Country Overviews

Introduction

The main players in transport research policy in Norway are the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Fisheries and the Research Council of Norway.

In relation to transport policy goals, the departmental role is very important in Norway. Each department of the public administration takes responsibility for organising and funding research.
The Ministry of Education and Research has overall responsibility for financing higher education and research at universities and regional university colleges.

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration has a particular responsibility for skills upgrading and recruiting sufficient ability in the area of road network development.

The Research Council of Norway is the country's largest research funding organisation and administrates approximately two thirds of transport research funding. Funding budgets from the ministries are largely transferred to the Research Council and earmarked for transport research.

Research programmes managed by the ministries and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration can be characterised as sectoral programmes for specific purposes, whereas the transport research programmes administered by the Research Council of Norway are larger and much broader in scope.

In the area of international cooperation, the role is shared (overall responsibility for international research cooperation policy lies with the Ministry of Education and Research, while several departments of the above-mentioned ministries are in charge of the practical application of international cooperation). The responsibility for the coordination of Norwegian participation in EU framework programmes lies directly with the Ministry of Education and Research, but the Research Council of Norway is also responsible for promoting participation in the EU framework programmes.

Key national priorities for transport research include road safety, alternative sources of energy and the development of environmentally friendly technology. There has been a significant increase in public money spent by the Ministry on transport research in Norway over the past few years.

Non-governmental entities, like the Institute of Transport Economics, SINTEF and Moere Research perform both commissioned and independent research activities. The Institute of Transport Economics (T¯I) specialises in the field of transport, and receives approximately 25% of its funding from the Research Council, partly as basic funding and partly as direct support to strategic institute programmes. Beyond that, research is financed by commissioned research, mainly performed on behalf of public institutions. There is a tradition of collaboration between the different research institutions.

National Government Departments and Agencies

Ministry of Transport and Communications / Samferdselsdepartementet

http://odin.dep.no/sd

Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Directorate of Public Roads / Statens vegvesen, Vegdirektoratet

www.vegvesen.no

The Research Council of Norway / Norges forskningsrŒd

www.forskningsradet.no

SMARTRANS - Intelligent Freight Transport (2007-2013)

Established in response to the Ministry of Transport and Communications' strategy for telecommunications and transport research. The programme's primary objective is to support the development of more efficient and sustainable transport solutions. Secondary objectives are to reduce distance and time costs, increase multimodality and encourage smarter transport solutions to promote safe, environmentally-friendly and efficient transport. SMARTRANS is one of several research and innovation programmes in the Innovation division of the Research Council of Norway. Other programme stakeholders are the ministries (Transport and Communications, Trade and Industry) which provide funding.

POT - Programme for Superior Transport Research (2001-2009) / Program for Overordnet Transportforskning

In 2001, the Ministry of Transport and Communications initiated this programme as a result of identified needs for targeted research in long-term approaches. It is organised into several sub-programmes: development trends; transport modelling; methods and principles for overall valuations criteria; strategic planning; targets and means for environment, traffic safety and public transport; public expenditures on communications as an instrument for industrial economics; and distribution of responsibility and institutional conditions.

City Transport (2002-2005) / Transport i By

Programme led by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, aimed at improving professional experience in the field of urban transport and the dissemination of knowledge to inform political decision-making in transport-related issues.
www.transportiby.net/transport-i-by.72252.no.html

Asset Management (Public Roads Administration, 2002-2005) / Vegkapital

The main objective of the Asset Management programme is to make an estimate of what the Norwegian road network is worth and attempt to suggest the consequences of changes in funding, management and maintenance. To succeed in this, it is necessary to use existing data material from several specialised databases, such as the road data bank (Vegdatabanken) and the bridge administration system, Brutus.
www.vegkapital.net

RISIT - Risk and Safety in Transport (2002-2009) / Risiko og sikkerhet i transportsektoren

Based on the fact that travel and transport represent high risks and that society is faced with major changes with respect to reducing such risks, the Ministry of Transport and Communications wanted further research to focus on transport risk, primarily in the form of an applied research programme under the auspices of the Research Council of Norway.

R&D in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration / FoU, Statens Vegvesen

Research and development activities in the NPRA (Statens Vegvesen) aim to contribute to the development and maintenance
of a safe, eco-friendly and efficient transport system. The results of research and development activities provide the basis for revision of standards and guidelines and will, as such, benefit the entire transport sector. Major R&D Projects are established within the strategic research and development areas as set out in the NPRA's Research and Development Strategic Plan 2006-2015, which are:

• Mobility of people and transport of goods
• Safety and security
• Environment, energy and resources
• Competitive design and production systems.

Public Research Organisations

Institute of Transport Economics - Strategic Institute Programmes / Transportokonomisk institutt (TOI)

Research activities at the Institute of Transport Economics (T¯I) are undertaken within a programme structure that currently covers the following research areas:

• Cost benefit analysis
• Freight transport
• Regional analysis
• Public transport and transport policy
• Risk analyses, meta-analysis and cost-benefit analyses
• Strategic market analyses
• Tourism
• Traffic safety and the interaction between road users, road system, and vehicles
• Travel behaviour and mobility.

Each programme is defined by a research framework defining its overall purpose and the specific research questions that are to be answered by the various research projects.
www.toi.no