iRAP is proud to announce a novel 5-Star Global Connections Initiative, sponsored by FedEx Express, to unlock the power of partnerships across India and share success across the more than 100 countries who have their own RAP programme and project activity.

iRAP is known worldwide for its 5-star road safety rating system and its advocacy for 3-Star or better roads for all road users. This new initiative will serve to connect more than 100 iRAP affiliates around the world enabling them to better communicate, network, and collaborate.

iRAP Global Programme Manager Judy Williams said, “The initiative beautifully connects FedEx’s mission of “connecting people and possibilities”, iRAP’s vision for a world free of high-risk roads and IndiaRAP’s life-saving success. 5-Star Global Connections will be a gamechanger for the charity’s impact and see first results delivered in the Pilot country of India, where 17 deaths occur on the roads every hour.”

The initiative includes four phases:

• Development of iRAP Connect, a global Partner Management System to store and track programme and partner success across more than 100 countries and 14,000 partners.
• Development of a 5-Star Global Connections Strategy that utilises the system and its data wisdoms to connect people and resources for high impact local RAPs.
• Using the new global system, piloting of the 5-Star Connections Strategy in India with a focus on supporting all of the government and industry partners across the country and celebrating and promoting success in conjunction with local FedEx teams.
• Development of a Celebrating Success Package that supports projects across India that achieve the UN Global Targets for 3-star and better roads as a framework for other countries to follow.

Jack Muhs, Regional President, FedEx Express said, “We’re proud to support this important road safety initiative. It is estimated by the World Health Organization that by 2030, road traffic crashes will cause more fatalities than HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis and, at FedEx, we believe we can help change these outcomes with our focus on connecting people and possibilities. The FedEx support for the 5-Star Global Connections initiative of iRAP and the local FedEx Express support for IndiaRAP will help unite partners striving to make roads safer and save lives.”

IndiaRAP Programme Manager, Dr Subhamay Gangopadhyay said, “This is an exciting initiative for our country. FedEx Express has provided vital support for the IndiaRAP programme launched three years ago to eliminate 1 and 2-star unsafe roads in the country. Over 21,000kms of high-risk roads have been assessed across 14 states, informing over USD$5.6 billion in upgrade investments. Over 3,300 engineers have been trained. We are working hand-in-hand with road authorities, mobility clubs, development banks, research institutes and road safety NGOs to become a world-leader in the design and construction of brand new 5-star safe and smart motorways in the country. We look forward to the programme impacts and partnerships that the 5-Star Connections will make.”

Ms Williams said, “The development of iRAP 5-Star Global Connections is already well underway integrating the activities of our thousands of iRAP partners across more than 100 countries worldwide. The initiative is connecting the countries with partners, activities, projects, road assessments and upgrades, metrics, training and accreditation activities, knowledge and news. The system is providing wisdom and shared success from data – a holistic start-to-end view of the connections that are making a difference to eliminate high-risk roads – and most importantly the possibilities for progress.”

“iRAP Connect would not have been possible without the generous sponsorship of FedEx, pro-bono initial build support of Barhead and recent technical assistance of NTT (Microsoft Partners). We can’t wait to put these insights and efficiency gains to work in India to inform, celebrate and leverage outcomes for the IndiaRAP programme – which in real terms is safer roads, reduced road trauma and more Indian families getting safely home,” Ms Williams said.

iRAP Connect is a Microsoft Dynamics 365 Partner Management System connecting programme and partner success across more than 100 countries:

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About IndiaRAP
IndiaRAP is the locally owned and led road assessment programme for India that is hosted by the Asian Institute of Transport Development (AITD). See the website, brochure, case study on recent road upgrades saving lives on the SH-20 (Karnataka), SH-55 (Gujarat) and LSB Marg (Mumbai) and links to view the BIGRS IndiaRAP Online Webinar Series profiling the road safety experience and lessons learned in India, how IndiaRAP was created, and the safety assessments performed.
https://www.indiarap.org
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About Road Crash Injury in India
The images below, drawn from vaccinesforroads.org/irap-big-data-tool/, show the human impact of road crash injury EVERY DAY in India and the Business Case (in terms of human and economic savings) for achieving >75% of travel on 3-star or better roads for all road users by 2030.