The 5th conference of EASTS was held in Fukuoka, Japan from October 29 to November 1, 2003. It was another successful event for the organization. The conference attracted 464 participants (the 4th conference was attended by 404 participants) and 396 technical papers were presented covering all fields of transportation.

The conference organizer headed by Prof Dr. Shigeru Morichi, EASTS-Japan President, and EASTS second Vice-President (newly elected President) was able to secure the full support of the government, academe and private sectors, which further ensured the event's success.

Dr. Primitivo C. Cal delivering his opening remark

Japan has the highest number of participant with 195 while participants coming from other countries totaled to 315. Notable high numbers came from Taiwan (90), Korea (57), China (32), Thailand (33) and Philippines (28).

Changing of the guards

The conference also witnessed the transfer of presidency from Dr. Primitivo Cal to Prof. Dr. Shigeru Morichi. Dr. Cal guided the society for the past six-years with a determination to elevate its standing at par with other international transport organizations. During his term, he put emphasis on the importance of close working relationship among the domestic societies. To realize this, several programs were launched including the ICRA (International Cooperation Research Activities). This project provides a research grant to a group of researchers from different member countries/regions of EASTS.

Beginning next year, Dr. Morichi will officially perform the duty of Presidency. The board of directors unanimously endorsed him after learning that Dr. Cal decided to step down as head of the society. In his speech, Prof. Dr. Morichi acknowledged that there are many difficult challenges ahead such as finding ways to continue the funding of paper presenters from developing-member countries/regions, maintain the level of the organization to other international organizations. However, with great cooperation among the society's family from different countries, he confidently declared that the society could handle all of these challenges.

Prof. Dr. Morichi is the third to serve as President of the society since its founding after Dr. Cal and Dr. Nakamura.

Incoming Pres. Prof. Dr. Shigeru Morichi receives an award from outgoing Pres. Dr. Primitivo Cal for his contribution to the society

Awards

The prestigious Yasoshima Prize was awarded to a paper entitled "Visibility Assessment of Rear Lamps in Daytime Fog" written by Toru Hakiwara, Ken'etsu Uchida, Takeo Adachi, Seiichi Kagaya, Muraleethan Thmbiah and Ayako Mori of Hokkaido University. The paper was cited for its unique and timely contribution into the field of transportation.

Other papers which gained recognitions from the society are the following:

Time-dependent Transport Network Design: A Study on Budget Sensitivity
Hong K. Lo and Wai Yuen Szeto of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, China

Travel Time Reliability in a Network with Dependent Link Modes and Partial Driver Response
Agachai Sumalee and David Watling of University of Leeds, UK

Integrated Multi-Nodal Traffic Network Systems
Nikolaos Vogiatzis, Hideto Ikeda, Jeremy Woolley and Yu He of University of South Australia, Australia

Best Domestic Society

The Transportation Science Society of the Philippines (TSSP) was adjudged best domestic society. Dr. Feng, chairperson of the contest, announced that the TSSP met the criteria set by the board more than any other domestic society. For the past years, the said society conducted several symposium/conferences and significantly raise the number of their regular members.

New set of Officers

The members of the Board of EASTS elected a new set of officers that would served beginning January 1, 2004. Prof Dr. Shigeru Morichi was elected as new President while Dr. Nguyen Xuan Dao retains his position as 1st Vice President. The position of 2nd Vice President was secured by Dr. Yordhol Tarababoriboon. The Board also welcome to its circle Dr. Derong Wang as board representative of Transportation Science Society of China.

President: Mr. Shigeru Morichi (Japan)
1st Vice President: Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dao (Vietnam)
2nd Vice President: Mr. Yordpol Taraboriboon (Thailand)
Secretary General: Mr. Tetsuo Yai (Japan)
Treasurer: Mr. Haruo Ishida (Japan)
President Emeritus: Mr. Hideo Nakamura (Japan)


Board Members:
Mr. Michael A.P. Taylor (Australia)
Mr. Derong Wang (China)
Mr. William H.K. Lam (Hong Kong)
Mr. Suyono Dikun (Indonesia)
Mr. Kyung Soo Chon (Korea)
Mr. Khanngeun Khamvongsa (Lao PDR)
Mr. Mohamed Rehan Karim (Malaysia)
Mr. Tint Swe (Myanmar)
Mr. Primitivo C. Cal (Philippines)
Mr. Tien Fang Fwa (Singapore)
Mr. Chen-Min Feng (Taiwan)
Mr. Chris Kissling (New Zealand)

Director at Large
Mr. Hajime Inamura (Japan)
Mr. Inwoon Lee (Korea)
Mr. Lawrence W. Lan (Taiwan)

Venue of the next conference

The 6th conference will be held in Bangkok, Thailand in 2005. The Thai Society for Transportation and Traffic Studies will host the event.