From August 9th to 11th, the 14th Asia-Pacific Conference on Transportation and the Environment (APTE 2025) was held in Hangzhou. With the theme "Emerging Transportation Solutions: Building an Efficient, Sustainable, Reliable, and Inclusive Transport System," the conference brought together over 350 experts, scholars, and industry professionals from 26 countries and regions worldwide. They engaged in discussions on cutting-edge transportation technologies and pathways to sustainable development, aiming to establish a high-level international exchange platform, promote global innovation and cooperation in transportation, and contribute transportation insights to building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Conference Scene

In his opening address, Conference Chair and Vice President of the Asia-Pacific Society for Future Transportation, Professor QU Xiaobo from Tsinghua University's School of Vehicle and Mobility, stated that APTE 2025 bears the significant mission of addressing climate change, promoting energy transition, and leading the technological revolution in future transportation. He expressed hope that global scholars, building on frontier research achievements, would jointly advance the construction of a more efficient, sustainable, and inclusive future transportation system.

YANG Xiaoguang, Deputy Director-General of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Transportation, introduced Zhejiang's explorations and practices as one of the first pilot provinces for building China into a country with strong transportation networks. He stated that Zhejiang is willing to use this conference as an opportunity to deepen international cooperation, share development experiences, promote the transportation system towards higher quality, efficiency, and sustainability, and serve regional connectivity and common prosperity.

ZHOU Huijie, Director of the Comprehensive Bonded Zone Management Office of the Hangzhou Lin-gang Economic Demonstration Zone Administration Committee, stated that as a vital gateway for Zhejiang's opening-up, the Demonstration Zone will fully leverage the combined advantages of "open platform + hub + exhibitions," collaborating with global partners to create a new model of a modern airport economy.

WANG Jianqiang, Dean of the School of Vehicle and Mobility at Tsinghua University, introduced the School's development strategy focusing on frontier areas such as new energy, intelligent and connected vehicles, and smart mobility, and promoting the deep integration of technologies like artificial intelligence and digital twins with transportation systems.

Fwa Tien Fang, President of the Asia-Pacific Society for Future Transportation and Dean of the Future Transportation College at Chang'an University, reviewed the academic mission of the APTE conference, emphasizing the dual impact of transportation on economic and social development. He expressed anticipation that this conference would continue to provide a key platform for global innovation and development in transportation.

During the keynote report session, speakers including Jonas Eliasson, Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences; Kee Yeon Hwang, Member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology; Qiang Meng, Member of the Academy of Engineering, Singapore; Lei Zhang, Vice President of Alibaba Cloud; and Yuhong Wang, Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, delivered speeches on frontier topics such as transformative transportation technologies and policy design, dynamic expansion of intelligent transportation boundaries, universal efficiency limits of autonomous vehicles, collaborative innovation of intelligent agents, and intelligent green infrastructure construction.

Panel

The conference concurrently held multiple thematic forums covering areas including global governance coordination, institutional collaboration mechanisms, sustainable transportation development, pathways for low-carbon transportation transition, technological innovation in intelligent and connected systems, data fusion and application, exploration of future mobility models, and policy mechanism innovation. During the conference, awards including the Asia-Pacific Society for Future Transportation Technology Progress Award, and the APTE 2025 Best Paper and Best Presentation Awards were presented.

The conference was co-hosted by the School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University, and the journal Communications in Transportation Research, with co-organization by the Zhejiang Zhongqing Zhibo Transportation Credit Technology Research Institute