Road Quality and Mean Speed Score

May 20, 2022

Preview Citation

Format: Chicago

Marian Moszoro, and Mauricio Soto. Road Quality and Mean Speed Score, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2022) accessed December 21, 2024

Disclaimer: IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

We introduce a novel measure of cross-country road quality based on the travel mean speed between large cities from Google Maps. This measure is useful to assess road infrastructure and access gaps. Our Mean Speed (MS) score is easier to estimate and update than traditional gauges of road network quality which rely on official reports, surveys (i.e., World Economic Forum’s Quality of Roads Perception survey), or satellite imaging (i.e., World Bank’s Rural Access Index). In a sample of over 160 countries, we find that MS scores range between 38 km/h (23.6 mph) and 107 km/h (66.5 mph). We show that the MS score is a strong proxy for road quality and access.

Subject: Income, Infrastructure, National accounts

Keywords: Access to Infrastructure, Africa, B. geometric mean speed Score, Global, Income, Infrastructure, MS score, Road infrastructure, Road network characteristic, Road Quality, Sustainable Development Goals

Publication Details

Pages:

34
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2022/095
Stock No:

WPIEA2022095
ISBN:

9798400210440
ISSN:

1018-5941

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