A conversation with Joe Turley, CEO of RetroTek Technology

Joe Turley is CEO of RetroTek Technology in Ireland and co-founder of Reflective Measurement Systems Ltd, established in 2013 to design and manufacture RetroTek road marking assessment equipment and software.

Over time, the company’s mission has broadened from measuring day and night visibility, to making road marking surveys better, to giving road agencies better data for road safety and asset management decisions. “Ultimately, we sell road marking retroreflectivity measurement equipment,” Turley explains. “More importantly, we are in the business of helping road agencies make better decisions about road safety and road marking assets, so they can prioritise their budgets.”

That matters because agencies face pressure on every front. They are expected to improve safety, show value for money, manage ageing infrastructure, cut costs, improve sustainability, comply with demanding standards and prepare their networks for ADAS and automated vehicles, all at the same time. For Turley, the biggest challenge is turning survey results into reliable, actionable data at the scale today’s complex networks require. “You cannot manage what you do not measure,” he says. “Road asset measurement is the foundation of effective asset management.”

The approach has been proven on Ireland’s roads. Since 2016, Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has entrusted RetroTek with an annual survey of the national motorway and road network, covering around 10,000 kilometres over a 12-week programme. The work is carried out at night to minimise disruption to road users and maximise efficiency. Each survey captures marking retroreflectivity, the presence of road studs and barrier reflectors plus a visual inspection and classification of motorway entrance and exit ramps. Results are delivered through an interactive cloud database and can be exported to TII’s AutoCAD and GIS environment, helping it plan and prioritise regional maintenance budgets each year. “Measuring something is only the starting point,” Turley notes. “The real value lies in collecting reliable information quickly at network scale and using it to support informed decisions.”

Looking ahead, he sees the sector moving from measurement to intelligent road asset management. Today, a survey typically ends with a report. Tomorrow, marking data will be combined with other datasets and analysed to identify risk, prioritise interventions and monitor change over time, leading eventually to continuous, repeatable road condition intelligence. The opportunity, in his view, lies in turning better data into better decisions for managing road infrastructure.

Geneva is a natural place to take that conversation forward. RetroTek has been a member of the European Union Road Federation (ERF) since 2014, and ERF’s recent coming together with IRF gives the company a larger platform to promote technologies that improve road safety. Turley is keen “to move the conversation beyond individual technologies and talk about how innovation actually gets adopted across road networks”. The conference theme, Trust, Delivery and Innovation, resonates strongly: RetroTek is committed to continuous innovation, its certified systems give customers confidence in their results and its customer service helps agencies minimise downtime. Above all, he adds, “we listen”, with customer feedback shaping every new development.

His message to delegates is clear. “Innovation in road safety only matters when it delivers trusted results in the real world,” he says. RetroTek’s ambition is to help road agencies collect better information, make better decisions quickly and ultimately create safer roads. “We believe the next generation of road management will be increasingly data-driven, and we want RetroTek to play a practical role in making that transition happen.”

RetroTek is generously supporting the IRF 2026 Annual Conference, taking place in Geneva from 16 to 18 November 2026. Learn more about the conference at https://irfofficial.org/irf-2026-annual-conference.

The Full Interview

Tell us about your organisation: what you do, where you operate and what sets you apart?

RetroTek is an engineering and technology company focused on a specialised but important part of road safety: understanding the condition of road pavement markings. Good quality markings that remain visible day and night and in all weather conditions are important for drivers, and increasingly for the safe operation of vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving functions. Our technology enables road authorities, toll operators, road maintenance companies and survey contractors to collect reliable marking data at traffic speed, safely and efficiently.

We challenged the traditional approach to pavement marking surveys and developed a unique way of collecting the data. Traditional methods relied on hand-held equipment or equipment mounted to the side of a vehicle. RetroTek systems are front-mounted and assess the full lane width in one pass at traffic speed, day or night.

Our systems operate internationally across North America, Europe and Australasia, and are independently certified to ASTM and CEN standards.

Ultimately, we sell road pavement marking retroreflectivity measurement equipment. More importantly, we are in the business of helping road agencies make better decisions about road safety and road marking assets, so they can prioritise their budgets.

How has your organisation’s mission evolved over the years, and what does it look like today?

RetroTek started from the observation that conventional measurement equipment had real limitations. It was labour-intensive and relatively slow, covered only one line per survey and depended on many manual processes. It also exposed operators to the risk of injury and the equipment itself to the risk of damage.

