Nov 26, 2014 | News
With the new interactive Star Rating Demonstrator you can see how changes in a road’s design affect its Star Rating.
Participants in the Star Rating Designs session at the recent IRF Asia Road Congress were among the first to try out the new tool by rating examples of roads from around the world.
You can access the Demonstrator from the dashboard in the iRAP online software, ViDA. Registration to access ViDA and use the Demonstrator is free.
The Demonstrator was developed with assistance from the ChinaRAP team at RIOH and is just one of a number of recent updates to ViDA. These updates help ensure that everyone, whether it’s a transport minister, engineer, treasury official or road safety advocate, who has the potential to improve road infrastructure safety and save lives is able to access the results they need. This technical note explains more about the updates.
Nov 26, 2014 | News
Brazil’s National Road Authority (DNIT) has begun an iRAP assessment of 3,000km of federal highways, spread across eight of Brazil’s 27 states and territories.
The project will be delivered by Mexican road survey firm, SEMIC, and the iRAP team, and provides an opportunity for DNIT to develop its capacity to use the iRAP methodology to assess and improve safety on its 60,000km road network.
As part of the project initiation, the Federal Highway Police organised a workshop that included Justice Minister José Eduardo Cardozo, Director General of Highway Police Maria Alice Nascimento Souza, Director General of the FIA Foundation Saul Billingsley and numerous international experts.
This project and assessments in Sao Paulo benefit from the support of the World Bank Global Road Safety Facility.
Nov 25, 2014 | News
As the Make Roads Safe Hellas-led SENSOR project draws to completion, more and more of the 14 southeast European partner countries are publishing results and setting out plans for the next steps.
The project has produced Risk Maps based on historical crash data for more than 27,000km of roads, showing that 30% to 60% of networks have unacceptably high risk.
Almost 20,000km of infrastructure Star Ratings have also been produced. These show that typically 50% to 70% of roads in individual countries are 1 or 2-stars (out of 5-stars) for vehicle occupants.
Commonly, pedestrian activity is expected on more than 40% of networks, though sidewalks (footpaths) are generally only available on less than 10% of the networks. More than 4,800 pedestrian crossings were surveyed, 44% of which are of poor quality.
This presentation summarises the project.
Nov 25, 2014 | News
Through the ANRAM program, state-based road authorities in Australia are increasingly using a nationally-consistent approach to identify and improve road sections with the highest risk of severe crashes.
In the State of Tasmania for example, the Third Action Plan for road safety will see improvement of Star Ratings for Tasmanian highways, and in particular, a lowering of the percentage of 1 and 2 star rated highways.
This action is part of efforts to promote the use of ‘best practice infrastructure’ and reduce serious injuries and fatalities by 20% between 2010 and 2015.
Nov 25, 2014 | News
Minister for Public Works and Transport, HE Tram Iv Tek, and senior officials recently met with iRAP to discuss opportunities to prevent road trauma in Cambodia.
The World Health Organization estimates that Cambodia experienced a road death rate of 17.2 deaths per 100,000 population in 2010. We estimate that deaths and serious injuries cost $474 million a year, or the equivalent of 4% of GDP.
Speaking during the meeting, the Minister said deaths from traffic crashes accounted for much-needed attention and urged the Department’s road engineers to pay high attention to the quality and safety of the roads.
The meetings were held in conjunction with an OECD ITF Netherlands-Cambodia twinning project involving Road Safety For All, Handicap International and GRSP.
Nov 24, 2014 | News
The 13th annual British EuroRAP report identifies 15 stretches of road where authorities tok relatively low cost action that reduced fatal and serious crashes by 80%.
The number of people killed and seriously injured on these stretches dropped from 237 to 52, saving an estimated £400 million and preventing immeasurable grief.
Making Road Safety Pay makes seven key recommendations which aim to change the UK’s focus on road safety over the next decade.
Recommendations include setting Star Rating targets, a national older driver strategy, cutting insurance premium tax for vehicles fitted with new life-saving technology and a trial of innovative social impact bonds to fund road safety improvements.
