2022 IMPACT INTERNATIONAL ROAD ASSESSMENT PROGRAMME

"The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” Mahatma Gandhi

3-star or better roads and designs are a key solution.

They save lives and prevent serious injuries.

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OUR VISION

A world free of high-risk roads.

OUR APPROACH

We provide the free globally recognised iRAP methodology, tools, training and support to governments, mobility clubs, development banks, road safety NGOs, industry, research institutions and academia in over 100 countries to help them make their roads safer.

OUR VALUES

Shared purpose, passionate people - We know the value of one life and we’re here to save thousands.

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Honest and evidence-based - We draw on global evidence and best practice for life-saving solutions.

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Shared goals, shared success - iRAP and 26,000 partners; sleeves rolled up, to save lives.

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We get things done - No life is saved until a road is upgraded and we’ll go the extra mile until that is done.

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We are family and friends.

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We are innovative - We look to the future and opportunities to continuously improve. We listen and know that ideas to improve and innovate can come from everyone, everywhere. We create an environment and framework for innovation.

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iRAP staff ranked our charity 4.6 out of 5-stars as a great place to work aligned to our core values.

"iRAP is an awesome place to work. Colleagues with such passion are a rare find." iRAP staff member

With the donor support of the FIA Foundation, the following is just a small snapshot of iRAP and our partners' activities and successes in 2022 delivering the charity's global approach and tools to eliminate high-risk roads. Our partners' success is the charity's success. Their incredible passion and tireless work inspires us every day and we applaud their courage, tenacity and success. Enjoy our 2022 journey!

UN HIGH-LEVEL MEETING FOR ROAD SAFETY

Working with Presidents and Prime Ministers of countries

Recognising the unacceptable scale of road trauma globally, World Leaders gathered in New York on 30 June and 1 July for the first ever UN High-level Meeting for Road Safety. Commitment was sought for an increase in investment and action to ensure the SDG goal to halve road deaths and injuries by 2030 is met.

The iRAP team went to work:

• 153 letters were sent to the United Nations Permanent Missions and Heads of State (Presidents and Prime Ministers) advocating for their participation and prioritisation of safer roads in their countries.
• 60 responses and national partners were supported to lobby from the ground-up.
• We collaborated with the leading global road safety agencies to maximise event and advocacy opportunities.
• An iRAP in Countries Progress Summary was published sharing partners’ work in 150 countries, supported by a filterable online database.
• A 3-star or Better Policy Showcase was shared of global and national road safety strategies and action plans which include targets for safer road infrastructure. With potential for safer roads in every country on earth, they are inspiring examples for all countries to follow.
• On-the-ground in New York, the team met with Heads of State and their transport ministers to share the potential of safer roads and the way forward.

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The Global Plan for the Decade of Action was embraced by many, along with the goal to achieve UN Targets 3 and 4:

Implementation of iRAP in countries was shared and championed by many.

“Where we should be going as a road safety community is engaging more broadly with other issues like the climate partners, the urban design partners and really making this a common cause. We can’t do that successfully unless we have data led, evidence-based programmes which we can prove reduce road traffic fatalities like the International Road Assessment Programme." Saul Billingsley, Executive Director, FIA Foundation

See the event summary and more outcomes here.

OUR GOAL

A world where all children travel safely to and from school.

GLOBAL IMPACT

Also this year, SR4S has:

• Helped to shape the agenda and practice for safe walking referenced in globally significant publications such as: School Streets: Putting Children and the Planet First - A Political Economy Analysis of the Rise of School Streets in Europe and Around the World; United Nations' Walking and Cycling in Africa Report; UNICEF Child and Adolescent Road Safety Technical Guidance; Youth for Road Safety (YOURS) Policymakers’ Toolkit; FIA School Assessment Toolkit; and ITF Safe System Approaches in Action Report
• Been a global voice championing for child safety on streets with representation on the Cities for Children Global Alliance and Child Health Advocacy Hub for #StreetsforLife
• Met the needs of partners worldwide with a technical model review responsive to Lead Partner and app user feedback and multi-lingual resources in 5 languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Hindi)

