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The International Road Federation (IRF) is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization that promotes the development and maintenance of roads, with a focus on safety and sustainability. The organization has two key functions, providing expertise on road issues to governments and financial institutions and serving as a network for its members. The members of the IRF range from national governments to construction firms and environmental groups and are located across six continents.〔(IRF Homepage - About ) Retrieved 18 November 2011.〕 The organization is funded primarily through member fees. The IRF is perhaps best known as the publisher of World Road Statistics (WRS), the authoritative collection of statistics used by the World Bank.〔(World Bank - WRS ) Retrieved 18 November 2011〕 WRS was first published in 1964. World Road Statistics contains detailed country profiles and sections on road networks, traffic, multimodal traffic comparisons, vehicles, road accidents, production, imports, first registrations and exports, road expenditures and energy.〔(Transport Business - WRS ) Retrieved 18 November 2011〕 The World Bank uses WRS in publishing its own World Development Indicators. The IRF seeks to promote the benefits of a sustainable road transport infrastructure at all levels of society. It organizes seminars, workshops and events for a broad range of audiences throughout the world. IRF has a number of publications and a transport knowledge library. ==History== The IRF was established in 1948 in Washington DC, USA following the end of World War II. Due to massive damage sustained by roads and bridges during the war and an emphasis on a wartime economy, coupled with shortages of gasoline and road-building materials, road networks were neglected and in need of improvement.〔(IRF News - History ) Retrieved 18 November 2011〕 New road building technologies and more efficient utilization of highway transport had been developed during the war. However, these were understood and applied in only a relatively few countries. IRF took a leading role in the post war reconstruction of road networks. IRF was granted a special consultative status with the United Nations in 1951 as both an economic and technical expert body in the exchange and application of best practices in road planning and construction. IRF participates in the work of the UNECE, BSEC, EU, World Bank and the European Committee for Standardization.〔(IRF News - History ) Retrieved 18 November 2011〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「International Road Federation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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