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 Programa Star Rating for Schools 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.
Según Explorador de información de seguridad de iRAP, el cumplimiento del Objetivo 4 de las Naciones Unidas —que consiste en que, para 2030, más del 75 % de los desplazamientos de todos los usuarios de la vía pública en Chile se realicen por carreteras de 3 estrellas o más— permitiría salvar unas 372 vidas al año, y evitar 661 727 muertes y lesiones a lo largo de los 20 años de vida útil de las obras viales, con un beneficio económico de 2,1 billones de dólares estadounidenses —1,660 por cada 1,1 gastado—.
