The 2025 theme was “Driving Change, Delivering Solutions” and featured an in-person experience organized at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, DC, as well as virtual access to all main forum session for global attendees. The main forum took place on March 11 and 12, with additional days devoted to side events and partner meetings throughout the week.
The world is facing a convergence of challenges putting immense pressure on transportation systems, especially those in developing economies. These economies must deliver effective, clean transport solutions at scale to ensure future growth, stability, safety, quality of life and poverty reduction. Without robust institutional frameworks and capacity-building efforts, developing countries are at risk of falling further behind.
Transforming Transportation 2025 addressed these challenges by facilitating knowledge exchange and equipping professionals with the skills they need to design, implement and maintain safe transport systems that reduce emissions, enhance resilience to climate impacts and external shocks, and deliver for people and economies.
Plenaries and sessions were livestreamed in English.
Transforming Transportation 2025 was moderated by Femi Oke, Journalist and Founder of Moderate The Panel.
Watch All Sessions Below:
Side Events & Partner Meetings:
Full Agenda:
MARCH 11 DAY ONE |
Eastern Standard Time/UTC-05:00 |
MAIN STAGE
|
7:45 - 8:45 Preston Lobby |
Registration | |
|
8:45 - 9:00 Preston Auditorium |
Welcome Address |
Guangzhe Chen, Vice President for Infrastructure, The
World Bank Ani Dasgupta, President and Chief Executive Officer, World Resources Institute |
|
9:00 - 9:30 Preston Auditorium |
Opening Session |
Bernardo Arévalo, President, Republic of Guatemala |
|
9:30 - 10:30 Preston Auditorium |
Plenary 1 - Capacity, Governance, and Innovation for
Implementation
This session will address ways to build local capacity for planning, implementing, and maintaining sustainable transportation systems that focus on reducing carbon emissions, including institutional coordination and strengthening. |
KEYNOTE Frannie Léautier, Partner, CEO, SouthBridge Investment, Rwanda Sarath BS Abayakoon, Governor, Central Province, Sri Lanka Renée Amilcar, General Manager, OC Transpo & President, UITP Juan Carlos Muñoz, Minister, Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications, Chile Ydanis Rodriguez, Commissioner of Transport, New York Jose Tonato, Minister, Ministry of Living Environment and Sustainable Development, Benin |
| 10:30 - 10:50 | Coffee Break | |
|
10:50 - 11:50 Preston Auditorium |
Plenary 2 - Road Safety Leadership Towards 2030
This session will emphasize the importance of inclusive infrastructure planning and design in creating safer, more accessible environments and the role of governance and regulatory frameworks in promoting road safety. It will build on the momentum from the Ministerial Conference discussions. |
KEYNOTE Benacer Boulaajoul, Director, National Road Safety Agency (NARSA), Morocco Chris Bonett, Minister, Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Public Works, Malta Maria Eugenia Martinez Donaire, Head of Department, Mobility Planning and Infrastructure Directorate, Madrid City Council, Spain Kelly Larson, Road Safety Program Director, Bloomberg Philanthropies Mamta Murthi, Vice President, Human Development, The World Bank |
|
11:50 - 12:05 Preston Auditorium |
Fireside Chat |
Jean Todt, UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for Road Safety |
| 12:05 - 13:30 | Lunch Break |
TECHNICAL SESSIONS (in parallel)
|
13:30 - 14:30 Preston Auditorium |
Session 1 - Fleet Renewal and Electrification |
MODERATOR Magdala Arioli, Transport Decarbonization Manager, WRI Brasil Jessica Farmer, Sector Lead, Global Transportation, Infrastructure and Natural Resources Department, IFC Rachmat Kaimuddin, Deputy Minister, Coordinating Ministry for Basic Infrastructure, Indonesia Sophia Nadur, AsPac & Middle East Managing Director, BP Ventures Stafford Via, Manager, GreenMax Capital Group |
| MC 4-800 |
