Introduction

This International Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment has successfully been reconvened annually for nearly 20 years. It has always attracted a wide international spread of delegates and is well-established as the premier event of its type.

This conference started in Southampton in 1995; continuing in Barcelona (1996); Acquasparta, Italy (1997); Lisbon (1998); Rhodes (1999); Cambridge, UK (2000); Lemnos, Greece (2001); Seville (2002); Crete (2003); Dresden (2004); the Algarve (2005); the Wessex Institute of Technology campus in the New Forest (2006); Coimbra (2007); Malta (2008); Bologna (2009); Limassol (2010); Pisa (2011) and A Coruña (2012). The importance of these meetings is reflected in the papers published in the corresponding volumes of the series of Transactions of Wessex Institute, which are archived in the Wessex Institute eLibrary at http://library.witpress.com, where they are permanently and easily available to the international community.

Transport developments and innovations have been part of the evolution of human culture through all the different stages of the growing complexity of economic and social relationships. During the centuries, freight transport and military logistics have grown up jointly with commercial exchanges, and the development of cities and nations. The control of transport results in economic power and the possibility of influencing policies.

The continuing requirement for better urban transport systems and the need for a healthier environment has added to the increasing success of this annual meeting which attracts international delegates from many different countries. Innovative systems, new approaches and original ideas need to be thoroughly tested and critically evaluated before they can be implemented in practice, which highlights the importance of meetings such as this. Moreover, there is a growing need for integration with telecommunications systems and IT applications in order to improve safety, security and efficiency.