Bij de IRF Wereldcongres is Instanbul yesterday, iRAP and the International Road Federation (IRF) hosted a first-ever High-level Roundtable: Shaping the Future of Road Designs for Safe and Sustainable Mobility.

The pivotal dialogue was moderated by Jamie Leather, Head of the Transport Sector, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and brought together representatives from ALEATICA, Arup, FIA Foundation, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), iRAP, ADB, ORIS, World Bank, PIARC, Youth for Road Safety (YOURS), European Investment Bank (EIB), IRF and AMEND – lead agencies working at the forefront of global road infrastructure safety.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set a target to halve road deaths and injuries globally by 2030, and safe road design will be a linchpin for achieving this target and safer, more sustainable and resilient infrastructure.

UN Target 3 includes ensuring all new roads are built to a 3-star or better standard for all road users.

The Global Plan for the Decade of Action on Road Safety recommends undertaking star ratings and road safety audits on all designs to ensure a minimum standard of three stars or better for all road users, emphasising the need for speed management and investment.

Engaged to advance global road design safety, the Roundtable sought to align priorities as we head toward the 4e mondiale ministerconferentie over verkeersveiligheid in Morocco in February and accelerate progress towards achieving the SDGs.

Participants shared best practices, strategies, and ongoing projects, along with perceived roadblocks and opportunities to elevate the safety of road designs.

See the session programme and speakers hier. The following questions were posed:

• What needs to change to close the safety gap in road design?
• What are safe designs and what do they mean to communities?
• Where have safe road designs been implemented and what can we learn from them?
• What are the biggest challenges to implementing safe road designs?
• How can innovative solutions help to bridge the gap between safety needs and constraints?
• How can we ensure that road designers have the necessary training and expertise in incorporating safety principles into their projects?
• How can safety be integrated with sustainability and resilience in designs?
• As we head towards the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Morocco, what are our priorities?

Some of the Roundtable insights shared:

