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The strategic importance of roads in economic development

Sustainable and global solutions for chronic road congestion

Roads remain the fundamental backbone of modern economies, providing unmatched territorial reach, flexibility, and connectivity compared to other transport modes. Evidence from institutions such as the World Bank, the World Road Association, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development shows that road infrastructure investment delivers strong economic returns, particularly in road-dependent countries. As vehicle growth outpaces capacity expansion worldwide, the key challenge is shifting from simply building more roads to managing existing networks more efficiently, sustainably, and strategically.

24 Feb, 2026
Tall price elasticity

Toll price elasticity: Think dynamic, not static

Toll roads have evolved from simple funding mechanisms into tools for managing congestion and road use. For operators, accurately forecasting traffic is essential, and toll price is one of the key drivers. Price elasticity describes how traffic responds to changes in tolls and is typically estimated through historical data or user surveys. Although standard elasticity ranges—often differing by vehicle type—are widely used, actual values can vary significantly depending on contextual factors.

11 Dec, 2025
Road monitoring in the age of AI: challenges, solutions, and regional perspectives

Road monitoring in the age of AI: challenges, solutions, and regional perspectives

Highways are essential for economic growth and connectivity, yet traditional monitoring methods are costly, limited, and often subjective. As infrastructure demands increase and budgets tighten, smarter solutions are required. The integration of Artificial Intelligence, computer vision, and sensor-based systems is transforming how roads are inspected and maintained, enabling a more accurate and proactive approach that improves safety, resilience, and efficiency.

04 Dec, 2025
Car parking Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s parking sector: building investor confidence through PPPs and global alignment

Saudi Arabia is transforming its urban mobility landscape under Vision 2030 by positioning parking as a strategic enabler of smarter, more sustainable cities. Through pioneering PPP projects, regulatory reforms, and digital innovations, the Kingdom is modernizing its parking sector, improving congestion management, accessibility, and environmental sustainability.

06 Oct, 2025
The Future of Highways: AI and Autonomous Vehicles

"Back to the Future" of highways: Our technological vision for the sector

Technological innovation is transforming the highway sector through the convergence of AI, connected and autonomous vehicles, and mobile technologies. These advances are redefining how highways are planned, operated, and maintained—enhancing safety, optimizing efficiency, and unlocking new revenue and strategic opportunities for forward-looking operators.

28 Jul, 2025
Connecting the Gulf: The GCC railway project

Connecting the Gulf: The GCC railway and the future of regional integration

The GCC Railway project is one of the most ambitious regional integration efforts in the Middle East. Spanning over 2,100 km and backed by $240 billion in investment, it aims to transform transport, trade, and mobility across six countries. To realize its full potential, overcoming interoperability challenges and ensuring technical, operational, and regulatory alignment will be essential. If executed with vision and collaboration, the railway can become a powerful driver of economic and social cohesion in the Gulf.

07 Jul, 2025
railway infrastructure

Railway infrastructure and urban value capture: Towards an integrated development model

In recent years, railways have regained prominence in Mexico’s national infrastructure agenda. The development of new railway lines presents a historic opportunity to modernize infrastructure, bridge territorial disparities, and enhance the sustainability of the country's transport system. However, ensuring the long-term financial viability and success of these initiatives requires an integrated and strategic vision.

25 Jun, 2025
Autonomous truck

The road ahead: how electrification and automation will transform the trucking sector

The trucking sector is on the cusp of a major transformation driven by two technological revolutions: electrification and automation. As the global focus on sustainability and efficiency intensifies, manufacturers, regulators, and logistics companies must adapt to these emerging trends. This shift will not only reshape trucking operations but also redefine the entire transportation and logistics sector and influence broader infrastructure planning. 

25 Mar, 2025
Public transport in urban environments

How can policymakers encourage the use of public transport in urban environments?

The dominance of private transportation in metropolitan areas has led to worsening congestion, pollution, and social inclusion challenges amid population growth and the climate crisis. Despite global efforts to promote public transport, results are mixed. Cases like Lisbon show that fare cuts or isolated measures often fall short in reducing car use, highlighting the need for combined policies to improve transit services and discourage car reliance for effective urban mobility solutions.