Ai&Me Project innovating safety for school children in Vietnam and beyond

The AI&Me: Empower Youth for Safer Roads Project funded by Fondation Botnar and FIA Foundation, is being delivered by AIP Foundation, with support from iRAP and Anditi. The project has achieved major impact for safer school journeys in Vietnam this year including:

• Development of a Big Data Screening Methodology enabling the desktop analysis of big data for Ho Chi Minh City, Pleiku and Yen Bai. The analysis identified the 106 highest risk schools for further road safety investigation and prioritised investment from a total of 1,063 schools.
• Launch of the YEA Youth Engagement App piloted with 1,800 students mapping where they feel safe and unsafe on their walk to school.
• Informed by the findings, the project will star rate the safety of the schools using the Star Rating for Schools application.
• Work with local government decision-makers to implement infrastructure improvements at 18 priority schools.

“Today is the day that students will take charge in ensuring that their cities are safe. The YEA puts young voices at the heart of solving the global road safety crisis.” Hoang Na Huong, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, AIP Foundation

“I think that the YEA is a fantastic tool to create safer streets in my neighbourhood. With the App, I can easily alert the local authorities and let them know where there is a danger. This App makes me feel safer. It also makes me feel like I am a part of the solution, which gives me the power to make an impact.” Dang Phan, a local youth from Nguyen Hue High School

“We are excited about the Big Data Methodology, the insights it has revealed and very targeted road safety improvements it will make possible in the three cities. We’re also excited by its global potential to make schools journeys safer in the most cost-effective way far beyond the borders of Vietnam.” iRAP Project Manager, Shanna Lucchesi

Funding Global Impact Through the FIA Club Network

Following the success of the 2021 Federation Internationale de L'Automobile (FIA) Road Safety Grant Programme which disseminated €250,000 to 10 auto clubs world-wide, the 2022 Grants offered member clubs up to €25,000 per School Assessment Project to upgrade at least one school zone through projects that apply the 10 steps of the School Assessment Toolkit and SR4S. We are proud to work with the FIA and mobility club network in 146 countries to deliver safer roads and streets.

See our whole year of Star Rating for Schools' partner impact at https://starratingforschools.org/latest-news/

IN FOCUS: SR4D PARTNERSHIPS SAVING LIVES

iRAP and ORIS to optimise the safety and sustainability of road designs

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iRAP and digital start-up ORIS signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will see iRAP safety performance data integrated into ORIS’ pavement design platforms. Supported by Artificial Intelligence, the ORIS Digital Pavement Design and Material Management Platform gathers data on locally available construction materials and international and local standards, and considers factors like expected traffic and weather conditions to assess the carbon and cost life cycle impacts of different designs. It employs a unique material sourcing database, which helps link projects to locally available and recyclable materials to encourage a circular economy. The integration of iRAP data into the platform will enable road designers to also prioritise safety in sustainable designs. The MOU follows a successful pilot project in Uzbekistan, with the ORIS team trained to perform iRAP assessments and include the results in their road assessment dashboard.

“We are proud to partner with iRAP to support our customers in positioning road safety as a key element of their project design, at the same level as environmental concerns and cost-efficiency. It is a great step towards enabling a holistic, sustainable, safe and responsible approach to road pavement design.” Nicolas Miravalls, CEO, ORIS

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Global Road Designers provide input to SR4D

A new global Road Designers Consultation Group was formed to provide valuable insights into how we achieve the shared global goal of safe road designs, with a star rating for every road design on earth. Over 100 nominations were received from road designers in nearly 50 countries keen to join the group and provide a road designer’s perspective on effective advocacy and development of the SR4D programme and tools. The shortlisted Group comprises experts with extensive experience, drawn from the private sector, public sector and NGOs, from each region of the world.

OUR GOAL

A Star Rating for every road on Earth every year.

“AiRAP has the potential to create the scale of change needed to save millions of lives.”

