Diani from GSA and team members.

In less than two years, SCUTUM has become the landmark European experience for the deployment of EGNOS applications in the road transport of dangerous goods, and its results have gone beyond research.

SCUTUM led to the adoption of EGNOS in a real business case and to the market re-lease of a product based on EGNOS , namely LCS, a Telespazio (SCUTUM coordinator) product. The project has also widely promoted EGNOS’ added value in land transport and mobility applications, and it has also developed a European technical specifi cation for commercial services based on EGNOS. SCUTUM’s results have been recognised to be interesting for other road applications and they will possibly pave the way for the introduction of EGNOS in other transport sectors, primarily railway.

The publication “EGNOS in dangerous goods” and a movie were produced to promote SCUTUM’s main concepts and results.

The ERF had a central role in this project, namely as dissemination leader contributing to a wide and deep project promotion activity as well as CEN Workshop SCUTUM’ chair.

www.scutumgnss.eu

Intelligent Roads and Financing Programme

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 FOTsis (European Field Operational Test on Safe, Intelligent and Sustainable Road Operation)

Most cooperative systems to date have been implemented from a vehicle perspec-tive. FOTsis (European Field Operational Test on Safe, Intelligent and Sustainable Road Operation) is a integrated project co-funded by the European Commission that aims to address this gap by conducting a large scale field testing of the road infrastructure management systems needed for the operation of seven close-to-market cooperative

I2V, V2I & I2I technologies (the FOTsis Services), in order to assess in detail first their effectiveness and second their potential for a full-scale deployment in European roads.

More specifically, FOtsis will test the road infrastructure’s capability to incorporate the latest cooperative systems technology at 9 Test-Sites in four European Test-Communi-ties (Spain, Portugal, Germany and Greece), providing the following services:

S1: Emergency Management

S2: Safety Incident Management

S3: Intelligent Congestion Control

S4: Dynamic Route Planning

S5: Special Vehicle Tracking

S6: Advanced Enforcement

S7: Infrastructure Safety Assessment

The project kicked off in April 2011 and will run for a total of 42 months. The role of the ERF will be to support the project dissemination in various ways.

More information at www.fotsis.eu

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 Road Asset Management Working Group

Road transport is the backbone of the European economy and a source of unpreceden-ted socio-economic wealth for Europe’s citizens. To ensure the continued mobility of goods and people across Europe, it is essential to preserve Europe’s road infrastructure.

With a total of 5,5 million km, the EU road network constitutes one of Europe’s largest community assets. However, chronic underfunding and lack of maintenance risk at jeopardising in a short time this huge asset, which has been built over the past 50 years at great expense and effort. Most of Europe’s roads are ageing rapidly and reaching the end of their life cycle. We are now experiencing a critical point in time, where a continuation of status quo may entail a permanent and irreversible loss of this important asset.

In this context, the ERF has decided to set up a working group on Road Asset Manage-ment, with the following objectives:

• Analyse the latest trends in road maintenance and financing across Europe and iden-tify the most critical areas

• Develop a methodology enabling an estimation of the asset value represented by the

road infrastructure in Europe

• Define the necessary requirements in terms of funding, in order to preserve and maintain a high quality road infrastructure network across Europe

• Propose guidelines aimed at establishing maintenance programmes on short, middle and long term basis, in order to prevent the depreciation of the road asset

• Approach road authorities and European Institutions to promote the need for an inte-grated approach of Road Asset Management

• Help road authorities across Europe make right decisions for future road infrastruc-ture maintenance and preservation projects

The ERF RAM WG kick-off meeting took place on April 7th and the second WG meeting on September 5th.

The next steps will be the collection of data from EU countries and the elaboration of a road map for next year (with a debate session to be organised in the EP).

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ENBF

During this year, the European Noise Barrier Federation (ENBF) widely promoted its activities and became the European reference for noise barrier industries, associations and experts. Its members, who have increased to 13, met twice: on 14 April and 29 September in Brussels.

