Zambia’s strategically important roads being assessed

The Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA), supported by FRED Engineering, has commenced an iRAP assessment of 2,660km of strategically important roads in Zambia.

Whilst 34 schools have been assessed using the Star Rating for Schools Methodology, this marks the first iRAP assessment of the country’s road network.

The project will provide safety Star Ratings for vehicle occupants, pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists, as well as Safer Road Investment Plans recommending and prioritising safety engineering measures to lift road safety to the global 3-star or better standard.

The FRED Engineering team kicked off the project last week online with the first of three introductory workshops to build local knowledge and skills in the iRAP methodology. An overview of the performed surveys was shared, and the project scope, timeline, and next steps were discussed.

Daniel Lopez, Senior Road Safety Engineer and Data Scientist with FRED Engineering said, “A decrease of approximately 34 per cent on the number of annual fatalities could be achieved by ensuring that most of travel in Zambia is performed on 3-star roads”.

The iRAP Accredited FRED team has undertaken nearly 18,000km of iRAP assessments in multiple countries.

According to iRAP Safety Insights Explorer, achieving UN Target 4 for more than 75% of travel to be on 3-star or better roads by 2030, stands to save 1,130 lives and nearly 398,000 lives and injuries each year in Zambia with an economic benefit of $326.6 million, a benefit of $3.20 for every 1 spent.