This report analyses general areas of cooperation amongst road authorities at the various levels and the various institutional tools utilised to ensure integration. The need for cooperation between national, federal, provincial, state, local and municipal road agencies is becoming more pronounced. Noting that depending on the specific country one can find State Departments of Transportation, Ministries, transport agencies, metropolitan planning organisations, federal administrations, provincial departments, local authorities etc.

As a starting point the function of a road system was defined and its purpose with regards to providing connectivity, access and mobility and the function of the individual road under the jurisdiction of the relevant authority. There is a definite consistency with regards to the functions of national roads, federal/provincial/state roads and local roads. This is line with the functional classification system. Road infrastructure is also embracing the modern era and the need to be “SMART” and cater for innovations such as autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, congestion management, ITS, climate change resilience etc.

The country case studies were from a broad cross section of high, middle- and low-income countries providing a reasonable proxy of the world. The objective behind the case studies was to extract best practice, learn from unsuccessful initiatives and propose interventions to ensure coordination, alignment and integrated planning between national and sub-national road authorities. The information compiled was based on standard assumption around network jurisdictions, road classifications which determines ownership to a certain extent, road planning theory, hierarchical assumptions etc.

Various areas of cooperation were assessed, and best or recommended practice highlighted in the paper. Funding is a critical resource for all road authorities and there is a greater need to explore diversified and sustainable revenue sources in order to not only maintain the network but ensure financial sustainability for the road authority. The various options and mechanisms for funding are well known and the report articulates these.