GLOBAL IMPACT

• Crowdsourcing the world’s best AI and road safety minds for a global solution
• 22 innovation partnerships with world-leading data agencies
• Pilot projects in Australia, Ethiopia and Kenya (complete), as well as USA, Vietnam, Europe and Brazil
• Accreditation of data to the iRAP global standard
• 3 AiRAP Accredited Data Suppliers
• A global voice championing data innovation at agenda-setting events such as the Fourth Global Standards Symposium. iRAP joined UN Special Envoy for Road Safety Jean Todt and global AI innovators calling for technical standards to support progress towards global socio-economic and environmental goals.

Australian innovation project leads world on automated data capture for RAP assessments

Video credit: iRAP

An Australian iMOVE project pioneered innovative approaches for capturing road feature data for road safety Star Ratings. The project delivered 20,000km of road attribute data for the New South Wales' road network using TomTom’s MN-R data, as well as proved feature extraction techniques and machine learning for LiDAR data. The project was led by Transport for NSW (TfNSW) and included the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), iRAP and Australian geospatial data experts, Anditi. Part of iRAP’s global ‘AiRAP’ initiative, the project proved rapid, scalable and repeatable methods for road data extraction, breaking ground for the rest of the world to follow.

IN FOCUS: TRAINING & ACCREDITATION PARTNERSHIPS SAVING LIVES

Igniting the youth voice for road safety

iRAP tools like Star Rating for Schools have helped partners provide training and engage a broad range of stakeholders in road safety.

Roadside surveys conducted in teams, role played appeals to decision-makers, and a social media challenge, were all part of an innovative “Safer Roads Save our Lives” Workshop held in August in West Java coinciding with International Day of Youth. The workshop was led by Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety Youth Leadership Board Member and iRAP mentored Estiara Ellizar. Nearly 60 students and teachers of Junior High School 22 Bandung City in West Java, seven project facilitators and representatives from the Department of Transport and 3M Indonesia gathered for the event which aimed to educate and empower youth voices for road safety supported by Star Rating for Schools.

19 new Accredited Practitioners hit the road in Tanzania

The Ten Step Tanzania Project facilitated the rapid training and accreditation of 19 iRAP Accredited Practitioners in the country, positioning TanRAP well to eliminate high-risk roads. Nearly 500 stakeholders took part in capacity building activities that included training in road safety engineering, audit and the iRAP methodology leading to rapid growth in certified road safety auditors and iRAP Accredited Practitioners. From a starting position of no accredited practitioners, Tanzania now ranks #2 in the world for iRAP Accreditation.

See all our iRAP Accredited Practitioners at https://irap.org/accreditation/ and training courses at https://irap.org/training/. Sign up to stay abreast of training and accreditation news here.

Prime Minister's Award for Excellence

ThaiRAP was awarded a prestigious Prime Minister’s National Award for its outstanding efforts and commitment to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on Thailand’s roads.

• ThaiRAP and its partners have Star Rated 50,000km of roads, designs and school zones.
• Thailand’s New Roads Policy aims for all new roads to achieve the global 3-star or better target.
• Department of Rural Roads (DRR)’s iRAP-endorsed Road Safety Audit System (RSAS) has analysed the risk scores for rural road segments of its 47,303km road network based on the iRAP Star Rating methodology. Within two years, 1,309 risk spots have been investigated and treated, and crashes and fatalities have been reduced by 71% and 75% respectively.
• ThaiRAP is led by iRAP Centre of Excellence Chulalongkorn University.

For more information on ThaiRAP, click here.

Bringing experts together for safer European roads and streets

Key European partners gathered on 3 October in Barcelona to discuss enhanced cooperation and coordination for the financing and delivery of safer roads and streets for Europe. The workshop brought together decision-makers from the European Investment Bank (EIB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), POLIS Network, Conference of European Directors of Roads (CEDR), EuroRAP, European Institute of Road Assessment (EIRA), International Transport Forum (ITF), FIA Foundation, Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Region I, iRAP and Road Safety Foundation (RSF). World Bank, International Road Federation (IRF) Geneva, IRF Global and the European Commission contributed remotely.

