UN Global Road Safety Week, observed from 12-18 May 2025, focuses on the theme “Streets for Life: #MakeWalkingSafe and #MakeCyclingSafe”. iRAP is proud to join this global effort to raise awareness and promote advocacy and action for safer road infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists with a suite of free evidence-based tools and data insights.
Road traffic injuries are a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, with nearly 1.2 million people killed and as many as 50 million people injured each year. They are the leading killer of young people aged 5-29 years. Globally, more than one in four deaths occur among pedestrians and cyclists
The 8th UN Global Road Safety Week offers an opportunity to spur action at national and local levels to make walking and cycling safe, by highlighting concrete and specific interventions that can be taken by different stakeholders – governments, international agencies, civil society, businesses, and schools.
These actions will help promote and facilitate a shift to walking and cycling, which are healthier, greener, more sustainable, and economically advantageous modes of transport. This will also contribute, directly and indirectly, to the attainment of many Sustainable Development Goals.
UNGRSW 2015 Key Messages:
- When walking and cycling are safe, these modes of transport can contribute to making people healthy, cities sustainable, and societies equitable.
- Pedestrians and cyclists make up more than one quarter of all road traffic deaths.
- Proven evidence-based measures must be taken to make walking and cycling safe.
- Walking and cycling are an integral part of the multimodal transport systems advocated in the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030.
Empowering Tools for Safer Streets
iRAP offers a suite of free, evidence-based tools and resources to support the creation of safer environments for vulnerable road users, in use by our partners in more than 130 countries. The tools support the achievement of 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).
Adapting to climate change also requires efforts to shift travel to less carbon-intensive travel modes. Safety is a key factor in creating this change. When people feel that an environment is safe, they are more likely to feel comfortable walking and cycling and using public transport. The iRAP methodologies and tools are available to help planners and designers ensure that pedestrian and cycling facilities are rated 3-stars or better for safety.
Star Rating for Schools (SR4S): This tool assesses and improves the safety of journeys to and from school for children, many of whom walk or cycle. It has already been used to assess the safety of nearly 2,000 schools in 76 countries.
CycleRAP: An easy, affordable and fast method of evaluating road and bicycling infrastructure for safety. It aims to reduce crashes and improve safety specifically for bicyclists and other light mobility users by identifying high risk locations without the need for crash data. CycleRAP assessments have been undertaken in more than 20 countries.
Youth Engagement App (YEA): The YEA App empowers young people to contribute their perspectives on road safety, including where they feel safe and unsafe on their journeys, and design preferences for pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.
> Find out more or download the Youth Engagement App (YEA) here
Star Rating for Designs (SR4D): iRAP strongly advocates for integrating safety principles from the outset of road design. Our Star Rating for Designs (SR4D) tool enables the assessment of safety performance during the design phase, ensuring that pedestrian and cyclist safety is maximised. By identifying potential safety issues early, SR4D allows for cost-effective modifications before construction commences, ultimately saving lives, injuries and money.
Safety Insights Explorer: The iRAP Safety Insights Explorer shines a light on the true scale and human impact of road crash injury and the safety of the world’s roads for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as the positive impact that can be made with investment.
Global Alliance’s Mobility Snapshots: Mobility Snapshots leverage the iRAP Star Rating methodology to provide valuable insights into mobility patterns, challenges, and road safety opportunities for vulnerable road users at intersections, for example by counting pedestrians, and identifying the presence or absence of safety features. Mobility Snapshots have already been undertaken in 44 countries at intersections across Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, and North and South America.
Data-Driven Action – AiRAP big data partnerships help ensure 75% of travel is on 3-star or better roads for all road users by 2030
iRAP is committed to supporting partners to achieve UN Target 4 for 75% of travel to be on 3-star or better roads for all road users by 2030, and data-driven action is crucial. Our AiRAP partnerships with organizations like Abley, Agilysis, Anditi, The Floow, and TomTom leverage vast datasets to provide unprecedented insights into road safety risks, including those faced by pedestrians and cyclists.
> Learn more about AiRAP
> Visualize your road network
Specifically, for cyclists, Dok data and road safety have been working with iRAP to develop maps that detail where 75% of travel is for bicyclists. Examples from Europe show that 75% of travel for cyclists occurs on an estimated 5.5% of the network in Rotterdam and an estimated 11.6% of the network in Barcelona.
> Read about mapping bicycle travel
> More information about AiRAP
Building capacity through iRAP training and accreditation
Instrumental to iRAP’s vision of eliminating high-risk roads is building global capacity through its training and accreditation programs. Already more than 76,000 people have been trained in 167 countries and 273 practitioners accredited to deliver projects to the globally recognised iRAP standard. These programs equip road safety professionals with the knowledge and skills to effectively use iRAP tools, conduct road safety assessments, and implement evidence-based solutions to eliminate road risk. By training road safety professionals, engineers, and planners, iRAP is fostering a global community of experts dedicated to improving the safety of pedestrians and cyclists and achieving the UN’s road safety goals.
> Access iRAP training
> Learn more about iRAP’s accreditation opportunities
Join the Movement!
iRAP urges governments, road authorities, engineers, urban planners, and all stakeholders to utilize our free tools and resources, including the Global Alliance’s Mobility Snapshots, to implement evidence-based solutions for safer walking and cycling infrastructure. Together, we can create “Streets for Life” and achieve a world where every journey is safe.
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