www.piarc.org
2018SP02ENPIARC DATABOOK OF
ROAD AND ROAD
TRANSPORT(2014-2018)
PIARC NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF JAPANSTATEMENTS
The World Road Association (PIARC) is a non-profit organisation established in 1909 to improve international
co-operation and to foster progress in the field of roads and road transport.
Any opinions, findings, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authorsand do not necessarily reflect the views of their parent organisations or agencies.
This report is available from the internet site of the World Road Association (PIARC): http://www.piarc.org

Copyright by the World Road Association. All rights reserved.
World Road Association (PIARC)
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International Standard Book Number: 978-2-84060-491-4
Frontcover © Japanese Road Association

PIARC DATABOOK OF ROAD
AND ROAD TRANSPORT(2014-2018)
PIARC NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF JAPAN - CHAIRED BY SHIGERU KIKUKAWAPIARC DATABOOK OF ROAD AND ROAD TRANSPORT (2014-2018)

AUTHORS
Persons committed to the report:
Shigeru KIKUKAWA, Japan
Correspondents of PIARC Member Countries
Members of Working Group
Members of PIARC General Secretariat
Members of PIARC National Committee of Japan

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PREFACE
Currently road administrations of many countries face austerities and have to tackle
some difficult issues: investing on extension of road network, maintenance andrehabilitation of existing aged roads, prompt recovery of road operation from thedamage caused by large-scale disasters, and creation of safe road space. They arerequested to assess the importance of political measures and implement themadequately as well as effectively while carefully reviewing the present situation.
Then it is critical to collect and analyse the statistics regarding road and roadtransport, and road administrators, especially engineers, are obliged to conduct
quantitative research on and make an objective assessment of actions, in order ofpriority based on such data analysis.
Also we find it important to enable an international comparison of road statistics
among the countries on the same definition and requirements, thereby allowing us
to accurately gauge maturity of road and road transport of each country. Such datacollection based on internationally uniform standard will lead to proper
understanding of road network development, latest traffic situation, and traffic safetylevel of a country. Its road authority will accurately identify how developed its roadand road transport are among the countries and what to do for further roaddevelopment. In addition when political interventions are implemented, data
provision will help us achieve consensus about their projects and facilitatecommunication between stakeholders. Figures are easy to understand andconvincing, and they have to be presented by road administrations on any occasion
if necessary.
Therefore, since 2014, PIARC Executive Committee has discussed how PIARC can
produce its own international road statistics, and some pilot projects for its
production were carried out.
PIARC consists of road administrations of 122 governments with their executives
acting as First Delegates, and we will surely have the up-to-date data provided withenough accuracy from the reliable data source. Also our Technical Committee
members of diversely academic and professional backgrounds will be able toPIARC DATABOOK OF ROAD AND ROAD TRANSPORT (2014-2018)

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cooperate on extensive collection of many statistical data, and data provision as ourown road statistics will help satisfy the needs of members, thereby raising the statusof and adding the value to PIARC itself.
This report spells out details of our research and outcomes of some pilot projects,
and the latest phase of “International Road Statistics of PIARC”, renamed as"PIARC Databook of Road and Road Transport", ready for dissemination, is
included. We would like our first product to be further improved with more substantial
data collection, by the initiative of the General Secretariat and the contribution frommember countries, and we wish to have many readers benefit from this reportanyway.

July 2018
Shigeru KIKUKAWA
Vice President of PIARC and Strategic Theme B Coordinator
President of PIARC National Committee of Japan

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2018SP02ENPIARC Databook of Road and Road Transport
The reliability and usability of statistics related to road and road transport should be
carefully examined, and it is hoped that an international organization can take theinitiative in disseminating the global road data with clear definition as well as
consistency in order to avoid confusion among data users.
Probably only an international body with long history and organizational significance,such as PIARC, will be able to collect, maintain, and disseminate such road statistics
because it has more than 120 governmental members which are expected to
manage various figures up-to-date with enough accuracy. Actually there are somedemands for road statistics to be managed by PIARC, and it is one of our missions
to satisfy the needs of members, thereby raising the status of and adding the value
to PIARC itself.
We expect that the goal of our road statistics is to create international Key
Performance Indicators (KPIs) which represent the quality of road and roadtransport in each country. Although we have to start with a small set of data, throughour continuous efforts we wish to realize the provision of such KPIs in wider areas,
which then will become the global standard of measurement for road and roadtransport.
To achieve the goal there are three important factors as shown in the following:• Selection of data which really suits the needs of the member countries andcan offer enough comparability• Clarification of data definition which is linked with data comparability andconsistency• Start with small number of data which quality can be ensured, and data
source may be exploited from some selected countries.

