iRAP has released a new manual for monitoring road safety using iRAP’s methodology. The iRAP Road Safety Performance Tracking Manual offers clear, practical guidance for using iRAP Star Ratings and associated tools to measure and demonstrate improvements in road...
Calling all road safety champions! A major update of iRAP’s Star Rating methodology is on the way. Following a comprehensive five-year review overseen by iRAP’s Global Technical Committee, version 3.10 will launch in May 2026 and be accessible via iRAP’s online...
A new #RAPKnowledgeLive session is coming! Join us for the next #RAPKnowledgeLive session to explore how bicycle and pedestrian flow data can transform road safety and mobility planning. Flow data provides a powerful foundation for understanding where people walk and...
Shanna Lucchesi - Project Coordinator, iRAP speaking at the Big Data Results workshop. DA NANG, Vietnam – August 7, 2025 - Original article published by AIP Foundation In recent years, the Government of Vietnam has demonstrated strong leadership in prioritizing road...
Seven FIA Clubs are implementing road safety projects using iRAP methodologies with support from the 2025 FIA Safe and Sustainable Mobility Grants Programme. In 2025, the FIA Mobility Grants Programme, funded by the FIA Foundation, has been relaunched under a new...
14 – 15 May 2025, Bulgaria – The Bulgarian Branch Association Road Safety (BBARS), in collaboration with the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) and the Conference of European Directors of Roads (CEDR), organized the "On the Road to Vision Zero" Road Safety Conference,...
In support of the key messages launched during the 8th UN Global Road Safety Week to spur action at national and local levels to make walking and cycling safe, the World Health Organization (WHO) published Promoting Walking and Cycling: A toolkit of policy options to...
In a groundbreaking development, the much-anticipated new version of the Youth Engagement App (YEA) has launched during the 8th UN Global Road Safety Week, supporting the theme “Streets for Life: #MakeWalkingSafe and #MakeCyclingSafe”. Funded by Google.org, this...
UN Global Road Safety Week, observed from 12-18 May 2025, focuses on the theme "Streets for Life: #MakeWalkingSafe and #MakeCyclingSafe". iRAP is proud to join this global effort to raise awareness and promote advocacy and action for safer road infrastructure for...
Original content from the Global Alliance In the lead up to the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety (Ministerial Conference) in Marrakech, Morocco, the Global Alliance of NGO's published a new report: Mobility Snapshots: using local data to turn...
17 February, 2025 [MARRAKECH]: The five-year success of the global Star Rating for Schools (SR4S) Program helping to make school journeys safer and healthier for vulnerable youth in 76 countries has been celebrated today in Marrakech. SR4S’s 5-year impact was...
The NWSI team is prepared to begin data collection, navigating school zones on motorcycles to capture 360-degree imagery. (Image credit: AIP Foundation, Anditi) Training has commenced in Hanoi as part of the $2 million Google.org AI&Me Project leveraging AI to...
December 2-6: The National Road Safety Observatory in Tunisia hosted an intensive 5-day iRAP training session. This initiative aimed to enhance the skills of Tunisian professionals in assessing and improving road infrastructure, with the ultimate objective of reducing...
With the support of the Aleatica Foundation for Road Safety, around 60 iRAP partners from nine LAC countries came together from 27-28 November in Mexico City, with a focus on “Safer Roads for Latin America and the Caribbean: Saving Lives by 2030”. Road safety...
CCG and Riyadh Municipality presented their research paper at the IRF Conference (Images credit: CCG) The article has been prepared by CCG. The Consolidated Consultants Group (CCG), in collaboration with the Riyadh Municipality, participated in the IRF Road Safety...
Pictured above (L-R): Mohammad Shahid (PhD student); Monica Olyslagers (iRAP's Global Innovation Manager and Cities Specialist); James Bradford (iRAP's Global Technical Director); and Júlia Alves Porto (PhD Student) We are delighted to welcome PhD students Júlia Alves...
To help accelerate safety assessments across networks and corridors, iRAP has developed two new tools that leverage the iRAP Star Rating methodology. The Network Screening Tool is designed to help road network managers segment their road network to the point where...
The Africa Road Safety Seminar 2024, held on October 8-9 in Nairobi, Kenya, was a resounding success, bringing together over 200 attendees from across the African continent and featuring more than 40 local and international experts. The event was a platform for rich...
Participants from 54 countries tuned in last week for the 11th #RAPKnowledgeLive session – A key to safer roads. In this session, participants learned how to use the Star Rating for Designs (SR4D) tool to assess and improve road safety by evaluating road designs and...
Innovative enhancements to iRAP’s Star Rating for Designs (SR4D) web app, allowing the safety of road designs to measured before the commencement of civil works, will be unveiled today at the IRF World Congress in Istanbul. The safety of nearly 58,000 kilometres of...
The International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) is a Registered Charity with UN ECOSOC Consultative Status.
iRAP is registered in England and Wales under company number 05476000
Charity number 1140357
Registered office: 60 Trafalgar Square, London, WC2N 5DS
GET IN TOUCH │ Europe │ Africa │ Asia Pacific │ Latin America and Caribbean │ North America
The International Road Federation 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.
Safer Roads by Design™ is an all-inclusive approach to road safety and includes seminars on the fundamentals of Road Safety, Roadside Safety, Work Zone Safety, Intersection/Roundabout Safety and Vulnerable User Safer.
The University of Birmingham (UK) iRAP course in Road Safety introduces people to the iRAP technology for evaluating the safety impact of road infrastructure.