Oct 8, 2014 | News
Recent upgrades to the iRAP online software, ViDA, mean that for the first time everyone will be able to access interactive Road Data, Star Rating and Safer Roads Investment Plan reports online.
An important goal for iRAP is to ensure that everyone, whether it’s a transport minister, engineer, treasury official or road safety advocate, who has the potential to improve road infrastructure safety and save lives is able to access the results they need.
At the same time, Managers are empowered with a greater ability to control the level of access that people have to their data. Managers can choose options ranging from completely secure, private access for sensitive data to completely open, publicly-available access to results that complement a written report.
These upgrades are part of our continuous efforts to better meet the needs of road authorities, motoring clubs, research institutes and non-government organisations.
The upgrades outlined here apply only to the ViDA software. They do not affect the iRAP methodology (that is, they do not affect how Star Ratings and Safer Roads Investment Plans (SRIP) are calculated).
We hope you enjoy using the newly updated ViDA software. If you have any comments or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
James Bradford
Global Operations Manager
New dashboard
We’ve created a new, easy to use dashboard that contains links to all the tools you’ll need.
The dashboard also includes “News” and “Activity feed” sections that provide the latest information.
New types of accounts
We’ve introduced three new types of accounts.
Reader Account – is for those who want to look at high-level reports (for example, members of the public, project stakeholders). This account allows you to view Final Published results and request access to Final Unpublished results. You can filter Road Data, Star Rating and SRIP reports to the Dataset level.
Analyst Account – is for those who want to look at detailed reports (for example, researchers, road authority engineers, project partners). This account is the same as the Reader Account, but adds the ability to filter Road Data, Star Rating and Investment Plan reports to the Road and Section levels. You can also access Download files.
Creator Account – is for those who want to create reports (for example, Road Assessment Programme managers, road designers, road safety auditors). This account is the same as the Analyst Account, but adds the ability to create and edit Datasets and produce reports. Note that the creation of a dataset requires the permission of the Project Manager, and the creation of a Project requires the permission of the Region Manager.
After logging in, you can check your account type by clicking on your name and selecting My Profile.
Existing users
If you currently have access to ViDA, your old account will automatically be transferred to one of the new accounts.
- Practioners are assigned a Reader Account.
- Managers are assigned an Analyst Account.
- Administrators are assigned a Creator Account.
New license agreement
We have created a new primary license agreement that sets out terms and conditions for use of ViDA.
All users of ViDA, including existing users, are required to agree to the terms and conditions. You will be prompted to do this the first time you login to the updated system. There is no cost for this license.
Anyone can apply for a Reader Account
By clicking ‘Register’ on the newly designed homepage and agreeing to the terms and conditions, anyone can now become a ViDA user.
By default all new ViDA users are assigned a Reader Account. If you want to access data in greater detail, you can request that your account is upgraded to an Analyst Account, or if you want to be able edit data, you can further request an upgrade to a Creator Account. Requests for account upgrades are considered by iRAP and can be made using the Upgrade Account button available on the new dashboard. After you have upgraded your account you are able to submit requests for access to reports.
Managers
It is now possible to specify who the Manager of a Road Assessment Program (RAP), Region, Project and Dataset is.
Managers are Creator Account holders that have the ability to assign other users with access to the data they are responsible for. The Manager may choose a level of access that is equal to or below the user’s account level. For example:
- A Programme Manager could assign an Analyst Account holder with Analyst level access to results for a Dataset within their Programme (that is, read only).
- A Project Manager could assign a Creator Account holder with Creator level access to a Dataset within their Project (that is, the ability to edit).
- A Dataset Manager could assign a Creator Account holder with Reader level access to results for their Dataset (that is, read only).
Dataset Managers can also set the status of their Datasets.
Setting the status of Datasets
Dataset Managers can now set the status of their Dataset.
There are five options:
- Working. This option is used when analyses are still being done. Reports are only available to those who have been assigned access, and the dataset name is not listed in the “Request Access” list (that is, the Dataset is not visible to other users).