After the PIARC road statistics is made available, we need to think of theirmaintenance and update. At the same time it is important to develop and upgradeEXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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the data set by including the new items additionally. For example some data fromSnow and Ice Data Book can be integrated into our road statistics, and collaboration
with Technical Committees will help improvement of road statistics.
The work for further improvement and expansion can be undertaken by a small
working group. It may need to be supported by the experts who volunteer to makeefforts. And when a scheme of a permanent committee such as terminology islaunched for the current or the next cycle, if this subject about road statistics falls
within its scope, it would be of great help for further improvement.
Also dissemination of our knowledge base to current and potential members is ofgreat importance. We may need to ask for aid of Communication Commission, andsurely PIARC road statistics can be one of the flagship products in the future.
July 2018
Hirofumi OHNISHI
Former Strategic Theme Coordinator (Access and Mobility)
Associate member of PIARC Strategic Planning Commission

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CONTENTS
1.

Current situation of international road statistics ....................................................................... 3

2.

Objective of presentation of road statistics by PIARC................................................................ 6

3.

Past study results from the pilot project.................................................................................... 8
The 1st survey of the pilot project ......................................................................................... 8
The 2nd survey of the pilot project ...................................................................................... 14
Feedback from the pilot project ........................................................................................... 32

4.

Production of latest phase of “International Road Statistics of PIARC”................................... 35
Selection of data items and clarification of their definition ................................................ 35
Surveying method ................................................................................................................ 36
Response to the survey ........................................................................................................ 39
Data aggregation and analysis.............................................................................................. 39

5.

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 47

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1. Current situation of international road statistics
In every nation, road administrations are struggling to draw up the financial plan for
new road construction, countermeasures for aging roads, risk management andefficient use of existing assets, road safety improvements, etc. Therefore, roadadministrations are required to capture and assess extensive statistical data related
to road and road transport with the aim of efficient budget allocation to each projectand intervention, based on comparative and objective analyses. Statistics isprincipal information source which provides basic knowledge and facts on a variety
of topics. As figures are always the most convincing evidence, accuracy andreliability of statistical data plays a pivotal role in generating in-depth and further
discussion in an appropriate manner.
Actually there are some kinds of international road statistics made available. While
analyzing them carefully and comprehensively, we expect that PIARC can produce
its own road statistics which will satisfy the considerable and growing needs of data
users.
It is probably not easy to regularly update the databook in the appropriate andresponsible manner so that data preciseness and consistency are always
maintained, and data publishers will have to shoulder the heavy burden of its survey
and verification. Also data users are generally demanding, and it could bechallenging to meet their increasing needs for data with accuracy and reliability.
Obviously PIARC has a long history since its establishment in 1909 and it has
acquiredorganizationalsignificance.

Also

PIARC

bringstogetherroadadministrations of more than 120 governmental members, and in the current
strategic cycle (2016-2019) there are 17 Technical Committees and 5 Task Forces
actively working in a variety of technical fields of road and road transport. All suchactivities related to PIARC must have amassed extensive and observational data.
As a result such data storage and management capability of PIARC members will
surely enable PIARC to edit its road databook on its own while benefiting data users
of a variety of technical fields in terms of road and road transport.

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In fact PIARC has already produced such a databook: the “Snow and Ice Databook”,
mainly focused on winter service for road transportation. The data stored in the
databook is accurate and reliable because it is collected by Technical Committee
members consisting of professionals and experts of PIARC member countries.
Many of them are dedicated to PIARC activities as representatives of roadadministrations of each country, and the same methodology can be adopted to
produce the databook of the other technical areas as well.
Besides it is critical to compile some basic items of data for each country; such aslength of road, traffic volume, number of accidents, etc. PIARC can then make themost use of its network of members of road administrations across the world whilereferring to some good examples of current road statistics such as TEN-T (TransEuropean road Network - Transport) Performance Report published by the
Conference of European Directors of Road (CEDR).
Looking at the data presented in the TEN-T report (2013), their definition for 3 roadtypes: Motorway, Expressway, Ordinary is very simple and clearly mentioned.
Since TEN-T means a core transport network built on nine major corridors, TEN-T
data does not correspond to that of PIARC road statistics which will be presented
later in this report. For instance in terms of the length of Motorway for Austria, TENT (2013) indicates 1,667km while PIARC (2015) displaying 2,192km (refer to the 1st
survey result of this report). Likewise, regarding the case of Germany, TEN-T (2013)shows 9,874km, and PIARC (2015) says 12,917km (also refer to the 2nd survey
result of this report). Although the timing of data collection differs, we can easily
guess that TEN-T does not cover the whole motorway network of a country, and thedata is limited to the range of TEN-T.
Nevertheless we may be able to make the most use of TEN-T data for our roadstatistics because each European country seems to maintain enough data stock
which enables road length of TEN-T to be displayed in accordance with number oflanes and type of structures (bridges and tunnels). There should be some room forcollaboration with CEDR, and there is a practical possibility of sharing the data withsome other international road statistics.

