Transport ministers from 69 countries met at the International Transport Forum (ITF) Summit in Leipzig, Germany, on May 22, 2025, and walked away with two landmark policy agreements. One addressed road safety. The other addressed artificial intelligence in transport. Both were the first such ministerial agreements in three years, adopted under the summit’s theme of ’transport resilience to global shocks’.
The ITF is the world’s largest gathering of transport ministers, and the stakes were high. Road crashes kill approximately 1.2 million people every year. That number has barely moved despite decades of effort, and the ministers were there to agree on a more coordinated global response.
The first document, the Policy Recommendation on Comprehensive Road Safety, was developed with support from the World Health Organisation (WHO). It calls on governments to adopt ’evidence-based, safety-focused, well-coordinated and inclusive road safety approaches that best fit each location, and to focus on where the most lives can be saved’. The recommendation pays particular attention to children and young people between the ages of 5 and 29, the group for whom road crashes are the leading cause of death.
The summit also piloted a new road safety assessment framework designed specifically for businesses, bringing the private sector more directly into road safety efforts.
Dr. Nhan Tran, WHO’s Head of Safety and Mobility, made the link between transport and public health explicit: “There are extremely important links between resilient transport systems, and strengthening health and safety. Resilient transport should first and foremost be safe and healthy.”
The second document, the Policy Recommendation Concerning the Use of Artificial Intelligence by Transport Authorities, addresses the rapid spread of AI tools in transport planning, traffic management, and infrastructure. It urges authorities to take four specific actions: “overseeing and stewarding AI deployment, increasing awareness through inventorying AI use, assessing and balancing risks and benefits, and improving AI literacy and skills within their organisations.”
In plain terms, the recommendation asks governments to understand what AI tools they are already using, evaluate whether those tools are safe and fair, and invest in training their staff to work alongside AI responsibly.
Chile’s Minister Juan Carlos Muñoz, who chaired the ITF Council session, was visibly enthusiastic about both agreements. “This is great news,” he said, describing the joint adoption as a ’highlight’ of the summit.
The two recommendations work together. AI can process traffic data, predict crash hotspots, and help design safer roads, but only if governments know how to use it responsibly. Combined with evidence-based safety strategies targeting the most vulnerable road users, these policies represent a more integrated approach to saving lives.
The agreements align with broader UN efforts, including road safety initiatives under the UNECE framework, and are positioned as contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals. Both documents are publicly available for immediate download, signalling that implementation is the next step rather than further deliberation.