IRF Start-up Label

An ever-recurrent problem in the road sector is to have funding at a sufficient level to keep road assets in a stable condition and to find ways to finance necessary extensions of the road network. Structural underfunding has led to infrastructure deficits. Finding other mechanisms to fund roads than by public budget, based on the paradigm shift from viewing road fully as public goods towards a more economic approach enabling the application of the user-pay principle, might offer opportunities, as could increase involvement of the private sector. IRF is committed to advocating sustainable funding for roads to serve nations’ economies as the infrastructure backbone and to preserve value for road users and tax-payers.

UN data estimates that nearly 1.3 million will die this year due to road traffic collisions, 3,000 deaths each day. More than 20 and 50 million more people will sustain non-fatal injuries from a collision. WHO also described Road-related death and injury as a “major public health and development crisis”. But progress towards safer roads as the UN General Assembly proclaimed 2011–2020 the “Decade of Action for Road Safety”, the goal of “stabilising and reducing the forecasted level of global road fatalities”. As a key voice, IRF will provide support on the international, regional, and national levels to support the Decade of Action.

IRF’s contributions under the Decade of Action include the following:​

• IRF Road Safety Group Experts:  a policy development/working group advocating for safe road development, raising awareness for maintenance and operation, policy  guidance, exchange of knowledge and best practices. 

• Networking & Information Sharing: annual set of conferences, workshops, meetings, IRF members share best practices, exchange ideas, and meet policy-makers to promote evidence-based solutions to road safety problems.​

• Technical assistance: through its membership, IRF provides technical assistance and guidance to policy-makers, practitioners, and the broader road infrastructure sector to address road fatalities, and injuries.​

• Advocacy: The IRF utilises its key platform to advocate for the implementation of evidence-based policies designed to reduce road-related death and injury. ​

Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) contribute to all major transport policy objectives. ​

• Safe roads and safe driving: ITS play an important role in preventing accidents, mitigating their impacts. ITS also helps to implement ambitious policy objectives set by national governments and supra-national bodies. 

• Delivering road sustainability: Many ITS applications work to either optimise the available supply of road infrastructure or reducing demand for it. The result of ITS technology is an efficient and reliable road transport network with a minimised effect on the environment.

• Data collection: ITS can capture a range of roadway information. I.e. number of vehicles passing and their average speeds to weather conditions.  ITS technology can even follow the positioning of vehicles through mobile tracking or satellite systems. 

• Data transfer, processing and analysis: ITS can communicate the data to central units where it’s transformed into information used to determine future actions. 

• Informed decision-making: Processed data can then be applied in numerous ways to ensure the efficient operation of road networks. I.E, road operator can use ITS data for highway management, road user can use data to update their traffic route.  ​

• IRF believes that road managers have a cost-efficient tool to save lives, reducing emissions, increase the reliability of road travel. 

• IRF strongly supports the implementation of ITS in order to make better roads for a better world. ​

The introduction of technologies related to connectivity, automation, electrification, and digitalisation has launched a challenging and exciting transformation of the transport sector. This latter transformation is characterised by an equally challenging transitional period towards a new ecosystem.​

While most progress and debate around these issues are centred on vehicles, it is becoming evident that the road infrastructure sector will play a significant role. Our sector must ensure that all the relevant parts of this new ecosystem work harmoniously in the same direction, to provide seamless, safe, efficient, and sustainable transport.​

The areas of work are the following: ​

• Regulatory and policy challenges

• Technological innovations 

• Future workforce and social needs 

• New business models

Environmental concerns have been the top agenda priorities for governmental entities. 

There is no longer doubt regarding the impact of human activities on environmental degradation and climate change. Now the challenge ahead is to balance economic growth with responsible energy consumption and environmental protection. ​

This is particularly important for the road sector. The provision of efficient, flexible, safe and clean transport infrastructure can become a pre-condition for economic development as it boosts productivity by facilitating the movement of people and goods. On the other hand, the rapid development of roads and highway construction, and an estimated 70 million vehicles entering the market every year, presents environmental challenges that need to be addressed in the interest of long-term sustainability.

The road sector has suffered from a reputation of “unsustainable industry”, but on the contrary has been extremely proactive in advancing research, developing and implementing new environment-friendly technologies and sustainable solutions. The sector is effectively implementing cost-efficient solutions that are sought to bring real improvements in environmental indicators. Moving forward, better roads must be planned, designed, built and operated by practitioners who are knowledgeable and willing to take responsibility for the environmental impact of the road infrastructure sector.