The work of the ENBF focussed on:

• Problems revolving around the technical approvals and CE certificates in some European countries

• The new regulations for Construction Products (CPR) and for the accreditation of Notified Bodies (NBs)

• Contacts with the GNB Sector group SG04• Contacts with the rail sector• Support to the EU co-funded project QUIESST

The main outcomes of the ENBF for 2011 were:

• Contact established with Mr Vicente Leoz Argüelles, Head of Unit at the European Commission responsible for construction, pressure equipment, and methodology, who was invited to one of the ENBF meeting to exchange opinions on the new CPR and NBs accreditation

• Stimulated the set up of a new WG on «noise reducing devices» within SG04 Circulation Fixtures Sector Group, where the ENBF is represented.

• Investigated the Polish noise barrier market and acted in order to improve the ambiguous situation in Poland.

www.enbf.org

ENRA

The European National Road Associations Forum is an in-dependent Forum dedicated to the National Road Associations, under the umbrella of the Euro-pean Union Road Federation.

The ENRA Forum met on 18th October 2011 in Hotel Croatia in Cavtat (Dubrovnik), in the framework of the 5th National Congress of the Croatian Road Society Via Vita. This event, attended by more than 300 participants, was a unique opportunity to gather the members of the ENRA Forum.

The topics addressed during the meeting were mainly related to the issue of the mainte-nance and preservation of the Road Infrastructure (Road Asset Management), as well as the positive contribution that National Road Associations, in co-operation with the ERF, can bring to the defence of the road infrastructure in Europe, particularly in these times of financial uncertainty and budget constraints.The meeting was also an opportunity to gather new participants and present the future working programmes in which the ERF is currently involved or will develop in the near future (e.g. the Whiteroads project, the SMART Road concept, the European Road Initiative…)

This meeting was followed by a high level event, organised by the Croatian Road Society, Via Vita, with the support of the ERF. This session consisted of a Round Table on the Adriatic – Ionian Corridor. This meeting gathered representatives of Road Societies and authorities of all the countries along the Adriatic-Ionian corridor, as well as neighbouring countries (Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece and Hungary).

During the session, representatives from Road Societies and Authorities had the opportu-nity to present the state of the art of the road transport infrastructure in their respective countries. They insisted on the importance and the relevance of the Adriatic-Ionian corridor for the economy of the region, and the necessity to complete it as soon as possible, in order to provide the area with a road infrastructure network capable to provide users with the necessary mobility in terms of service, capacity, efficiency and safety.

At the end of the round table, the ERF and the participants decided to explore in the future the possibility of bringing the issue of the Adriatic-Ionian corridor to the EU institutions, by organising in Brussels a dedicated event, with the support of the ERF, during 2012.

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IV CoMMUnICAtIon /PUBLIC ReLAtIons

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Defending the role of road infrastructure – Presentation to external stakeholders events

The ERF is regularly invited to speak at external events to share its expertise and its vision of the road infrastructure sector. The 2011 events include:

• Road Users Charging session, 8 February, Brussels, Belgium

• IRF Meeting, 8 – 12 May, Bucharest, Romania

• General Assembly Pro-Mobilitaet, 25 May, Berlin, Germany

• General Assembly Road Federation Belgium, 16 June, Brussels, Belgium

• Delegation of Ministry of Transport of Macedonia to Brussels, 21 September, Brussels, Belgium

• World Road Congress PIARC, 26 – 30 September, Mexico DF, Mexico

• AFESP Seminar on Urban signs and markings, 14 October, Porto, Portugal

• 5th Road Congress VIA VITA, ENRA Forum, Adriatic-Ionian Corridor roundtable meeting, 17-19 October, Dubrovnik, Croatia

• RSMA Annual Conference 17 November, Leicester, United Kingdom

• TEN-T days, 29 – 30 November, Antwerp, Belgium

• European Road Initiative Meeting, 7 December, Brussels, Belgium

The ERF team participated to many others events

Articles in Specialised Press

The ERF continued to contribute regularly through its column to World Highways, Strade& Autostrade, Thinking Highways and Intelligent Roads.