Supporting RISM and transnational projects for impact on scale

20 EuroRAP national schemes have established national champions to support countries in implementing safer roads and the Road Infrastructure Safety Management (RISM) Directive. Two new transnational projects - SABRINA and PHOEBE - have brought partners and countries together with impressive outcomes.

SABRINA (SAFER BICYCLE ROUTES IN THE DANUBE AREA)

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The 2.5-year €2.08 million SABRINA Project concluded in 2022 in the framework of Danube Transnational Programme (Interreg), co-funded by the European Union Funds (ERDF, ENI). Crossing nine countries, it tackled cycling infrastructure safety issues on existing, planned and missing cycling corridors. Approximately 2,500km of bicycle routes were inspected and national stakeholders trained to improve bicycle infrastructure safety in the region. A new Safe Cycling Routes Toolkit (SCRT) was launched in Europe as an outcome of the project, providing a modular interactive online decision-making support tool to guide users through the process of defining new cycling routes and improving the safety of existing routes for cyclists.

Enjoy a European cycle tour led by the SABRINA team

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PROJECT PHOEBE (PREDICTIVE APPROACHES FOR SAFER URBAN ENVIRONMENTS)

Project PHOEBE, one of the approved projects for the Horizon 2022 grant funded by the European Union, will run for 45 months and involve 11 sector-leading partners to develop an integrated, dynamic and scalable human-centred predictive safety assessment framework for all road user types in urban areas. It seeks to build on the strengths of both iRAP’s road safety assessment tools and AIMSUN’s simulation and Artificial Intelligence for mobility. It will bring together the inter-disciplinary power of traffic simulation, road safety assessment, human behaviour, mode shift and induced demand modelling, as well as new and emerging mobility data to deliver world-leading and innovative safety prediction tools.

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United Kingdom inspires

The United Kingdom was one of four countries that founded the global iRAP programme. The United Kingdom RAP Programme continues to inspire and receive accolades of success:

• 20 years of annual performance tracking of infrastructure safety - cumulatively, 893,887 km of roads have been assessed and every year the Road Safety Foundation (RSF) publishes a crash risk map of all motorways and A roads in Great Britain.
• The Road Safety Foundation (RSF) and RAC Foundation, along with the Department for Transport, was awarded a Prince Michael International Road Safety Award for their “fine example of collaboration” and the “outstanding achievement” of the Safer Roads Fund. Based on RSF's crash risk mapping analysis, the Government launched a £100 million Safer Roads Fund to address safety on England’s 50 highest risk local A roads. The Safer Roads Fund is anticipated to prevent over 1,450 fatal and serious injuries over the next 20 years, with a benefit of £550 million.
• National Highways undertakes an iRAP Star Rating programme every 5 years. Recently published results showed the performance indicator for 90% of travel to be on 3-star or better roads by 2020 was surpassed, with 96% achieved.
• National Highways is using the iRAP approach throughout the organisation for strategic planning of investment, prioritisation of routes to be treated, and to ensure new road designs are as safe as they can be.

EuroRAP Lunchtime Seminar Series builds capacity in Europe and the world

EuroRAP's Lunchtime Seminar Series included six webinars this year on a range of topics to promote upskilling in the use of RAP Tools, performance tracking and developing effective national schemes. It's just one way the programme is servicing its members and #RAPCommunity.

New RAPs shaping

In 2022, interest for new RAPs was supported in United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Tunisia, El Salvador, Nigeria, Malawi, Bahrain, Qatar, Zambia, Israel, Paraguay, Philippines, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala, Chile, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Eswatini and Uzbekistan.

A number of new partnerships are set to foster success:

iRAP and Aleatica Foundation sign MOU for road safety in Mexico

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iRAP and the Aleatica Foundation for Road Safety signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together to reduce Mexico’s road injury burden through the organization of projects and programmes to increase road safety. The Aleatica Foundation is a non-profit, civil association in Mexico constituted by Aleatica, the global transport infrastructure operator that manages 20 road concessions in seven countries, nine urban highways, and seven interstate corridors, which together handle over 353 trillion vehicles annually. The company plans to invest 94.5 million euros in road safety projects over the next 4 years.

