The 3-star coalition
A growing coalition of organisations in the USA is calling for safe roads to be built in developing countries, where 9 out 10 of the world’s road deaths occur.
The 3-star coalition, led by the Fund for Global Health and including the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), seeks to build a healthier world by advocating for the design and construction of safer roads in developing countries.
Specifically, the coalition is calling for roads in developing countries to be built to a minimum 3-star safety standard for all road users.
To find our more and join the 3-star coalition, visit: http://www.fundforglobalhealth.org/join-the-3-star-coalition/.
Take part in upcoming iRAP training events
There are now many opportunities to take part in training on iRAP assessments:
30 April 2015, ADB headquarters, Philippines: learn how to Star Rate roads and see how iRAP tools are supporting local and national road safety initiatives at the Asia Pacific Workshop. Register now.
22 May, 2015, Malaysia: learn how road safety can be incorporated in performance based contracts at the IRF Executive Certified Training Program. Register now.
21 – 25 September 2015, UK: this 5-day course at the University of Birmingham introduces to participants the iRAP technology for evaluating the safety impact of road infrastructure. Register now.
RAPcapacity online courses let you learn how to undertake iRAP-specification road assessments, at your own pace. Register now.
National highway safety program enters a new phase in China
China’s State Council has endorsed an implementation guide for the next phase of the Highway Safety Enhancement Project (HSEP), titled highway safety to cherish life.
The guide is an update of an earlier edition and includes new recommendations for safety facilities and instructions on the use of ChinaRAP risk assessments.
Tiejun Zhang from the Ministry of Transport Research Institute of Highway (RIOH) and member of the iRAP Global Technical Committee was a lead author of the new guide, which will be trialled in numerous provinces during the next two years.
The HSEP was established in 2004 and in its first ten years more than CNY 30 billion (USD 4.8 billion) was invested in improving approximately 366,000km of roads.
The Building ChinaRAP initiative is a partnership of RIOH and iRAP and is supported by the FIA Foundation, World Bank GRSF and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Planning safer roads in Papua New Guinea
Risk assessments are now being undertaken on 4,500km of priority national highways in Papua New Guinea.
The assessments, which are being led by the Department of Works, are part of the fulfilment of the national transport strategy aim to introduce safety management systems that can be used to identify and mitigate safety risks from road layout and use.
The project, which has been able to leverage road asset data collected in a previous project, includes producing road safety Star Ratings and Safer Roads Investment Plans and training.
The project is part of the Papua New Guinea – Australia Transport Sector Support Program (TSSP).
Minister flags Star Ratings for roads in Britain
The UK Roads Minister, Robert Goodwill, has announced that roads in Britain could soon be officially given ‘star ratings’ for safety by road authorities.
Speaking at a launch of EuroRAP results in Britain, Mr Goodwill said the Highways Agency and councils had been asked to “consider the merits” of officially adopting a five-star rating system.
The announcement was at the launch of the Road Safety Foundation report commissioned by major insurer Ageas, Making Road Safety Pay, which recommended that minimum in-built safety levels of 4-stars are needed for the busiest national roads in Britain and minimum 3-stars for all other national roads by 2025.
The report also recommended that major local authority roads needed to achieve the minimum 3-star level by 2030 with much safety upgrading undertaken during routine maintenance – a strategy also recently endorsed by the Catalan regional government in Spain following work in partnership with EuroRAP Member RACC.
Road assessments in Uruguay begin
Road safety experts met in Montevideo, the site of the first football World Cup, to kick-off iRAP assessments in Uruguay.
The assessments, led by the Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MTOP) and supported by the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), will span some 4,000km of roads, including 1,700km of concession highways. Mexican firm SEMIC is expected to begin the road surveys in January 2015.
According to the National Road Safety Unit (UNASEV) in the first 10 months of 2014, 444 people died in traffic crashes, 40% of which occurred on national roads.
