In the amazing city of Lisbon, the annual edition of the Global Tolling Summit of the IBTTA was held, from 27 to 29 September 2019, the traditional international conference that the World Association of the toll sector organizes in other foreign countries beyond United States of America.
Hosted by Brisa, operator and concessionaire of 15 motorways in Portugal, and by A-to-Be, BRISA’s so-called “innovative arm”, which works on innovation and technology issues for the toll and mobility industry, the summit saw the opening of the work on the inaugural day by Patrick Jones, Executive Director & CEO, IBTTA, Chris Tomlinson, Executive Director, State Road & Tollway Authority and IBTTA President, Vasco de Mello, Chairman & CEO, BRISA.
Among the opening speeches we mention that of Malika Seddi, Director of International Affairs, ASFA, IBTTA, co-organizer of the Lisbon event, who underlined the importance of creating a system and facing new challenges in the sector by leveraging existing skills and work to grow openly with the new mobility needs that will characterize the near future.
The Summit was inaugurated with an ad hoc session dedicated to the Portuguese mobility system, with the participation of representatives from BRISA and the main Portuguese institutions operating in the mobility and transport sector.
The session “IMPROVEMENTS & RECONSTRUCTION AROUND THE WORLD” provided a broad and detailed overview of what are the main initiatives and trends in the world related to the theme of maintenance and management of infrastructures, the construction of new toll infrastructures and the need to to meet the demand for greater capacity, while maintaining high service standards.
In particular, the presentation by Christophe Boutin, Executive Director, ASFA and ASECAP President, illustrated how the concession tool and the toll are fundamental elements for guaranteeing investments and ensuring that infrastructures are ready and efficient for future mobility needs.
After this brief introduction, the session entitled “Safety Update: Incident And Weather Management From Around The World” opened: moderated by Kevin Hoeflich of HNTB, the session dealt with various issues related to infrastructure safety and resilience to extreme events.
In particular, the presentation entitled “Integrated strategies for a resilient transport network against extreme weather conditions and climate change: the FORESEE Project approach” has met with considerable interest and curiosity among European and world infrastructure managers: in front of +100 delegates from 30 nations representing 4 continents, present in Lisbon, the project was by Federico Di Gennaro, Head of Strategic Projects of AISCAT Servizi.
