Professor Panos Prevedouros was the Technical Program Coordinator for the 1st Symposium on Freeway and Tollway Operations of the Transportation Research Board.

Professor Prevedouros at Symposium

The Symposium provided a platform for about 500 international transportation professionals, managers as well as politicians and other officials from 22 countries to present their views, knowledge and experience on freeway and tollway operations through 116 formal presentations which are included in the Symposium’s Compendium of Proceedings.

Consistent with TRB’s mission, the Symposium and its Compendium served the vital role of disseminating important information on highway transportation infrastructure.
Presentations addressed topics such as the operation of traffic control centers, various permanent and temporary methods for controlling the lanes of expressway facilities, tolling issues ranging from technologies of electronic systems to simulation of toll plazas, to models analyzing the efficiency of toll booth operators according to their level of fatigue, methods for the efficient ramp metering of freeways and issues relating to speeding, speed control and traffic safety and policing.

In addition, various executives from Europe and USA spoke about the policies, transportation priorities and investments in their regions as well as about their future plans for expansions and improvements.

Importantly, the Symposium also addressed critical issues that go well beyond engineering and technology solutions.  These include the:

Critical need for interoperable toll collection infrastructure which facilitates the motorists and streamlines the accounting infrastructure.

The progressive change of viewing traffic as vehicles to viewing vehicles as customer motorists who require and deserve not only a safe and speedy trip but also good level of service, on-road assistance, customer service for inquiries and a variety of flexible toll programs that respond to their road usage needs.

The superiority of joint projects between the public and private sector or PPP (Public- Private financed-Projects) which improve risk sharing, accountability, time schedule delivery and the quality of the constructed infrastructure since long term durability and maintenance costs if the facility are taken into account prior to construction.

The Conference of the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) Freeway Operations Committee (AHB20) was sponsored by Attiki Odos, S.A. and Attikes Diadromes, S.A., and supported by the U.S. DOT-Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the International Bridge Turnpike and Toll Association (IBTTA), California’s Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH) program, and the Hellenic Institute of Transportation Engineers.

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