Leveraging investment in the Philippines

Apr 19, 2012 | News

Network-level Safer Roads Investment Plans provide a means of leveraging existing investments for road safety.

With financial assistance from the Global Road Safety Facility, the Philippines Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP) led iRAP assessments of approximately 3,000km of national roads. Although these represent just fewer than 10% of national roads, they carry almost 30% of traffic. The most comprehensive plan developed in the project identified investments totalling $150 million which could prevent an estimated 27,000 deaths and serious injuries over 20 years.

By identifying complementary objectives with projects as diverse as the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)-financed improvements of roads in Samar, the Motor Vehicle User Charge ‘additional pavement width’ fund and the black spot program, opportunities to leverage existing finance to implement the majority of safety recommendations were identified. For example, although the ‘additional pavement width’ fund is specifically designed to increase road capacity, the iRAP project found that by improving overtaking facilities, and thereby reducing the risk of head-on crashes, significant safety benefits would also be achieved through the construction of additional lanes on parts of the network.

As a result of the success of the first project in the Philippines, a second phase of assessments was financed by the Australian Government overseas aid program, AusAID.

ChinaRAP momentum building

Apr 12, 2012 | News

ChinaRAP, a collaboration between iRAP and the Research Institute of Highway (RIOH), is developing rapidly. 

The current phase of the project is being undertaken in partnership with Anhui Province, where some 700km of roads were recently surveyed. Many of these roads are slated for major upgrade with finance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). 

The Building ChinaRAP project is funded by the Bloomberg RS10 Project via the Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) and is part of broader Road Safety Engagement Strategy being planned by the Government of China and the World Bank.

New SENSOR proposal largest international RAP cooperation

Apr 12, 2012 | News

A new project for South East Europe called South East Europe Neighbourhood Safe Routes (SENSOR) has been proposed by 14 countries – Albania, Boznia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Moldova, FYROM, Montenegro Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine. 

The SENSOR proposal builds on outstanding cooperation between authorities, automobile clubs and universities in the region in measuring and mapping the safety of roads. So far, with EU and development bank support, safety rating results have been developed by half the countries involved, mostly on trans-European E-routes. 

Two countries, Serbia and Moldova, have already applied iRAP techniques and are implementing results in bank funded projects. The SENSOR project now proposes taking safety rating to the next level across the region.  SENSOR proposes inspection of up to 20,000kms of priority routes including at least 50% of E-routes in participating countries.  It proposes preparing “bank ready” investment plans that can save the most lives for the money available and strong public engagement. The SENSOR is the largest inspection programme outside Mexico 

Huge support for SENSOR has been pledged by 16 organisations representing 14 SEE countries including charities and Universities, Ministries and Roads Agencies who can help implement recommendations.  A response to the proposal to the EU submitted by Make Roads Safe Hellas on behalf of all the partners is expected in the first half of 2012.

New opportunities to save lives in the Philippines

Apr 12, 2012 | News

Improving safety for pedestrians – who account for about half of all people killed on roads in the Philippines – by building footpaths and safe crossing points is one of the priorities identified by the iRAP Philippines project.

The iRAP Philippines Steering Committee is now reviewing preliminary assessment results of more than 3,000km of national roads and options to implement safety countermeasures. Although these roads represent 12% of all national roads, they carry approximately 30% of traffic.

Based on the success of the GRSF-supported project, a second phase financed by AusAID is now underway. This includes assessment of an expanded road network, including roads that are targeted for upgrade with Asian Development Bank (ADB) finance, and assistance in the creation of Safe Road Demonstration Corridors on high-risk tourist and urban roads.

Risk of death and serious injury dropping in Europe

Apr 12, 2012 | News

Road safety programs in Europe are paying dividends with EuroRAP results showing reductions in risk. 

In Spain for example, the RACC found that the number of high accident risk stretches or very high accident risk stretches has decreased from 36% (period 1999-2001) to 7.3% (period 2008-2010). 

In Poland, researchers at the Technical Institute of Gdansk, together with experts from the motoring club PZM and the Foundation for Civil Engineering have shown that although 42% of total national roads were rated as high risk for the period 2008-2010, this is 19% (3,000km) less than in 2005-2007. Interactive maps are at http://eurorap.targeo.pl.

