The UK road infrastructure sector is undergoing its most significant transformation in a generation. Asset management principles, carbon reduction mandates, funding constraints, and accelerating technological change are forcing authorities to fundamentally rethink how they deliver and maintain the strategic road network.

Against this backdrop, Traffex is reinventing itself as the event where the sector comes not only to discuss these challenges, but to solve them.

When Traffex returns to the CBS Arena, Coventry on 20-21 May 2026, attendees will encounter an event that looks fundamentally different from its predecessors. The transformation reflects a broader shift in the road infrastructure market - from aspiration to implementation, from strategic discussion to practical delivery.

The Implementation Imperative

The catalyst for Traffex's reinvention came from sustained dialogue with the sector itself. Transport Events surveyed hundreds of exhibitors, attendees, and industry stakeholders to understand what the market truly needed from its flagship road infrastructure event. The answer was unequivocal: less vision, more execution.

"The sector is overwhelmed with strategic discussion," explains Ray Clark, Commercial Director of Transport Events at Hemming Group. "Every event, conference, and roundtable explores what's possible. Very few focus on what's practical. Traffex is addressing that gap."

This implementation focus manifests in every aspect of the redesigned event, from its structure to its content programming to its technology platform. The traditional exhibition model, where suppliers showcase capabilities and buyers browse opportunistically, has been replaced by a procurement-focused marketplace designed to facilitate high-quality connections between solution providers and buyers with active implementation plans.

Three Focused Conference Areas

Rather than generic content spread across multiple stages, Traffex 2026 features three distinct conference areas, each serving a specific purpose in the implementation journey:

The Solutions Room tackles the practical "how" of deployment. This is where the sector comes for implementation guidance and collaboration - not theoretical discussion of what's possible, but practical case studies from recently completed projects. Sessions address procurement processes, contractor management, installation techniques, and project delivery methodologies. The focus is relentlessly practical: what worked, what didn't, and what would be done differently next time. Asset managers and highways maintenance teams will find Sessions on everything from whole-life cost analysis to data-driven decision making, reflecting the sector's wholesale adoption of asset management principles.

The TechTalks are highly structured 15-minute sessions where suppliers demonstrate specific solutions to specific problems. Each TechTalk features focused demonstrations with real pricing, actual installation timelines, and genuine UK case studies. There's no corporate overview or no sales positioning allowed,  just practical demonstration of what can be delivered and how.

The Roadmap Theatre, powered by Highways Magazine, provides a unique structure designed to break down sectoral silos by following the logical progression of a road project through six dedicated focus points: Planning, Procurement, Design, Delivery, Maintenance, and Recycling. This project lifecycle approach ensures the solutions being deployed align with the sector's longer-term direction while providing practical context at each stage. The Highways Magazine partnership brings their editorial expertise and industry insight directly into the event experience.

Quality Over Quantity: The Attendee Profile Shift

Perhaps the most significant transformation in Traffex's new model is the deliberate focus on attendee quality rather than pure volume.

The 2026 Traffex aims to deliver 60% public sector attendees - local and combined authorities and their direct delivery partners. More critically, rather than strategic observers, the target audience are the front liners in asset management, highways maintenance, traffic engineering, and procurement – with active budgets and implementation deadlines.

The remaining 40% represents the supply chain - contractors, consultants, and specialist providers who are often the primary specifiers and influencers in the procurement process. This public-private balance creates a procurement ecosystem where the full buying team can evaluate solutions together.

Technology as a Procurement Tool

Supporting this implementation focus is a technology platform that transforms how buyers and suppliers connect. The new Traffex app is launching as both the digital programme guide and a procurement facilitation tool.

Attendees can pre-identify suppliers solving their specific challenges, schedule meetings before arrival, and build personalised agendas around implementation priorities. For attendees, the app can identify which exhibitors offer suitable solutions, highlight and recommend relevant sessions, and facilitate direct meeting requests.

For exhibitors, this represents a fundamental improvement in lead quality and conversion efficiency. Rather than hoping relevant buyers discover their stand, they're having pre-scheduled conversations with pre-qualified prospects who've already identified their solution as potentially relevant.

The Multi-Sector Advantage

Traffex's co-location with Parkex (parking and urban mobility – BPA event) and Cold Comfort (winter maintenance) provides unique cross-sector insights increasingly relevant to modern road infrastructure delivery. The boundaries between highway management, parking enforcement, winter resilience, and urban mobility are blurring. Integrated approaches that address multiple aspects of network management are becoming the norm rather than the exception.

This integrated environment enables authorities to explore solutions across their entire network management responsibility in a single visit, while suppliers can demonstrate how their technologies address multiple operational challenges.

Differentiation in a Crowded Market

The UK hosts several excellent highways and transport infrastructure events, each serving distinct purposes. Traffex has deliberately positioned itself as the implementation event - complementing rather than competing with strategic policy forums.

"If you're shaping national policy or exploring long-term strategic direction, there are excellent events for that," explains Clark. "Traffex is for people who need to deliver a junction improvement by year end, implement a new traffic management system within a fixed budget, or find a pothole repair solution that actually works in UK weather conditions. We're about practical delivery within real-world constraints."

This positioning creates clear value for exhibitors. The buyers attending Traffex are at the evaluation and procurement stage, rather than the awareness stage.

Looking Ahead: Roads. Reality. Results.

The transformation of Traffex reflects a broader maturation of the UK road infrastructure sector. The era of technology-led innovation without implementation discipline is ending. Authorities face relentless pressure to demonstrate ROI, manage assets efficiently, reduce carbon emissions, and improve network performance - all within constrained budgets and tight delivery timelines.

The strategic vision is clear. The technologies exist. The challenge is implementation. Traffex 2026 is where the sector comes to bridge that gap.

 

Traffex 2026 takes place 20-21 May 2026 at the CBS Arena, Coventry. Registration opens December 2025. For information: www.traffex.com