By the end of the course, the participants are expected to have acquired an understanding of the following key items:
The course includes practical exercises, discussions and exposure to the iRAP software. The course is delivered in the state-of-the-art teaching and learning facilities of the University of Birmingham.
RAPcapacity online courses help people learn how to undertake iRAP-specification road assessments.
The Star Rating of a Road Design can be completed as a stand-alone activity. The process is being used by road agencies, development banks and design consultants to objecitvely specify and measure the safety of a road design for all road users.
The process offers an opportunity for road owners to set a performance based star rating target for all road users (e.g. the new road must be minimum 4-star standard for pedestrians and cyclists and minimum 3-star standard for motorcyclists and vehicle occupants). It has been successfully used in conjunction with existing mechanisms such as Road Safety Audits and compliance with road design standards.
The impact on risk of various design iterations can also be explored to help harness the potential of designers to find creative solutions to challenging safety problems.
The risk reduction design improvements proposed in a Safer Road Investment Plan can be adjusted by local experts to improve the Star Ratings for different user groups. iRAP recommends that all new roads should be built to a 3-star or better rating and all existing roads upgraded to that level.
The 3-star or better minimum can be achieved through a combination of infrastructure improvements and speed management initiatives to ensure a minimum level of safety for all road users at the location. On high volume roads, 4 and 5-star targets are often justified for specific road user groups (e.g. 5-star for pedestrians in CBD areas; 4-star or better motorways for vehicle occupants).
A Safer Road Investment Plan is produced that makes the business case for investing in road infrastructure safety. The plans list a range of life-saving measures that could be used to improve a road’s Star Rating and reduce fatalities and serious injuries.
Processed road inspection data is used to develop Star Rating maps. The five-colour maps provide a simple and objective measure of the level of safety which is built-in to the road. Five-star roads are the safest while one-star roads are the least safe.
The internationally recognised colour coding system ensures a better understanding and awareness of why some roads are safer than others.
The raw data is processed in ViDA to create data reports about a road’s design and the level of risk for each road user group. ViDA is capable of performing risk and economic calculations for millions of kilometres of road.
All data is securely stored and project teams can determine who has access to results.
Here is a visual representation of some of the key road infrastructure features that are assessed during a typical roads inspection. The inspection identifies levels of risk for all road users. By adding key infrastructure elements such as footpaths and street lighting or improving existing elements to reduce risk we can make roads safer for all road users.
Using specially equipped vehicles, software and trained personnel, iRAP Inspections involve detailed road surveys and data collection. These focus on more than 50 different road attributes that are known to influence the likelihood of a crash and its severity.
These attributes include intersection design, the number of lanes and markings, roadside hazards, footpaths and bicycle facilities. The road inspection data underpins iRAP Star Ratings and Safer Road Investment Plans.
We want safer roads for all road users: pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists and vehicle occupants.
Safe roads are a social justice, health and economic issue. In poorer communities, in particular, road traffic crashes can have catastrophic effects that tip families into poverty and destitution.
The road improvement programmes we enable make your roads safer. Because every road environment – and the community it serves – is unique, each life-saving plan we develop is unique too!
iRAP is at the cutting edge of bespoke solutions for safer mobility worldwide, regardless of how you move from A to B. Our work is making roads safer for you and your families, your community and your company.
Do you manage, design, build or maintain roads?
iRAP is an international leader in providing policy, investment and performance tracking tools for road executives, managers, engineers, designers and construction teams to build and maintain safer roads. We work worldwide with road management professionals to deliver safer roads for today and for the future.
Roads that build-in safety. Roads that deliver safer journeys for all users. Safer roads that save money! A win-win-win for all.
Safer roads are becoming the new policy norm for investors and development agencies worldwide. This creates exciting opportunities for roads professionals and the road safety community to work together to save lives.
Building all new roads to a 3-star or better standard for all road users saves lives and makes great business sense. Upgrading existing roads to maximise travel on 3-star or better roads is also practical, cost-effective and starts saving lives right away. iRAP provides the business case for investment and the tools to maximise lives saved.
Let’s work together to create a safer, better world!
We need a strong policy framework and ambitious global targets if we are to deliver safer roads that save people’s lives.
iRAP and its partners are working with international bodies, national governments and highways agencies to build a global policy consensus for safer roads.
In 2015, the United Nations included halving road deaths and serious injuries as a Sustainable Development Goal (3.6). This game-changing move put road deaths centre stage – where they belong – as a global development issue, alongside poverty reduction targets and the right to clean water.
Now, the challenge is to build on this momentum. The UN Secretary General has recommended all new roads should be built to a 3-star or better standard and existing roads upgraded. The establishment of a Safer Roads Fund to maximise travel on 3-star or better roads can provide international finance institutions, health organisations, treasury officials, road executives and road builders with the social and economic basis for safer, sustainable roads.
Let’s work together to create a world free of high-risk roads and save lives!
Road deaths and serious injuries are an international public health crisis. Every year, around 1.2 million people are killed on the world’s roads and around 30-50,000,000 people are injured.
Road crashes are the leading cause of death for young people aged between 15-29 years. Road crashes cost an estimated 2-5% of GDP in each and every country worldwide. Like other global health problems the Vaccines for Roads exist and it is just a question of the scale of our response.
iRAP is working to support the scaling up of action worldwide and reduce this tragic toll by enabling low-cost infrastructure solutions that make our roads safer.
Safer roads also make sound business sense. Dollar for dollar, safer roads provide one of the highest possible, job-creating public investments a country can make in health and infrastructure policy.
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