In the Czech Republic, UAMK and City Plan have published risk rate on national roads (i.e. motorways and class I roads) from 2003 to 2010. The number of lower-risk sections is increasing, while the share of the most risky ones is getting lower.

Full results are available at www.eurorap.org.

International road funders coordinating action

Apr 12, 2012 | News

iRAP and the AfDB, ADB, EBRD, EIB, CAF, CDB, GRSF, IDB, IsDB and MCC – who are among the world’s largest investors in roads – are working to accelerate road safety activities in developing countries, where 9 out of 10 of the world’s road deaths occur.

At a recent meeting the group pursued the establishment of consistent performance measures that will lead to investments in safer roads and major scaling-up of safety assessments by increasing the number of companies and organizations capable of surveying and rating roads and developing plans for engineering safety improvements.

As part of the meeting, iRAP Chairman, John Dawson, and Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) L. Enrique Garcia, Executive Chairman, signed an agreement that will see iRAP road assessments undertaken in the Banks’ shareholder countries.

iRAP Global Training in Africa

Apr 12, 2012 | News

A two-day course was held in conjunction with the Africa Transportation Technology Transfer (T2) Conference in Arusha, Tanzania.

The T2 Conference served as a part forum, for sharing and exchanging existing and new approaches to technology transfer that enabled countries to develop integrated transportation systems. 

The iRAP training course contributed to promote capacity building in road safety, with 25 participants in attendance. The course used iRAP training materials to educate and train road safety staff in the development, delivery and ongoing management of road assessments within a country. 

The course demonstrated the technical and scientific approaches that can save approximately one in every three fatalities on the roads through the systematic application of proven road safety engineering improvements.

AusRAP tracks performance of national highways

Apr 12, 2012 | News

Assessments of more than 20,000km of national highways around Australia have been published by AAusRAP. A total 1,170 road crash deaths, or 15% of all road deaths in Australia, occurred on the roads from 2005-2009. 

The report includes a finding that on the top 15 most improved sections the number of casualty crashes dropped from 963 to 424 – a 56% drop – between 2000-04 and 2005-09.

The Minister for Roads in the State of Queensland, Craig Wallace, said that plans are in place to significantly upgrade the Bruce Highway, one of the roads identified as higher risk in the report.

The report is available at: www.ausrap.org. AusRAP is run by the AAA and it’s member automobile clubs, who are dedicated to saving lives by advocating for safer road infrastructure.

1- and 2-star roads virtually eliminated in designs

Apr 12, 2012 | News

Karnataka State Highway Improvement Project (KSHIP) engineers in India have used iRAP safety performance measures to dramatically enhance the design of some 550km of concession roads.

As a result of their efforts the length of road rated 1- or 2-stars will virtually be eliminated (dropping from 86% to 2%) for vehicle occupants and will decrease significantly (from 100% to 12%) for pedestrians. It is estimated that this will lead to a 54% reduction in deaths and serious injuries. 

This work is part of efforts by iRAP to assist the multilateral development banks (MDBs) to improve safety performance measures in road design and address the Commission for Global Road Safety recommendation that desired design speeds for new roads be subject to achieving minimum safety ratings.The iRAP India Four States project is financed by the Bloomberg RS10 project via the Global Road Safety Facility.

Nine out ten fatal and serious crashes prevented

Apr 12, 2012 | News

Buckinghamshire County Council in Great Britain has received a Prince Michael Special Award for its comprehensive package of measures on the A4128 which cut fatal and serious crashes by 89%.

The measures, highlighted in the latest EuroRAP report, include: a speed limit reduction, improved directional and warning signs, improved road markings, intelligent road studs, traffic calming measures and upgraded pedestrian crossing facilities in villages. 

Roads identified in the recent EuroRAP report have also featured in a 5-part BBC television series. ‘Britain’s Killer Roads’ visits some of Britain’s persistently high-risk roads, meeting road crash victims’ families and finding out what it is that makes these roads dangerous.