26th PIARC Congress (Abu Dhabi) Event Summary

The PIARC World Congress, held in Abu Dhabi from the 6 -10 October 2019, brought together the road administrations of 122 governments and members in over 140 countries. More than 3,000 delegates and ministers attended the event, which had a large road safety theme.

iRAP’s CEO Rob McInerney was involved in seven presentations on road safety partnerships, road safety policy, innovative financing, Star Rating for Designs, the Road Safety Observatories and how to establish a RAP programme.

View a copy of the presentations below:

• Monday FS2 session – Global Partnerships for 3-Star plus roads (Building partnerships for better road safety)
• Monday WS3 session (Road Safety Manual) – Designing new and upgraded roads to meet UN Targets 3 and 4 (Road Safety Manual and the UN Targets)
• Tuesday WS6 session – Application of Road Safety Inspection (Sustainable audit and inspection implementation in LMIC’s)
• Tuesday Lunch PIARC Pavillion session – Developing your RAP Programme (Local leadership/Global support)
• Wednesday TCC1 session – Global Road Safety performance and TC C1 activities (Program and Policies for Road Safety)

An Industry Roundtable was also held involving key road industry leaders Arup, AECOM, Aurecon, ASECAP, IRF, GHD and WSP to work together on a joint initiative to improve global road design.

This event brought to a close iRAP’s 4-year role as English speaking secretary on the PIARC Road Safety Committee, the Road Safety Manual (https://roadsafety.piarc.org/en/) and the “Implementation of National Safe System Policies’ report have been key outcomes to help countries to fulfil road safety objectives at every stage of infrastructure development. The PIARC Road Safety Manual is a great resource to help practitioners fulfil road safety objectives at every stage of road infrastructure development.

A highlight at the event was during the Plenary session, where Etienne Krug (WHO Director, Department for Management of Noncommunicable Diseases, Disability, Violence and Injury Prevention) announced that “No new roads (should be) lower than a 3-star rating & all older roads audited & upgraded. These are the UN Global Targets agreed on by all governments.”

Watch Etienne Krug’s powerful words below.

iRAP is proud to support this important global World Road Congress event. Our partners’ work in 100 countries was also on show demonstrating #3StarorBetter safer roads leadership, saving lives each day with the global support of the FIA Foundation.

This included the Star Rating for Schools success to save kids lives on 3-star or better school journeys worldwide. Amongst others, we celebrate the work of FedEx, FIA Foundation, Amend, Child Health Initiative, Fundación Gonzalo Rodriguez and the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety

With support from the World Bank’s Global Road Safety Facility, iRAP’s FREE Star Rating 4 Designs tool enables road engineers and designers to assess and improve the safety of a road design before construction. Helping countries achieve the UN Global Goals for road safety.

3-Star or better roads equal economic growth and sustainable development of transport and mobility. $8 benefits per $1 invested, targeted investment of 0.1% GDP to save 467,000 lives each year in the world is critical https://www.vaccinesforroads.org/business-case-for-safer-roads/

Congratulations to the 26th PIARC World Congress Committee – with 3000 Transport Ministers, Industry and Engineers from 140 countries.  Let us continue to share the road safety global goals.