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5<CEDR definition of three road types>
Motorway: A road of two carriageways, separated by a physical barrier for most of
its length. All crossings are normally grade separated. No stopping and usually aminimum speed. Access is generally restricted to certain types of vehicle.
Expressway: A national road or other high-speed road of one or two carriageways,
with or without a physical barrier. Has some interaction with the normal network
through high-quality interchanges (grade separated, at grade, roundabouts, etc.).
Ordinary: All other roads

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2. Objective of presentation of road statistics by PIARC
As was repeatedly stated in the last pages, the reliability and usability of statistics
related to road and road transport should be carefully examined, and it is hoped thatan international organization can take the initiative in disseminating the global roaddata with clear definition as well as consistency in order to avoid confusion among
data users.
Probably only the international body with long history and organizationalsignificance, which is PIARC, will be able to collect, maintain, and disseminate suchroad statistics because it has more than 120 governmental members which are
expected to manage various figures up-to-date with enough accuracy that should
be distinctive from the other road statistics. Actually there are some demands forroad statistics to be managed by PIARC, and it is one of our missions to satisfy theneeds of members, thereby raising the status of and adding the value to PIARC
itself. Also PIARC members are among heavy data users. Members of TechnicalCommittees often need the dataset to conduct a statistical and comparative analysis
whose result will be demonstrated in their technical reports. Improvement of data
quality leads to improvement of quality of PIARC products as well.
Since the SPC meeting in Santiago 2014, we started to study the feasibility of roadstatistics while collecting some sensible advice from members. Some items of data
were initially selected throughout the discussion among a small working group. The
structure of a draft set of data was based on two parts: “Basic data” consists offundamental country facts, and “Road data” focuses on the items related to roadand road transport. Because of the initial approach to road statistics, only the items
whose collection seems facile and straightforward were selected, and further
developments might take place after discussion and examination.

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TABLE 1 - Sample dataset for PIARC road statistics

This set of data was the result of our initial study and looked very simple, but it finallyrequired some amendments before starting pilot project to clarify the definition ofeach item, for example, what is the motorway considered in light of the international
standards. The pilot project, whose details are spelled out in the latter chapters,
could convince us to understand the significance of international road statistics aswell as the difficulty to produce it.

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3. Past study results from the pilot project
The 1st survey of the pilot projectIn spring 2015 we somehow launched the pilot project focused on a limited numberof items for road statistics whilst collecting the data from some member countries:
France, Japan, Austria, Chile, Korea, Mexico, and the U.S. The collected items of
data, carefully selected in discussion with France and Secretary General, were
(1) Road length by road type with definition,(2) Number of vehicle in use with definition,(3) Characteristics of road (no. of lane, design speed, speed limit),(4) Road length by pavement and road type (paved ratio).
Through this 1st survey, we attempted to find how each country classified anddefined its roads and vehicles whilst getting the latest figure of each relevant data,
and then we presented the tables and the graphical images of our road statistics
which would be distinctive and better for visualization.
Table 2 summarizes road type classification from this survey. Actually, it was foundthat the definition of each road type varies in country, and it was difficult from thissurvey result to group into the classes according to a common standard such as
total road width, with/without legal definition, etc. Here we managed to classify into
three, “Motorway”, “Principal arterial”, and “Others”, but this classification needed to
be clarified for better definition and more reliability.

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Table 2. Road type classification

Here this is one of our outputs from this survey. Table 3 shows road length in typefor each country.
Table 3. Road length in type for each country (As of 2014)

The next two figures indicate graphically visualized status of Table3 combined withbasic data: surface area of each country. The visualization of collected data in
PIARC road statistics helps better understand the situation of road and roadtransport of each country and make a comparative analysis of the result, thereby
highlighting our distinctiveness and usability as an international databook.

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Figure 1.(above) Share of road length by road typeFigure 2.(below) Road length per surface area for Motorways and Principal arterial

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In terms of characteristics of road, we collected the data about a few aspects. Oneof them was number of lanes, and Figure3 is the example of range of number oflanes for Motorway based on our definition.

Figure3. Range of number of lanes in Motorway

In addition, range of design speed and that of speed limit for Motorway is provided
in Figures 4 and 5. One of interesting findings from these figures is that mostcommon value of speed limit in Japan (100km/h) is more conservative than that ofdesign speed (120km/h), unlike the other 4 countries; Austria, Chile, France andMexico. Road design specifications in Japan may become unnecessarily strict
because they do not correspond to the actual legal traffic regulation, and this fact
may be interpreted by the Japanese national characteristic: cautiousness,carefulness, etc.