Working together for safe roads in Morocco

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iRAP also worked with the National Road Safety Agency (NARSA) and General Department of Roads to shape a Memorandum of Understanding to work together to eliminate high-risk roads in Morocco. In a step towards the establishment MoroRAP, iRAP and La Société Nationale des Autoroutes du Maroc (ADM) agreed to assess 200kms of roads in Morocco, and train and accredit ADM personnel. ADM is Morocco’s national authority for the management of over 1,800 km of Moroccan highways.

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IN FOCUS: ROAD UPGRADE PARTNERSHIPS SAVING LIVES

Certification programme launched to celebrate 3-star or better success

Following a successful pilot recognising upgrades in China and Indonesia, iRAP launched its Star Rating Certification Programme to help road owners celebrate the life-saving impact of their investments in safer roads. Star Rating Certification verifies achievement of 3-star or better safety ratings on road networks for vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, pedestrians and/or bicyclists.

Transurban achieves 4-star demonstrating international leadership in urban toll road safety

Australian urban toll road operator Transurban was awarded iRAP Certification for achieving a 4-star safety rating on its network by vehicle kilometres travelled, exceeding the National Road Safety Target of 90 per cent of travel at 3-star or better for national highways.

“As an industry leader, we set high standards for our performance on safety, social and environmental issues. We are committed to design our roads to deliver 3-star or better safety performance and lasting benefits to our communities.” Elizabeth Waller, Head of Road Safety, Transurban

Six year programme in Lebanon

Following an iRAP assessment of more than 6,000km of roads in Lebanon in 2016 and World Bank-funded infrastructure upgrades, road safety audit training led by the University of Zagreb Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences (FPZ) continues today helping to improve road safety in the country.

“It’s good to see the collaborative efforts of local development partners and iRAP assessments from 2016 resulting in actual improvements on the road network in Lebanon.” Prof Marko Sevrovic, Head of the Transport Planning Department, FPZ

A global problem requires a global solution.

OUR GOAL

To bring world experts together to harness the power of innovation and partnerships to eliminate high-risk roads.

OUR GLOBAL IMPACT

• A framework to govern road safety innovation
• Innovation Partnerships with more than 64 global partners
• iRAP Centres of Excellence in 11 countries ensuring latest research informs practice
• Global Technical Committee and Global Policy Advisory Committees providing independent evidence-based input direct to the iRAP Board

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IN FOCUS: INNOVATION PARTNERSHIPS SAVING LIVES

CycleRAP launches for safer cycling

Following successful pilots in Europe and four years of research development in consultation with global cycling and safety experts, CycleRAP was launched at the Velo-city Conference on 14 June in Slovenia. Building on the existing bicycle Star Rating model, CycleRAP is an easy, affordable and fast method of evaluating bicycling and light mobility road infrastructure for safety, without the need for crash data. It will power software tools used for pinpointing and mapping where crashes are likely to occur and inform countermeasures to improve safety. The model is being developed for global application under the guidance of an expert CycleRAP Advisory Group.

“CycleRAP is the first globally-applicable model of its kind. Safety for bicycling and other forms of light mobility are critical for cities moving toward more healthy and environmentally friendly modes.” Monica Olyslagers, Global Innovation Manager and Cities Specialist, iRAP

New and improved Road Safety Toolkit launched

To support the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021 – 2030, the new and improved Road Safety Toolkit was launched, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies under their Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS 2020-2025) and undertaken by the World Bank’s Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF), with support from iRAP. First launched 10 years ago, the Road Safety Toolkit is an important online resource that provides free information on the causes and prevention of road crashes that result in death and injury. Thousands of visitors access the Toolkit every month and it is helping road safety practitioners across the world, especially in low and middle-income countries. The update included a peer review and road safety stakeholders survey to identify how the Toolkit could continue to reflect the latest evidence and research in engineering safety.