- Draft. This option is used when the results are ready to be shared in draft format. Reports are only available to those who have been assigned access, and the Dataset is not listed in the “Request Access” list.
- Final Hidden. This option is used when the analyses are complete. Reports are only available to those who have been assigned access, and the Dataset is not listed in the “Request Access” list.
- Final Unpublished. This option is used when the analyses are complete but reports are not published. Reports are only available to those who have been assigned access, but the Dataset is listed in the “Request Access” list, enabling any ViDA user to request access to it. Dataset managers can approve or decline access as desired.
- Final Published. This option is used when the analyses are complete and reports are openly available. Standard “Final Published” reports are available to all ViDA users, and the Dataset is listed “Request Access” list, enabling any ViDA user to request access to it. Datasets may only be set to “Final Published” in agreement with the corresponding a Road Assessment Programme Manager and are subject to quality assurance checks.
Dataset status is set on the Dataset setup page. This can be accessed by selecting the “Project Setup & Access” button on the Dashboard, then navigating down to the Project, and then selecting edit from the dataset menu.
Anyone can request access to reports
All account holders can now use the “Request Access” button on the Dashboard to request access to standard suites of reports.
All account holders automatically gain access to a standard suite of Reader level access reports for Final Published Datasets.
Additionally:
- Reader Account holders may request Reader level access to Final Unpublished Datasets.
- Analyst and Creator Account holders may request Reader or Analyst level access to Final Published and Final Unpublished Datasets.
When making your request, you have the option of writing a supporting statement explaining, for example, why you would like access to the Dataset. You’ll be notified about the decision via the Activity feed on the Dashboard and by email. In the future, Creator Account holders will be able to request Creator level access to Datasets.
* For Creator Account holders the “Request Access” button is combined into the “Project Setup & Access” button.
Dataset managers are responsible for access requests
When a request for access to a Dataset is made, it is the responsibility of the corresponding Dataset Manager to respond.
Access requests are added to the corresponding Dataset Manager’s access request list, their “Activity feed” is updated with a notification and the “Access Requests” button appears on the Dashboard. At most, one notification of new requests will be provided each day, but all new requests will be available for review. In response to a request, the Dataset Manager is able to choose to:
- Approve the request and assign the level of access.
- Reject the request.
- Delete the request.
- Mark the request for later action.
A notification is provided if a user has requested access to data that has previously been rejected. In the future, when access to data is rejected, the manager will be asked to select one of a number of reasons why and they will be able to set up default rules so that particular types of requests can be automatically approved or rejected.
Sep 28, 2014 | Events, Innovation Workshop, Presentations, Resources
Among the world’s best in road infrastructure safety gathered recently at ARRB’s headquarters in Melbourne, Australia for iRAP’s third Innovation Workshop.
The Workshop was hosted by AusRAP leaders AAA, RACV and ARRB with support from TAC and VicRoads. The Innovation Workshop is a platform for those using iRAP tools and those involved in road infrastructure safety more broadly to transfer their know-how quickly to each other through mutual support and friendly competition.
A collection of 32 presentations from the workshop covers topics such as Star Ratings of roads before-and-after upgrades, targeted road maintenance to improve safety and mobile phone probe data for traffic speed measurements. Participants also had the opportunity to take a tour of recent safety improvements made to the Maroondah Highway.
Aug 12, 2014 | News
Engineers from Cape Town City Council recently undertook training in the use of iRAP results and developed a series of concept plans to improve safety at key points around Sivile, Imbasa and A.C.J Phakade primary schools.
The work is part of a pioneering approach, introducing safe road infrastructure to protect school children, combined with road safety education and awareness for children and teachers from Takalani Sesame and Childsafe.
The initial iRAP assessment conducted with the City of Cape Town found that significant percentages of the roads around the schools are in the highest-risk 1- and 2-star categories for pedestrians.
