iRAP was proud to host our 10th iRAP Innovation Workshop in Prague last week in association with the XXVIIth World Road Congress from 2-6 October organised by PIARC World Road Association.

What a busy week it was! From the 2-day Innovation Workshop, to presentations in stimulating Congress Foresight Sessions, the inaugural presentation of the iRAP Gary Liddle Memorial Trophy, the iRAP Innovation Dinner, and bilateral meetings with key partners and delegations from Senegal, Saudi Arabia and Lithuania – it was a pleasure to see old and new faces and share the amazing work of our partners and program across the world.

The Innovation Workshop brought together 200 leaders and experts from 68 countries. The World Roads Congress included more than 60 Technical Sessions, Workshops and Foresight Sessions, and networking opportunities with 40+ Ministers, 3,500+ delegates and 300 exhibitors from 120 countries.

The iRAP Innovation Workshop

The 2023 Innovation Workshop was a 2-day event within the congress on 5 and 6 October focused on the theme “Safer Roads for People and Planet”.

Road safety is critical to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Road crashes remain the biggest killer of young people worldwide and transport produces around 25% of man-made carbon emissions. Innovative policies, tools and action are needed to meet international and national road safety and sustainable transport targets through solutions that deliver for both people and the planet. Promoting active mobility is central to decarbonizing urban mobility. But as more people move to sustainable modes such as walking and cycling, exposure to conflicts with large, high-speed vehicles increase. It is therefore essential the safety of all road users is at the heart of transport planning and policy. Policy experts are embracing Safe System principles in support of Vision Zero goals and the potential for 5-star users in 5-star modes of transport on 5-star roads at safe speeds to provide the framework for that to occur.

Presentations and panel discussions explored cutting edge innovation and practical experience in road agency leadership, data, investment planning and finance that can be used to implement change and deliver on the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 and the Paris Agreement.

Presentations

Day 1 – Thursday 5 October

​Session 1 – Opening: Where Are We Now?

Session Moderator: Monica Olyslagers Global Innovation Manager and Cities Specialist, iRAP

• Lives saved together: The ultimate metric and where to next Rob McInerney CEO, iRAP
• Welcome address Jean Todt United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety

Where are we … worldwide

• The latest on PIARC Innovation Patrick Mallejacq Secretary General, PIARC
• Partnerships to deliver: IRF World Road Statistics and Private Sector Coalitions Susanna Zammataro Director General, International Road Federation Geneva

Where are we … at a country level

• iRAP Safety Insights Explorer: Empowering countries with data informed by the world’s largest road infrastructure safety database Greg Smith Global Programme Director, iRAP

Where are we … at a city level

• What’s old is new again in designing global cities Paul Supawanich Director of Programs, Global Designing Cities Initiative

Presentation of the Gary Liddle Memorial Trophy (see below) – iRAP Board Chairman Miquel Nadal, Mrs Meredith Liddle and Rob McInerney

​Session 2 – What are we planning and building for the future?

Session Moderator: Veronika Valentova Director of Research and Development, Transport Research Centre (Centrum Dopravniho Vyzkumu)

• Celebrating success: Case studies from the world Judy Williams Global Programme and Communications Manager, iRAP
• Delivering safer roads in support of Target 3 for 3-star and better roads Bosco Marti Global Director of Institutional Affairs and Communications, Aleatica
• MCC and iRAP partnership in MCC compact countries and opportunities to spur private sector participation Yohannes Abebe Global Practice Leader and Senior Director for the Transport and Vertical Structure Group, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)
• Harnessing the power of traffic simulation and data for safer urban road networks: The PHOEBE project Martin Hartmann Solution Design Manager, Aimsun
• Star Rating targets and Australia’s multi-billion dollar Safer Roads Fund Geoff Allan Chief Executive Officer, Austroads
• Practical applications of YEA, CycleRAP, Active Travel Tool and Route Review Tool in European cities and the ELABORATOR project Monica Olyslagers Global Innovation Manager and Cities Specialist, iRAP
• Star Rating for Designs: Safe right from the start James Bradford Global Technical Director, iRAP
• Reflections on day’s discussion: Preparing for 2030:  Where are we at and where’s the potential Samar Abouraad Safer Journeys Specialist for Europe, iRAP

Day 2 – Friday 6 October

Session 3 – Innovative results-based financing and reporting

Session Moderator: Steve Phillips Secretary General, Conference of European Directors of Roads (CEDR)

• Using Star Ratings to shape road agency strategy and investment in the UK Mike Wilson Chief Highways Engineer, National Highways – UK
• Safer infrastructure for all road users in the Danube: Learnings from the SABRINA and RADAR projects Samar Abouraad Safer Journeys Specialist for Europe, iRAP
• Innovative road safety policy, financing and performance monitoring in Europe Marko Sevrovic Associate Professor, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences (FPZ), University of Zagreb and Senior Road Safety Engineer, European Institute of Road Assessment (EIRA)
• Sustainability linked financing and impact investment to save lives Rob McInerney Chief Executive Officer, iRAP
• Sharing 55,000km of assessment results to empower decision-makers in Brazil Julio Urzua Global Projects Director, iRAP
• Vision Zero infrastructure assessment and 5-star roads Ana Tomaz Vice President, Portugal National Authority for Road Safety (Autoridade Nacional de Seguranca Rodoviaria)
• The power of interactive reporting Greg Smith Global Programme Director, iRAP

