Association for European Transport (AET)

What Association for European Transport (AET) does

The Association for European Transport (AET) is a non-profit professional membership association founded in 1998 (per the organisation's own material) to develop a network of transport professionals across Europe. It is registered as a vereniging (association) in the Netherlands (Chamber of Commerce for Haaglanden, number 27170096) with operational headquarters at Forester House, Doctors Lane, Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, UK. AET serves transport professionals, academics, and policy makers in over 35 countries through approximately 25 staff, with a registered membership base of over 200 corporate and individual members.

AET's product portfolio centres on the European Transport Conference (ETC) — Europe's oldest multi-disciplinary, multi-stream annual transport conference, which in 2025 hosted over 500 delegates and over 200 papers across more than 125 sessions. Supporting products include the Transport and Mobility Forum (originally launched in 2020 as 'Covid-19 Conversations' and now a webinar and hybrid-seminar series), the AET Hackathon (second edition held in Rome in May 2026 on night-time mobility), the AET Awards programme, and the ETC Conference Papers Repository (ISSN 2313-1853), a searchable archive of peer-reviewed papers covering conferences held since 1996. The technology layer is modest: the website runs on Zenario CMS and supports registration, abstract submission, conference booking, and repository access; content is curated through twelve Programme Committees and partner journals (Journal of Urban Mobility, European Transport Research Review).

The business model is community/event-led, with two primary revenue streams. Recurring annual membership fees are paid by individual and organisational members (with 50% reduction for young professionals and free registration requiring only a working email address), and members receive 10–15% discounts on conference fees. The second stream is conference revenue from delegate fees, exhibition space, and sponsorship packages (badges and lanyards, plenary or themed sessions, Conference Dinner, Welcome Reception). Distribution and member acquisition are anchored by the annual ETC and supplemented by the Ambassadors Network, the TMF, the AET Hackathon, and cross-promotion partnerships with ECTRI, TRA, PIARC, CIHT and others. Pricing levels for 2026/2027 were held flat by Council decision in March 2026; specific fee schedules are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Association for European Transport (AET)

Legal name

Association for European Transport

Website

https://aetransport.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Association for European Transport is a Netherlands-registered non-profit membership association serving transport professionals, academics, and policy makers across 35+ countries. It organises the annual European Transport Conference, the Transport and Mobility Forum webinar series, the AET Hackathon, and a peer-reviewed papers archive dating to 1996.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Henley-in-Arden

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: AET generates revenue through annual membership fees. Individual members receive a 10% discount on European Transport Conference fees. Organisational members receive a 15% discount on conference fees according to size. Young professionals receive a 50% reduction on membership fees. Registration for membership is free (requires only a working email address).
2. European Transport Conference Revenue: Revenue is generated through conference fees (with member discounts), exhibition space rental, sponsorship packages (lanyards and badges, plenary or themed sessions, Conference Dinner, Welcome Reception), and bespoke marketing packages. Early booking is offered for delegates. Conference supporters and endorsers include the Faculty of Engineering University of Porto (FEUP), European Union, and ECTRI.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

AET is a membership-based professional association that organizes the European Transport Conference (ETC), Europe's oldest multi-disciplinary annual transport conference. It operates the AET Transport and Mobility Forum (webinars and seminars), runs the AET Hackathon, and maintains the ETC Conference Papers Repository — a searchable archive of peer-reviewed conference papers dating to 1996 (ISSN 2313-1853). Members include transport professionals, academics, policy makers, and corporate organizations across more than 35 countries.

