Road Expo Scotland Agenda

A direct, conversational address from a senior Transport Scotland figure - setting out the national priorities for the year ahead and what collaboration with local government and industry needs to deliver.

• Net zero, resilience and the practical asks on the sector for 2027
• Major project progress: Mobilisation and supply chain expectations
• Where Transport Scotland sees the biggest opportunities for joint working

Scotland's biggest road investment programme is moving into a critical delivery phase - this panel brings together Transport Scotland, and key industry representatives to set out exactly where the A9 and other key Scottish schemes stand, what's coming and how local authorities can integrate their networks.

• Construction progress, procurement pipeline and framework opportunities: from active sections at Tomatin to Moy and Tay Crossing to Ballinluig through to Pitlochry to Killiecrankie targeting Autumn 2026 and Dalraddy to Slochd kicking off Winter 2026/27
• Local authority impacts: junction changes, traffic redistribution and network integration challenges for councils managing roads alongside the dualling programme
• Community benefits and political scrutiny: delivering a £3.97bn, 83-mile programme while managing public expectations and demonstrating value
• Other key Scottish schemes: A83 Rest and Be Thankful, A96 Inverness to Aberdeen and Sheriffhall - where each stands and what's next

Every local authority and trunk road operator in the room is managing deteriorating assets, rising maintenance backlogs and the need to justify prioritised spend - this panel shares what's actually working.

• Risk-based prioritisation: How teams are targeting investment where it has the greatest impact
• Climate impacts and how accelerating deterioration is changing maintenance planning
• Digital inspections and predictive maintenance - what Scottish councils are deploying now, especially around winter resilience
• Extending asset life through smarter materials and construction methods
• Drainage as a first line of defence: Proactive gully maintenance, CCTV surveys and the case for doing the basics well before committing to large-scale replacement

Scotland's local authorities spend millions each year on the operational materials and services that keep roads running — from winter salt and bitumen to fleet maintenance and workshop supplies. This session cuts through the complexity of public procurement to help both buyers and suppliers understand how Scotland Excel's frameworks work in practice, when to use them and what's coming next.

• How local authorities are using Scotland Excel frameworks to save time, reduce risk and achieve better value (and/or include: What Scotland Excel does and doesn't cover — clarifying the scope for roads and highways procurement)
• Operational procurement priorities: winter maintenance, bitumen and roadstone sourcing, salt, fleet and heavy vehicles
• Exploring the potential increase in use of DPS
• What suppliers need to know to get on frameworks and work effectively within them
• Reverse Q&A: what do local authorities and suppliers need from Scotland Excel in the future?

Scotland's roads sector faces a real recruitment crisis - but some organisations are finding new ways to attract talent and change perceptions of the profession.

• Making roads work visible and attractive to young people - what's actually working
• Training pathways, apprenticeships and qualifications that are bringing new entrants in
• Putting young professionals and students on stage: direct youth voices to change the conversation

• Developing a self-calibrating AI traffic system to balance movement, access and place to reduce bus delays
• Demonstrating quantifiable improvements in bus journey times during the pilot via AI-generated peak timing plans layered on SCOOT
• Data-driven scaling through fusing SCOOT, radar, Bluetooth, and live bus feeds to enable corridor-level optimisation now, with expansion planned across the network and live bus-delay heat mapping

Scotland is moving from lagging to leading indicators in roads technology - from ITS and telematics to AI-driven operations. This panel takes stock of what's working, where adoption is still patchy, and what it will take to cement Scotland's position at the forefront.

• Making the case for innovation: framing technology and new approaches in terms of efficiency gains, reduced man-hours and lifecycle savings rather than upfront cost
• Scotland's progress on ITS, digital traffic management, telematics and connected vehicle/telematics data: what local authorities are deploying and how Scotland is using live network data to improve operations
• Shining a light on the current state of traffic infrastructure in Scotland, the business case for investment, estimated cost-savings and cost of renewals
• What needs to happen to move innovation from the few to the many across Scottish roads

• An overview of Transport Scotland’s Technology Plan for roadside infrastructure on the Glasgow Motorway Network
• Details of the delivery programme including key roles and responsibilities
• A summary of what Transport Scotland expect to achieve and next steps

A strategic address from the Cabinet Secretary setting out why Scotland's roads are fundamental to economic growth, productivity and quality of life - and what the sector needs to deliver in 2027 and beyond.