Session 2 - Boosting the Appeal and Financial Viability of Active
Transport |
MODERATOR Jill Warren, CEO, European Cyclists’ Federation Claudia Adriazola-Steil, Deputy Director, Global Urban Mobility, and Director, Health & Road Safety, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities Lucas Harms, Focal Point, Active Mobility, Government of the Netherlands Kristian Hedberg, Minister Counsellor, Mobility & Transport, Delegation of the European Union to the United States Athena Ronquillo-Ballesteros, Managing Director, Global Climate Strategies, Climate Lead Guly Sabahi, Senior Advisor, Climate Finance, NDC Partnership Felipe Targa, Infrastructure Program Leader, Andean Countries, The World Bank |
| MC 2-800 |
Session 3 - Empowering Mobility: Opportunities for Women in Transport
(Hosted by German Cooperation, GIZ) |
MODERATOR Sasank Vemuri, Head, Mobilize Your City Secretariat Alana Dave, Director, Urban Transport, International Transport Workers Federation Inna Hanushevych, Partnerships Manager, Ministry of the Communities and Territorial Development, Ukraine Ana Cristina Zornig Jayme, President, Institute of Research and Urban Planning, Curitiba, Brazil Keisha Mayuga, Co-Lead, Women Mobilize Women, TUMI Oliva Nalwadda, Africa Region Coordinator and Youth Ambassador, FIA Foundation, Uganda |
| 14:30 - 14:50 | Coffee Break | |
| 14:50 - 15:50 Preston Auditorium |
Session 4 - Investing in Sustainable, Electrified Cities
(Hosted by the Institute of Transportation and Development Policy,
ITDP) |
MODERATOR Heather Thompson, CEO, Institute of Transportation and Development Policy Thierno Birahim Aw, General Director, Executive Council for Sustainable Urban Transport (CETUD), Dakar, Senegal María Fernanda Ramírez, Lead, Safe and Sustainable, Despacio V Sivakrishnamurthy, I.A.S. Deputy Commissioner, Works, Greater Chennai Corporation, India Pablo Souza, Secretary, Mobility Secretariat, Salvador, Brazil Ming Zhang, Global Director, Urban, Resilience and Land Global, The World Bank |
| MC 4-800 |
Session 5 - Innovative Financing Solutions for Sustainable Transport
|
KEYNOTE Kapila Perera, Senior Professor, and Secretary, Ministry of Transport and Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation, Sri Lanka MODERATOR Felipe Ramirez Buitrago, Director, Urban Mobility, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities PANEL Marcio Hannas, President, CCR Mobilidade, Brazil Valerie Hickey, Global Director, Climate Change Group, The World Bank Sheri McGrath, Vice President, Sustainability, Element Fleet Management Robyn McGuckin, Executive Director, P4G D. Thara, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, India |
| MC 2-800 | Session 6 - Motorcycle Safety: Growing Challenges, Innovative Solutions |
KEYNOTE Segundo López, Head of Road Safety Office, Secretary of Mobility, Bogotá, Colombia MODERATOR Said Dahdah, Program Manager, Global Road Safety Facility, The World Bank PANEL Sam Clark, Head, Programmes, TRANSAID Davis G. Mwamfupe, Mayor, Dodoma, Tanzania Kristin Smith, Head, Global Road Safety Policy, Uber Elizaveta Zeynalova, Senior Research Manager, Vital Strategies |
| 15:50 - 16:10 | Coffee Break |
MAIN STAGE
|
16:10 - 17:10 Preston Auditorium |
Plenary 3 - Bouncing Forward to Transportation Resilience
This session will highlight the need to promote greener, safer and more inclusive mobility, with specific focus on youth, gender, road safety and health angles. |
Bilal Akbar Khan, Minister, Transport & Mass Transit Department,
Government of Punjab, Pakistan Charles Milupi, Minister, Ministry of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, Zambia Tashi Penjor, His Majesty’s Secretariat, Managing Director, Gelephu Mindfulness City, Bhutan Ömer Fatih Sayan, Deputy Minister, Transport and Infrastructure, Türkiye Abdallah H. Ulega, Minister, Ministry of Works, Tanzania |
|
17:10 - 17:25 Preston Auditorium |
2025 Sustainable Transport Award Ceremony |
Heather Thompson, CEO, Institute of Transportation and
Development Policy AWARDEES Thierno Birahim Aw, General Director, Executive Council for Sustainable Urban Transport (CETUD), Dakar, Senegal |
