iRAP training was held in Almaty and Astana, Kazakhstan late last month for representatives of leading road safety organizations including the Committee for Roads MIID RK, JSC “NC “KazAvtoZhol”, RSE “National Quality Center of Road Assets” and Kazakh Automobile and Road Institute.

Led by the Kazakh Scientific Research Institute for Road Safety (KazNII BDD LLP), the training is part of a 5,000km iRAP assessment of Kazakhstan’s Strategic Road Network, supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

iRAP Global Operations Manager Luke Rogers  and IndiaRAP Technical Manager Jigesh Bhavsar facilitated the training which included five modules on the iRAP Methodology and field surveys, including a visit to the road section “Otar-Uzynagash”. The road parameters were coded and Star Ratings generated and analysed.

Partner-led iRAP activity has already assessed 9,736 km of roads and designs, and 2 schools in the country, influencing the safety of US$1.2 billion of road infrastructure investment. The project will build on the 149 people who have already benefited from iRAP global/on-line training and the 278 people trained in earlier local events.

Partnership with KazNII BDD LLP over a number of years has built the capacity of local road safety stakeholders and facilitated the development of iRAP training materials in Russian.

The EBRD project will help to grow national iRAP data, quantifying the safety of Kazakhstan’s road network, and road safety capacity in the country.

It adds to data from a World Bank-funded iRAP survey of 6,000km completed in 2021 – the East-West Roads Development Project – involving the Roads Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development Republic of Kazakhstan, SweRoad and KazNII BDD LLP.

According to iRAP’s Safety Insights Explorer, achieving UN Target 3 for greater than 75% of travel to be on 3-star or better roads for all road users in Kazakhstan by 2030 stands to save an estimated 232,252 fatalities and serious injuries over the 20-year life of road treatments with an economic benefit of USD$32.8 billion – $10.40 for every $1 spent.