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Figure4. (above) Range of design speed in Motorway
Figure5. (below) Range of speed limit in Motorway

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We also collected the data about pavement. Table 4 shows paved ratio for eachcountry. Looking at the result, we recognized that the paved ratio of some countries
varies significantly in road type (in general most of high standard roads are paved
and others are unpaved). Probably this tendency will be marked in developing
countries, and the paved ratio will also be affected by the definition of roads.
Also, according to the survey, we recognized that there are two major types ofpavement: asphalt and concrete. Actually there are the other types of pavement forpaved roads, and what is more, the definition of “paved roads” may be ambiguous.
For example, one country can say that gravel roads are paved, but another may
claim no. This kind of ambiguity needs to be examined from the data collected,
especially from developing countries, and we will continue to study this case in orderthat the data of pavement will be incorporated into our statistics with clearer
definition.
Table 4. Paved ratio in road type for each country

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The 2nd survey of the pilot project
The course of actions of the 1st survey was favorably reacted in the Executive
Committee (ExCom) in Seoul November 2015, and the feedback was obtained fromthe result of the survey.
Firstly we could synthesize the various figures up-to-date which were collected from
7 ExCom member countries. Then we actually found the room for improvement
aiming at more adequate and reasonable international comparison of road statistics,
meaning that it was desirable to have much clearer definition and more accurate setof data. Also at this time we certainly entered the developmental stage toconsolidate the ideas and opinions from ExCom member countries, thereby
finalizing the initial set of data for the International Road Statistics of PIARC.
Following on from the result of the 1st survey, we conducted the 2nd survey of thepilot project for ExCom member countries. The main objective of this survey was tobetter clarify the definitions of road type as well as vehicle in use.
In the 1st survey we managed to classify the road type into 3 classes, andconsidering more information such as official definition, structure, administrator, etc,
we attempted to divide the road type into 4 classes in a similar way for all countries.
Likewise we tried to classify vehicle in use into 5 classes based on the same scale
proposed while having classified it into 4 classes in the 1st survey.
In addition we acknowledged that it is critical to analyze the availability of the data
which would be provided by ExCom member countries. For instance, suppose that
we hope to make more detailed comparison, it is necessary to obtain thefractionalized data. On the other hand, however, some countries may not be able toprovide such data as requested. Then we examined the possibility of data
fractionalization in this survey. Through this 2nd survey we eventually expected toestablish the classification of road type and vehicle in use based on our own
definition for the International Road Statistics and aimed to enable more detailed
international comparison.

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Firstly considering the result of the past survey we found it reasonable to classify
the road type into 4 classes as proposed in Table 5. Based on this proposition thesurvey was conducted to collect the official definition, the characteristics of eachroad type, etc. Some additional elements to better clarify each road type may be
included in this classification depending on the result of the survey, and the output
is explained later.
Table 5. Proposed definition of each road type

Then in line with defined road type we collected the information about roadcharacteristics such as most commonly used number of lanes and its range, and we
attempted to obtain the fractionalized data in road length for each class of road type.
Here we divided the class of number of lanes into 8 (refer to Table 6). Likewise mostcommonly used design speed and speed limit with their range were surveyed while
the road length for 5 classes of speed limit checked. Here we did not need data
fractionalization of design speed for each road type because it seemed difficult to
identify some sectional design speeds with their evidence traced back, especiallywhen the corresponding roads were aging.

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Table 6. Proposed data classification (1)Then the road width for each class of road type was confirmed here (refer toTable 7). This kind of information is very critical to avoid such misunderstanding as
interpretation of roads which may include even any tiny footpaths. Here there are
two classes shown; “Able to pass each other” and “Unable to pass each other”.
Generally the road width of “Able to pass each other” is considered as 5 meters ormore while each vehicle is moving, but there is no clear value threshold. It wasnecessary to discuss how reasonably we can define the width with which road iscounted as “road” in our statistics. Also the presence of pavement with surface typewas surveyed here for each class of road type in length.
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Regarding the vehicle in use, there were 5 classes proposed; “Passenger cars”,“Freight vehicles”, “Buses”, “Other vehicles” and “Two wheelers”. Unlike theclassification of road type, definition of each class was not specified before thesurvey. Rather it was expected that the survey result would indicate certain level ofcommon definition of each vehicle in use, and the output is explained later. Table 8
is the example of classification of Austria.
Table 8. Proposed vehicle in use classification (example of Austria)

Table 9 shows the category of road defined as “Motorway” of each country, its
compatibility with proposed definition of “Motorway”, and its administrator for eachcountry. “○” means that proposed definition of “Motorway” is almost compatible withthat of each country.

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Table 9. Survey result of road type classification (1)Table 10 shows the category of road defined as “Principal Arterial” of each country,
its compatibility with proposed definition of “Principal Arterial” and its administrator
for each country. “○” means that proposed definition of “Principal Arterial” is almost
compatible with that of each country, and “△” indicates uncertain level ofcompatibility. “–” means no information.
For example looking at the case of Austria, “Secondary roads B” is defined as“Principal Arterial” because it is “used by the regional traffic” and “serves as aconnection to the primary roads network”. Judged from this information only,
however, it is difficult to identify this road as providing interurban long distancetransport as defined in the proposed definition.
Also in Latvia “Main roads” is defined as “Principal Arterial”, but in the survey we did
not have any other information than road administrator.

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Table 10. Survey result of road type classification (2)Table 11 shows the category of road defined as “Arterial” of each country, its
compatibility with proposed definition of “Arterial” and its administrator for eachcountry. “○” means that proposed definition of “Arterial” is almost compatible withthat of each country, and “△” indicates uncertain level of compatibility. “–” means noinformation.

