Governor Tarcisio de Freitas, iRAP Global Projects Director Julio Urzua, Secretary of Infrastructure State of São Paulo Natalia Resende, and Director DER-SP Sergio Codelo with signed RAP agreement

The Government of São Paulo, through the DER (Department of Highways), an agency linked to the Secretariat of Environment, Infrastructure and Logistics (Semil), and the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP), announced today the launch of BrazilRAP São Paulo, aimed at evaluating and improving the safety of state highways.

The announcement of the initiative was made by Governor Tarcisio de Freitas, at an event at Palácio dos Bandeirantes, attended by DER Superintendent Sérgio Codelo and iRAP’s Global Director of Projects, Julio Urzua.

The first partnership of its kind signed by a state government (in Brazil and the world), the initiative will classify, using the iRAP methodology and tools applied in 126 countries, the degree of safety of São Paulo’s highways, serving as the basis for the São Paulo Road Safety Plan launched by the DER.

With the ultimate goal of making highways safer and reducing the number of crashes, BrazilRAP São Paulo will utilise iRAP’s evidence-based Star Rating methodology, as well as investment planning tools, which provide an objective rating of the level of safety ‘built in’ to the road for vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians. Five-star roads are the safest while one-star roads are the least safe.

iRAP Global Programme Director Greg Smith said, “BrazilRAP São Paulo is the first state-based programme of iRAP and reflects the significant efforts and achievements of DER-SP and state stakeholders in making roads safer to save lives and reduce serious injuries.

“The programme will be hosted by DER-SP in association with local experts, using local research and resources, supported by BrazilRAP and the global iRAP Programme that includes partners spanning the world.

“The programme will bring together state and local government agencies, mobility, investment, research and NGO partners to build expertise and drive action to eliminate 1 and 2-star unsafe roads and ensure new roads are designed and constructed to the 3-star or better global standard for all road users,” Mr Smith said.

BrazilRAP São Paulo will build local capacity and provide evidence-based policy, performance tracking and investment tools to assist governments and road safety stakeholders to measure, manage and optimise safety, with the support of iRAP’s global tools, training and connection to national and global expertise.

The establishment of BrazilRAP São Paulo builds on a series of road assessment projects and investments that have been completed since 2010.

iRAP’s survey will add to the information from the DER’s 2023 Road Accident Yearbook, published in early May after a nine-year hiatus, with a compendium of statistics and data relating to accidents recorded on the state road network last year.

During the ceremony, the Government of São Paulo also announced a partnership with Google Cloud and Waze for Cities that will allow the monitoring and issuance of real-time alerts to vehicles circulating on the state’s roads. Governor Tarcísio de Freitas also delivered 106 vehicles to the State Highway Police and 17 to the Fire Department in new actions to promote more safety and comfort to users of the São Paulo state network.

Notes to editors

São Paulo is the most populous state in Brazil, with 46.6 million inhabitants, 21.9% of the country’s population (2021). In 2023, 5,439 people died in São Paulo due to traffic crashes (11.7 per 100,000 inhabitants), and 17,612 non-fatal crashes were recorded. The state’s road network totals 199,800 kilometres, with 22,200 km of state roads, 13,100 km of which are managed and maintained by DER-SP (almost 3% of the country’s total state roads).

The establishment of BrazilRAP São Paulo builds on a series of road assessment projects and investments that have been completed since 2010 when the World Bank Global Road Safety Facility invited iRAP to work with DER-SP to guide the World Bank-financed $429 million Sao Paulo Sustainable Transport Project and build local capacity in the use of the iRAP methodology and software. During the years 2021 and 2022, iRAP surveys were undertaken on 26,000km of State roads, including concessioned and state-operated roads. A number of concession contracts incorporate the iRAP Methodology, embedding safety in the 30-year upgrade investments. The safety of federal roads was also assessed as part of a 54,500km nation-wide BrazilRAP Star Rating assessment led by the National Department of Transport and Infrastructure Brazil (DNIT).

Images credit: DER-SP

Media contacts:

For iRAP:
Julio Urzua, Global Projects Director
Email    julio.urzua@irap.org­­­
Mob     +55 11 96898 7894

For DER-SP :
Secretariat of Communication of the State of São Paulo
Email   imprensa@comunicacao.sp.gov.br
Tel       +55 (11) 2193-8520

About DER-SP

The Departamento de Estradas de Rodagem (DER-SP) manages the state highway network, its integration with municipal and federal highways, as well as other modes of transport. It aims to innovate in road management to ensure the comfort and safety of users, promote active social participation by State citizens and operate with transparency and ethics, based on integrity standards. DER’s commitment is to manage state highways by promoting sustainable practices in all road operations, in which care for the environment is non-negotiable.
www.der.sp.gov.br

About iRAP

iRAP is a registered charity with a vision for a world free of high-risk roads, influencing road infrastructure safety in more than 170 countries. iRAP and its partners work with the United Nations, World Health Organisation, governments, development banks, mobility clubs, industry, road safety NGOs and research organisations to provide evidence-based tools, training and support to help them make their roads safe. iRAP’s road safety Star Rating Methodology is free to use and provides an objective measure of the level of safety which is ‘built-in’ to the road for vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians. A 1-star road is the least safe and a 5-star road is the safest. iRAP works with partners to: inspect high-risk roads and develop Star Ratings, Risk Maps and Safer Roads Investment Plans; provide training, tools, and support that will build and sustain national, regional, and local capability; and track road safety performance so that funding agencies can assess the life-saving and economic benefits of their investments. iRAP and its partners have Star Rated 1.8 million kilometres of roads and designs, and 1,356 schools, influencing the safety of USD$101 billion of infrastructure investment. 1.8 million km have been risk mapped and over 69,000 people have been trained globally. According to recent research led by Johns Hopkins University, published in the respected journal PLOS One, road projects financed by governments, development banks and private-sector road operators around the world using the iRAP methodology and tools have prevented almost 700,000 deaths and serious injuries in 74 countries between 2016 and 2024. The iRAP Safety Insights Explorer sheds a light on the human and economic impact of road crashes, how safe our roads are, and the Business Case for Safer Roads in countries and the world.
www.irap.org

About BrazilRAP

BrazilRAP is the national iRAP Road Assessment Programme for Brazil. Launched on 5 November 2019, the programme is led by the Department of Transport Infrastructure (DNIT). It aims to address the highest risk roads in the country in partnership with national and state government agencies, development banks, research institutions, road safety NGOs and industry. DNIT’s BrazilRAP Project expects to prevent more than 150,000 serious injuries and fatalities in the country over a 20-year period with an economic benefit of BRL 45 billion. In just 20 months, DNIT supported by local partners and iRAP, Star Rated the country’s extensive 57,000 km network, providing essential data to identify high-risk road segments and develop Safer Roads Investment Plans for each State that prioritised cost-effective engineering countermeasures to improve road safety. With a planned investment of BRL 18 billion and in line with the goals of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, the project aims to halve the number of fatalities and serious injuries on the national network and achieve international safety standards for more than 75% of travel on existing roads to be rated 3-star or better for all road users by 2030. DNIT was awarded Winner of the iRAP Gary Liddle Memorial Trophy in Prague last year, presented to the world’s best performing road authority eliminating high-risk roads. Read more on the programme here.