The latest metrics for the iRAP programme in Europe quantify and celebrate the safer roads and capacity building success of more than 9,300 European partners working together to influence the safety of road infrastructure in 45 countries of the region.

The global metrics of the International Road Assessment Programme are drawn biannually, and key highlights as at 31 December show:

Reach and assessments

• iRAP partners in Europe have undertaken 222,257 kilometres of Star Rating assessments and designs in 34 countries.
• Star Rating for Designs (SR4D) is improving the safety of road designs and ensuring they meet the 3-star or better global standard before construction. In particular, significant SR4D activity has been undertaken in the UK.
• Over 1.5 million kilometres of Risk Mapping has been completed in European countries (of the 1.7 million kilometres global total). Spain and the UK undertake annual risk mapping to benchmark the safety performance of their road networks and a large study is also underway in Italy.
• Over 6 million kilometres of global road data is stored in iRAP’s free online software ViDA used by 15,581 registered users. Partners in Europe have been using the software to undertake Star Ratings and Safer Roads Investment Plans for over 10 years.

Star Rating for Schools

The Star Rating for Schools (SR4S) Programme continues to grow in impact in the region helping to inform safer school journeys and protect vulnerable youth.

• The safety of 84 schools in 14 European countries has now been assessed using the SR4S application.
• First SR4S activity has occurred in Albania, Georgia and Poland in the last 6 months.
• Importantly, assessments have led to evidence-based safety upgrades in schools. Explore the SR4S Upgrade Tracker at https://starratingforschools.org/safe-schools-tracker/ and individual school SR4S results at https://results.starratingforschools.org/

Training and Accreditation

• 7,634 people have received iRAP training at in-country trainings and events, along with 2,848 people who have benefited from iRAP global/online trainings. Many trainings are offered free-of-charge.
• Training has been delivered in 18 languages including Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, English, French, German, Hungarian, Montenegrin, Polish, Slovenian and Spanish.
• 51 individual practitioners in 14 countries of Europe are now iRAP Accredited to support iRAP specification services. 19 inspection systems are accredited by iRAP worldwide.
• Croatia leads the region with 11 accredited practitioners and in the last 6 months, a first practitioner has been accredited in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Investment made safer

• Over €25.2 billion (USD$27 billion) of road infrastructure investment has been made safer informed by iRAP assessments in Europe.

Policy

• 12 national and provincial road safety strategies and investment schemes now include iRAP metrics and performance targets for safer road infrastructure. In particular, the national strategies for Croatia, Greece, Slovenia and the UK are showcased as global exemplars at https://irap.org/policies-into-practice/.
• National Highways released its Strategic Road Network Star Rating Report last year showing it exceeded its 2020 target to achieve 90% of travel on its network on roads rated 3-star or better, with an impressive result of 96%.

Innovation

• iRAP is working with 64 global innovation partners in research and innovation initiatives, projects and partnerships to help create the tools to improve safety across our road networks – for everyone. Agilysis, Abertis, Aimsun, ANAS S.p.A, Australian Road Safety Board (KfV), Cardno, Dalberg, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Directorate General for Traffic (Dirección General de Tráfico), Directorate General of Infrastructure of Mobility – Generalitat de Catalunya, European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), European Commission, European Institute of Road Assessment (EIRA), European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) and Global NCAP, Factual Consulting, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences – University of Zagreb, Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA), FIA Foundation, Fondation Botnar, FRED Engineering, National Highways UK, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Oseven Telematics, Partnership for Urban Mobility, POLIS, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Promet i Prostor, Reial Automobil Club de Catalunya (RACC), Road Safety Foundation (RSF), Road Safety Institute Panos Mylonas (RSI), Royal Dutch Touring Club (ANWB), Servei Catala de Transit (SCT Transit), Social Finance, Steer Group, Technical University of Munich (TUM), The Floow, TomTom, TRL, UK Aid, UK Road Safety Trust and Westpannon Regional and Economic Development Public Nonprofit Ltd are a selection of European partners contributing to methodology and tool advancements for the region and world.
• The iRAP Innovation Framework is providing the governance structures, partnerships and discipline for developments, overseen by a Global Technical Committee

The work of iRAP and its European partners would not be possible without the generous support of major donor the FIA Foundation.

iRAP applauds all European partners’ success and is proud to be supporting countries in their implementation of the new EU-wide Road Safety Assessment (NWRSA) Guidelines for the Road Infrastructure Safety Management (RISM) Directive 2019/1936.

iRAP encourages all EU countries to set their sights to 2030 and implementation of the Global Plan to achieve UN Targets 3 and 4 which include ensuring all new roads are built to a 3-star or better standard for all road users (Target 3), and more than 75% of travel is on the equivalent of 3-star or better roads for all road users by 2030 (Target 4).

According to iRAP’s Safety Insights Explorer, achieving >75 per cent of travel on 3-star or better roads by 2030 in Europe stands to save an estimated 27,767 lives every year and 5,668,758 million deaths and serious injuries over the 20-year life of treatments with an economic benefit of USD$1.29 trillion.

Visit the Safety Insights Explorer at https://irap.org/safety-insights-explorer/ for detailed information on the human and economic impact of road crashes, how safe the roads are and the road attributes that affect safety, as well as the Business Case for Safer Roads for each country and the European region.

Individual countries’ metrics, policies and a brief summary of progress are available via iRAP’s Where We Work Map and Partner Success Stories table at https://irap.org/about-us/where-we-work/

The iRAP Partner Portal also shares this success, along with recent knowledge reports, news, training and projects per country.

For further information, please contact Samar Abouraad, iRAP Safer Journeys Lead for Europe on email samar.abouraad@irap.org