Save the date: iRAP Asia Pacific Workshop
The next iRAP Asia Pacific Workshop will be held on 30 April 2015 in Manila, Philippines.
The workshop forms part of the Asia Pacific Road Safety 2015 conference (28-30 April 2015), an initiative of the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and iRAP.
This year, the iRAP workshop will focus on training participants in techniques to produce and interpret road safety Star Ratings, including interactive sessions using the Star Rating Demonstrator (available at http://vida.irap.org).
More information will be available shortly at irap.org.
AIRSO 50th Anniversary Road Safety Award
iRAP’s Dr Steve Lawson recently received an AIRSO 50th Anniversary Road Safety Award in recognition of his significant and lasting contribution to road safety.
Steve Lawson’s work over 35 years includes research to reduce single-vehicle crashes and those involving young pedestrians, work on traffic cameras and red-light running, and supporting the development and application of protocols used by EuroRAP and iRAP.
AIRSO is a charity and independent membership organisation based in the United Kingdom and was established in 1965. The 50th anniversary awards were presented by Tim Stevenson OBE, Lord Lieutenant for Oxfordshire.
Interactive Star Rating results for Indian roads now online
With iRAP’s online software, ViDA, you can now explore road safety Star Rating results for more than 6,000km of roads in India.
Additional assessments in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are also nearing completion, which will lift the total length to more than 10,000km.
Importantly, many of the roads assessed are linked with Government and World Bank financed upgrade projects that have a road safety focus. In fact, designs for some 20% of roads assessed are complete and construction is already underway on many roads.
Registering to use ViDA as a ‘Reader’ account holder is free and enables you to view high-level road data, Star Ratings and Investment Plan reports. Find out more by visiting: http://vida.irap.org.
Safer Roads by Design Certified Training Program
The next IRF Safer Roads By Design Across Six Continents training program will be held in Malaysia from 15 to 25 March 2015.
One of the world’s most comprehensive road safety training programs, Safer Roads by Design helps road authorities meet their Decade of Action commitment to reduce fatalities by 50 percent by 2020.
The ten day program will include a session on using the iRAP methodology to systemically apply safety countermeasures. The session will involve interactive use of the Star Rating Demonstrator (available at http://vida.irap.org).
Find out more and register by visiting: https://www.irfnews.org/event/safer-roads-by-design-1503/.
Do you want to develop life-saving software?
iRAP is seeking a Senior Frontend Web Developer/UI Engineer to join our award-winning road safety team.
Based in iRAP headquarters in Basingstoke, UK, you will be part of the team that develops and supports iRAP software and systems, especially ViDA (http://vida.irap.org).
We have an extensive list of products in the development pipeline, including tools to help star rate road designs, integrated star rating, crash data and GIS systems, speed management tools and new ViDA modules that help explore how to create a fatality free road in combination with vehicle and other technologies.
Full details of the position, including a list of essential skills and desirable skills, are available here.
MOU signed with State of Qatar
iRAP has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with The Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ during the annual general conference organised by the Automobile International Federation (FIA) in Doha. The conference was hosted by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle...
Star Ratings and Investment Plans: Data analysis and reporting specification
Download This document contains the minimum specifications required in the creation of Star Ratings and Investment Plans. Click the file icon above to download the file. Star Ratings and Investment Plans: Data analysis and reporting...
New Star Rating Demonstrator
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.
New iRAP assessments in Brazil
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.
Large-scale cooperation in Europe finds ways to save lives
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.
Lowering the percentage of 1 and 2 star rated highways in Australia
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.
Cambodia’s Minister for Transport calls for greater action on safety
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.
New reports push the bounds in the UK
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.
Upgrades to the iRAP online software
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.
- 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.
EVENT WRAP UP: Innovation workshop 2014
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.
Safe schools in Cape Town
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.
Do you want to be a leader in European road safety?
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
Preliminary assessments in the Cayman Islands
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.
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