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Table 11. Survey result of road type classification (3)From here some survey results of data classification are presented. Figure6 is theexample of the comparison by the detailed data of “Motorway”. Looking at thisgraph, there is a certain share of 2-lane “Motorway” in some countries. If we wish to
make a comparison of “Motorway” with 4 or more lanes, excluding 2 lanes or less,the data fractionalization enables us to conduct a comparative analysis of“Motorway” in line with functional level of service. Likewise it becomes possible toadopt a different approach to comparison of “Motorway” in terms of speed limit (refer
to Figure7). Since “Motorway” is normally regarded as the road allowing higher
speed limit, the share of speed limit, for example, less than 80km/h, can be
excluded, and we can make a comparison of each country from the perspective of
operational level of service.

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Figure 6. Share of number of lane in length (Motorway)

Figure 7. Share of speed limit in length (Motorway)

Figure 8 indicates the share of “Passable” and “Unpassable” in length for “Arterial”.
In three countries there are certain percentage of “Unpassable” identified, and how
reasonably we can define “Passable” and “Unpassable” needs discussion.

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Figure 8. Share of “Passable” and “Unpassable” in length (Arterial)

Here the result of the 2nd survey based on the answers from ExCom member
countries is summarized.
Looking at official definition and characteristics of each road type, proposed
definition of “Motorway” seems to almost conform with the highest standard of roadof each member country. As linked with data classification, however, it looks likemore reasonable to fractionalize the data of “Motorway” because level of service
varies in country, as exemplified in the previous page.
Regarding “Principal Arterial” and “Arterial”, it seems difficult to clearly differentiatethem equal for each country, and it may be wise for better classification to consider
the category of its administrator, rather than road function or structure. “Others” canbe treated as those isolated from the other higher classified roads and designed
mainly for local transport, but it is necessary to examine the definition of roads withenough width. As the data varies significantly depending on the definition of roaditself, especially in “Others”, it is necessary to discuss how reasonably we can define
the width with which road is counted as “road” in our statistics.
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data in road length can be reflective of the actual level of service of road type, whichleads to better international comparison of each country.
Then each road type basically accommodates enough wide lane (s), and as was
explained, it is critical to consider how reasonably we can define “enough” width withwhich we can count as roads and also avoid counting such tiny footways that should
not be counted as roads. Also presence of pavement and pavement type arevirtually confirmed.
Regarding the definition and classification of vehicle in use, the answers from eachcountry are tabulated from Table 12 to 15.
As shown in these tables we found it difficult to clearly classify each vehicle in use
in the same manner because the degree of preciseness of each definition varies incountries; for instance South Korea, Slovenia and United States define each vehicle
in use very precisely while some other countries provide relatively loose definition.
Also looking at “Other vehicles”, they diversely include different kinds of vehicles
depending on countries; trailer, light-loaded vehicle, emergency vehicle, etc. From
this result obtained, it may be wise to exclude “Other vehicles” from classification
and allocate them to the other types of vehicle in use.

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Table 12. Survey result of vehicle in use classification (1)PIARC DATABOOK OF ROAD AND ROAD TRANSPORT (2014-2018)

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Table 13. Survey result of vehicle in use classification (2)Table 14. Survey result of vehicle in use classification (3)PIARC DATABOOK OF ROAD AND ROAD TRANSPORT (2014-2018)

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Table 15. Survey result of vehicle in use classification (4)Summarizing the survey result of vehicle in use, firstly each country has its own
definition of vehicle in use, and we found it difficult to fairly provide the definition ofeach vehicle type in a similar manner equal for all countries. While clarifying andrespecting the definition given by each country, it may be wise to exclude “Others”
from classification and allocate them to the other classes to make classification
simpler.
Based on the survey result with several considerations, we could propose thedeveloped definition of road type here (refer to Table 16). Firstly, as proposed in the
2nd survey, we defined 4 road types and consider some additional information, suchas road width and road administrator.
Based on our definition we regarded each road type as “enough wide” for both
directional traffic to pass each other. On the other hand, however, it may be claimed
that “enough wide” is regarded as that for only one directional traffic to pass,especially in developing countries. Both definitions may be applied in accordancewith each road type (for example “Motorway”, “Principal Arterial” and “Arterial” aredefined as the former definition (enough wide for both directional traffic) while

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27“Others” as the latter (enough wide for one directional traffic)), so the validity of thisdefinition may need some more discussion.
Also the category of the road administrator was included in our definition, and forexample “Arterial” are in general managed by regional government for interurban
transport, and “Others” are by local government for local transport.
Secondly we attempted to divide “Motorway” by level of service, such as number oflane & speed limit and most common value and range (min to max), as indicated inTable 17. As we recognized the difficulty of data collection for road length in linewith number of lane and speed limit, the information about typical value with its
range could be a substitute.
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Table 17. Proposition of developed definition of road type classification (2)If it is difficult to provide such detailed (fractionalized) data for “Motorway”, it isacceptable to indicate the most common value with its range, and of course if somecountries can provide the fractionalized data even for the other road types in asimilar way, it is really welcomed and leads to better international comparison.
Table 18 summarizes the road length in road type for each country, based on ourdeveloped definition. The figures in red means the length of the road which is wide
enough for the traffic to pass each other.
Looking at Argentina and Japan, for example, the road length in total becomes the
one-fifth or quarter of the original data, and it is thought that figures based on ourdeveloped definition are more reflective of the real status of road network of eachcountry.

