New Years Message from the President

Dear colleagues,

As we step into 2026, I am delighted—and honoured—to extend my warmest wishes to all of you, on behalf of ITEA, for a year filled with health, happiness, and inspiration!

This is already my second New Year’s message for ITEA. What has changed compared to last year’s edition is that I am now sending it much more timely: already in January. What, unfortunately, has not improved are the troubling developments I referred to last year. One is the seemingly unstoppable growth of disinformation and the denial of scientific knowledge. Likewise, we continue to witness increasing turbulence and tension in international relations. For me, both developments underscore that, more than ever, strong international scientific associations like ITEA have an important role to play: contributing to the development and dissemination of the scientific knowledge that is so urgently needed to address the great societal challenges ahead. Many of these challenges, as you know, are central to our field—or close enough that our field can make significant societal contributions. It goes without saying that the speed and scope of scientific progress depend critically on the worldwide exchange of insights and the cross-fertilization of research ideas. That is exactly what ITEA, like so many of our peer associations, strives to facilitate.

One important pillar of these activities is our Annual Conference and School. This year, they will be held at the University of Bergamo, about 50 km from Milan, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. The School is scheduled for June 15–17, and the Conference for June 17–19. If you have not already done so, please mark these dates in your calendar! The call for papers will be out very soon, so keep an eye on your mailbox and our website at https://itea.science/. On behalf of the association, I would like to express our gratitude to the Local Organizing Committee, the Scientific Committee, and the School Committee for all the hard work already done—and still to come—in preparation for our annual gatherings.

Another main pillar is our flagship journal, Economics of Transportation. Last year, Leo Basso stepped down as one of the two Editors-in-Chief, alongside Philippe Gagnepain. Let me take this opportunity to thank Leo for his invaluable contributions to the journal! As of January 1, he has been succeeded by Ricardo Flores-Fillol. We wish Ricardo every success in this important role, and I am confident I speak on behalf of the entire association when I say we fully trust his ability to help the journal flourish even further! Having said this, I cannot resist the temptation to remind us that we can all contribute to this, by keeping submitting our best research papers to the journal!

Together, let us continue to advance knowledge, foster collaboration, and make 2026 a year of meaningful progress for our field and for society at large!

Erik T Verhoef

President of ITEA