Representing Indonesia’s Ministry of Public Works, Directorate General of Highways (DGH), in partnership with the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP), officially signed an agreement establishing InaRAP in Jakarta today, a national initiative aimed at significantly reducing road crash deaths and injuries.

The Indonesia Road Assessment Programme (InaRAP) aims to eliminate high-risk roads and arrest the devastating impact of road crashes which the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates claim over 31,000 lives each year and cause a million more life-changing injuries, and have an annual economic cost of some US$38 billion.

On launching the programme, Pantja Dharma Oetojoe, Director for Road and Bridge Engineering Development of the Directorate General of Highways stated that, in the effort to reduce fatalities, the establishment of InaRAP could support the achievement of Pillar 2 (Safer Roads) within the National General Plan for Traffic and Road Transport Safety. This initiative plays a strategic role in providing a database for infrastructure planning, optimizing budget allocation efficiency through targeted road improvements, and strengthening cross-sectoral synergy to create a sustainable transportation system.

“Led by DGH and supported by iRAP, InaRAP aims to enhance DGT’s existing programmes, bring together key stakeholders to build road safety capacity, enable systematic assessments of risk on existing roads and road designs, and support implementation of evidence-based investments that improve road safety,” said Pantja.

Greg Smith, CEO of iRAP stated that the launch of InaRAP is an important step in Indonesia’s road safety journey. With this initiative, we have an opportunity to help ensure that roads are planned, designed and maintained so that every journey is a safe one.  By working alongside the Directorate General of Highways and local partners, and connecting them with international expertise, iRAP is committed to helping Indonesia achieve its road safety goals for safer, more sustainable infrastructure.

“InaRAP will make use of the world-leading Star Rating methodology and investment planning tools which provide an evidence-based, objective measure of the level of safety which is ‘built-in’ to the road for vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians. Five-star roads are the safest while one-star roads are the least safe,” Mr Smith said.

He also stated that, according to iRAP Safety Insights Explorer, by achieving United Nations Global Road Safety Performance Target 4, which would see most travel occurring on 3-star or better roads, Indonesia could prevent more than 10,300 deaths annually with an economic benefit of US$12.8 billion – $10 for every $1 spent.

“InaRAP will build on extensive assessment activities already undertaken by DGT and recent capacity building initiatives including with the Indonesia Australia Partnership for Infrastructure (KIAT) which saw some 200 professionals take part in iRAP training,” he said.

Greg Smith added that InaRAP will also seek to leverage new big data and AI tools to accelerate safety assessments and contribute to the global body of knowledge and evidence on safe road designs for motorcyclists, who currently account for the majority of deaths on Indonesia’s roads.

With road crash fatalities in the Asia-Pacific region remaining high amid rapid motorization, the launch of InaRAP serves as a crucial step toward achieving the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety goal of halving road deaths and serious injuries by 2030.