iRAP Gary Liddle Memorial Trophy for Best Performing Road Authority Eliminating High-Risk Roads

About the Award
The iRAP Gary Liddle Memorial Trophy was presented for the first time at the XXVIth PIARC World Roads Congress in Prague from 2-6 October 2023.

The Trophy will be awarded on an annual basis in accordance with the entry conditions and award criteria outlined below. Nominations are accepted by any national, state or local road authority in the world that has utilised the iRAP methodology and/or tools to make their roads safer and communities more liveable.

About Gary
Gary Liddle was a deeply respected transport industry leader, volunteer Trustee of the iRAP charity for 9 years and Chair of the iRAP Board from 2017-2022. Prior to his passing with MND in 2023, his leadership and wisdom helped grow the charity’s impact to the point where more than 400,000 deaths and injuries had been saved by partners worldwide, 172 countries had been supported with iRAP resources and more than US$95 billion of infrastructure investment was made safer.

Gary served the transport industry for more than 40 years. In that time, as well as supporting iRAP, he occupied senior leadership positions in the Australian road sector, including as Chief Executive of VicRoads, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure (Vic), Chair of ARRB, Chair of Austroads and Chair of iMOVE, Board Member of Roads Australia and governing roles in both PIARC and REAAA.

In 2017, Gary was made an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) for “distinguished service to public administration in the Victorian transport sector through leadership in policy direction, infrastructure development, road safety and regulatory reform.” He was a strong and steadfast leader, generous and supportive mentor and committed advocate for road safety.

Leadership – the investment should reflect Gary’s commitment to good governance, transparent leadership and positive service to the public.
Relevance – the road authority’s work must utilise the iRAP methodology and/or resources to improve road infrastructure safety in their jurisdiction.
Timeline – infrastructure safety programmes/activities and associated evaluations must have been completed within the last 5 years.
Impact – the life-saving work should be demonstrated through improvements to policy, investment levels, design and/or road safety performance at the network, corridor or project level to improve road infrastructure safety. Impact must have been evaluated and clear quantitative and qualitative evidence provided of its positive effect on road safety (e.g. before and after Star Ratings; reductions to predicted or actual fatalities and injuries).
Innovation – innovation in governance, policy, project/programme design, scale, implementation, investment, data management and/or safety results will be highly valued.
Collaboration and shared success – partnerships are at the core of all of iRAP’s charitable work and the entry should detail how the authority is working together with other Government agencies, industry groups, research and NGO stakeholders to facilitate and share success.
Sustainability – details on how the success is being scaled within the agency / jurisdiction will be highly regarded.
Transferability – with iRAP Partnerships in more than 100 countries the road agency is encouraged to provide tips on how the project/programme can be replicated in other jurisdictions.

Entry is free.
The nominee must be a local, state or national road authority. If the authority’s programme is developed in collaboration with other partners, the authority must be the lead on the entry.
Management and/or programme partners’ approval must be sought prior to award entry.
The nomination must address the award criteria.
Up to 10 sourced and copyright-free media items (images and/or video) that represent your initiative and are approved for public use should accompany your entry.
By uploading your entry images you are giving permission for iRAP to reuse them in award promotion and related programme materials.
All entries must be received by the entry deadline – in 2024, nominations will open on 1 October and close on 15 November.
An independent panel will assess nominations in accordance with the Award criteria.

The Award Panel will include Gary’s wife Merri who also worked for VicRoads (Australian road authority) and an independent panel of global industry experts.

The award winner will be announced in association with the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety to be held 18-20 February in Marrakech, Morocco. The winner will be presented with the iRAP Gary Liddle Memorial Trophy, and their success promoted via media, relevant trade press, iRAP website and WrapUp newsletter and in the charity’s social media channels. Agency direct promotion will also be supported.