Welcome from Professor David Hensher AM
Co-founder and International Chair of the Thredbo Series
Director, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, The University of Sydney Business School, Australia
"Since the inaugural conference was held in Thredbo, Australia in 1989, (hence it becoming known as the Thredbo series) the series has established itself as the premier international forum dedicated to the analysis and debate of competition and ownership issues in land passenger transport. The series has attracted high quality participation and delivered a large portfolio of impressive material synthesising developments not only from developed economies but increasingly from developing economies. I invite you to participate in this influential forum".
History of the Thredbo Series
The Thredbo Series was established in 1989 by Professor David Hensher and the late Professor Michael Beesley CBE. Since this time it has been held biennially in locations all over the world: Tampere, Finland, 1991; Toronto, Canada, 1993; Rotorua, New Zealand, 1995; Leeds, UK, 1997; Cape Town, South Africa, 1999; Molde, Norway, 2001; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2003; Lisbon, Portugal, 2005; Hamilton Island, Australia, 2007; Delft, The Netherlands, 2009; Durban, South Africa, 2011; Oxford, UK, 2013; Santiago, Chile, 2015; Stockholm, Sweden, 2017;Singapore, 2019; Sydney, 2022; Cape Town, South Africa, 2024; and Valletta, Malta, 2026.
The objective of the conference series is to provide an international forum to examine passenger transport competition and ownership issues, reporting on recent research and experience and developing conclusions on key issues. The focus is on determining the effects of different forms of competition, ownership and organisation for land-based passenger transport on operators, users, governments / funders and society as a whole. The conference series is directed towards a broad audience of policy makers, planners, decision makers on infrastructure and service operators, consultants, researchers, academics and students, and is recognised as one of the most important international forums for analysis and debate of competition and ownership issues in land passenger transport.
The conference typically features plenary sessions over four days and a series of intensive workshops based around keynote papers and a series of resource papers providing a range of international perspectives on each issue. There is a strong emphasis on what policy lessons can be learnt from recent experience internationally and what issues warrant further investigation.
International Steering Committee
- Professor David Hensher (Chair) Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney Business School, Australia
- Dr Gunnar Alexandersson Stockholm School of Economics Institute for Research, Sweden
- Professor Maria Attard, University of Malta
- Brendan Finn European Transport and Telematics Systems Ltd, Dublin, Ireland
- Associate Professor Lisa Hansson, Molde University College, Norway
- Professor Rosário Macário Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
- Professor Rico Merkert Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney Business School, Australia
- Professor Emerita Corinne Mulley Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney Business School, Australia
- Professor Juan Carlos Muñoz Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile
- Professor John Nelson, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney Business School
- Professor John Preston University of Southampton, UK
- Professor Nobuhiro Sanko, Kobe University
- Didier Van de Velde, Delft University of Technology and inno-V, The Netherlands
- Associate Professor Wijnand Veeneman, TU Delft, The Netherlands
- Emeritus Professor Roger Vickerman, University of Kent
- Dr Leong Wai Yan, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore
- Beccy Connell (Conference Series Manager) – Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney Business School, Australia rebecca.connell@sydney.edu.au
Thredbo 19
Sunday 13 to Thursday 17 September 2026
Download Program (PDF)
Local Organising Committee (Thredbo 19)
-
Professor Maria Attarda (Chair)
Director, Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development, University of Malta - Dr Therese Bajada
Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development, University of Malta - Ms Donna Borg Micallef
Director of Operations, Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Public Works, Government of Malta - Prof. Ing. Simon G Fabri
Pro-Rector for Research. Faculty of Engineering, University of Malta - Professor Adrian Muscat
Faculty of ICT, University of Malta - Dr Karyn Scerri
Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development, University of Malta - Ms Raffaella Zammit
Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development, University of Malta - Ms Romina Zammit
Administration Specialist, Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development, University of Malta
Sponsored by:
