Original article and image credits: Project PHOEBE website

Transport for the West Midlands (TfWM) and The Floow recently hosted the PHOEBE Road Risk Workshop, which brought together key road safety stakeholders and served as a showcase of several tools and datasets that are currently available for understanding road risk in the West Midlands.  The group discussed the aims and progress of the PHOEBE project and the potential to improve urban road safety and save lives. The importance of bringing regional stakeholders together is evident as a ‘road safety emergency’ was declared by Birmingham City Council on 1 August 2024 in response to a demand from campaigners in light of several high profile and fatal incidents across the city.

During the day, PHOEBE showcased how data can be used to understand and predict changes to road risk, with a particular focus on the plight of more vulnerable road users and active travellers. The initial session concentrated on how new and emerging sources of data, such as the speed datasets produced by The Floow, are providing local authorities with powerful insights into the behaviour of traffic over extended regions and along strategic routes.

iRAP demonstrated the principals behind the existing road assessment methodology and the current understanding of how the underlying infrastructure gives rise to a given level of risk. There followed a demonstration of the cycle-specific RAP process, a powerful new system for predicting the emergent risk of cycle infrastructure. In subsequent sessions, iRAP surveys in the West Midlands and the PHOEBE research towards understanding the propensity to speed were showcased and discussed. This also included results of a CycleRAP survey can be used to estimate the reduction in risk from installing new active travel infrastructure by comparing the risk exposure of the local main roads and the adjacent cycle lanes.

Find out more information on Project PHOEBE here