History of the
Institute of Transport Studies

The history of the Institute of Transport Science dates back to 1883, when it was founded by the Minister of Religion and Public Education, August Trefort Augustine. It was founded in 1884 by the State Treasury of Transport of 1884. Between 1907 and 1913, 35,000 students attended the lectures of some 1,250 courses. By this time, the Industrial Museum had achieved significant results in the field of industrial materials testing and experimentation.On 11 September 1909, Hungary, together with sixteen other countries, signed the first international convention on the “Transport of Automobiles” in Paris, which set the date for the convention to enter into force on 1 May 1910. Under the new regulation, the testing of vehicles and drivers could become nationwide.

In 1911, the competence for material testing and industrial experiments was transferred to the Royal Institute of Vehicle and Driver Testing established in Budafok. Industrial Experimental and Materials Testing Institute, which was established in Budafok.

In 1938, the Hungarian Automobile Research Station was established in the Royal Hungarian State Institute of Automobile Industry. The National Automobile Experimental Station, established in 1938 under the auspices of the Institute of Technology and Materials Testing, was responsible for the inspection and expert opinion of motor vehicles in Hungary, the type testing of vehicles placed on the market, the elimination of the backwardness of motorization in Hungary, the promotion of motor transport and the importance of road traffic issues. In addition to its investigative and advisory tasks, it has supported the country’s fuel economy programme with independent developments. This activity was instrumental in laying the foundations for research and development and later for the development of his scientific activities.

There were two distinct periods of the Experimental Station: the first, between 1938 and 1944, when the testing and quality assessment of motor vehicles dominated, and the second, between 1945 and 1953, when research and development activities were at the forefront. This was the period when the Institute became a scientific research institute, which led to its independence from the Hungarian Institute of Technology and Materials Testing.

The first successor to the National Automobile Experimental Station was the Automobile Transport Scientific Research Institute (ATUKI), founded on 1 October 1953. With more than 100 employees, the institute was headed by László Prohászka. In addition to the industrial tasks of the institute, the focus was on solving technical-economic problems related to motor transport using scientific methods, and in the first half of the 1950s, tasks requiring the application of economics also appeared.

Among his most important works were the Ganz-ATUKI diesel injection pump and the design of the internationally acclaimed water brake pads. In 1956, the Road Research Institute (UKI) was founded, with which ATUKI developed close cooperation. In 1965, a decisive turning point in the life of the institute occurred when construction work began on the new central research base of the institute in Than Károly Street in the 11th district, in which the KTI still operates today.

With the merger of ATUKI and UKI, the Road Transport Scientific Research Institute (KÖTUKI) was established and started its activities on 1 January 1971. The next eleven years or so were a period of dynamic development, with the consolidation of the previously dispersed research sites and the construction of the new headquarters on Than Károly Street. In addition, the various testing laboratories, factory halls, warehouses and various social facilities were built, and later the cultural and sports facilities.

At the end of the 1970s, on the recommendation of experts appointed by the Science Policy Committee, a coordinated implementation of the sectoral R&D target programmes was prepared, during which the Institute had to be restructured in order to create better conditions for scientifically demanding research work.

The institute functioned both as a system institute, which carried out the tasks arising from the target programmes underpinning the coordinated development of transport, and as a base institute, which carried out and consolidated research and development on specific complex topics. In 1983, in order to solve practical problems and to extend scientific research to development tasks, the Institute founded the TRANSINNOV Transport Technical Development Subsidiary, whose main activity became technical services. KTI then had working relations with some half a hundred foreign institutions and organisations in more than twenty countries, and its subsidiary had similarly extensive contacts, which, in addition to its research activities, provided Hungarian transport companies with cutting-edge technical developments.

By the end of the 1980s, the organisation of the KTI and its subsidiary had become aware that it was organised in a different socio-economic context and to perform different tasks. The KTI-TRANSINNOV joint organisation, reduced to 275 people, had 51 managers in 1991. On 1 July, the Ministerial Commissioner merged KTI and TRANSINNOV in order to stabilise management and preserve and develop scientific capacity. On 1 July 1992, the institute was transformed into a joint stock company with majority German ownership, TÜV Hannover-KTI KFT, and continued its operations as a joint stock company from 1 April 1993. Despite the economic difficulties in Hungary, the institute’s domestic and international reputation continued to grow.

The Institute of Transport Sciences, as a company of outstanding public utility, was established as the general successor of the Institute of Transport Sciences Joint Stock Company by a transformation dated 9 June 2004, in accordance with Chapter VII of Act CXLIV of 1997 on Companies. Following the amendment of its Articles of Association on 30 November 2007, the company, while maintaining its public utility status, continues to operate as a public utility company and, as of 15 January 2008, as a non-profit limited liability company. It is owned by the Hungarian State and its owner until November 2022 is the Ministry of Technology and Innovation. Pursuant to the Decree of the Minister of Economic Development No. 14/2022 (21.XI.) GFM, from 22 November 2022 the ownership rights of the State over KTI are exercised by the current Ministry of Construction and Investment (Hungarian Gazette No. 190 of 21.11.2022).

The name of the ÉBM was changed to the Ministry of Construction and Transport (ÉKM) on 1 December 2022 on the basis of Article 1 of Act II of 2022 on the List of Ministries of Hungary.

The Articles of Association of the Company have been amended pursuant to the resolution of the owners of the Company of 11 November 2022, and the KTI will continue to operate under the name of KTI Hungarian Institute of Transport Science and Logistics Non-profit Limited Liability Company.

Names of the Company in foreign languages:

• In Hungarian: KTI Magyar Közlekedéstudományi és Logisztikai Intézet Nonprofit Kft.
• In German: KTI Ungarisches Institut für Verkehrswissenschaften und Logistik Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH)
• In Russian: Некоммерческое общество с ограниченной ответственностью «KTI» Венгерский институт транспортных наук и логистики

Source: Dr. Pál Boros, Dr. Mihály Füredi, István Gyuris, Lajos Tóth (1998): Fejezetek a 60 éves közlekedéstudományi Intézet történéből, Közlekedéstudományi Intézet Rt., Budapest