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Michelin and IRF partner up to provide road statistics

Michelin has partnered with IRF to mark the global launch of the 50th Anniversary edition of the World Road Statistics. The World Road Statistics (WRS) have now been published every year since 1964. To mark this half-century of achievement, IRF has released a commemorative 50th Anniversary edition that compiles 12 years of data to provide a comprehensive statistical review of the evolution of international road and land transport from the dawn of the Millennium to the present day.
December 13, 2013 Read time: 5 mins
IRF Geneva is producing its new World Road Statistics publication in partnership with leading tyre producer Michelin.
Michelin has partnered with IRF to mark the global launch of the 50th Anniversary edition of the World Road Statistics.

The World Road Statistics (WRS) have now been published every year since 1964.

To mark this half-century of achievement, IRF has released a commemorative 50th Anniversary edition that compiles 12 years of data to provide a comprehensive statistical review of the evolution of international road and land transport from the dawn of the Millennium to the present day.

The WRS have long been acknowledged as perhaps the only universal source of strategic data on road networks, traffic and inland transport.

The new edition offers an invaluable reference tool for anyone analysing and reporting trends with respect to priority global transport issues such as road safety, traffic volumes and vehicle usage, or for benchmarking performance against key indicators like road expenditure, energy consumption and emissions.
1201 IRF Geneva is particularly proud that a number of leading institutional users and/or regular collaborators have chosen to associate themselves with the 50th Anniversary by providing testimonials. These include the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the OECD International Transport Forum (ITF), the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and The World Bank.

Their statements attest to the importance of the WRS as an authoritative reference tool contributing to informed decisions on the part of policymakers and the business community; serving to enhance the potential of roads as drivers of economic progress and social cohesiveness; enabling authoritative analysis and projections of global land transport infrastructure requirements, and improving understanding of the detailed relationships between the energy and road sectors.

The statement from The World Bank said, “The World Bank greatly values its longstanding collaboration with the International Road Federation (IRF), whose rigorous and comprehensive World Road Statistics form a prime basis for the transport services data compiled in our annual World Development Indicators.“

In order to extend the scope and outreach of the 50th Anniversary edition, as well as bring it to a wider audience of stakeholders and beneficiaries worldwide, the initiative benefits from the overall support and generous patronage of 720 Michelin. In his preface, the company’s CEO, Jean-Dominique Senard, highlights IRF Geneva’s long tradition as a “…key contributor when it comes to road infrastructure expertise and road statistics. Each year IRF publishes detailed statistics about the state of road infrastructure in more than 200 countries. No other organisation is able to publish such thorough and in-depth analysis of information. Through this and its analytical work, IRF plays a major role in economic development worldwide and enables operational deployment of CSR projects such as those of the Michelin Group.”

Senard further acknowledges IRF’s strong emphasis on knowledge and education as key drivers of development: “Through this and its work on road safety IRF helps support a basic right: that of freedom of movement for people and goods.”

Several other pivotal IRF Geneva members and constituents have also extended active support by agreeing to become official partners promoting the 50th Anniversary edition across the world through their respective databases, news and communications channels.

The specially packaged 50th Anniversary edition will include a two-volume hard copy, as well as a ‘soft copy’ of Excel and PDF files on CD-ROM.

When most people think of road statistics, they tend first to evoke negative images of road deaths, traffic congestion and excessive fuel and energy consumption. The WRS are helping to give road statistics a better name by providing practitioners with an essential tool for precisely addressing priority issues such as these.

Leading campaigners, for example, point to an acute need for reliable comparative data from which to build effective strategies for saving lives during the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety.

For all these reasons and many more, the IRF World Road Statistics really are vital!

Whether you’re a long-time user or a first-time purchaser, the 50th Anniversary issue is the one edition not to miss out on. By pre-ordering, it is even possible to have your company or organisation associated in the commemorative pages. To ensure your copy, simply go online and pre-order NOW at %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal www.irfnet.ch IRF Geneva false http://www.irfnet.ch/ false false%>.

For more information, contact%$Linker: 2 Email <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkEmail [email protected]. false mailto:[email protected]. true false%>

IRF Geneva cited in UN secretary general report

UN secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, has issued a report ‘Improving global road safety’, in advance of the 68th session of the UN General Assembly.

In the report, which was prepared by the World Health Organisation in consultation with the UN regional commissions and other partners of the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration (UNRSC), the Secretary General highlights global and national achievements towards improving the safety of roads and vehicles by reference to the ‘five pillars’ of the Global Plan for the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety. Work on each pillar is addressed within UNRSC by a specialist project group – the second of which is chaired by IRF and dedicated to Safer Roads and Vehicles. 

Under this heading, Ban noted that “the Geneva Programme Centre of the International Road Federation (IRF) established a group of experts on road safety, including five thematic subgroups, in the fields of road safety audit and capacity-building to address road safety in an integrated manner. By bringing together leading road sector professionals, the group of experts helps fill a perceived ‘infrastructure gap’ in current global road safety strategies, a subject echoed during the discussions at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2010. The group of experts released comprehensive IRF Guidelines for the Development of Road Safety Master Plans designed to guide and provide practical, proven advice to municipal authorities to improve safety in their communities. This publication is backed up by the IRF World Road Statistics, an annual compilation of road traffic collision data from primary sources in more than 200 countries. IRF India has developed and piloted a software application for on-site collection of crash data by the traffic police.”

For more information on the initiatives referred to in this article, contact %$Linker: 2 Email <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkEmail [email protected] IRF false mailto:[email protected] true false%>

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