Exchange knowledge and techniques on roads and road transportation.
PIARC now has more than 100 government members. Following is general information on some of PIARC's member countries, including country geography, the country's road networks and the responsibilities, policies and organisation of the road administration. Contact details are also provided if futher information is required.
Public roads in Australia exceed 810,000 km in length, the majority of which are low-use rural local roads. Articulated trucks comprise 12% of the total traffic on the National Highway System.
The Austrian federal road network consists of 1 645 km motorways and 354 km express roads. 160 km of this network are tunnels and 200 km of it are bridges. Austrians make an average of 3.7 trips a day with an average duration of 23 minutes and an average distance of 9.5 km.
The General Directorate of Highways and Roads is a service of the Ministry of the Equipment and Transport which consists of a Secretariat General and three other Head Offices: Hydraulic Ways, Transport and Technical Services.
Québec's vast territory, numerous waterways, rigorous climate and the constantly growing number of vehicules and trips pose daunting challenges from the standpoint of development, management and protection of the road network. The Ministère des Transports du Québec has always successfully met these challenges and Quebecers now have access to a solidly structured road network spanning over 135,000 km.
The Danish road administration employs approximately 440 people and services around 70,000km of publics roads. 84% of all national goods are transported on the Danish road network.
The Finnish Road Administration is responsible for the public road network in Finland. Its mission is to provide smooth, safe and environmentally friendly road connections to satisfy the transport needs of citizens and business life.
The French Directorate General of Roads (DGR) belongs to the Ministry of Transport. It implements road policy at the national level by drawing upon a strong technical and scientific network as well as on the decentralized services of the Ministry which locally manages
the 30,000 km of national routes and toll-free motorways. These territorial services additionally provide support to some of the 100 French départements, local communities who collectively manage close to 360,000km of secondary roads.
DGR also is in charge of the supervision of the toll motorways network (8,000 km) entrusted to concessionaires (public or private), by steering the setup of the concessions and by monitoring the execution of the contracts as well as the quality of the service offered to the road users. Since the beginning of 2005, the Ministry has been engaged in a process to transfer 2/3 of the current national network to the départements. This new phase of decentralization involves a profound restructuring of the services responsible for roads, a transformation driven by DGR and which will be complete within two years.
Roads in Japan consist of 7,000 km of Expressways and approximately 1,200,000 km of general roads. The total length of the Arterial High-Standard Highways in service reached the 8,017 km mark as of the end of fiscal year 2001. This is about 57 % of the total planned length of 14,000 km.
The Lithuanian Road Administration is in charge of organising and coordinating the rehabilitation, maintenance and development of roads of national significance.
Key issues relating to the physical management of New Zealand's state highway assets are pavements, bridges, minor structure, corridor assets and drainage.
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is responsible for the planning, construction, operation and maintenance of the national and country road network, of vehicle inspections and requirements, and of driver training and licensing. It services nearly 55,000 km of national and county roads.
The National Company of Motorways and National Roads has under its administration around 79000 km of roads (excepting urban and rural streets), 3271 bridges and eight tunnels.
The Swedish Road Administration (SRA) is the national authority assigned the overall sectoral responsibility for the entire road transport system in Sweden. The SNRA is also responsible for drawing up and applying road transport regulations. In addition, the SRA is responsible for the planning, construction, operation and maintenance of the state roads.
The Swiss Federal Roads Authority was formed in 1998 following the amalgamation of the Federal Office of Road Construction and the Road Traffic section of the Federal Office of Police. It therefore unites the most important competencies and duties in the area of road traffic.
The Public Establishment for Road Communications (PERC) undertakes the task of developing the main and secondary road network and preparing the plans necessary for such development. It has a Traffic Engineering Directorate responsible for road safety.
The vision of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is to create the best transportation system in the world for the American people through proactive leadership, innovation, and excellence in service. We also provide expertise, resources, and information to continually improve the quality of our nation's highway system and its intermodal connections. We undertake this mission in cooperation with all of our partners to enhance the country's economic vitality, quality of life, and the environment.
AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan association representing highway and transportation departments in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. It represents all five transportation modes: air, highways, public transportation, rail and water.
