On the 22 January 2018, iRAP’s Senior Road Safety Engineer, Luke Rogers, was in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS) partners meeting.

The Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety has dedicated US$250 million over 12 years to implement interventions that have been proven to reduce road traffic fatalities and injuries in low- and middle-income countries.  BIGRS works with the world’s leading road safety organisations, including iRAP, to implement road safety strategies and work towards reducing road traffic fatalities and injuries in low to middle income cities.

Luke presented on iRAP’s key work so far, including:

• The completion of baseline and interim design Star Rating for the proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Corridor covering 74 carriageway kilometres;
• The Star Rating of nine pedestrian footbridges along the planned BRT corridor and recommendations for the design of additional footbridges to improve accessibility;
• Assessment of the BRT feeder roads including 36 roads across 40km; and
• Star Rating for Schools (SR4S) assessments of 37 schools, as part of the global pilot of the tool.  SR4S is the first ever systematic approach and evidence-based tool for measuring, managing and communicating the risk children are exposed to on their school journey.

He also discussed the next steps, including:

• the continued provision of technical support and recommendations to the Department of Transport and Traffic Safety Committee;
• support of the Asian Injury Prevention Foundation (AIPF) with Star Rating for Schools app use and reporting;
• the star ratings of designs at priority schools and provision of recommendations to maximise safety; and
• support of the University of Transportation and Communications (UTC) to assess a further 100km of road network.

Luke said Ho Chi Minh City was one of ten cities selected in 2015 to participate in the initiative, and the work done here across all the pillars of road safety is an example of how project partners from different disciplines can work together to make improvements that will save lives for years to come.

iRAP works in all the BIGRS ten cities selected, in partnership with the Global Road Safety Facility (World Bank), to Star Rate selected high priority streets and proposed designs; and to make cost-effective recommendations for safety improvements.

This is another example of how iRAP collaborates with other industry experts to save lives and reduce injuries on roads around the world – because every life counts.