18 – 21 May 2026 | Budapest, Hungary – The Transport Research Arena (TRA) 2026, Europe’s flagship conference for transport research and innovation, convened leading voices from academia, industry, policymaking and civil society to advance the future of mobility. This year’s edition showcased emerging technologies, collaborative research and next-generation solutions shaping safer, smarter and more resilient transport systems.

The International Road Federation (IRF) attended, contributing to key discussions around automated mobility, workforce development and cooperative transport systems. Representing IRF, Project Manager Iona Kirkpatrick presented work from the Horizon Europe-funded iEXODDUS EU Project, highlighting how resilient Operational Design Domain (ODD) extension can accelerate the safe deployment of automated mobility across Europe.

Her presentation, Enabling Resilient ODD Extension in Automated Mobility, examined one of the core barriers facing Automated Driving Systems (ADS): limited performance in complex urban environments, road work zones, tunnels and other GNSS-denied conditions where conventional localisation systems become unreliable.

Through the iEXODDUS EU Project framework, researchers are advancing a multi-sensor localisation approach that combines LiDAR-based mapping, landmark recognition, infrastructure-assisted positioning and Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technologies to strengthen vehicle awareness and positioning under degraded conditions. By fusing these systems, iEXODDUS aims to extend the operational boundaries of Level 3+ automated vehicles while improving safety, reliability and interoperability.

The presentation spotlighted three real-world use cases currently being explored through iEXODDUS:

• Navigating GNSS-denied environments, including tunnels and urban canyons, where alternative localisation methods can support safe transitions between GNSS and non-GNSS positioning systems.
  
• Navigating road works, addressing how roadside units, connectivity and real-time infrastructure data can help automated vehicles safely interpret temporary road configurations.
  
• Navigating accident and incident zones, enabling vehicles to better understand disruptions, lane closures and hazards through cooperative infrastructure and connected systems.

Together, these demonstrations underline the importance of resilient localisation, infrastructure-assisted perception and standardised governance frameworks in enabling Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) at scale.

Alongside Iona’s participation, IRF Senior Advisor Brendan Halleman engaged in several strategic discussions throughout TRA week. He joined IRF member PASS+CO at their stand and participate in the workshop Future Skills for Europe’s Road Infrastructure Sector, convened by the Conference of European Directors of Roads, contributing to discussions on workforce capacity, skills development and future readiness across the road sector.

He also attended the General Assembly of the Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility Association, where stakeholders will discuss the future direction of cooperative and automated mobility initiatives in Europe, before joining the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) Workshop focused on advancing road safety innovation.

As transport systems continue to evolve, TRA 2026 provides an important platform to strengthen collaboration across research, policy and practice.