Product overview

The Association for European Transport operates as a membership organization offering a portfolio of conference, networking, and knowledge-sharing products. The core offerings include the European Transport Conference (ETC) - Europe's oldest annual multi-disciplinary transport conference with over 500 delegates; the AET Transport and Mobility Forum (TMF) - an online platform for webinars and seminars; the AET Hackathon - innovation events tackling mobility challenges; and the ETC Conference Papers Repository - a searchable archive of peer-reviewed papers from conferences since 1996 (ISSN 2313-1853). These products are complemented by an awards programme and membership services that provide discounts and networking benefits.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• European Transport Conference (ETC)

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 500 delegates and over 200 papers presented at each annual conference
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

25 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ECTRI (European Conference of Transport Research Institutes)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 February 2026AET and ECTRI have renewed their Memorandum of Understanding for 2026–2028. The MoU reflects both organisations' commitment to strengthening cooperation across areas of common interest, including mutual promotion of activities (ETC and TRA), collaboration between AET Programme Committees and ECTRI Thematic Groups, and joint publication of high-quality transport research papers from ETC in the European Transport Research Review. ECTRI is an international non-profit association of national transport research institutes and universities uniting multimodal transport research centres across Europe (29 members from 20 countries, over 4,000 researchers).
• City of London CorporationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe AET Council meeting in March 2026 was hosted by the City of London Corporation. AET's Transport and Mobility Forum has collaborated with City of London Corporation on a hybrid seminar titled 'Refocusing appraisal: Insights from practice and new methods from urban economics'.
• University of AntwerpminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe European Transport Conference was hosted by the University of Antwerp in Belgium for the second consecutive year in 2025.
• Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto (FEUP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto (FEUP) is the host venue for ETC 2026, taking place 9–11 September 2026. FEUP is also a Conference Supporter and Endorser of AET. OPT — Optimização e Planeamento de Transportes S.A., a spin-off of FEUP founded in 1992, is also an exhibitor at ETC 2026.
• European UnionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe European Union is listed as a Conference Supporter and Endorser of AET.
• NET EngineeringminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNET Engineering co-organised the second edition of the AET Hackathon 2026 in Rome (15–16 May 2026), hosted at NET Engineering's Rome office. The hackathon was centred on night-time mobility challenges and strategies.
• SystematicaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSystematica co-organised the AET Hackathon 2026 in Rome alongside NET Engineering and Transform Transport.
• Transform TransportminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTransform Transport co-organised the AET Hackathon 2026 in Rome alongside NET Engineering and Systematica.
• Oxera Consulting LLPminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOxera Consulting LLP co-hosted a hybrid TMF seminar with AET and City of London Corporation on 'Refocusing appraisal: Insights from practice and new methods from urban economics'.
• Mott MacDonaldminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharlene Rohr, Technical Director in the Mott MacDonald Futures Team, chaired the TMF hybrid seminar on appraisal.
• Bentley SystemsminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerBentley Systems kindly hosted the 2026 Post-it meeting (programme drafting meeting) for the ETC 2026 programme committees in London on 17 April 2026.
• JacobsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerJacobs is a sponsor of the ETC 2026 badges and lanyards and sponsors the 'Jacobs Award for The Paper Demonstrating The Most Innovative Use of Data'.
• Journal of Urban MobilityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Journal of Urban Mobility (Elsevier, supported by EIT Urban Mobility) is a partner journal for ETC 2026. Selected conference contributions are invited for submission to thematic special issues. It is also a session sponsor for ETC 2026.
• European Transport Research Review (ETRR)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe European Transport Research Review (Springer Nature) is a partner journal for ETC 2026, continuing a longstanding collaboration. Selected conference contributions are invited for submission to thematic special issues.
• PTV GroupminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPTV Group is an exhibitor and sponsor of the Transport Modelling Session at ETC 2026. PTV Group provides software for transportation modelling and simulation.
• CitiEU / citiME ConsultancyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCitiEU (founded 2009) and citiME Consultancy (founded 2015) are exhibitors at ETC 2026, providing consultancy in transportation modelling and traffic engineering.
