OUTPUT 01
Review of tools and methods related to the Road Safety Impact Assessment for infrastructure projects
The task will be implemented as part of working package 1 (WP1 – Directive 2019/1936/EC – The Road Infrastructure Safety Management – international perspective). The Directive 2019/1936/EC is an update of the previous Directive 2008/96/EC.
As part of the output O1, a tool review and assessment will be conducted – Assessment of the impact of the planned road on the safety performance of the surrounding road network (RSIA) which is a part of the Road Infrastructure Safety Management System (RISM), included in the Directive in selected EU countries.
The assessment of the impact of the planned road on the safety of the surrounding road network is a strategic comparative analysis for all variants of the planned route. It allows for an indication of how the new scheme will affect the level of road safety on the network of collaborating roads. The goal of the Road Safety Assessment is to determine the ranking of planned variants and to reject those which do not meet the assumed road safety criteria.
As part of the previous Directive 2008/96/EC, regarding the management of road infrastructure safety, the member states were obliged to conduct the RSIA for roads planned in the international corridors of the Trans-European Road Network (TEN-T). The member states could extend the scope of RSIA to selected roads. In Poland, this procedure covered the entire national road network.
Under the new Directive 2019/1936/EC, the RSIA procedure should cover all roads financed or co-financed by European Union funds. This significantly extends the scope of necessary road safety analyses to other categories of roads (regional or local roads and streets).
In accordance with the assumptions adopted in the Directive (2008/96/EC) and under the new Directive (2019/1936/EC), each country is obliged to develop its own methodology and tools for implementing the RSIA, which will take into account the specificity of the road network, the road users behaviour or the road infrastructure management system in operation.
On one hand, this approach makes it possible to consider local conditions in the construction of road safety models and on their basis, tools for the assessment of road safety. On the other hand, it limits the possibility of using these procedures in other member states, which hinders the exchange of experience and the development and modernisation of these tools.
The first result of the task will be a comparison of the tools used, scopes of analysis and methods used for estimating the number of accidents, their victims and costs for the needs of the RSIA in selected EU countries. The second, will be the preparation of a set of good practices with recommendations for their implementation. The third result will be a development of recommendations for updating the Road Safety Assessment resulting from the assumptions of the new Directive 2019/1936/EC.
Target groups:
1. Research and teaching staff from institutions involved in the project.
2. Specialists dealing with road safety issues at the national and international level.
Elements of innovation:
1. Data gathering and comparing the methodology applied in the tools used in the Road Safety Assessment in Poland, Croatia, Italy and Germany.
2. Developing a set of best practices, methods and tools for implementing the RSIA in the countries of consortium participants.
3. Constructing a database with information on implemented tools and methodology of conducted analyses.
Expected impact:
Acquisition of knowledge by research and teaching staff from institutions involved in the project. Publication of joint articles and conference presentations related to the comparison of the methodology for assessing the impact of a planned road on road safety on the collaborating road network in selected EU countries, as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of its implementation.
Transferability potential:
Comparison of individual RSIA methods in the partner countries participating in this project will enable the use of acquired knowledge in other EU member states and EU associated countries.
The division of work:
The work will be divided among all consortium participants and will include:
• Review of RSIA methodology and tools.
• Comparison of methods and tools.
• Analysis of the effectiveness and efficiency of implementing the RSIA.
• Preparation of a set of best practices.
• Development of the analysis report.
• Preparation of a publication summarising the analysed issue.
The tasks leading to the production of the intellectual output:
Each of the consortium participants will be responsible for collecting the necessary information about the implemented Road Safety Assessment in the given country. The leading institution (GUT) will be responsible for collecting all materials, organising them, preparing a report and supervising the joint publication.
Applied methodology:
In the task, a case-based methodology will be applied that allows for focus on selected issues within the RSIA in individual countries. This, in turn, will allow for the assessment of the value of key elements used in this procedure and for their comparison.