In many countries, roads and highways provide the dominant mode of land transport. They often carry more than 80 percent of passenger-km and over 50 percent of freight ton-km in a country. Consequently, roads and highways form the back bone to the economy and provide essential links to the vast local and community (rural) road networks.

The mission of the roads and highways group is to build identity and cohesiveness among all those interested in roads, inside and outside the World Bank; promote communications between interested people worldwide to facilitate professionalism and sharing of experience between countries and regions; disseminate good practice through electronic means and participation in training courses and conferences, support training in client countries in key areas as identified by clients and World Bank staff, and provide a world-class knowledge base.

Recent Events of Interest

Workshop on the Toolkit for Public-Private Partnership in Roads and Highways Moscow, Russian Federation, June 7, 2011 Workshop on the Toolkit for Public-Private Partnership in Roads and Highways Kyiv, Ukraine, April 12-13, 2011 Dissemination Workshop: Toolkit for Public-Private Partnership in Roads and Highways, Brasilia, Brazil, June 8-9, 2010 Dissemination Workshop: Toolkit for Public-Private Partnership in Roads and Highways Delhi, India - June 4-5, 2009 Highway Development and Management Model (HDM-4) and the Roads Economic Decision Model (RED), January 9-11, 2008 Workshop on Road User Charging Systems, Warsaw, Poland, June 11-12, 2007  The Road User Charging (RUC) Systems Workshop, held in Warsaw on June 11-12, 2007, was jointly organized by the Polish Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the World Bank (WB).   The workshop’s main objective was to share experience in the design and implementation of modern road charging systems and make this experience available to Poland, as well as other countries that are considering introducing new road user charging systems. Latvia: Regional Workshop on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in Transport, Riga, Latvia, March 6-8, 2007.   The workshop was designed to increase participants' knowledge in several areas, including PPP options and challenges, competitive selection of concessionaires, establishment of regulatory institutions for toll roads, improving governance in transport infrastructure PPP concessions, key success factors for PPP implementation, benefits and risks including traffic forecast risks and impacts on revenues. Regional Workshop on Public-Private Partnership in Highways, Civil Engineering Faculty, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, June 6-8, 2006. The workshop provided an overview of the role and contribution of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in maintaining, upgrading and extending road transport infrastructure. It also included practical sessions on the application of the Highway Development and Management (HDM-4) model for concessionaires to optimize their investments, as well as financial simulation of PPP projects using the PPIAF/World Bank's Toolkit for PPP in Highways. Workshop on Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in Highways: Institutional, Legal, Financial and Technical Issues, Riga, Latvia, May 9, 2006. This training workshop offered a broad overview of the international experience with PPP in highways, including measures to mitigate risks, best practices and lessons learned from successful and not so successful cases. Participants could increase their knowledge on PPP options, selection of concessionaires, improving governance in highway PPP concessions, and learn to identify the risks associated with a PPP transaction as well as the practical tools available to mitigate against some of those risks. This event was co-sponsored by the World Bank and the Latvian Ministry of Transport. First International Conference: Perspectives for Ukraine in Implementation of PPP Infrastructure Projects. The conference, hosted by the Ukrainian Ministry of Transport and Communications and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), was held in Kyiv on March 21, 2006. It was attended by local authorities, staff from several ministries and the State Road Administration of Ukraine (Ukravtodor), IFIs, and the private sector, including a number of potential investors in PPP projects. South East Europe (SEE) Regional Road Infrastructure Safety and Funding Conference, Belgrade, November 16-17, 2005 (PDF, 696KB) The South East Europe (SEE) Regional Road Infrastructure Safety and Funding Conference was held in Belgrade on November 16-17, 2005 under the patronage of the Serbian Ministry of Capital Investments and with the support of the European Commission's Technical Assistance Information Exchange Unit (TAIEX). Second Round Table on Investments in Transport Infrastructure in Russia, Moscow, November 15, 2005 (PDF, 2,646KB) Copies of the English and Russian presentations made by Cesar Queiroz to the 2nd Round Table are available at the above link. A related event, the EU Conference on Transport PPPs -- A Tool for Bridging a Gap, was held in Moscow on October 28, 2005. A presentation given to the conference by Peter Thomson on The Challenge of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and The World Bank is also available. The Round Table Program is available on the Website of the Russian Ministry of Transport, together with the materials presented in Russian and in English. BBL on VE in Highways: Institutional, Legal and Technical Aspects, World Bank, Washington, DC, October 27, 2005 (PDF, 5,855KB) The presentations by Mr. Juan Claudio Devincenti, Director, Society of American Value Engineers, and former president of their National Capital Chapter, and Ms. Shirley J. Ybarra, President of The Ybarra Group, and former Secretary of Transportation for the Commonwealth of Virginia, highlighted the growing role of Value Analysis as a tool for project evaluation and cost optimization, and the Accelerated Construction Technology Transfer (ACTT) forums. Workshop on Public-Private Partnerships in Highways: Institutional, Legal, Financial and Technical Aspects, Washington, DC, October 6, 2005 This workshop is designed to increase participants' knowledge in several areas, including PPP options, selection of concessionaires, establishment of regulatory institutions for toll roads, improving governance in highway PPP concessions, and traffic forecast risks and impacts on revenues.