Overview
The 23rd International Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment was held in Rome, Italy, organised by the Wessex Institute, UK, represented by Prof Carlos A Brebbia, and The University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, Italy, represented by Prof Stefano Ricci.
The meeting was sponsored by WIT Transactions on the Built Environment and the International Journal of Transport Development and Integration.
This is the latest of a long and successful series of conferences that started in Southampton, UK, in 1995, and they have been held every year in different locations, the last being in Crete in 2016.
The continuing requirement for better urban transport systems and the need for a healthier environment has added to the increasing success of this annual meeting which attracts international delegates from many different countries. Innovative systems, new approaches and original ideas need to be thoroughly tested and critically evaluated before they can be implemented in practice, which highlights the importance of the meeting. Moreover, there is a growing need for integration with telecommunications and IT systems in order to improve safety, security and efficiency.
The meeting also addressed the need to solve important pollution problems associated with urban transport in order to achieve a healthier environment.
The variety of topics covered by the conference reflected the complex interaction of the urban transport systems with their environment and the need to establish integrated strategies.
Opening the Conference
The conference was opened by Giorgio Passerini, Professor and member of the Board of Directors of WIT, who welcomed the delegates on behalf of Carlos A Brebbia, who was unable to attend, and spoke of the importance of the Conference series for the Institute’s activities. Conferences provide a continuous stream of new ideas which give rise to further research and development at WIT and elsewhere.
Giorgio described some of the research the Institute is carrying out to support industry, including major companies in the field of energy and aerospace. These activities are based on the software tools developed by WIT over the years, which have resulted in close collaboration with industrial users. Research and Development in these tools continues to be carried out in the New Forest campus of WIT.
Another important activity is the publishing of specialised literature, including many books and monographs other than conference volumes. Publishing nowadays is basically a digital activity which gives greater dissemination to the material published by WIT Press. In addition, the Institute has developed an eLibrary containing all conference papers presented at WIT meetings since 1993 (www.witpress.com/elibrary). Hence the papers presented at UT 2017 will be archived in this eLibrary.
Giorgio ended by thanking the delegates once again for their support of the Conference and to the authors for the quality of the many papers at the Urban Transport meeting. He hoped that they would continue to support WIT activities, including other related conferences. WIT carries out training and research activities with many other institutions around the world and is always happy to expand those programmes.
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