The 2026 5th International Conference on Frontiers of Traffic and Transportation Engineering (FTTE 2026) was successfully held on October 16-18, 2026 in Xiangyang, China. The conference is sponsored by the Committee of Youth Scientific and Technological Professional of the China Communications and Transportation of Association, Hubei University of Arts and Science, supported by Hubei Association for Science and Technology, organized by School of Automotive and Traffic Engineering of Hubei University of Arts and Science, Institute of Intelligent Transportation of Hubei University of Arts and Science, School of Civil Engineering and Architecture of Hubei University of Arts and Science, Hubei Key Laboratory of Vehicle-Infrastructure Collaboration and Traffic Control, Hubei Key Laboratory of Power System Design and Test for Electrical Vehicle, Hubei University of Automotive Technology, and co-sponsored by Editorial Department of Autonomous Transportation Research, Editorial Department of  Digital Transportation and Safety. More than 300 transportation experts and scholars from China and abroad gathered on the banks of the Han River to discuss cutting-edge technologies in transportation engineering and the development of the discipline.

The opening ceremony was presided over by Bo Hang, Vice President of Hubei University of Arts and Science. Xinping Yan, Professor at Wuhan University of Technology and President of the China Institute of Navigation; Chunzhi Zhang, Vice President of the China Communications and Transportation of Association; Zhan Li, Vice Chairman of the Hubei Association For Science and Technology; and Chaozhong Wu, Party Secretary of Hubei University of Arts and Science, delivered remarks in turn. They congratulated the conference on its opening and shared their expectations for advances in the field of transportation engineering.

The conference featured keynote presentations by five renowned experts from China and abroad. Professor Turker Özkan of Middle East Technical University in Türkiye explored ways to renew traffic safety culture amid the rise of intelligent and connected mobility in his talk, "The new paradigm of Traffic Safety Culture in the new form of Mobility". Professor Min Yang of Southeast University examined cutting-edge technologies and representative applications of AI-enabled integrated transportation services in "Artificial Intelligence for Integrated Transport Services: Key Technologies and Typical Application Scenarios". In "Research Exploration and Engineering Practice of Smart Transportation at Xidian University in the AI Era", Professor Kai Sheng of Xidian University shared practical advances in key technologies, including road-cloud collaborative driving, 6G integrated sensing and communications, and transportation digital twins. Professor David Crundall of Nottingham Trent University focused on the causes of collisions involving cars and motorcycles in his presentation, "Why do drivers crash into motorcycles?", and outlined road-safety interventions from the perspective of traffic psychology. Professor Haiying Zhou of Hubei University of Arts and Science discussed "AI Empowering the Development of Automotive Intelligent Manufacturing", explaining the technological principles and application pathways of large AI models and embodied agents in intelligent vehicles and smart manufacturing.

In the afternoon, six parallel sessions featured presentations on topics including "Integrated Transportation and Modern Logistics", "Vehicle–Road Collaboration and Traffic Control", "Traffic Safety and Sustainable Development", "Digitalization and Intelligent Technologies in Roads and Green Construction", and "New Energy Vehicles and Intelligent Driving". The sixth session was held online concurrently. A total of 70 experts and scholars from dozens of universities and research institutions across China—including Tsinghua University, Wuhan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Southeast University, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beihang University, Shanghai Maritime University, and Lanzhou Jiaotong University—shared their work across the sessions. Their presentations covered emerging topics such as intelligent connected vehicles, autonomous driving, transportation big data, green and low-carbon transport, and new energy for vehicles and vessels, fostering a lively atmosphere of academic exchange.

Certificates were also presented to those selected for the Transportation Talent “Pyramid” Empowerment Program, jointly launched by the international journal Digital Transportation and Safety and the conference organizing committee, in recognition of their achievement and to encourage their continued development.

The conference provided scholars in the field of transportation from China and abroad with a high-level platform for academic exchange. It will also inject fresh momentum into the development of transportation engineering and support China’s efforts to become a leading country in transportation.