“Using the Toolkit helps focus clients on appropriate countermeasures based on data rather than intuition.” Anonymous survey respondent

“An excellent resource. I use it for many things including training.” Anonymous survey respondent

Australian NetRisk2 launches

iRAP Centre of Excellence, ARRB launched NetRisk2, a tool that brings together AusRAP data generated using the iRAP Star Rating methodology, and Australian National Risk Assessment Model (ANRAM) data. NetRisk2 is a fantastic example of local innovation building on the iRAP Star Rating Methodology to meet a local need.

Active Travel Tool released

A new planning tool that helps local authorities assess how to make walking and cycling safer, more pleasant and less stressful was launched by the UK's Road Safety Foundation. Developed with funding from the Road Safety Trust, the tool shows how different active travel measures perform both in terms of the iRAP Star Ratings – which assess the safety of roads – and the level of traffic stress.

High-Level Input to Activities and Growth

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iRAP's Global Policy Advisory Committee (GPAC) reports to the iRAP Board on strategic issues that may impact development of the charity and achievement of our vision. GPAC includes representatives of organisations operating at the highest level of global road safety including World Bank, Asian Development Bank, World Resources Institute, Transportation Research Board, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), International Transport Forum, PIARC, European Investment Bank, International Road Federation, FIA Foundation and the African Development Bank.

OUR GOAL

To work in partnership with our RAP Community to advocate for safer roads and celebrate and multiply success.

GLOBAL IMPACT

• 144 advocacy event presentations worldwide
• 36 Partnership Agreements with global road safety agencies to drive action to eliminate high-risk roads
• Signing of two new MOUs in 2022 with Aleatica Foundation and ORIS to work together for road safety
• Global road safety campaigns supported for the UN High Level Meeting, International Women in Engineering Day, COP27, Powered Two-Wheeler Safety, and World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims
• Inclusion of the iRAP methodology and partners work' in 78 publications (reports, trade press, book chapters and conference proceedings) with international reach
• Sharing the great work of our partners, in 2022, iRAP Communications achieved:

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IN FOCUS: PARTNERSHIPS ADVOCATING FOR AND CELEBRATING SUCCESS

Working at the grassroots level with NGOs

As well as advocating at the highest level to Presidents and Prime Ministers in countries, the iRAP team and partners also championed at the grassroots level alongside NGOs and injury prevention specialists whose experience of road trauma can be deeply personal.

iRAP worked closely with the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety and its members to support their advocacy for safer roads in their countries. Pictured above and at right is Joel Jere of Malawi NGO Road Safety Alert Foundation (RSAF) with the Hon. Jacob Hara, Minister for Transport and Public Works and local road safety stakeholders. iRAP's advocacy letter to the President of Malawi, His Excellency Mr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, in support of the UN High-Level Meeting for Road Safety, supported RSAF's advocacy for safer roads in the country.

Read more on all the ways we worked with NGOs here.

Collaborating to save lives through private investment in road safety

The World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC), in partnership with iRAP and FIA High Level Panel for Road Safety released the "Saving Lives Through Private Investment in Road Safety Report" examining the market failure in road safety funding and outlining practical business models to mobilise the estimated $260 billion investment gap needed to halve road deaths and injuries by 2030. The report was launched in May by the World Bank Vice President and includes results-based financing frameworks that can support Road Safety Bonds and blended finance instruments that unlock the benefits of road trauma reductions including bringing roads to the 3-star or better global standard for all road users.

Developing an Investment Case to Reduce Road Traffic Injuries among Adolescents

iRAP data also informed research conducted by the Australian Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Victoria University into the development of an investment case to reduce road traffic injuries among adolescents. The research, funded by FIA Foundation, aimed to address the gap, building on previous research by the Victoria Institute for Strategic Economic Studies to develop a model for understanding the impact of a range of interventions on deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents in a variety of settings in low and middle-income countries.

The modelling shows that if the adolescent road safety interventions are implemented across 77 countries between 2022 and 2050, the lives of over 1.9 million young people will be saved, as well as 11.7 million serious injuries averted.