Abertis showcased the Group's latest innovations in the field of road safety at the Road Safety Forums staged this week in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Santiago (Chile). Public sector authorities and road safety specialists from both Latin American countries found out about the latest innovative road accident prevention projects and debated how the public and private sector can work together to help reduce traffic accidents.
The Road Safety Forum held yesterday in Buenos Aires was attended by Sergi Loughney, Director of the Abertis Foundation, who presented the approximately 30 different awareness-raising initiatives carried out annually by the Abertis Group in the various countries in which it operates, highlighting in particular the Group's global partnership with Unicef to guarantee that children have a safe journey to school.
The event in Argentina was attended by Carlos Pérez, Director of the National Road Safety Agency, and Andrés Barberis, Director of Abertis' subsidiary Autopistas Argentina. The other speakers included specialists from Abertis and its subsidiaries in Argentina and Chile, members of the administrations of the city and Buenos Aires province and representatives of other mobility technology (Waze), insurance (CESVI) and big data (Telefónica Argentina) companies.
At the Forum in Chile last Wednesday the main topic of debate was the use of technology to improve road safety. Philippe Fenain, Abertis' Director of Operations & Quality-Safety, presented the accident prediction system which the company is trialling on Santiago's Autopista Central toll road via its subsidiary VíasChile. The Santiago Road Safety Forum was inaugurated by Luis Miguel de Pablo, Managing Director of VíasChile. There was then a panel discussion involving representatives of the National Road Safety Commission (CONASET), Carabineros de Chile (the Chilean national police force), Diego Portales University and Abertis and its subsidiary VíasChile.
Abertis' International Road Safety Forum Network
This is the second consecutive year in which these forums have taken place in the capital cities of Argentina and Chile. The Abertis Group promotes the organisation of meetings of this kind in the major cities of the countries in which it operates. In addition to Argentina and Chile, forums are staged in Brazil (where the fifth edition is being staged), Spain, France and Puerto Rico. In 2018 over 7,500 people attended these forums, which are expected to take place in countries including Italy, Belgium, the US and India in the future.
This initiative is part of Abertis' strategic Road Safety programme aimed at ensuring 100% safety on its toll roads and other highways. Abertis partners with numerous international organisations which are working on solutions for this global problem. The Group has signed an innovative three-year agreement with the international organisation UNICEF to tackle the main cause of death in children of school age: road accidents.
Abertis has also signed up to the Waze App's Connected Citizens programme in seven countries (Spain, France, Italy, Brazil, Chile, Puerto Rico and Argentina), with the aim of sharing information to improve the road safety of drivers.
In addition, the Group carries out education and awareness-raising campaigns in all the countries in which it operates via the Abertis Foundation. In the academic arena, Abertis funds road safety research in six leading universities around the world through its network of academic chairs set up to promote education, research and knowledge transfer between academia and the company.
19 September 2024
•The Group places a strong focus on waste management and revaluation and the use of new materials. Since 2022, it has been encouraging the use of plastic waste pavement on the service roads of some of its motorways, guaranteeing environmental sustainability and improving the durability, abrasion resistance and flexibility of the asphalt.
10 September 2024
•VíasChile, a Chile-based Abertis subsidiary, and the Chilean Ministry of Public Works have agreed to build two tunnels under Cerro Lo Ruiz to cut the traffic flow in one of the most congested areas of the city of Santiago de Chile by 25%.
