The fonds consists of records that reflect the various activities of the transport sector in the World Bank. The fonds includes: research materials and background documentation; operational support and project-related records; seminar, conference and workshop materials; and appraisal software user manuals. The records in this fonds were created, collected, and used by transport-related departments beginning in the late 1960s with the Transportation Projects Department (TRP) through to the Infrastructure and Urban Development Department (IUD) in the late 1980s.

The majority of records contained in this fonds relate to research projects and operational support and are authored by the various departmental incarnations of the transport sector as well as by consultants and other World Bank departments. Research and discussion papers on the topic of transport infrastructure development are numerous as are country, project, and technology background studies and reports. Correspondence and memoranda related to the creation and review of these papers are also included. Topics include road location, design, deterioration, maintenance, and upgrading; surface treatments; traffic simulations; rural traffic; pavement and soils; drainage; railways; maritime transport; and climate studies. Records relating to collaboration with external organizations, universities, and national aid agencies are also included. Project evaluation and development materials, loan appraisals, terms of reference, project loan recommendations and related memoranda, and project reviews and audits are present in small amounts. Note that many of the records in these types were created by, commented on, and/or received by William D. O. Paterson, Senior Engineer of the Infrastructure and Urban Development Department Transport Development Division (INUTD). Included in Paterson's files are chronological files, country files, working papers, and extensive records on transport infrastructure projects in Indonesia in the 1980s. Also note that the fonds contains a group of project, operations, sector, and technological reference records as well as World Bank information and policy records that were organized within a single classification scheme in the Transportation Department (TRP, 1983-1987). Reports, memoranda, and correspondence are the most common record form, while topics are wide ranging.

The fonds contains a large amount of records related to the Highway Design and Maintenance Standards Models (HDMS) and to projects that served as the basis for their creation. The HDMS was a tool initially conceived in 1969 by Transport Department engineers and later incorporated external academics and consultants. Its purpose was to meet the needs of highway authorities, particularly in developing countries, for evaluating policies, standards, and programs of road construction and maintenance. The project was concerned with various topics related to highway maintenance and construction, including design, evaluation, damage, costs, pavement performance, and deterioration.The project had at least four iterations. While the majority of the records in this fonds concern HDMS III, released in 1985 and researched and prepared over the previous decade, a significant amount of reports and background materials from the earliest years of the project are also included. Project records include budget materials, research and project proposals, reports, research and discussion papers, user manuals, training materials, and drafts of papers and feedback. HDMS II and III were largely based on primary studies undertaken in Kenya, Brazil, India, and the Caribbean. The fonds includes extensive records from the Brazilian and Indian studies, including reports, working papers, data, notes, memoranda, calculations, correspondence, back-to-office reports, project files, and seminar and presentation notes.

Also included in this fonds are records related to the Transportation Projects Department (TRP) between 1967 and 1972. Records relate to World Bank/United Nations Development Programme projects in the Far East during the years 1968-1972. Much of these records are correspondence between the Department and outside consulting agencies that performed the project research. The files concern the scope of projects, consultative fees, contracts, negotiations with the contracted agencies, and periodic progress reports. A wide array of transportation-related projects is represented.

Also included is a small amount of records relating to seminars, training and workshops. Many of these events were organized by the Transportation Department (TRP, 1983-1987) and Infrastructure and Urban Development Department Transport Development Division (INUTD); records of this type date from between 1986 and 1991 and include speeches and background reports on a variety of Transportation-related topics along with event planning records. As well, a number of records relating to the attendance of and participation in external conferences, seminars, and symposiums by transportation sector staff are also included.

Finally, the fonds includes user manuals for appraisal software used for operational projects. The software includes: Financial Analysis System (FAST), Port Simulation Model (PORTSIM), Cost Benefit Package (CBPACK), and the Road Analysis Model (RAM). The manuals found here, as well as the software itself, was developed by the Transportation and Urban Projects Department (TRU) with the assistance of the Computing Activities Department during the early to mid 1970s.

The fonds also includes records related to the Construction Industry (CI) Adviser Helmut Kadner and his staff from 1981 to 1984. The records include drafts of construction industry papers prepared by CI staff with comments, which were prepared for the Construction Industry in Developing Countries Seminar held in February 1984.