Skip to main content

New International Transport Forum secretary-general takes office

The International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD, an intergovernmental organisation with 54 member countries that acts as a strategic think tank for global transport policy and organises an annual summit of transport ministers, has announced that internationally renowned academic José Viegas of Portugal has taken office as secretary-general of the organisation. Elected by Ministers from Forum member countries at their summit in May, he joins the ITF from an internationally recognised career as an academi
August 17, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The 998 International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD, an intergovernmental organisation with 54 member countries that acts as a strategic think tank for global transport policy and organises an annual summit of transport ministers, has announced that internationally renowned academic José Viegas of Portugal has taken office as secretary-general of the organisation. Elected by Ministers from Forum member countries at their summit in May, he joins the ITF from an internationally recognised career as an academic and consultant. As a professor of civil engineering at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, and chairman of 6396 TIS.pt, a transport consultancy firm, Viegas has worked in all transport modes and managed collaborative networks across countries and economic sectors to advance better solutions in transport.

“The International Transport Forum faces great opportunities for a strategic reorientation, based on its existing strengths and its expanding membership, to further strengthen its role as the foremost platform for a global dialogue on transport policy,” said Viegas upon taking up his duties in Paris this week. “I will work hard to provide engaging and successful leadership in these processes."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • First trial of driverless vehicles, regulatory review launched
    February 11, 2015
    The first trial of driverless cars is launched today in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, London. The Greenwich Automated Transport Environment project (GATEway) is one of three projects chosen by the Government to deliver demonstrations of automated vehicles in urban environments. The trial officially gets underway at Greenwich Peninsula today, attended by Business Secretary Vince Cable and Transport Minister Claire Perry, who also officially launched a regulatory review and the UK Government’s ‘Intro
  • UK transport planning not giving sufficient priority to air quality, say researchers
    August 31, 2016
    According to two university researchers, UK transport planning is not sufficiently taking into account the environmental impacts of transport choices. Their report, which is due to be presented at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Annual International Conference today, says that road transport is the principal cause of air pollution in over 95 per cent of legally designated “Air Quality Management Areas” in the UK. Current estimates are that over 50,000 deaths a year can be attributed to air polluti
  • 'New voice' Buttigieg is US transport secretary
    December 16, 2020
    Former presidential hopeful will succeed current incumbent Elaine Chao in January 2021
  • Strike action prompts commuters to try something different
    June 2, 2014
    David Crawford highlights responses to transit disruption on both sides of the Atlantic. Shortly before workers at San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) began a lengthy round of pay and conditions-related strikes in summer 2013, impacting on the daily lives of 400,000 communities, online ridesharing group Avego publicised a new web address: bartstrike.com. By the start of the following week, Avego was encouraging stranded commuters to download its smartphone app by offering them the chance in a raffle