|
17:25 - 19:00 Atrium |
Cocktail Reception |
MARCH 12 DAY TWO |
Eastern Standard Time/UTC-05:00 |
MAIN STAGE
|
8:00 - 9:00 Preston Lobby |
Registration | |
|
9:00 - 9:20 Preston Auditorium |
Opening | Axel van Trotsenburg, Senior Managing Director, The World Bank |
|
9:20 - 10:30 Preston Auditorium |
Plenary 4 - Reshaping the Future of Transport
This session will explore how innovations can foster sustainable transport and support a just transition. Panelists will discuss using technology to diversify the workforce, support local innovation and enhance policies. The session will also address leveraging data and technology to improve mobility and promote equitable access to jobs and opportunities, especially for underrepresented communities. |
KEYNOTE Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director, UN-Habitat PANEL Jit Bhattacharya, CEO & Co-Founder, BasiGo Inés Sánchez de Madariaga, Visiting Scholar, Harvard University Damilola Olokesusi, CEO & Founder, Shuttlers Madhav Pai, CEO, WRI India Alhaji Fanday Turay, Minister, Ministry of Transport and Aviation, Sierra Leone FIRESIDE CHAT Stientje van Veldhoven, Vice President and Regional Director for Europe, WRI |
| 10:30 - 10:50 | Coffee Break |
TECHNICAL SESSIONS (in parallel)
|
10:50 - 11:50 Preston Auditorium |
Session 7 - The Trillion-Dollar Question: E-Buses in the Developing World (Hosted by the Inter-American Development Bank, IDB) |
MODERATOR Ana Maria Pinto, Transport Division Chief, IDB Ana Cristina Zornig Jayme, President, Institute of Research and Urban Planning, Curitiba, Brazil Juan Carlos Muñoz, Minister, Ministry of Transport, Chile Maria Fernanda Ortiz, CEO, Transmilenio, Bogotá, Colombia Stephen Perkins, Senior Counsellor, International Transport Forum Admassu Yilma Tadesse, President and Managing Director, TDB Group |
| MC 4-800 | Session 8 - Improving Paratransit: The Role of Cities |
MODERATOR Franz Drees-Gross, Director, Infrastructure, West Africa, The World Bank Maina Celidonio, Secretary of Transport, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Abimbola Akinajo, Managing Director, LAMATA, Lagos, Nigeria Thierno Birahim Aw, General Director, Executive Council for Sustainable Urban Transport (CETUD), Dakar, Senegal Loknath Behera, Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Limited, India Jean-Jacques Helluin, Executive Manager, CODATU Jamie Leather, Director, Transport Sector Office, Asian Development Bank |
| MC 2-800 | Session 9 - Digitalization and AI for Safe Transportation (Hosted by the ICEX Spain Trade and Investment) |
MODERATOR Nicolas Peltier-Thiberge, Global Director, Transport, The World Bank Paloma Baena, Director, Global Strategy, RENFE Ana Blanco, Traffic Deputy Director, General Traffic Directorate (DGT), Spain Ricardo Herranz, CEO, NOMMON Luis Pérez Madariaga, Program Manager and Business Development Manager, INDRA |
| 11:50 - 13:00 | Lunch Break |
TECHNICAL SESSIONS (in parallel)
| 13:00 - 14:00 Preston Auditorium |
Session 10 - The Decade Ahead: Transport, Finance, and Development |
KEYNOTE Astra Bonini, Chief, Integrated Policy Analysis, Division for Sustainable Development (DSDG), UN-DESA MODERATOR Elizabeth Jones, Senior Transport Advisor, UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) PANEL Daniel Bongardt, Head, Team Infrastructure and Mobility, GIZ Maruxa Cardama, Secretary General, SLOCAT Francesco Dionori, Chief, Transport Networks & Logistics Section, Sustainable Transport Division, UNECE Henrik Gudmundsson, Senior Consultant, CONCITO Gisele Saralegui, Global Climate Head, Transaction Advisory, IFC Fuat Savas, Managing Director and Co-Head, Infrastructure Finance and Advisory, J.P. Morgan |
| MC 4-800 |
Session 11 - Resilient Logistics and Supply Chains
|
MODERATOR Charles Cormier, Regional Director, Infrastructure, Europe and Central Asia, The World Bank Francois Davenne, Managing Director, International Union of Railways Max Jensen, Director, Mobility Department, Projects Directorate, European Investment Bank Jennifer Garson, Senior Vice President, Boundary Stone Partners and Executive Director, Sustainable Maritime Coalition Sarah Mouriño, Senior Director, Sustainability, DP World Andres Pizarro, Manager, Public Sector Clients, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank |
| MC 2-800 | Session 12 - Trends in EV Charging and Batteries |
MODERATOR Bianca Bianchi Alves, Practice Manager, Transport, Latin America and the Caribbean, The World Bank Cristina Albuquerque, Director, Global Electric Mobility, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities Matt Daus, Partner & Chair, Transportation Practice Group, Windels Marx Erika Meyers, Executive Director, Charging Interface Initiative North America (CharIN Inc.) Imran Sikandar, Secretary, Transport & Mass Transit Department, Government of Punjab, Pakistan Josh Whale, CEO, Ampersand Jason Zimbler, Director, Light Duty Vehicle, CALSTART |
| 14:00 - 14:20 | Coffee Break | |
| 14:20 - 15:20 Preston Auditorium |
Session 13 - Decarbonizing Transport with Green Fuels |
MODERATOR Bertrand de la Borde, Global Industry Director, Infrastructure, IFC Dominik Englert, Senior Economist, The World Bank Namrata Nadkarni, Maritime Journalist; CEO & Founder, Intent Communications Sharvari Patki, Program Head, Electric Mobility, Sustainable Cities and Transport Program, WRI India Rachel White, Global President, Clean Energy and Environmental Solutions, Ricardo Group Christoph Wolff, CEO, Smart Freight Center |
| MC 4-800 | Session 14 - Youth, Jobs, and the Future of Transport |
KEYNOTE Damilola Olokesusi, CEO & Founder, Shuttlers MODERATOR Seynabou Sakho, Director, Strategy and Operations, The World Bank Claudia Diaz, Secretary, Mobility Secretariat, Bogotá, Colombia Anna Fedorenko, Deputy Head of the Board, Foundation for Institutional Development, Ukraine Mary Hallward-Driemeier, Author, 'At Your Service: The Promise of Services-Led Development' Fernanda Rodrigues, Chief of Staff, ARTESP, Sao Paulo I Made Vikannanda, Senior Program Lead for Electric Mobility, WRI Indonesia |
| MC 2-800 | Session 15 - Resilient Connectivity in Small Island Developing States |
MODERATOR Benjamin Welle, Director, Integrated Transport & Innovation, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities Salaseini Daunabuna, Permanent Secretary, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Fiji Bishop Juan Edghill, Minister, Ministry of Public Works, Guyana Jan Hoffmann, Senior Port Specialist, World Bank Lenita Joseph, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Infrastructure, Ports, Transport, Physical Development and Urban Renewal, Saint Lucia Manish Kothari, President & CEO, Sheladia Associates and Board Member, FIDIC |
| 15:20 - 15:30 | Coffee Break |
MAIN STAGE
|
15:30 - 15:45 Preston Auditorium |
Lee Schipper Memorial Scholarship Award Ceremony |
Holger Dalkmann, CEO Sustain 2030 AWARDEES Olanike Babalola, PhD Candidate, University of Lagos Tom Courtright, PhD Candidate, University of Cape Town Nicholas Goedeking, Senior Researcher, German Institute of Development and Sustainability |
|
15:45 - 16:45 Preston Auditorium |
Plenary 5 - Mobilizing Resources for Transport Solutions
This session will explore diverse funding mechanisms and financial instruments to support sustainable revenue streams for transport projects, including public-private partnerships, green bonds, and a focus on affordability, national/local budget, and private sector contributions. |
FRAMING REMARKS Binyam Reja, Global Practice Manager, Transport, The World Bank Romesh David, CEO, South Asia Gateway Terminal, Colombo Viviane Esse, Secretary, National Secretariat for Road Transport, Brazil Michael Fitzgerald, CFO, MTR Corporation, Hong Kong Francisco Lozano, President, National Development Finance (FDN), Colombia Keshab Sharma, Secretary, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Nepal |
|
16:45 - 17:00 Preston Auditorium |
Closing Remarks |
Rogier van den Berg, Global Director, WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities Nicolas Peltier-Thiberge, Global Director, Transport, The World Bank |