The project is primarily funded with a donation from Decade of Action global corporate supporter Janssen, a Johnson & Johnson company. Additional financing and technical support for the project was provided by WorleyParsons, IVECO, and the FIA Foundation. The Medical Research Council is coordinating the monitoring and evaluation of the project.
Aug 12, 2014 | News
With the current Managing Director, John Dawson, retiring, EuroRAP is seeking to appoint a new CEO.
This is an outstanding opportunity to work with a talented team and road authorities, motoring clubs, political leaders and researchers to save lives during the Decade of Action for Road Safety.
EuroRAP was established as a sister program to EuroNCAP, and has members across 29 partner countries. EuroRAP’s members have assessed hundreds of thousands of kilometres of roads across Europe, and the program is growing in influence globally.
If you are interested in leading this award-winning international organisation in the challenge of making roads safe, I encourage you to submit your application.
Rob McInerney
CEO, iRAP
Aug 12, 2014 | News
Preliminary Star Ratings and safety investment options for 200km of roads in the Cayman Islands have been presented to key stakeholders.
At a meeting with the Minister for Infrastructure and Planning, the National Road Authority, the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service and the Caribbean Development Bank, options to lift road safety Star Ratings and prevent deaths and serious injuries were canvassed.
iRAP and the National Road Authority are finalise the assessment and ensure that recommendations are implemented.
Aug 11, 2014 | News
World Bank-financed upgrades that will significantly improve road safety Star Ratings are now underway in the Indian States of Gujarat and Kerala.
Alongside more traditional measures, such as wider lanes and paved shoulders, the designs include sidewalks with safety fences, ‘raised’ pedestrian crossings, bus stops, solar powered street lights and traffic calming.
The designs also introduce “green tunnels” that preserve roadside trees – which are a safety hazard – by using safety barriers. Presentations about the upgrades are available for download.
At the same time, new road safety inspections of approximately 4,000km of roads are also now underway in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
Aug 11, 2014 | News
More than 300 people from across the region gathered at ADB headquarters in the Philippines for Asia Pacific Road Safety 2014.
With a theme of “Improving Safety for Our Children”, the event comprised four parts: the GRSP Asia Seminar, iRAP Asia Pacific Workshop, ADB/ASEAN Train the Trainer Programme and GNCAP Workshop.
Participants in the iRAP Workshop had the opportunity to hear about road safety improvements that will lift Star Ratings in China, India and the Philippines. Presentations from the workshop are available for download.
Aug 11, 2014 | News
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Edmond Haxhinasto called for safe road infrastructure to be the new priority as he joined 30 professional and technical guests for consultation on the first EuroRAP results for Albania.
The Minister said Albania’s recent massive investment in new road infrastructure had led to safety problems which must be addressed before more new roads could be built. The SENSoR project has now Star Rated the first 500 km of Albania’s roads showing countermeasures which can target the safety problems and the huge economic benefits from investing in safety.
Presentations from Olivera Djordjevic (Make Roads Safe Hellas – SENSoR lead partner) and Dr Steve Lawson (Road Safety Foundation) were welcomed by the government and by Niko Leka, President of the Automobile Club of Albania, the project partner in Albania.
Aug 11, 2014 | News
Numerous training courses are now available for those who want to learn to Star Rate roads for safety and design safer roads.
With RAPcapacity online courses, you learn how to undertake iRAP-specification road assessments, at your own pace. Simply log-onto http://capacity.irap.org/training/rap-courses and select a course that suits you.
The week-long University of Birmingham (UK) iRAP course in Road Safety introduces the iRAP technology for evaluating the safety impact of road infrastructure first hand. Enrolments are now open for the September 2014 course.
iRAP partner, the IRF, has developed a series of Road Safety Seminars (Safer Roads by Design™) to provide road authorities with best practices and latest technologies that can be implemented to meet a country’s commitment to the Decade of Action. IRF regional conferences also offer opportunities for professional development.
Aug 11, 2014 | News
In cooperation with the Catalan Roads Agency, RACC has assessed 5,000 km of roads and produced a EUR 42.8 million investment plan that would save 1,400 fatalities and serious injuries over the next 20 years.