​Session 4 – Scaling for People and Planet

Session Moderator: Nneka Henry Head, United Nations Road Safety Fund

• Innovation and best practice in Safe System performance Stephen Perkins Senior Counsellor, International Transport Forum (ITF)
• Innovation to drive sustainable mode choice in cities Pedro Homem de Gouveia, Senior Policy and Project Manager, Governance and Integration, Safety and Security, POLIS
• Building a network of innovators in urban mobility in Europe Lluis Puerto Director of Market Development, EIT Urban Mobility
• Outcome-led design for Target 3: Case studies from the UK and Australia Chris Furneaux Director, Arup
• Optimising the safety and sustainability of global road designs and construction: The iRAP-ORIS partnership Hugo Pley-Leclercq Project Manager, ORIS

AiRAP Panel Discussion: Harnessing data and partnerships to map the safety of every road on Earth in support of Target 4

• Scene setting and panel moderator Monica Olyslagers Global Innovation Manager and Cities Specialist, iRAP
• Anditi and AiRAP Peter Jamieson Managing Director, Anditi
• Agilysis and AiRAP Richard Owen CEO, Agilysis
• Panel discussion:
  John Milton Chair of the PIARC Road Safety Committee and State Safety Engineer, Washington State Department of Transport; Marc Figuls Managing Partner, Factual Consulting; and all

Closing address: Unlocking the power of youth and the road to Morocco Saul Billingsley Executive Director, FIA Foundation

Speakers

Chris Furneaux
Associate Director, Arup

Mike Wilson
Chief Highways Engineer
National Highways UK

Paul Supawanich
Director of Programs, Global Designing Cities Initiative

Bosco Marti
Global Director Institutional Affairs & Comms, Aleatica

Pedro Homem de Gouveia
Snr Policy & Project
Manager, POLIS

Ana Tomaz
Vice President
Autoridade Nacional
de Seguranca Rodoviaria
(National Authority
for Road Safety)
Portugal

Marko Sevrovic
Associate Professor, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences (FPZ), University of Zagreb
and Senior Road Safety Engineer, European Institute of Road Assessment (EIRA)

The iRAP Gary Liddle Memorial Trophy

The 2023 Gary Liddle Memorial Trophy was presented for the first time during the Innovation Workshop to:

• Winner – Brazil’s National Department of Transport Infrastructure (DNIT)
• Finalist – Australia’s Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR)
• Finalist – Thailand’s Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA)
• Finalist – Croatian Roads Ltd

The trophy recognises the lifelong public-sector and transport contribution of the charity’s former Board Chairman Gary Liddle AO who passed away earlier this year. His wife Meredith Liddle from Melbourne, Australia attended the event to present the trophies.

Group photo at above right: Miquel Nadal, iRAP Board Chairman; Torill Pape, Director (Structures Design, Review and Standards), TMR; A/Prof Marko Sevrovic, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences (FPZ), University of Zagreb and Senior Road Safety Engineer, European Institute of Road Assessment (EIRA); Prof Kasem Choocharukul, ThaiRAP Lead; Julio Urzua, iRAP Strategic Projects Director; and Mrs Meredith Liddle (Images credit: Lenka Sfugaras)

iRAP Innovation Dinner

The iRAP Innovation Dinner brought together 65 partners at Bastion Prague to celebrate success and renew friendships after a long period of COVID separation.

Dinner images credit: Radim Palus

Other World Roads Congress participation

The iRAP Team participated in Foresight Sessions, Workshops and bilateral meetings during the World Roads Congress including:

• Foresight Session 2: Harnessing Ai and Big Data for safer optimised road mobility 
• Workshop 2: Zero means a lot: do urban mobility organisations have what it takes? 
• Foresight Session 5: Safe designs and speeds for active mobility 
  
• Foresight Session 8: Mobilising investments and partnerships to deliver impact in road safety

On Wednesday, during Foresight Session 8, Fundacion Aleatica signed a Partnership Agreement with iRAP committing donor support to help make roads safer in Mexico and the world. To read more, click here.

iRAP CEO Rob McInerney and Bosco MARTI, Global Director of Institutional Affairs and Communications, Fundacion Aleatica sign agreement (Images credit: Lenka Sfugaras)

The iRAP team met with the Lithuanian delegation to discuss partner progress implementing iRAP in the country and potential further developments moving forward (Image credit: iRAP)

iRAP CEO Rob McInerney and iRAP Strategic Projects Director Julio Urzua met with Johannes Abebe, Global Practice Leader and Senior Director for the Transport and Vertical Structure Group, Millennium Challenge Corporation to discuss the iRAP-MCC Partnership 2022-2026 (Image credit: iRAP)

Hear from Judy, Marko and Greg on their reflections from Prague:

Our thanks to PIARC for supporting this year’s iRAP Innovation Workshop and to all partners and suppliers who made it such a successful and memorable event.