• CEiiA (Centre of Engineering and Product Development)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCEiiA is an exhibitor at ETC 2026 and a key supporter of the Porto event, providing technical visits to its Mobility Unit. CEiiA is a leading Centre of Engineering with 600 professionals and over 25 years of experience in mobility, aeronautics, ocean, and space engineering.
• STCP (Sociedade de Transportes Colectivos do Porto)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSTCP is the Official Mobility Partner and Session Sponsor for ETC 2026, providing transport for the CEiiA technical visit. STCP is the main public transport operator in the Porto metropolitan area.
• LNEC (Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLNEC is a session sponsor for ETC 2026, focused on inclusive public transport sessions. LNEC is a state-owned R&D institution in Portugal founded in 1946, working in civil engineering domains.
• Transport Research Arena (TRA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTRA is Europe's largest biennial transport conference and exhibition, co-organised by the European Commission and key stakeholders. AET encourages members to attend TRA 2026 in Budapest (18–21 May 2026) and promotes TRA jointly with ECTRI under the MoU. TRA 2026 theme is 'Re-Generation in Transport'.
• PIARCminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPIARC (World Road Association) is mentioned in the context of Jonathan Spear's professional involvement. The TMF plans to co-host a memorial webinar for Jonathan Spear in February 2027 with PIARC and CIHT.
• CIHT (Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCIHT is mentioned in the context of Jonathan Spear's professional involvement. The TMF plans to co-host a memorial webinar for Jonathan Spear in February 2027 with PIARC and CIHT.
• ArupminorGTM or Marketing PartnerArup is an exhibitor at ETC 2026. Arup is a global consultancy with expertise in transport planning, design, and engineering across 89 offices in 33 countries with over 17,000 employees.
• Grupo BrisaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerGrupo Brisa is a session sponsor for ETC 2026 (IMM0 Session Sponsor) and is the Portuguese national leader in road infrastructure operations and maintenance, managing around 1,500 km of highways.
• ANSR (Autoridade Nacional de Segurança Rodoviária)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerANSR (National Road Safety Authority of Portugal) is an exhibitor and session sponsor at ETC 2026.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• CIHT (Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation): UK chartered professional body for highways and transportation professionals. Comparable membership association model serving overlapping practitioner and policy audiences in the European transport sector.
• World Conference on Transport Research Society (WCTRS): Global scientific society that organises the triennial World Conference on Transport Research. Targets the same academic and policy transport research community as AET, with a comparable event-driven, membership-oriented model.
• Polis Network: European network of cities and regions working on transport innovation; organises an annual conference and working groups. Comparable European-focused, membership-based transport professional community with policy-maker engagement.
• ECTRI (European Conference of Transport Research Institutes): International non-profit association of European transport research institutes and universities. AET's closest peer and MoU partner; both organise transport research events and operate across Europe with overlapping academic constituencies.
• Transport Research Arena (TRA): Europe's largest biennial transport research conference, co-organised with the European Commission. Directly competes with ETC for European transport research mindshare and is a cross-promotion partner of AET.

Broad incumbents

• International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD: Intergovernmental organisation for transport policy that hosts the Annual Summit and publishes policy research. Targets the same policy-maker and researcher segment as AET but at a higher institutional level.
• PIARC (World Road Association): Global forum for road infrastructure knowledge exchange with national committees and a major quadrennial World Road Congress. AET has coordinated memorial webinars with PIARC, indicating overlapping audience and remit.
• Transportation Research Board (TRB): US-based division of the National Academies that operates the world's largest transport research conference (Annual Meeting) and extensive peer-reviewed publication programme. A broad incumbent in the same professional association/transport research space.

Others

• European Transport Research Review (ETRR) / Springer Nature: Open-access peer-reviewed journal that is a partner publication venue for ETC-selected papers. Comparable in its transport research dissemination role and share peer-reviewed authors with AET's conference ecosystem.

Emerging players

• European Mobility Conference (EPOMM): European Platform on Mobility Management, a smaller membership association organising the annual European Mobility Conference. Direct overlap on European transport professional community but with a narrower mobility management focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aetransport

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Association for European Transport (AET)