Abstract

What will the European road system look like in 2040? How can innovations deliver solutions to the challenges of the future? In particular, how can Europe's growing transport needs be reconciled with the important sustainability goals? New Road Construction Concepts NR2C is a European Commission co-funded research project designed to give answers to these vital questions. The NR2C project is a quest for conceptual and technical answers to the mobility and transport demands of the future. This Vision 2040 of NR2C, describing how society may look on the year 2040, focuses on changes in road concepts as a result of future needs and demands initiated by social and economic developments and external transport-related technical advances. Within the framework of the NR2C Vision 2040, nine European countries (Poland, Belgium, France, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Slovenia and Sweden) established their own image of the future by means of workshops. These individual visions, the visions of ERTRAC (European Road Transport Research Advisory Council), FEHRL (Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories) and ECTP (European Construction Technology Platform) and a literature survey form the wide input of this NR2C Vision 2040.