Double Edge of Road Transport Dominance: Lessons from Europe and North America
Across both developed and emerging economies, road transport remains the backbone of mobility systems and carries the overwhelming majority of people and goods. Yet this dominance also means that roads are the single largest source of transport-related greenhouse gas emissions — a dual reality ...
The Uneven Road to Zero: Data Gaps and Disparities in Global Road Safety
New IRF World Road Statistics data reveal persistent disparities across regions and income groups, compounded by underreporting and weaker institutional capacity to collect reliable data. Strengthening national data systems is as essential as safer design and enforcement if the world ...
Tracking Shifts in Spending Priorities: European Road Infrastructure Investment Expenditure Trends (2018–2023)
Road investment expenditure across Europe fluctuated in the wake of the pandemic, with uneven recovery across regions and spending priorities shifting between new construction and maintenance. Why road investment matters Roads form the backbone of transport and economic systems, connecting people, ...
Mind the Infrastructure Gap: Low-Income Countries Share Only 1.7% of the World’s Roads
Low-income countries account for just 1.7% of the world’s road networks, exposing deep global infrastructure inequalities that limit connectivity, accessibility and economic growth. A reliable and extensive road network is vital for any economy, especially for low-income countries. Well-developed roads ...
Mapping the World’s Roads: Understanding Global Road Network Density
Road network density varies widely across the world, reflecting how geography and population shape the balance between land, people and connectivity. What is road network density and why does it matter?Road network density measures how intensively a country’s land area ...
Investing in Road Networks: A European Perspective
Investing in the road network infrastructure is crucial for a variety of social, economic, and mobility reasons. From a social point of view, a developed road network allows people to move and to have social interactions. Economically, a high-quality network ...
Europe continues to report the world’s highest Road Network Density, followed by East Asia and Pacific.
What is Road Network Density? Dividing the total national road length (km) by the land area (sq km) depicts the road network density of a country. The road network includes all roads in a country: motorways or highways, main or ...
Road Expenditures & Revenues
IRF data 2018: Europe sees a decrease in road expenditure and road maintenance expenditure The IRF World Road Statistics (WRS) 2018 edition has just been released. First analysis of the data on road expenditure and road maintenance expenditure in Europe ...
Multimodal Traffic
Freight transport splits equally between road and rail in major trade regions while passenger transport is mainly by roads Multimodal traffic is a key section of IRF World Road Statistics (WRS) and provides data for inland surface freight and passenger ...
Road Networks
Low-income countries account for only 3% of global road networks - a constraint for economic growth The IRF World Road Statistics (WRS) includes up-to-date information on the road and transport sector for over 200 countries and covers nine important road ...