The main types of crashes that would be addressed are head-on crashes (which account for 30% of crashes) and junction crashes (20%).
The proposed countermeasures would complement work already being undertaken (see picture right) and include: median barriers on single-lane undivided roads, central hatching, intersection delineation and street lighting.
RACC and the Catalan Roads Agency (Direcció General d’infrastructures de transport terrestre) have agreed to continue working together to extend iRAP assessments to other networks, and to take the present recommendations into action through road maintenance contracts.
Aug 11, 2014 | News
An AusRAP assessment by RACQ shows that the improvements made to a 12km section of the Bruce Highway in Queensland, Australia have lifted it from just 2-stars to 4- and 5-stars for safety.
Previously, the section of road had a speed limit of 90km/h, was undivided and had hazardous roadsides and ‘at-grade’ intersections. The new section has two lanes in each direction which are separated by median safety barriers that reduce the risk of head-on crashes. Roadside safety barriers, which are specially designed to protect motorcyclists, help to reduce the risk of injury in run-off road crashes. A ‘grade-separated’ interchange significantly reduces the risk of intersection crashes.
As a result of the engineering improvements, the speed limit was able to be lifted to 110km/h yet the risk of death and serious injury has more than halved.
The improvements were an initiative of the Australian and Queensland Governments.
Jul 2, 2014 | News
EuroRAP is seeking to appoint a CEO
The current CEO, the Managing Director of the Association, is retiring. You will lead the European Road Assessment Association’s activities and enable your Members to deliver RAP programmes. You will conceive or develop practical programmes of research, implementation, legislation or communications that will lead to safer roads.
In addition to a core grant from the FIA Foundation and membership fees, you must raise funds from a wide variety of sources to help enable the Association’s and your Members’ programmes.
You will work closely with other partners and RAP programmes worldwide including iRAP, a charity established by EuroRAP to act as a global umbrella for road assessment and develop key software tools for global use.
You will be responsible for a team of UK based staff who are jointly employed by EuroRAP and iRAP so they can move easily between the work of European and global programmes. You will be responsible for overseeing iRAP’s programmes in the Middle East and Africa as and when may be agreed between iRAP and EuroRAP.
For more information on this role and to apply please click here.
Closing date 7th September 2014.
Jun 25, 2014 | News
The Research Institute of Highway (RIOH), Ministry of Transport, China, has received the iRAP Asia Pacific Star Performer award for their leadership of ChinaRAP.
The China Road Assessment Program (ChinaRAP), which Star Rates roads for crash risk and develops safety countermeasure plans, is now being used in 14 city and highway projects across China, helping to shape development bank projects worth more than CNY 9 billion (USD 1.5 billion).
A few examples of ChinaRAP projects are:
- In Yunnan, the team assessed city roads and made recommendations for safety improvements, such as footpaths, speed limit reclassification and bicycle lanes, in the World Bank financed Yunnan Honghe Prefecture Urban Transport Project.
- In Shaanxi, the team is working closely with designers to lift safety star ratings on almost 1,000km of roads as part of the Asian Development Bank financed Shaanxi Mountains Road Safety Demonstration Project.
- In Anhui, the team worked closely with designers of the G316 to lift star ratings of a new class 1 road. These upgrades are funded by the Wuhu Local Government.
Jun 4, 2014 | News
The last rites are being held today for Gopinath Munde, India’s Rural Development Minister who was tragically killed this week in a car crash. Although a very high profile case which has seen much coverage in the Indian press and further afield, he is by no means the only road victim this week in a country struggling to cope with the burden of road crashes. With around 380 reported road deaths each and every day on India’s roads the country is at crisis point and figures show that many of the victims will be the from lower-income rural families, the lives of whom Mr Munde worked so hard to improve, that are the hardest hit.
