STA REFLECTS ON AN INSPIRING AND IMPACTFUL TRA 2026
Participants at the KEYSTONE Final Event.
The Transport Research Arena (TRA) 2026 conference came to an end on Thursday 21 May 2026, and STA was proud to have actively participated in this year's inspiring and impactful edition in the beautiful city of Budapest, Hungary on 18–21 May 2026.
Over the four days of conference, several STA Members (including Spanish Road Association - AEC, Aleatica, Etelätär Innovation, University of Antwerp, and the Technical University of Madrid - UPM) participated in various technical sessions, panel presentations, poster sessions, award ceremonies and were also involved in interesting discussions on the future of sustainable, digital, and resilient transport.
The STA Secretariat hosted, the Final Event of the EU-funded project KEYSTONE, organised together with the sister project SETO, under the title “From Data to Action: Enabling Paperless and Smart Digital Enforcement Compliance in Transport & Logistics – Key Lessons and Next Steps from the EU-Funded KEYSTONE and SETO Projects”, on 19 May 2026. Several STA members are part of the consortium, including AEC, Etelätär Innovation, and UPM.
The side event gathered over 75 participants who celebrated the official conclusion of the KEYSTONE journey and reflected on the results, lessons learned, and future steps of the three-year project, which contributed significantly to the digitisation of the transport and logistics sector by developing a digital solution, the KEYSTONE Web App. The Web App, tested in real-world environments, is paving the way towards smarter and paperless transport, as well as more simple, efficient, and transparent compliance checks for enforcement authorities.
Later the same day, Jorge Alfonso Kurano from the Technical University of Madrid (UPM) presented the paper “Applying AI to Road Infrastructure Monitoring & Management: A Vision for Predictive Maintenance and Safety Management” during Technical Session 4.8 – Infrastructure for Circular Economy. Co-authored by STA Members from UPM, Etelätär Innovation, AEC, and STA, the research showcased how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can support more resilient, safer, and efficient transport infrastructures through predictive maintenance and smarter management approaches.
Emma Ceulemans receiving first prize at the Young Researchers Awards for her research in crossmodal logistics.
On 20 May 2026, Ricardo Lobo from Aleatica, STA Vice-President, participated as a speaker in the panel discussion “Innovations in Policy and Finance That Save Lives” during the 2026 iRAP Innovation Workshop - Future Ready Roads for Safe, Sustainable Mobility. The session brought together experts and stakeholders to explore how innovative policy frameworks, financing mechanisms, and collaborative approaches can accelerate the transition towards safer, more sustainable, and future-ready transport infrastructures.
Another proud moment took place during the Young Researchers Awards, where Emma Ceulemans, Postdoctoral Researcher in Transport & Regional Economics at the University of Antwerp, received the first prize in the Crossmodal Logistics category for her research on assessing modal shift potential using truck GPS data.
Overall, STA Members actively contributed to this year’s edition through more than seven technical sessions, six poster presentations, one panel discussion, and one side-event, showcasing innovative solutions and advancing cutting-edge transport research. A detailed overview of STA Members’ participation is available in our previous TRA 2026 coverage.
Let us keep the momentum and continue collaborating for a more resilient, inclusive, safe, and sustainable future for transport.
We are looking forward to TRA 2028 in Milan, Italy!