An exclusive interview with Alfredo Etxeberria Murua, Director General of Bidegi, ESPORG Board Member and Honorary Wellbeing Ambassador
At the western edge of the Pyrenees, the roads of Gipuzkoa carry far more than regional traffic. They form part of the Atlantic Corridor, one of Europe’s essential freight arteries, linking the Iberian Peninsula with France and the wider European market.
For Bidegi, the public company responsible for managing the province’s motorways, this strategic position brings an equally strategic responsibility. Roads must remain safe and efficient, but they must also respond to the changing needs of the people who use them—particularly professional drivers.
Under the leadership of Alfredo Etxeberria Murua, Director General of Bidegi, ESPORG Board Member and Honorary Wellbeing Ambassador, the Basque operator has placed Safe and Secure Truck Parking Areas at the centre of its infrastructure policy. Its approach combines public investment, specialised private operation, European certification according to the EU Parking Standard legislation and a strong focus on driver wellbeing.
The result is more than a network of parking facilities. It is a practical model from which other European regions can draw valuable lessons.
Leadership Starts with People: “Every driver, a new friend”
Alfredo Etxeberria Murua’s unique career journey has taken him from the machine-tool industry to municipal leadership as Mayor of Elgoibar and, today, to the management of BIDEGI – one of EU’s most strategically located motorway networks — and membership of the ESPORG Board of Directors. Reflecting on his leadership philosophy, he says: “Each new job is a new challenge. As a technician, as a mayor, as a director or as a board member, one is part of a team following to reach a target. No job can be well done unless the team comes together and follows a strategy. So, strategy and time to shape and develop it is required.”
For him, all these jobs have in common someone to work for: “Machine tools’ customers, citizens, drivers, associate members, all of them need someone who will take care of them,” he says. “Since I worked in the machine tool industry, I carry a key holder ring with me that says ‘With every machine, a new friend’.
The same philosophy informs his work within ESPORG, whose Board he joined in 2017. During this period, he has seen European truck parking move higher up the political agenda, supported by the development of common standards, the European Commission’s SSTPA Study, stronger cooperation and increasing recognition of driver wellbeing. His advice to the new generation of parking managers is direct: “Every driver, a new friend”. When someone returns because they left the truck park well fed, rested, clean and safe—and remember that the experience was worthwhile—it means the job has been done well.
Bidegi: A European Example
Bidegi is a public company wholly owned by the Provincial Government of Gipuzkoa. Since 2003, it has been responsible for managing the motorways within the province. “These highways are under a pay per use policy and I must proudly say that all the income returns to the user through investment, upgrading, maintenance, technology, safety policies.” explains Alfredo Etxeberria Murua, Director General of Bidegi.
Gipuzkoa’s location is key to the Atlantic Corridor. All European traffic flowing through the continent towards its south-western corner passes along its highways. For Bidegi’s Director General, this requires high standards and the continuous activation of new services.
Indeed, the Gold-certified parking facilities at Astigarraga and Oiartzun combine controlled access, surveillance and robust security with the amenities drivers require during mandatory rest periods. They also reflect broader environmental and technological priorities, including future readiness for alternative energy and more sustainable infrastructure.
Further major developments are already under way. By next summer, an electric vehicle charging network is expected to be available along the Atlantic Corridor through the province. By 2028, a new Safe and Secure Truck Parking Area with 150 spaces is scheduled to open at Astigarraga Norte. This new facility will enable Bidegi to provide a total of 700 safe and secure truck parking spaces within 15 kilometres of the French border.
For Alfredo Etxeberria Murua, the future of Safe and Secure Truck Parking Areas is no longer simply about developing individual facilities. It is about creating a coherent European network. He believes public authorities should take a leading role in identifying strategic locations along the TEN-T corridors and ensuring that essential infrastructure—such as electricity, water and sewage connections—is available to enable private operators to deliver high-quality services. Looking ahead, he also advocates integrating facilities for vehicle maintenance, underscoring that poorly maintained heavy goods vehicles are a significant cause of traffic disruptions and safety incidents.
The EU Parking Standard has proven its value, particularly regarding security requirements, but the next step is to move beyond certification towards coordinated corridor planning. As he summarises, Europe’s priorities should now be clear: “Let’s focus on SSTPA network, HGV maintenance and DRIVERS health.”
Driver Wellbeing as an investment in safety
As an Honorary Wellbeing Ambassador, Alfredo Etxeberria Murua sees driver wellbeing as inseparable from transport efficiency. He argues that good nutrition, quality rest, opportunities for exercise and proper hygiene are fundamental components of road safety and of making freight transport a more attractive profession :”Drivers’ Wellbeing means proper working conditions that invite young people to join the HGV truck driver’s force.”
Highway operators, he believes, have an important responsibility because drivers spend a significant part of their working lives on the road: “Drivers spend much of their time driving through our roads so their safety and services must be our duty. We supported Esporg’s Wellbeing project right from the beginning. I want to ask all the stakeholders involved to invest money in that – using services or promoting activities. Words and wishes must be supported by actions”.
The best parking areas are those where people genuinely feel safe, comfortable and respected. His most human test for the quality of a secure parking facility is also one of the most revealing:
“Ask the driver’s wife who travels with her husband where she would stop for a rest. The services at that place are the ones. They are the best jury to choose the winer.”
Creating a Sustainable Business Model for Secure Parking
Bidegi, a highway management company that belongs 100% to the provincial public authority, has successfully partnered with private operator on the Gold-certified parkings in Astigarraga and Oiartzun.
This public-private partnership enables Bidegi to reinvest income generated through the pay-per-use system—its only source of financing—back into the motorway network in an effective way. The services required include maintenance, safety measures, service and rest areas, equipment, Safe and Secure Truck Parking Areas, investment, upgrades, roadside assistance and everything else needed to keep the corridor in good condition. These services are delivered by specialised providers.
This division of roles is central to the model: “One thing is to provide infrastructure, and another is to provide the service. Here, due to our orography, it is too expensive to build certain infrastructure. When a service is essential and must be provided, we must ensure that the service itself remains economically affordable,” explains Bigedi Director General Alfredo Etxeberria Murua.
EU funding programmes are also important in locations where difficult terrain makes infrastructure expensive to develop, or where the connections required for electricity, water and sewage networks are particularly costly to build.
Europe now has a legal EU Parking Standard, growing political awareness and an increasing number of certified projects. The next step is to connect these facilities into a consistent network supported by credible financing, public-private cooperation and services that drivers value.
From Gipuzkoa, the underlying principles of the Basque model are transferable: reinvest in the corridor, plan strategically, share responsibilities, certify quality and place the driver at the centre.
For Alfredo Etxeberria Murua the future of secure truck parking depends on a shared European commitment:
“We are all part of Europe, so let us build it together.”
In the Basque Country, that work is already under way.
