Unlocking Transport Insights: How IRF Data is Driving Smarter, Low-Carbon Mobility
31 March 2026 | Paris, France - International Road Federation (IRF) Research and Data Analyst Aristomenis Kopsacheilis participated in the 12th Statistics Meeting hosted by the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The meeting brought together leading international organisations to exchange updates and explore new initiatives shaping the future of transport data, statistical frameworks and evidence-based policymaking.
At the center of IRF’s contribution was a discussion on how better data can unlock smarter, more sustainable transport systems. Aristomenis Kopsacheilis highlighted the critical role of the IRF’s World Road Statistics (WRS) and its evolving Data Warehouse platform in addressing one of the sector’s biggest challenges: turning fragmented, outdated national datasets into reliable, actionable global insights.
Transforming Data into Policy Intelligence
The IRF’s World Road Statistics, published annually since 1964, represents one of the most comprehensive global repositories of road and transport data. Covering over 200 countries and territories and more than 200 indicators, the WRS compiles information from primary national sources such as ministries, road authorities and statistical offices. Through a rigorous methodology which includes standardised definitions, multi-source validation and reconciliation of units, IRF ensures that the data is both accurate and internationally comparable.
Aristomenis emphasised that this process is not just technical but is foundational to effective policymaking. Without harmoniaed data, governments and institutions struggle to identify trends, measure progress or design targeted interventions.
The Data Warehouse: From Static Reports to Dynamic Insights
Building on the WRS, the IRF’s Data Warehouse introduces a new dimension: interactivity and real-time usability. The platform integrates IRF datasets with additional external sources and presents them through dynamic dashboards, enabling users to visualise patterns across countries and regions instantly.
This transformation from static reporting to interactive analytics allows stakeholders which includes governments, development banks and mobility organisations to:
- Pinpoint where transport-related emissions originate
- Identify persistent data gaps and inconsistencies
- Compare performance across regions
- Evaluate the effectiveness of policy interventions over time
By making complex datasets accessible and visually intuitive, the platform empowers decision-makers to move from observation to action more efficiently.
Addressing Emissions and Decarbonisation
A key theme of the presentation was the relationship between transport growth and emissions. Drawing on WRS data, Aristomenis illustrated the “double edge” of road transport dominance: while it supports economic development and connectivity, it also remains a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
The analysis underscored the importance of “decoupling mobility from emissions” - a central objective for achieving sustainable transport systems. Through data-driven insights, the IRF helps stakeholders identify which policy levers offer the greatest long-term impact. These may include infrastructure investment, vehicle efficiency improvements or modal shifts.
The presentation also highlighted a critical barrier: uneven data availability. Significant disparities persist between countries in terms of data quality, coverage and reporting frequency. These gaps can obscure the true scale of challenges and limit the effectiveness of global comparisons.
From Data Gaps to Data Partnerships
To address the challenges presented, IRF is actively fostering partnerships and encouraging greater participation in its data initiatives. By expanding collaboration with national authorities and international organisations, the goal is to improve data completeness, consistency, and timeliness.
Aristomenis highligted that better data is not an end in itself but is a tool for building more resilient, inclusive and decarbonised mobility systems. Reliable statistics enable agencies to detect emerging trends, prioritise investments and design policies that are both targeted and measurable.
Broader Themes from the ITF Meeting
Beyond the IRF presentation, the ITF Statistics Meeting explored several forward-looking themes shaping the future of transport data. These included the role of artificial intelligence in official statistics, innovations in data collection methods and strategies for strengthening the resilience of transport systems in the face of global disruptions.
Together, these discussions reinforced a common message: as transport systems become more complex and interconnected, the need for high-quality, interoperable data becomes ever more critical.
A Data-Driven Path Forward
The IRF’s contribution to the meeting highlighted a clear direction for the sector. By transforming fragmented datasets into coherent, verified, and globally comparable insights, the organization is helping bridge the gap between data and decision-making.
In an era defined by climate urgency and rapid technological change, such efforts are essential. With tools like the World Road Statistics and the Data Warehouse, IRF is not only advancing the quality of transport data—but also enabling the policies and investments needed to build a more sustainable mobility future.