Our response was to ask: “What if we could collect this information automatically, at traffic speed, across the whole lane?” That thinking led to the RetroTek-D.

Since then, our mission has evolved in three stages. We began by setting out to measure road marking retroreflectivity, in other words day and night visibility. That grew into a broader aim of making road marking surveys better. Today, our mission is to provide road agencies with better data for road safety and asset management decisions.

What is the single biggest challenge facing road maintenance today, and why does it matter?

The biggest challenge is turning road pavement marking survey results into reliable, actionable data at the scale required to manage increasingly complex road networks.

Road agencies are under pressure on many fronts at once. They need to improve road safety, demonstrate value for money and manage ageing infrastructure while reducing maintenance and operational costs. They are expected to make evidence-based decisions, improve sustainability and comply with demanding standards, and they must now also meet the requirements of ADAS and automated vehicles.

Yet you cannot manage what you do not measure. Road asset measurement is the foundation of effective asset management.

Where do you see the greatest opportunity for progress in the next five years?

The greatest opportunity is the move from measurement to intelligent road asset management.

Today, a typical survey vehicle measures the road markings and generates a report. Tomorrow, those measurements will be combined with other datasets and analysed to identify risk, prioritise interventions and monitor change over time. Eventually, we expect to see continuous and repeatable road condition intelligence.

The real opportunity lies in turning better data into better decisions for managing road infrastructure, rather than simply collecting more of it.

Can you point to a project or deployment that you’re particularly proud of, and why?

One project we are particularly proud of is our long-standing relationship with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). Since 2016, TII has trusted RetroTek to carry out an annual survey of Ireland’s motorway and national road network.

The scale is significant: approximately 10,000 kilometres surveyed over a 12-week programme. The work is carried out at night to minimise disruption to road users and to maximise the efficiency of data collection.

What makes the project particularly valuable is that the survey goes well beyond a single measurement. It captures the retroreflectivity of road markings, the presence or absence of road studs (reflectors or RPMs) and barrier reflectors, as well as the visual inspection and classification of motorway entrance and exit ramps.

The resulting information is made available through an interactive cloud database and can be exported in a format compatible with TII’s AutoCAD and GIS environment. This is key to helping TII plan and prioritise its regional maintenance budgets each year.

For us, this project demonstrates what we mean by innovation. Measuring something is only the starting point. The real value of the technology lies in collecting reliable information quickly at network scale and using it to support informed decisions.

How does your approach differ from conventional solutions in the market?

We designed our system around users, rather than designing the road survey around the instrument.

Traditional hand-held and single-line survey approaches compromised operator safety, were complex to use and were inefficient at collecting and analysing data. RetroTek reverses that.

Our technology operates at traffic speeds of up to 120 km/h (75 mph) and measures the full lane in a single pass, day or night. It captures multiple markings, including in-lane markings and directional symbols, and needs only one operator, which reduces manpower, survey time and the risk of damage to equipment. Data is delivered digitally with dependable accuracy and repeatability, and our interactive software platform helps users visualise results and make decisions.

And perhaps most importantly, we listen. Customer feedback influences our future developments.

What are you most looking forward to at the IRF 2026 Annual Conference?

What excites us about the IRF conference is the opportunity to move the conversation beyond individual technologies and talk about how innovation actually gets adopted across road networks.

RetroTek has been a member of the European Union Road Federation (ERF) since 2014. ERF’s recent amalgamation with IRF provides a larger platform for RetroTek to promote technologies that improve road safety.

The conference theme, Trust, Delivery and Innovation, resonates strongly with us. We are committed to continuous innovation. Our systems are certified to international standards, so customers can trust the accuracy of their results. And our customer service delivery ensures road agencies minimise downtime when maintaining road infrastructure.

What message do you most want delegates to take away from your participation?

Innovation in road safety only matters when it delivers trusted results in the real world.

Our ambition goes beyond building better road marking measurement technology. We want to help road agencies collect better information, make better decisions quickly and ultimately create safer roads. We believe the next generation of road management will be increasingly data-driven, and we want RetroTek to play a practical role in making that transition happen.

References & Credits

Website (global): www.reflective-systems.com

Website (USA): retrotekusa.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/4826769

Facebook: facebook.com/RetroTekRMS

YouTube: RetroTek YouTube channel

Photo credits: all photographs © RetroTek.