Fortunately there are positive efforts being made, among them the work being led by Public Works Departments and the World Bank in States such as Kerala, Gujarat, Assam and Karnataka. In major road upgrade projects, ambitious targets to lift road safety star ratings have been set. It’s the first time that this approach, which is lifting designs above basic standards, has been adopted in a developing country on a large scale. Importantly, the targets are aimed at making roads safer for everyone: vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, pedestrians and bicyclists.
The road safety challenge in India is large; but many of the solutions are already well known. Building features such as footpaths, safe crossings, safety barriers and roundabouts around the country will save lives. The death of Gopinath Munde is truly upsetting; we must ensure that thousands more deaths like his are avoided.
May 29, 2014 | News
The International Road Federation (IRF) will hold a series of regional congresses, in Africa, Latin America and Asia this year.
Attendees at the conferences will have the opportunity to dialogue with government officials, developmental partners, contractors, consultants and other stakeholders who share a common interest in improving people’s lives through a sound, resilient and safe transportation system
To support road policy development and analysis, the IRF World Road Statistics is also available. To mark the 50th anniversary of the publication, includes 12 years of updated data, providing a comprehensive statistical picture of international road and inland transport from the start of the millennium.
May 29, 2014 | News
Facilitated by the Japan Automobile federation (JAF) and with technical support from iRAP, the National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management (NILIM) has carried out a pilot assessment of risk on roads in Japan.
Apart from helping to build an understanding of the iRAP methodology among local partners, the project also offers the opportunity for iRAP to learn about successful safety management techniques in Japan.
Between 2001 and 2010, Japan managed to more than halve its road death rate, cutting the rate from 10 deaths per 100,000 population to 4.5 deaths per 100,000 population.
May 28, 2014 | News
During the 12th Annual EuroRAP General Assembly, the Institute for Transport Sciences (KTI) published Risk Maps for some 3,000km of roads in Hungary.
The roads represent just 11% of the investigated part of the national road network, but carry 54% of traffic flow. Some 34% of fatal crashes occur on the roads.
The Risk Map, produced as part of SENSOR, shows that the network spans the full range of risk categories, from high risk through to low risk.
Based on the findings of the review carried out with EuroRAP methodology, a Hungarian expert group is to make proposals on low-budget safety improvements.
May 28, 2014 | News
In the first application of iRAP in Brazil, crash risk on 4,250km of roads in São Paulo state was assessed.
The results, which are helping to guide the $429 million São Paulo Sustainable Transport Project, were presented as part of a training course for around 150 people.
Much of the network was rated in the highest risk 1- and 2-star categories. About two thirds (62%) of roads where pedestrians are present carry traffic 40km/h or more have no footpaths. Almost half (40%) have hazardous objects within 5 metres of the edge and limited roadside protection (such as safety barriers).
The most comprehensive plan shows that an investment of R$2.55 billion (US$1.28 billion) could reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries by 41%, preventing almost 80,000 deaths and serious injuries over 20 years.
Following the presentation of results, iRAP’s São Paulo based consultant conducted a series of workshops to train 15 engineers and planners from the São Paulo Department of Highways (DER-SP) in the use of the iRAP methodology and software.
The iRAP assessments in Brazil are supported by the World Bank GRSF and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
May 27, 2014 | News
Vehicle and road infrastructure experts recently explored how technologies from their fields will ‘work together’ to prevent common types of vehicle and motorcycle crashes and those involving pedestrians and bicyclists.
Participants in the workshop, which was hosted by RACV in Melbourne, Australia, also considered the challenge of preventing crashes involving the rapidly growing ‘e-bike’ fleet in many parts of the world.
Although advanced V2V and V2I technology which may lead to ‘self-driving’ cars was cited as having enormous potential, there was also a focus was on the safety gains of rapid, wide-scale deployment of already-proven technology and techniques, especially in rapidly developing countries.
Examples considered include: emergency brake assist which helps drivers to quickly slow their car, flexible safety barriers that are highly-effective at dissipating energy and innovative forms of head-protection for bicyclists.
The workshop was developed by iRAP and GNCAP, and built on the Roads That Cars Can Read Initiative. ARRB Group is currently producing a Research Report that will document proceedings.
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