Korea Expressway Corp. said the Korea Transportation Research Institute secured Asia’s first certificate on vehicle crash safety facility full-sale crash tests from the United States on Sept. 27. It also signed an MOU with Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI).
TTI is the United States’ prestigious institution in the road safety facility sector.
KEC’s acquisition of the U.S. certificate recognizes its technology capabilities globally for vehicle crash safety facility full sale crash test from a certification institution, and the MOU establishes a foothold for KEC to continuously promote technology exchanges with the U.S. top research institution on the road safety facility sector.
President Cho Nam-min of the Korea Transportation Research Institute poses with Greg Winfree, Director of Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) after they signed an MOU at TTI on Sept. 27.
The Korea Transportation Research Institute’s acquisition of the certification is expected to greatly contribute to helping Korean SMEs enter overseas markets.
Most foreign countries require the performance verification of road safety facilities, such as vehicle barriers, fences and collision absorption facilities, through vehicle crash safety facility full-sale crash tests by U.S. and European certification institutions.
KEC carries out vehicle crash safety facility full-sale crash tests to verify the performance of Korean-made road safety facilities, and in 2022, Korea acquired a certification on European standards, so European certification CE tests have been conducted for Korean companies.
Colombian trainees of an educational training program pose with officials from Korea Expressway Corp. as they attend an entrance ceremony at KOICA Educational Center on Oct. 7.
KEC Offers Invitational Educational Training Program
Korea Expressway Corp. offered an educational training program on the strengthening of traffic management and intelligent transportation systems for 18 Colombian transportation ministry and other officials at KOICA Educational Center from Oct. 6 to Oct. 19.
The latest educational training program was arranged as part of Korea International Cooperation Agency’s global educational program, and was made at the recommendation of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The goal is improving Colombia’s transportation systems. KEC has supported online education and invitational training for about 15 people every year since 2022.
The program, designed to ramp up capabilities of Colombian transportation officials, consists of Korea’s road transportation policies, traffic management and intelligent transportation system (ITS) technologies and their application cases, and lectures on transportation safety. There is also a field observation tour.
Colombia is trying to introduce the Korean intelligent transportation system, dubbed “K-ITS,” as the South American country adopted outcomes of a project to establish Colombia’s national ITS master plan, conducted by KEC as part of the land and transportation official development assistance (ODA) program. Colombia promulgated the results of KEC’s project as the decrees of the transportation ministry and enacted them in 2022.
Starting in October, KEC is expected to participate in a feasibility study for a project to build Colombia’s ITS-based smart road safety management system, establishing ITS-base monitoring systems on Colombia’s major roads.
KEC President Ham Jin-gyu said, “The latest education and training program is expected to contribute to improving Colombia’s transportation infrastructure by sharing and transferring Korea’s development experiences, and we will make efforts to reinforce cooperative relationships between two countries and evolve into cooperative partners to spread Korean ITS technologies in the Central and South American region in the future.”
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