This year, 2021, marks twenty years since our major donor FIA Foundation was established as an independent charity to serve the public interest; their recently released Annual Review Report highlights iRAP and Star Rating for Schools (SR4S) as significant achievements.

Alongside Global NCAP which has been crash testing cars in India since 2014, iRAP is one of two programmes the Foundation has helped launch and consistently fund that have reaped global public health rewards.

iRAP’s achievements noted in the 2021 Annual Review include:

• The charity’s assessment of road infrastructure in more than 100 countries, working closely with governments and development banks.
• A version of iRAP’s assessment methodology is now integrated within the World Bank’s own safety policies.
• iRAP star ratings are being used as an essential metric providing competitive advantage to bidders for road concessions valued in the billions of dollars, helping to drive sustainable change.
• In Brazil, the Minister for Infrastructure’s announcement of the first incorporation of iRAP as a road safety metric on a federal road, the National Department of Transport Infrastructure’s (DNIT) iRAP survey of 62,000km of national roads and the largest application of iRAP’s methodology in Latin America, Sao Paulo’s 26,000km assessment, Minfra and Brazil Association of Road Concessionaires signed agreement for 10 priority axes in transport and Parana’s State Highways policy for 3-star or better.
• Mexico’s Puebla High Bypass MXN$1 million upgrade.
• Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) reassessment of Central America’s Pacific Corridor connecting 7 countries, supported by iRAP.
• Continued growth of the Star Rating for Schools Programme with another 43 schools improved and USD$123,824 invested. This brings the total number of safer schools to 200 with $2.5 million invested. Almost 100 upgrades have been star rated with an average star rating of 2.73 before improvements and 4.36 (out of 5) after.
• The November unveiling of a new safe school infrastructure in Mozambique, a project of the Foundation’s new Advocacy Hub. The project brings together iRAP, Amend, and the Automobile and Touring Club of Mozambique with the World Bank to assess more than 80 schools on one highway corridor, upgrading safety designs where necessary.
• The Foundation’s work with UN agencies and experts to develop the global policy and programming framework for adolescent wellbeing central to the youth agenda. Safe system road safety interventions such as iRAP’s Star Ratings for Schools and the Amend School Area Road Safety Assessments & Improvements (SARSAI) are included in the framework.
• Ten FIA auto clubs received Foundation grant funding in 2021 to deliver projects protecting children and young people, particularly on their journeys to school, through the FIA School Assessment Programme. The FIA Programme is delivered with the support and expertise of the SR4S Assessments developed by iRAP. The 10 FIA clubs will be working in-country to support safe streets with a range of interventions and programmes in: Croatia by HAK: Tanzania by AAT; Nigeria by ATCN; Zambia by ZMSA; Uruguay by ACU; Uganda by FMU; Moldova by ACM; Colombia by AAC; Panama by ASAI; and a Georgia based project with FIA Foundation Partner EASST. Some of these clubs are receiving additional funding from the Foundation’s Advocacy Hub to expand or enhance their projects.
• Success achieved in Pleiku city, where AIP Foundation’s pilot program Slow Zones, Safe Zones resulted in extensive road modifications, infrastructure improvements on the school streets, and speed was reduced by 18-21 km/h, supported by SR4S.
• The iRAP training of 38,000 professionals in safer road infrastructure delivered in 16 languages. New training grant programmes were launched to bring more female engineers to work and to boost capacity in Africa through grants to 60 local road safety professionals.
• Development of the AiRAP Initiative to capture advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, vision systems, LIDAR, telematics and other data sources to deliver critical information on road safety, crash performance and investment prioritisation for all road users.
• iRAP’s partnership with NACTO-GDCI to launch theiRAP Star Rating of the Global Street Design Guide resource and #Love30 animations to support UN Global Road Safety Week.
• Federal Road Safety Corps inauguration of a committee to establish NigeriaRAP.
• iRAP’s win of a Prince Michael International Road Safety Award for work saving lives in more than 100 countries.

The work of iRAP and its partners across the world would not be possible without the generous support of the FIA Foundation.

We express our heartfelt appreciation and congratulate FIA Foundation on 20 years of dedicated and outstanding public service that has helped to facilitate safer journeys in safer cars, saving lives across the world.

Read the Foundation’s Annual Review here.