| The modal part of road transport still accounts in France for approximately 80% among all available transport modes. Even if a shift to other modes of transport is wished for, this situation is not likely to change radically in the next coming years. Indeed, the road network has developed over thousands of years: emerging from the track to the paved road, then to the smooth road and on to the continuous road. However, the environmental cost of current road infrastructures is still too important. As a consequence, the development of road infrastructures is not a priority anymore and as a matter of fact excluded from ambitious greening politics. There is then a need of strong innovation in this sector to solve these issues. The 5th Generation Road program (R5G for French “Route de 5ème Génération”) aims at changing the image of road infrastructures by designing, constructing and operating full scale demonstrators, which implement innovative solutions, ready for testing in research centres. To consider all aspects of this issue, the program is elaborated though a systemic approach and is organized around four emblematic conceptual elements: the adaptable road, the automated road, the resilient road and the acceptable road. The potential benefits of such a program are numerous: Maintaining the RAMS (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety) of road networks at existing levels, reinforcing industrial leaderships and targeting societal objectives (education, employment, and environment). The coming months will be devoted to the development and the implementation of the program at the National and European levels. |
