Natalia Escobar, Analyst, Infrastructure Department, CONASET; Alberto Escobar, Executive Secretary, CONASET; Julio Urzua and Morgan Fletcher, iRAP; Ricardo Rojas, Transport Engineer, Infrastructure Department, CONASET; and Rosemary Planzer, Transport Engineer, Infrastructure Department, CONASET

Julio Urzua, iRAP’s Strategic Projects Director and Morgan Fletcher, LAC Operations Team Lead recently met with Alberto Escobar Poblete, the newly-elected Executive Secretary of the National Commission of Road Safety in Chile (CONASET), to discuss potential collaboration on road safety initiatives for the next four years.

During the meeting, Mr Escobar was joined by CONASET’s infrastructure team, and several key topics were explored to establish a formal partnership between CONASET and iRAP. The discussions focussed on advancing road safety through innovative programmes aimed at improving road infrastructure safety across the country.

Key areas discussed included:

• The potential rollout of the Star Rating for Schools Programme in Chile supporting safer school journeys.
• The introduction of CycleRAP as a pilot initiative. CycleRAP is an easy, affordable and fast method of evaluating road and bicycling infrastructure to reduce crashes and improve safety specifically for bicyclists and other light mobility users.
• The proposed development of ChileRAP – a locally owned and led national Road Assessment Programme – advanced with a workshop of partner institutions planned in Santiago this year and establishment of an inter-institutional coordination committee.

This meeting marks an important step in strengthening road safety efforts in Chile with data-driven, evidence-based solutions for safer roads and streets.

The partnership between CONASET and iRAP will help build a foundation for sustainable road safety improvements, benefiting communities across the country.

According to iRAP’s Safety Insights Explorer, achieving UN Target 4 for greater than 75% of travel on 3-star or better roads for all road users in Chile by 2030 stands to save an estimated 372 lives each year, and 661,727 deaths and injuries over the 20-year life of road treatments, with an economic benefit of USD$2.1 billion – $6.60 for every $1 spent.