Speaking the Same Language in Transport Data
Consistent data is the backbone of credible transport analysis, yet the field has long grappled with fragmented terminology. Without shared definitions, comparing datasets across countries or regions often results in the familiar problem of limiting the reliability of global assessments and the decisions they inform.
To address this, standardisation plays a quiet but essential role. It ensures that when transport authorities, researchers and international organisations talk about the same indicator, they actually mean the same thing.
IRF’s Contribution to a More Coherent Global Data Landscape
The International Road Federation (IRF) was invited by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Eurostat and the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD to contribute expert input to the latest revision of the Glossary for Transport Statistics. This collaboration underscores IRF’s ongoing commitment to improving the foundations of global transport data.
Representing IRF, Research and Data Analyst Aristomenis Kopsacheilis led the technical contribution. His work focused on ensuring that the definitions underpinning IRF’s World Road Statistics (WRS) align with the most current and globally accepted standards.
Why This Matters
By integrating these refined definitions into the WRS, IRF supports a more harmonised global reporting environment. This reduces inconsistencies across countries and helps data users draw clearer, more actionable insights from comparable statistics.
The goal is to move the sector closer to a shared statistical language that strengthens global understanding and reduces the noise around transport performance, safety and infrastructure trends.
About the Updated Glossary
First published in 1994, the Glossary for Transport Statistics has become a central reference for harmonising terminology across the transport sector. Now in its sixth edition, the glossary reflects contributions from UNECE, Eurostat, the ITF and experts from sectoral bodies, agencies, and member countries.
Key updates include:
- 884 harmonised definitions, fully updated across ten chapters
- Alignment with the streamlined Eurostat/ITF/UNECE Common Questionnaire on Inland Transport Statistics, set for implementation in 2026
- Adjustments to reflect evolving global transport systems, new technologies, and feedback from data producers and users worldwide
These improvements strengthen its role as a practical resource for all professionals working with transport statistics.
A Lasting Impact
The adoption of clearer, more coherent statistical definitions ultimately benefits governments, industry stakeholders, and the wider research community. It supports better benchmarking, improves international comparability, and lays the groundwork for evidence-based policy and investment decisions that rely on solid, consistent data.
IRF Engages in Global Discussions on Open Transport Data
The International Road Federation (IRF) joined the Transport Data Commons (TDC) Global Launch Workshop at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow on 23-24 February 2026, where global actors working on transport data convened to advance collaboration on open and accessible data systems.
Julia Funk, IRF Head of Data, Programmes and Knowledge, participated in the workshop and joined a panel discussion examining how open data practices can catalyse systemic change across the transport sector.
The TDC is a coalition of more than 30 leading transport organisations working to establish a shared, public, frequently updated and globally accessible database for transportation. Its objective is to ensure that meaningful data is readily available to stakeholders worldwide who are advancing sustainable, low-carbon transport and mobility systems. By aligning data standards and facilitating interoperability, the initiative seeks to strengthen evidence-based decision-making across policy, finance, operations and research.
During the discussion, Julia drew on lessons from the IRF’s flagship data programme, the World Road Statistics (WRS), which has been compiled annually since 1964 and now covers over 200 countries and territories across more than 200 indicators.
She highlighted the fundamental shift required in how transport data is framed and used, moving beyond counting infrastructure expansion toward measuring performance and development outcomes. This transformation requires a wide range of indicators that capture access to essential services, safety performance, climate resilience, alongside other indicators related to development objectives.
Since transitioning to broader public access in 2022, IRF’s WRS platform has experienced a substantial increase in usage, demonstrating how removing barriers can accelerate uptake, partnerships and policy relevance. She underscored the operational realities of maintaining high-quality, trusted datasets: consistent engagement with national statistical sources, semantic harmonisation, longitudinal consistency and human-led validation remain essential components of credible global data systems.
The workshop further explored how initiatives such as TDC can function as connective infrastructure, linking datasets, platforms and standards to provide a more coherent picture of transport performance globally. This systems-level approach is particularly relevant to tracking implementation efforts under the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport and ensuring that progress can be measured in a consistent and transparent manner.