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Table 18. Road length by type based on developed definition (As of 2015)

Unit: Km

Also Figure 9 indicates the comparison of each country in terms of share of road
length by road type. Each figure of this graph is also based on our developed
definition, and compared with the original data, the share of “Others” in Japan is
reduced by 28% (from 84 to 56%), and that of the other road types is increased
significantly.

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Figure 9. Share of road length by type based on developed definition

In terms of the proposition of developed definition of vehicle in use classification(refer to Table 19), considering the result of the 2nd survey, it was wise to place 4classes of vehicle in use, excluding “Other vehicles” from classification, and allocate
them to the other classes.
Also the definition of each class of vehicle in use was basically in line with that ofeach country, and it was desirable to have some pieces of information such as
seating capacity, purpose of use, loaded weight etc. in order that we could
eventually establish certain level of definition common to some countries. Regarding
loaded weight, it may create division of “Freight vehicles” which will lead to moredetailed classification and comparison of vehicle in use.

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Table 19. Vehicle in use classification based on developed definition

Figure10 shows the share of vehicle in use by type for each country. With “Other
vehicles” not excluded, there is a tendency that the share of “Passenger cars” issubstantial, and in the United States, for example, “Freight vehicles” accounts formore than half.

Figure 10. Share of vehicle in use by vehicle type based on developed definition

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The standardized definition of road type and vehicle in use can create a variety ofstatistical outputs to enable a fair international comparison from many perspectives.
For example, combined with surface area, population, budget, we can show in our
statistics the data such as- Length of each road type per surface area
- Number of vehicle in use per population- Maintenance cost per length for each road type
- No. of bridges (tunnels) per length of each road type
Especially when the fractionalized data for “Motorway” is made available, we canmake more detailed statistical analysis for member countries.
In addition it becomes possible to subsequently extend the area of use of thecollected data for management, mobility, traffic safety, infrastructure, environmentand disaster, etc. For example, when you wish to know the share of road structuresin length for each road type, combined with number and length of bridges andtunnels, we can make a fair comparison of each country in a similar way. It is also
expected that our statistics collected from all member countries will be conducive to
TC activities because all TCs usually treat basic road data relative to their topics.

Feedback from the pilot project
The feedback of the pilot project based on past two surveys was obtained from thediscussion during the ExCom in Edinburgh spring 2016, and the main ideas are
summarized in the following:- Firstly we formed the Working Group to make further progress of the roadstatistics of PIARC. The members of the WG are listed in Table20.
- The second action is to select and start with a small number of simple data
items of easy accessibility so that more countries will become involved.
- Thirdly it seems necessary to further investigate the cases of the existingroad statistics currently made available in different regions.

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Table 20. Members of Working Group (WG)

The first meeting of the WG was held in September 2016, and totally 7 members
and their associates participated in discussion.
Although not all of us could join on-line discussion then, we came up with somethoughts and suggestions, and there were two key points to be considered for the
next step.
Firstly, this is the initial stage of our road statistics, and therefore it is reasonable tofocus on “Motorway” and collect the data about road length, if possible, in
accordance with number of lanes, speed limit, etc. Also before data collection, theWG members will take the initiative in re-examining the definition of “Motorway” forseveral countries and conclude how PIARC reasonably defines “Motorway”. In
addition we were supposed to create/review the survey sheet which would bedelivered to all member countries to produce our road statistics with clear andconcise definition.

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Secondly, regarding vehicle classification, we take notice of four road types;
passenger cars, freight vehicles, buses and two wheelers. Such categorization was
proposed in Edinburgh, but there were several issues to be considered (ex. Into
what type is “Van”, “Camper”, etc. classified? ), so we found it necessary toundertake further studies of how each member country categorizes its vehicles. In
fact it was difficult to create a one-size-fits-all definition covering the needs from all
member countries, so we eventually provided certain level of definition common to
majority of member countries, allowing some exceptional classifications.

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4. Production of latest phase of “International Road Statistics of
PIARC”
Selection of data items and clarification of their definition
Based on the pilot project of two surveys and some discussions among WG
members in a timely manner, we have finally decided to select two data items whose
definition is clear: “Motorways” and “Vehicles in use”. Their definitions are referred
to Table21 and 22.
Regarding definition of motorways, there are three main check points for simple
and clear definition, and urban motorways are treated differently. Also the categoryof the road administrator is finally excluded from this definition through our in-depth
review.
Table 21. Definition of “Motorways” for PIARC road statistics

In terms of the definition of each vehicle type, our classification is almost equivalent
to that of EU regulation and regarded as reasonable based on the result of the past
two surveys of the pilot project.