Aberdeenshire manages one of Scotland's longest and most exposed road networks and has developed a distinctive resilience model in response. This session sets out how the council moved from reactive response to planned readiness, using real winter incidents to build a repeatable framework for future seasons.

• The "back to black" approach: shifting from reactive response to structured recovery and planned readiness 
• Building a focused winter resilience plan to keep towns connected during closures caused by snow and flooding 
• Data-driven response in practice: triaging welfare calls, using citizen-submitted geolocated photos and automated GIS mapping to close data gaps and speed up incident response
• Practical lessons including rescheduling driver hours to protect fleet capacity, and mobilising community and volunteer support during disruption

Scotland's winters are becoming less predictable and the network faces growing pressure from flooding, landslips and severe weather. This session moves beyond route-by-route thinking to a hazard-based, risk-led approach - combining smarter winter forecasting with practical network resilience.

• How meteorology-led, route-based forecasting is reducing unnecessary gritter deployments, with real cost and carbon savings from South Lanarkshire and other Scottish councils
• Moving from routes to hazards: how flooding, landslips and severe weather are being managed on the Scottish network through a risk-based lens
• Asset protection strategies, technology and data improving incident response times and network recovery

• How crash-tested storage and vehicle design help reduce risk for drivers, passengers and road users
• Understanding employer responsibilities for vehicle safety, load security and compliance
• Crash test evidence showing the consequences of unsecured loads and non-tested storage systems

With rising public expectations, new technologies and growing pressure on operational teams, safety remains one of the most important shared responsibilities across Scotland's roads sector - this panel examines what's making a real difference.

• The role of technology and innovation in improving safety across Scotland’s road network
• Road Safety Improvement Fund for local authorities - what it's delivering on the ground
• Proactive data-driven interventions: Using data insights to identify areas of risk, inform decision-making and help target investment
• Work zone safety: Adopting innovative ways of working and technologies to minimise risk for onsite operatives
• 20mph rollout: Implementation realities, early outcomes and the challenges still to address

With a new Co-ordination Code of Practice placing greater emphasis on co-ordination around bus services, the Scottish Road Works Register has new tools to help utilities and roads authorities plan their works to help minimise disruption to bus services. This session sets out what's changed and what it means in practice.

• How the new coordination code of practice changes expectations for road authorities and utilities
• Introducing bus open data and the new conflict checker in the Scottish Roadworks Register
• Helping to get timely, accurate information to bus companies and users

Scotland's roads sector faces real pressure to reduce carbon and adapt to increasingly severe weather. This panel takes a grounded look at what's genuinely changing in practice, not just in policy.

• What carbon reductions are being achieved and how
• Low-carbon procurement: How requirements are evolving and what suppliers need to deliver
• Whole-life carbon costing: How prioritisation tools that combine cost and carbon metrics are changing investment decisions on Scottish roads projects
• Low-cost net zero actions that local councils can implement now

Giles Perkins, Programme Director for the award-winning Live Labs 2 decarbonisation programme, will provide a thought-provoking presentation articulating the evidence from the £30m UK innovation programme, how this can be scaled across local authorities and, across Scotland illustrating the size of the benefits prize. Essential for practitioners and decision makers alike this session will provide compelling evidence to help authorities deliver low-carbon, cost-effective, resilient networks.

A 10-minute case study from Atkins Realis on trialling low-carbon asphalt surfacing technologies for both trunk roads and local highway networks with a focus on real installations, real carbon savings, and what's transferable to Scotland's local roads.

• Five low-carbon surfacing technologies trialled on the network, including bio-based binders, warm-mix asphalt, reclaimed asphalt and graphene-enhanced surfacing 
• Evaluating CO2 savings, reduction in asphalt carbon footprint and potential savings if scaled
• What it took to get there: collaboration across 10 partners spanning contractors, materials suppliers and academia, and what local highway networks can take from it now

Scotland is set to host some significant international events in the next couple of years. This closing session looks at what it means for the roads network - the operational planning, the infrastructure requirements and the legacy opportunity.

• An overview of planning work for next year's event
• Working with key stakeholders including roads authorities - access to roads, road condition/infrastructure requirements and similar practical considerations
• Managing the live event as it passes through Scotland
• Legacy: how major events can drive lasting improvement to Scotland's road network and public spaces

A brief close to the two days, drawing out the key themes from the programme and confirming the priorities that the sector needs to carry forward.

• Key takeaways from the two days' discussions
• Close and thank you