Budapest will host Europe’s largest transport research event – ​​the Transport Research Arena 2026 is coming

The central theme of the 2026 Budapest conference, “Re-Generation in Transport”, emphasises the need for renewal and the involvement of the next generations. The event aims to provide a platform for ideas and developments that serve the transformation of transport in the face of environmental, social and technological challenges.

TRA 2026 focuses on four main areas: user-centric mobility, which is built around new service models, the integration of multimodal transport systems and the development of personalized, smart solutions; green mobility and decarbonization, which prioritizes the implementation of electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles, alternative fuels, energy recovery systems and urban zero-emission zones; the planning and operations topic, which deals with systems-level planning, data-driven traffic management, predictive maintenance, and integrated logistics solutions; and the digitalization of transport, which includes the application of autonomous vehicles, IoT devices, digital twin-based systems and big data analytics for more efficient transport.

“TRA 2026 is a meeting point not only for the scientific community, but also for industry players and start-ups. Our important goal is for exhibitors and partners to build real collaborations and present their developments to the widest audience of European transport innovation.”

– said Tamás Bartal, Chairman of the TRA 2026 Organizing Committee.

European cooperation, Hungarian participation

The TRA 2026 organizing consortium is made up of nine Hungarian and international partners: the Hungarian Public Roads Nonprofit Zrt, the KTI Institute of Transport Sciences, Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), Budapest Transport Centre (BKK), Széchenyi University (SZE), Transport Sciences Association (KTE), the European FEHRL and ECTRI organisations, and University College Dublin (UCD).

The conference creates an opportunity for domestic researchers and companies to connect directly with European innovation networks. Hungarian transport innovations – such as the ZalaZONE test track and the National Laboratory for Autonomous Systems – clearly demonstrate that domestic research and development plays an active role in shaping the future of transport in Europe.