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Table 22. Definition of “Vehicles in use” for PIARC road statistics

Surveying method
Survey sheet with an official letter in three languages (English, French, andSpanish) was delivered by the General Secretariat on 30th May 2017 to the First
Delegates of member countries. The survey sheet is structured as follows (refer tothe following 2 pages), exemplified by an English version:

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Question 1 Motorways
The objective of this survey is to study the length and definition of "Motorways" in member countries.
We have defined "Motorways" as follows, and please fill out the below form of cells coloured in blue.
Definition

Motorways

Roads primarily intended to provide interurban long distance/express transport.
In principle, motorways meet the following 3 structural conditions:
1) have limited access,2) are divided to two different directions, and
3) have grade separation with other roads, railways, etc.

Q.1-1 Please present the official name and the latest length of "Motorways" of your country that fits into our definition. If there are morethan one type of roads applicable to "Motorways" in your country, please provide their information in separate cells.

Year

Motorways (km)Year with the latest
statistics

Total

N o te :P lease p resen t th e o fficial n am e o f"m o to rw ays" th at fits in to o u r d efin itio n .

0
Q.1-2 To check the equivalence of your "Motorways" to our definition, please answer the following three questions in terms of structuralcharacteristics.

Name of road1) limited access(Yes / No)

2) divided to two different 3) grade separation with otherdirections
roads, railways(Yes / No)(Yes / No)

N o te :P lease p resen t th e o fficial n am e o f"m o to rw ays" th at fits in to o u r d efin itio n .

Motorways

Q.1-3 Please present your official definition of "Motorways" and provide the information about legal documents specifying its definition, if any.
Name of road

Official definition

N o te :P lease p resen t th e o fficial n am e o f"m o to rw ays" th at fits in to o u r d efin itio n .

Motorways

In addition, some countries may define Urban Motorways different from "Motorways" or put it into one of your categories forroads.
If there is any defined data item for "Urban Motorways", please fill out the below form of cells likewise.
Unless "Urban Motorways" is distinguished from "Motorways", there is no need to answer the following questions.

Q.1-4 Please present the official name and the latest length of "Urban motorways" of your country. If there are more than one type of roads
applicable to "Urban motorways" in your country, please provide their information in separate cells.

Year

Urban Motorways (km)Year with the latest
statistics

Total

N o te :P lease p resen t th e o fficial n am e o f "u rb an
m o to rw ays" th at fits in to o u r d efin itio n .

0
Q.1-5 Please present your official definition of "Urban Motorways" and provide the information about legal documents specifying its definition,
if any.
Name of road

Urban Motorways

Official definition

N o te :P lease p resen t th e o fficial n am e o f "u rb an
m o to rw ays" th at fits in to o u r d efin itio n .

Please indicate the name of your data source for the above answers, and if it is made available online, provide us with its URL for ourreference.
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Question 2 Vehicles in Use
The objective of this survey is to study the number of and definition of vehicle in use in member countries.
We have defined four vehicle clasess as follows, and please fill out the below form of cells coloured in blue.
Class

Definition

Passenger cars

Vehicles carrying passengers-can be classified as passenger cars and buses

Freight vehicles

Vehicles carrying goods-can be classified as with light goods and heavy ones

Motorcycles
or Tricycles

Vehicles with less than four wheels

OthersAgricultural and forestry tractors and their trailers, special vehicles, etc

Q.2-1 Please present the number of vehicles in use for the latest year in your country.
Thousands
Year with thelatest statistics

Passenger cars

Freight vehicles

Motorcycles
or Tricycles

OthersTotal
0Q.2-2 As for "Passenger cars", if you can split into "Passenger cars" and "Buses", please provide us with the information about how you define themand each number of vehicles (present the name of official documents specifying its distinction if any). If not please skip to the next question.
For your reference, definition of vehicle classes may considerably differ between countries (e.g. weight, size, seating capacity, etc.).
ThousandsClass

Sub-Class

Definition

Number of vehicles

Passenger cars
Passenger cars
Buses

Q.2-3 As for "Freight vehicles", if you can split into "Light goods vehicles" and "Heavy goods vehicles", please provide us with the information about
how you define them and each number of vehicles (present the name of official documents specifying its distinction if any). If not please skip to thenext question.
For your reference, definition of vehicle classes may considerably differ between countries (e.g. weight, size, seating capacity, etc.).
For instance, in Europe heavy goods vehicles hold gross vehicle weight over 3,500 kg while over 8,000 lbs in the U.S.
ThousandsClass

Sub-Class

Definition

Light goods vehicles
Freight vehicles
Heavy goods vehicles

Please indicate the name of your data source and if it is made available online provide us with its URL for our confirmation.
SourceURL

Thank you for your cooperation!
Contact person
Please provide the information about the person in charge of the statistics:
Name
Organisation
Department
Address

E-mailPhone
Fax
WebsiteNumber of vehicles

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Response to the survey
Totally 40 countries from each continent kindly responded to the survey. They arelisted in accordance with region in Table 23.
Table 23. Regional distribution of countries which responded to the survey

Geographical distribution of those 40 countries is widespread and statisticalsignificance of the survey result is reasonably assumed.