Newsletters, Press Releases

The ERF publishes 4 newsletters regularly throughout the year, devoted to its diverse activities:

Policy & Action Intelligent Roads Engineering Safer Roads Voice of the European Road

All the newsletters are available for free consultation and download on the ERF website, with the exception of Policy & Action, which is reserved to ERF Members only.

The ERF released as well a number of press releases on developments in a variety of road-related topics, available on the ERF website

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Publications

This year ERF issued a 10th edition of “European Road Statistics 2011”. This annual publication provides with the key data in the road transport sector and throughout the years has become the tool of reference for policy makers and major stakeholders.

The 10th edition of the European Road Statistics 2011 builds its reputation on the enor-mous success of the previous editions and establishes itself as a cornerstone tool to interpret the current road transport picture in Europe and consequently to support policy makers and stakeholders taking appropriate and informed decisions based on factual data.

The ERF wants to convey the message that a sound, safe, effi cient, properly fi nanced and maintained road infrastructure is the sine qua non condition for providing global mobility and promoting economic development, whilst reducing the environmental im-pact of road transport and increasing the welfare of our citizens.

The ERF is convinced that this 10th edition of the European Road Statistics will provide useful and reliable information and will continue to demonstrate the importance of road transport for our society.

Sponsored by:

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Membership Development

The ERF is pleased to welcome 7 new members in 2011.

Effective Members:Bulgarian Branch Association Road Safety (Bulgaria)Union Routière de France (France)

Associated Members:Ameeri Industries (Kingdom of Bahrain) Cologne University of Applied Sciences (Germany)Gruppo Massara (Italy)Kirac Galvaniz A.S (Turkey)Ministry of Transport of Saudi Arabia

List of ERF MembersEffective MembersAsociación Española de la Carretera (Spain)Bulgarian Branch Association Road Safety (Bulgaria)Centro Rodoviário Português (Portugal)Dansk Vejforening (Denmark) Hrvatsko Društvo za Ceste (Croatia)Österreichische Gesellschaft für Strassen und Vekehrswesen (Austria) Pro-mobilitaet (Germany)Road Federation Belgium (Belgium)Suomen Tieyhdistys (Finland) The Association of Consulting Engineers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Union Routière de France (France)

Associated Members3M Europe, S.A. (Belgium)Abertis Infraestructuras (Spain)Ameeri Industries (Kingdom of Bahrain) ArcelorMittal (Luxembourg/India)Asebal (Spain)Association of European Glass Bead Manufacturer (Belgium)

AXIMUM (France) Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Automoción - CIDAUT (Spain)COLAS (France)Cologne University of Applied Sciences (Germany)Confederation of Organisation in Road Transport Enfocement - CORTE (Belgium)Delta Bloc GmbH (Austria)Efkon AG (Austria)Eurometal ABEE (Greece)European Noise Barrier Federation - ENBF (Belgium)European Intermodal Association - EIA (Belgium)Eupave (Belgium)Eurovia (France)Galva Union (France)Gruppo Massara (Italy)Highway Industries Confederation Ltd. - HIC/RSMA (UK)Hill & Smith Ltd. (UK)Kirac Galvaniz A.S (Turkey)L.I.E.R - Laboratoire d’essais INRETS des Equipements de la Route (France)Marcegaglia (Italy)Ministry of Transport of Saudi ArabiaSaferoad RRS Gmbh (Germany)Prismo Limited (UK)Safe German Guardrail Technology - SGGT (Germany)Syndicat des Equipements de la Route - SER (France)Snoline S.P.A. (Italy)Solosar (France) Studiengesellschaft für Stahlschutzplanken e.V. (Germany)SWARCO Holding GmbH (Austria)Telegra d.o.o. (Croatia)Telespazio S.p.A. (Italy)TERTU (France)TUBOSIDER S.p.A. (Italy)Union des Syndicats de l’industrie Routière Française - USIRF (France) Volkmann & Rossbach (Germany)

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The ERF Secretariat is located in Brussels and is at your disposal for any questions you may have

Place Stéphanie, 6/BB-1050 Brussels(Belgium)

Tel. (+32) 2 644 58 77Fax. (+32) 2 647 59 34

info@erf.be

www.erf.be

Sponsored by :

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