05 Nov, 2024
Railway sector in the African continent

Reform schemes for African railway and road networks

Over the past decades, the efficiency of railways across the African continent has been compromised by outdated infrastructure and limited maintenance. While there are exceptions, notably in the Republic of South Africa and Northern Africa, African railways significantly lag behind those in other regions.

02 Oct, 2023
Brazilian roadways concessions: an overview

Brazilian roadways concessions: an overview

Since the launch of the first transport network concession initiative more than three decades ago, Brazil has been working to improve its road infrastructure operation alternatives. Within a context of public resources scarcity for highway maintenance and recuperation, the Concession Program was created in 1988, with the subsequent Working Group creation for the implementation of the Federal Highway Concession Program (PROCROFE) in 1993.

14 Sep, 2023
Perspectives on the future of rail freight transport in Spain

Perspectives on the future of rail freight transport in Spain

Rail freight transport in Spain stagnated during the last two decades, despite market liberalization in the mid-2000s. In 2022, transport raised to 10.4 million ton-kilometers, 7% below 2007 levels, the first year of effective liberalization.

17 Aug, 2023
Cargo Sous Terrain (CST)

The Cargo Sous Terrain (CST) solution for the automated end-to-end delivery of goods

Cargo Sous Terrain (CST) is a private sector initiative to build a network of underground tunnels for the automated end-to-end delivery of goods in Switzerland. ALG had the opportunity to work in a challenging and amazing project assessing the future demand of this innovative underground transport logistics system.

07 Aug, 2023
Railways: Authorization Regime

Railways: Authorization Regime

The first investments in railroads in Brazil were made to serve the massive production of coffee for exportation between 1854-1905. The need of transport infrastructure to carry out the grains produced for the ports, in particular to Santos, major port in Southeast of São Paulo, started the expansion of the Brazilian rail network.

29 Jun, 2022
Intercity buses - PPP process in KSA

Intercity buses - PPP process in KSA

The intercity bus services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been served by a single operator since 1979. The Transport General Authority is leading the liberalization of the market in KSA targeting to serve all the kingdom with the best class services.

04 Apr, 2022
Hydrogen trains - Is it a sustainable option for freight transport?

Hydrogen trains - Is it a sustainable option for freight transport?

It is known that transport is one of the major contributors to global climate change, responsible for one quarter of global energy related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and one sixth of total emissions, in conjunction with the fastest growing emissions sector.

20 Dec, 2021
Insights on post-pandemic mobility: the case of Spain

Insights on post-pandemic mobility: the case of Spain

The understanding of future mobility is a subject of continuous questioning, as views adapt to new perspectives and outcomes driven by technological breakthroughs, new business models and regulations, as well as the pandemic trajectory.

20 Dec, 2021
Intercity buses - Could it be the most sustainable option for interurban demand in the future?

Intercity buses - Could it be the most sustainable option for interurban demand in the future?

When considering a public transport for interurban demand, rail and air are top of mind while bus is usually the minority player. Although road travel is the most flexible mode due to infrastructure availability, choice of destinations and level of journey customization, affordability and convenience, its growth hasn’t kept up.

20 Dec, 2021
Road Safety

Road Safety

Safety is a major contributor on social impact in road infrastructure. In fact, it holds a significant share of the potential benefits included in the Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) of road projects and therefore, it plays a key role on the decision making process in infrastructure investment and social feasibility thereof.

31 Aug, 2021
Air vs. Rail: can rivals become partners?

Air vs. Rail: can rivals become partners?

Air and rail are two important transport modes that historically had limited interaction, with perhaps the exception of airport express trains. Nevertheless, technological developments such as the high-speed railway services and the increasing importance of environmental preservation in the national agendas have prompted railways to become serious competitors to air transport.

19 Nov, 2020
Road maintenance strategy

Road maintenance strategy

Roads require maintenance works during all their life cycle, depending mainly on traffic intensity (focusing on heavy vehicles), time and environment. There are three basic types of maintenance strategies: preventive, corrective and replacement.

19 Nov, 2020
Road freight reform in emerging markets

Road freight reform in emerging markets

In many emerging markets, the performance of the road freight industry is too weak to unleash its full potential in contributing to social and economic development.

02 Jul, 2020
Is it time for the on-demand mobility services?

Is it time for the on-demand mobility services?

