Nick Lester from London Councils elected as new ERTRAC vice-chairman
ERTRAC is the European technology platform which brings together road transport stakeholders to develop a common vision for road transport research in Europe. Polis has been involved in the platform for many years now to represent cities and regions and is leading the ERTRAC Urban Mobility Working Group.
How ERTRAC works
The overall mission of ERTRAC is to provide a strategic vision for road transport research and innovation in Europe. It defines strategies and roadmaps to achieve this vision through the definition and update of a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) and the implementation of research roadmaps. ERTRAC also supports the implementation of Horizon 2020, the European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.
ERTRAC members represent all the actors of the road transport system, including automotive manufacturers and suppliers, energy/fuel suppliers, research and service providers, the ITS industry, road infrastructure bodies, users, European and national bodies, and cities & regions (through Polis).
The ERTRAC Executive Group is formed by the Chairman and Vice-Chairmen. As representative of cities and regions in the platform, Polis proposes the vice-chairman for cities and regions. Polis' proposal to nominate Nick Lester for the new term, was endorsed by the ERTRAC Plenary last week. For a term of three years, he will thus act as ERTRAC's vice-chairman representing cities and regions.
Nick Lester, new ERTRAC Vice-Chairman
Nick Lester is Corporate Director for Services at London Councils, in which role he is responsible for delivering around €400m services to Londoners each year, predominantly in transport. He has a particular responsibility for parking and traffic management in London including oversight of parking and traffic enforcement and operation of London's traffic courts. He has had responsibility for the coordination of London's local transport and traffic policies for some years and has been a member of the Mayor of London's Roads Task Force since its inception in 2012. Nick Lester is also responsible for the London European Partnership on Transport which provides links between different European cities on specific transport projects and is a member of the Polis Network's Management Committee.
As ERTRAC vice-chairman, he will be involved in the daily decision-making of the technology platform and he will represent ERTRAC in public events and consultation bodies. He will also be involved in the ERTRAC Urban Mobility Working Group together with Polis.