• “Setting minimum design standards of 3 stars is the highest priority to bring results.” Nicolas Miravalls, CEO, ORIS Materials Intelligence
• “Safety is our first pillar and it’s very important because often contracts do not adequately include road safety. There are key ingredients to ensure minimum road safety is embedded in an efficient and structured way – evidence drawn from data, key performance indicators, a strong plan, and stakeholder collaboration. We use iRAP Star Ratings to identify and manage risk and inform mitigating safety measures in our concessions.” Antonio Pinilla, Global Director of Road Safety, ALEATICA.
• “Design must reflect local communities’ priorities and concerns, not just be a fast road through to meet transport priorities.” Jamie Leather, Director, Transport Sector Office, ADB
• “As a road user, you shouldn’t be punished for a mistake. Safe designs protect.” Avi Silverman, Deputy Director, FIA Foundation
• “Implementation can be challenging when it comes to aligning standards.” Jamïe Leather, ADB
• “We need greater stakeholder engagement.” Ekaterina Miroshnik, Director, EBRD
• “For the Shaanxi Mountain Road Safety Project in China, we used the iRAP methodology to select the roads to be upgraded and it gave us the evidence to share with the Ministry the priorities for investment.” Rebecca Stapleton, Senior Transport Specialist, ADB
• “We face challenges. What is in the standard is not always the safest or cheapest option to construct. Road designers and clients need to approach road design in a different way and we find the iRAP methodology gives us the important evidence we need. There are tensions to manage community and political appetite for new roads and upgrades. We have an opportunity to reduce speeds and risk by connecting the agendas of public health, decarbonisation and active travel.” Chris Furneaux, Director and Midlands Transport Leader, Arup
• “Programmatic engagement with governments and results-based lending is an important solution and path forward.” Jamie Leather, ADB
• “Countries need to implement regulations for audits and minimum safety standards. There is a lack of adequate results-based standards in countries for road safety. We would advocate for projects that lift the local design standards and once done, development banks can provide technical assistance. But it needs to be done at the country level, not on a project-by-project basis.” Andres Pizarro, Head of Transport Sector – South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa Region, AIIB
• “Despite the iRAP 3-star of better standard, training and manuals updates, etc road upgrades are still being built unsafe. Community involvement is essential to advocate for the safety of their roads. We’ve been working with road agencies for a long time and providing pro-bono support since 2012. It’s difficult to balance safeguards, budget, timelines and political agendas and ensure the supervision on contractors. Community consultation is essential.” Tom Bishop, Deputy Director, AMEND
• Safer road design around schools is a priority to vulnerable youth.” Avi Silverman, Deputy Director, FIA Foundation
• “Involving youth is important as they are the most vulnerable on our roads. The are technology connected, digitally savvy, passionate activists and are driving societal progress.” Raquel Barrios, Executive Director, YOURS
• “The reality is few design standards will get you to the minimum 3-star. If you can include KPIs into the design process you can change designers’ behaviour. You can create an enabling environment, build local capacity and give them a mandate to deliver. All iRAP tools are completely free. There is no reason why every country couldn’t measure the Star Rating of their designs right now. It equates to lives and injuries saved on the street. We can ask for at least a commitment to measure the Star Ratings of designs right now. It will have a measurable safety impact.” Greg Smith, Global Program Director, iRAP
• “There are many resources available to support countries but it’s important that the local context, regulations and behaviour are taken into account and that content is localised. A dialogue between international experts and local users is key. The Ten Step Plan for Safer Road Infrastructure has been valuable for providing the structure and engagement needed for local delivery and success.” Patrick Mallejacq, Secretary General, PIARC
• “Geometric design standards are the elephant in the room. Some countries in West Africa countries are using 1970’s design standards adopted at colonisation. It is essential we start there to update the standards informed by international best practice, align manuals, build capacity with an improved university curricula for engineers, and provide programmatic support for implementation. IRF is launching an international registry for auditors. What happens after a fantastic audit is done? It goes in the drawer. Securing implementation is important which the Ten Step Approach supports, as are mentors to support young engineers and designers.” Susanna Zammataro, Director General, IRF
• “We must look at how technology can help. Technology is great but a systematic approach is important based on a proven program approach. When we talk about decarbonisation, resilience etc, we must be evidence-based and align data. iRAP is the one for road safety.” Nicolas Miravalls, ORIS
• “I think audits should be an essential part of every road design. It’s as simple as that.”
• “There is software available that will tell you if your design is a 1-star, 2-star or 5-star for pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists or vehicle occupants. That software is available – the Star Rating for Designs web app. It will tell you how many lives and injuries you’ll save with your design. It’s free and available now.” Greg Smith, iRAP
• “The 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety” to be held 18-20 February in Marrakech is an opportunity. We’ll have the collective wisdom and momentum of governments, ministers, road safety agencies and NGOs on-stage reviewing progress made in the first half of the Decade of Action and deciding next priorities and actions. We must use this opportunity to ensure safe road design is a critical issue discussed.” Jamie Leather, ADB

A global movement for safer road designs

The Roundtable is part of a suite of activities iRAP and its partners are engaged in to achieve the critical goal of improving the safety of road designs across the world:

• iRAP, IRF and the FIA Foundation are running a global #SaferRoadsPledge calling on organisations involved in designing and financing roads to pledge their commitment to safer roads ahead of the Ministerial Conference in February 2025 in Marrakech. The campaign has already garnered pledges from 55 countries. See the design firms who have pledged thus far, including Aurecon who was first in the world to pledge, and add your own at irap.org/pledge.
• During the Congress, enhancements to iRAP’s Star Rating for Designs Web App were released. Read about it hier.
• A Masterclass Skills Training was hosted in Istanbul for engineers and a free online #RAPKnowledgeLIVE session shared the enhanced tool features. Watch the recording hier.
• iRAP is consulting with global road design software providers for the incorporation of Star Ratings in the leading road design creation softwares. This would enable engineers and road designers to see the safety Star Rating of their designs, associated fatal and serious injury estimations, and adjust their design to ensure the minimum 3-star safety standard is achieved for all road users before it is signed off and civil works commence. Help build global demand for this by contacting your preferred design software provider.
• See how Arup is using SR4D to improve the safety of their road designs and their corporate strategy for Outcome Led Design to save lives hier.