The on-demand strategy mobility services aims to provide a better transport service in areas with low demand, and so with a reduced offer, while guaranteeing greater efficiency in the use of resources.

02 Jul, 2020
What is Urban Mobility learning from COVID-19?

What is Urban Mobility learning from COVID-19?

Cities account for more than 55 percent of the world’s population, as part of a rapidly growing trend that forces us to face challenges in every aspect of urban society: real estate and rental prices are increasing, urban mobility is increasingly challenging, pollution is becoming an important issue, and many others.

09 Apr, 2020
Is your cross-border infrastructure project ready for financing?

Is your cross-border infrastructure project ready for financing?

ALG has developed a new project assessment tool called Quick Check Methodology (QCM), which will help the most ambitious infrastructure development initiative in Africa —the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA)— assess highly-complex transboundary project maturity levels, identify gaps and assure the quality of project proposals required to obtain much-needed financing.

09 Apr, 2020
How are we going to fund these wonderful Spanish highways?

How are we going to fund these wonderful Spanish highways?

In a few years many Spanish highway concessions will expire. In fact, some concessions already expired in 2018 and earlier in 2019, and there is a pressing need to rethink the infrastructure development model.

07 Nov, 2019
Is digitalisation truly useful for urban mobility?

Is digitalisation truly useful for urban mobility?

Big cities are undergoing major changes in the way citizens behave, and mobility is a good example. Nowadays, transport-sharing companies are flooding cities with cars, motorcycles, bicycles and even scooters. However, the private car seems to remain untouchable.

06 Jun, 2019
The new Dakar BRT

The new Dakar BRT

The new BRT system project in Dakar was officially launched by the Minister of Infrastructure, Land Transport and Development of Senegal on 18 September 2018.

07 Feb, 2019
The Channel Tunnel. Success or failure?

The Channel Tunnel. Success or failure?

The Channel Tunnel is 50.5 km-long railway tunnel under the English Channel, linking Folkestone in Kent (UK) with Coquelles in Pas de Calais (France), operated by Eurotunnel under a concession from the British and French Governments that runs until 2086.

02 Jul, 2018
Rail Infrastructure in Africa

Rail Infrastructure in Africa

Railway transport is a mature industry in the developed world which is experiencing a remarkable comeback after a period of decline. The rediscovered allure of railways is underpinned by its capacity to move huge volumes of freight or passengers in an energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly way.

02 Jul, 2018
Success factors in BRT systems

Success factors in BRT systems

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a high capacity, low cost public transit solution that can significantly improve urban mobility.  This system uses specialized buses on dedicated lanes to transport passengers quickly and efficiently, while offering the flexibility to meet transit demand.

27 Nov, 2017
Rail as the economic development axis of Africa's new economy

Rail as the economic development axis of Africa's new economy

The Standard Gauge Railway project (SGR) is one of the most important infrastructure development projects in Africa. The SGR will provide a key structure for transport in East Africa, by connecting the Indian Ocean with the interior of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

27 Apr, 2017
Reducing uncertainty in investment opportunities in road infrastructure

Reducing uncertainty in investment opportunities in road infrastructure

After a difficult period during the economic crisis, investment funds are increasingly identifying attractive highway projects in a growing secondary market. In order to provide sound and robust traffic projections with a clear understanding of the potential risks associated, the elasticity of traffic to GDP is the key driver to analyze.

23 Jan, 2017
Investing in gas stations. Assessing the key drivers of the fuel retail business performance

Investing in gas stations. Assessing the key drivers of the fuel retail business performance

Despite the buzz about the impending arrival to the mobility industry of disruptive technologies and business models, motorization rates continue to increase globally driven by the economic growth and increasing purchasing power registered in emerging areas of the world, such as Latam, Africa or Asia.

23 Jan, 2017
Parking Sector: trends, uncertainties and a future vision

Parking Sector: trends, uncertainties and a future vision

The Parking sector in Spain is proving very dynamic in terms of takeover operations and concession tendering, due to the prospects of high revenues and profitability in the coming years. After a difficult period during the economic crisis, the sector has started a sustained recovery with increases in occupancy rates and revenues per parking place.

04 Oct, 2016

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