Data aggregation and analysis(1) Result of data aggregation
Overall survey result of “Motorway” and “Vehicles in use” is summarized in Table
24. Table 24 is just aggregation of the data, and Figures 11-15 illustrate graphicalvisualization of the result so that readers can make a comparative analysis of two
data items in each country.

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Table 24. Overall result of survey for PIARC Road Statistics

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Figure 11 (above). Motorways in length in each country for each region
Figure 12 (below). Motorways in length in each country in descending order

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Figure 13 (above). Number of vehicles in use in each country for each region
Figure 14 (below). Number of vehicles in use in each country in descending order

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Figure 15. Share of vehicles in use in each country for each region(2) Analysis with basic country data
We analyzed the collected facts in combination with some basic country data suchas surface area, population, GNI, and so on
We attempted to discover the correlation between our data with such basic data ofeach country and summarized some interesting findings in the following (refer toFigures 16-19) and prove the significance of road transport for economic growth ofa country.

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Figure 16. Motorways in length per surface area in each country

According to this graph of data collated in Figure16, length of motorways per surface
area of a country, which may be regarded as Degree of Extension of Motorway
Network (called DEMN) in a country, indication of Motorway density of a country, isgreatest in Singapore, and the next is Netherlands followed by Belgium, South
Korea, Switzerland and Germany. The average of DEMN except for five countries
without motorway is 24.5.
Looking at the following graph in Figure 17, in the same manner number of vehicles
in use per population is the highest in Belgium and followed by Italy, Austria, andthe United States. Also the average value is 0.57 for 38 countries.

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Figure 17. Number of vehicles per population in each country

In addition the correlation between two kinds of data, which is GNI per capita andmotorways in length per surface area is discovered in Figure 18. Looking at the left
graph, square of correlation coefficient is very low, but the right one indicates highcorrelation between the two data. It is assumed from this Figure that the higher
degree of extension of motorway network is, the wealthier the country becomes,
provided that GNI per capita is below $30,000. On the other hand the correlation is
not clearly found for the countries whose GNI per capita exceeds $30,000.
The same kind of finding is presented in Figure 19. The right graph of Figure19
indicates that number of vehicles per population grows in better proportion to GNI
per capita which is below $30,000. In other words, the wealthier to some extent thecountry becomes, the more vehicles people can own. Besides much wealthiercountries do not necessarily own many vehicles per population.

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Figure18 (above). GNI per capita vs Motorways in length/Surface area
Figure19 (below). GNI per capita vs Vehicles in use/Population

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5. Conclusion
If PIARC hopes to keep maintaining the status as a leading road organization, it isessential and mandatory to acquire the data which is both accurate and reliable.
Unless PIARC serves such a fundamental and pivotal role in the field of road androad transport, the value of PIARC membership might be reduced. Thus, PIARC
should take actions to further match up to the expectations of the road community.
In addition to production of road statistics, for instance, establishment ofinternational technical/operational standards is optional. Anyway how we canadmirably suit basic needs of road administrations should be considered carefully.
Although only “Motorway” is focused on at this stage as a road type, we are in the
middle of the project and at the following stages will consider the integration of data
about other road types into our statistics. Needless to say the additional range ofdata should be clearly defined, too, and it is critical to develop and upgrade the data
set in a timely and sustainable manner by including the new items additionally. It ishighly possible that some data from Snow and Ice Data Book is integrated into ourroad statistics, and collaboration with Technical Committees will help its
improvement. It is expected that the goal of our road statistics is to create
international Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which represent the quality of roadand road transport in each country. Although we start with a small set of data,
through our continuous efforts we wish to realize the provision of such KPIs in wider
areas, which then will become the global standard of measurement we define forroad and road transport.
Since 2014 PIARC National Committee of Japan has made a substantial
contribution to this project of “International Road Statistics of PIARC”. The next
steps of work toward its further improvement will be undertaken by PIARC General
Secretariat, and it is hoped that more member countries and relevant assemblies
will get involved. Certainly increased integration of our extensive data collection will
upgrade our road statistics, thereby providing greater satisfaction for PIARC
membership. If development of the ensuing actions is encouraged within theframework of PIARC leadership, National Committee of Japan still spares no efforts
to work on it.

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Finally we would like to express our sincere appreciation for many relevant people
who contributed to some surveys and publication of this report.

Copyright by the World Road Association. All rights reserved.
World Road Association (PIARC)
La Grande Arche, Paroi Sud, 5e étage, F-92055 La Défense cedex, France
International Standard Book Number: 978-2-84060-491-4
Front Cover © Japanese Road Association