On September 23 & 24, 2025, the Road and Transportation Research Association (FGSV) once again hosted the Colloquium for Road Operation in the Audimax of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The Institute of Road and Railway Engineering (ISE) has been supporting this event for many years as an accompanying partner on site.
Traditionally, interested experts come together in Karlsruhe every two years to network through discussions and meetings and to learn about the latest developments in road maintenance and winter road services.

On the first day, the focus was on winter road services. The day was led by Ltd. MinRat. Dr.-Ing. Horst Hanke. After an introductory speech by Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Markus Oeser on the "Importance of research in road operations", the large audience looked forward to the presentations by six speakers on the topics of "New winter maintenance strategies", "Introduction of electromobility in winter maintenance" and "Quality assurance in winter maintenance".
As a further item on the agenda of a well-filled and exciting day, the winning teams of the 4th German Snowplough Championship were honored to great applause.
A get-together in the foyer of the Audimax rounded off the first day of the colloquium with a joint snack and numerous opportunities to exchange ideas.

The second day of the colloquium then focused on general road operation. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Axel Norkauer led through the interdisciplinary and interesting lectures, which were divided into the topics of "Sustainability", "Effects of climate change on road operation" and "Green maintenance". Once again, the 250 participants had the valuable opportunity to network during the lunch break.

The colloquium was again accompanied by a trade exhibition in the foyer of the Audimax and on the forecourt, which welcomed 20 exhibitors. This offered interested guests the opportunity to be brought up to date with the latest technology and to discuss developments in road operation, including small presentations by the exhibitors.

We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of the colloquium and the trade exhibition!

Further information, e.g. on the conference proceedings, can be found on the FGSV website, which is also available on our event page (german-language version of the homepage).

"Cycling - Attractive and safe routes" was the title of this year's colloquium at the ISE, which took place on 29.01.2025. The importance of cycling is also evident in the context of climate change and the distribution of space in the city. In order to further increase the attractiveness of cycling, a subjectively high perception of safety among road users is required in addition to objective safety considerations. For this reason, this year's colloquium featured a mix of accident analysis, the importance of subjective safety and examples of the actual implementation of measures - with the aim of making traffic facilities safe for cycling as a whole.