International Road Federation (IRF )

Projects

A selection of projects IRF is currently working on or which have just been completed:

ON-GOING

FRONTIER

FRONTIER aims to provide the network and integrated traffic management strategies of the future, taking into account new types and modes of transport and automated vehicles (including their logical and physical requirements), the minimisation of pollution and capacity bottlenecks (including congestion and traffic jams), the reduction of accidents, and the need to reduce the cost of mobility for all users (both citizens, public authorities and businesses).

On the operational level, FRONTIER facilitates the transition towards resilient multimodal autonomous mobility by establishing the processes of collaboration and arbitration among stakeholders while developing the business models that will address the commercial viability of the identified solutions. FRONTIER will develop, apply and test autonomous management systems, secured by design, that will constantly evolve using data generated from real-time monitoring of the transportation system, knowledge generated by operators and decision-makers, and simulation models providing system optimal solutions accounting for new mobility services and technologies.

These systems will support and enact proactive decisions, realising our vision to empower a seamless transition to autonomous and integrated transport management for future mobility services. FRONTIER will be validated in three pilot sites (Oxfordshire UK, Athens GR and Antwerp BE) focusing on three main themes: Smart Infrastructures and CAVs integration; Multimodal mobility for passengers and freight cross-stakeholder collaboration; Network performance analysis for planning and policymaking.

To materialise this concept, FRONTIER follows an efficient multidisciplinary approach bringing together partners from five universities and research institutes, seven companies, five transport authorities from three diverse European countries, one tested for traffic management, and the International Road Federation.

More information is available here:

Hi-Drive – Addressing challenges towards the deployment of higher automation

Hi-Drive addresses a number of key challenges which are currently hindering the progress of developments in vehicle automation. The key aim of the project is to focus on testing and demonstrating automated driving, by improving intelligent vehicle technologies, to cover a large set of traffic environments, not currently achievable.

Hi-Drive enables testing of a variety of functionalities, from motorway chauffeur to urban chauffeur, explored in diverse scenarios with heterogeneous driving cultures across Europe. In particular, the Hi-Drive trials will consider European TEN-T corridors and urban nodes in large and medium cities, with specific attention to demanding, error-prone, conditions.

The project’s ambition is to considerably extend the operational design domain (ODD) from the present situation, which frequently demands interventions from the human driver. Therefore, the project concept builds on reaching a widespread and continuous ODD, where automation can operate for longer periods and interoperability is assured across borders and brands. The project also investigates what factors influence user behaviour and acceptance, as well as understanding the needs of other road users interacting with these vehicles. The removal of fragmentation in the ODD is expected to give rise to a gradual transition from a conditional operation towards higher levels of automated driving.

With these aims, Hi-Drive associates a consortium of 41 European partners with a wide range of interests and capabilities covering the main impact areas which affect users, and the transport system, and enhance societal benefits. The project intends to contribute towards the market deployment of automated systems by 2030. All this cannot be achieved through testing alone. Accordingly, the work includes outreach activities on business innovation and standardisation, plus extended networking with the interested stakeholders, coordinating parallel activities in Europe and overseas.

More information is available here:

Ten Step Plan for Safer Road Infrastructure

Road crashes are the biggest killer of young people worldwide, and the injury burden impacts every country on earth. In total, 1.35 million people are killed and 30-50 million people are injured in preventable road crashes every year. Pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists account for nearly half of all road deaths and a significant proportion of injuries. 

Road infrastructure plays a significant role in influencing the likelihood or severity of a crash. An undivided road with head-on risk built-in, a high-speed road with dangerous roadsides or an urban road with no facilities for safe pedestrian or cyclist movement are just some examples of road features that impact crashes. The cost of road trauma is estimated to be 3-6% of national GDP each and every year in low and middle-income countries.

Unlocking the potential of safer roads to save lives, save money and achieve the UN Global Road Safety Performance Targets is the focus of the “Ten Step Plan for Safer Road Infrastructure” project, which was recently selected by the United Nations Road Safety Fund (UNRSF) Steering Committee to be implemented by IRF, iRAP and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). Integrated with safe system action across all pillars, the “Ten Step Plan” will ensure that the global fatality and serious injury reduction targets are met by 2030.

The project aims to achieve this goal by taking action to improve roads in Tanzania as a pilot and by building its capacity to improve physical infrastructure. The “Ten Step Plan”, recently endorsed by the “Safer Roads and Mobility” group of UNRSC, serves as an adaptable framework for countries to implement within their capacity. The plan is structured in such a way as to support the UN Global Framework Plan of Action for Road Safety (GFPA) and UN legal instruments, and to help countries improve road safety management and road infrastructure as a whole.

More information is available here:

SHOW – SHared automation Operating models for Worldwide adoption

SHOW aims to support the transition towards effective and sustainable urban transport through technical solutions, business models and priority scenarios for impact assessment. Specifically, SHOW deploys shared, connected, cooperative, electrified fleets of autonomous vehicles in coordinated Public Transport (PT), Demand Responsive Transport (DRT), Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and Logistics as a Service (LaaS) operational chains in real-life urban demonstrations in 5 Mega, 6 Satellite and 3 Follower Pilots taking place in 20 cities across Europe. 

By deploying a fleet of 74 L4/L5 AVs of all types (buses, shuttles, pods, robo-taxis, automated cars connected with MaaS and cargo vehicles) for all transport operators (passengers, cargo and mixed transport) in both dedicated lanes and mixed traffic, connected to a wide range of supporting infrastructure (5G, ITS G5, IoT, etc.) and operating under traffic speeds ranging from 18 to over 50km/h, SHOW aims to satisfy 7 UCs families and 22 single UCs that together cover all automated mobility needs in urban environments and wants (i.e. reported in the SPACE initiative and in the ERTRAC roadmap).

Project pilots will last for 24 months, with real service seamless operation in each pilot site lasting at least 12 months. The pilots will transport over 1,500,000 passengers and 350,000 units of goods with AV fleets. As the biggest and most holistic real-life CCAV urban demonstration initiative, it is realised by a consortium lead by UITP of 69 Partners l, 6 third parties and 60 stakeholders (connected through LoS, including major stakeholder associations) and twinning actions with 11 organisations in the US, South Korea, Australia, China, Taiwan and Singapore.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 875530.

More info is also available on:

CRISPS

One or several simultaneous changes in the climate conditions, e.g. hotter seasons, extreme precipitation events, increasing severe storms and sea level rise could severely affect roads in LICs. Missing to appreciate such an impact in future road design, maintenance and operating planning and protocols, could cause accelerated road deterioration and increased risk of damage, traffic disruption and accidents with knock-on effects on economy. 

To address this, the CRISPS multi-disciplinary research project will work for two years under the leadership of the University of Birmingham (UoB) and in collaboration with the University of Auckland (UoA), the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and the International Road Federation (IRF).

The aim of this project is to achieve an affordable high-volume road resilient approach to climate change and traffic demands, by assessing the suitability of three global best-practice types of road surfacing technologies for use in LICs: namely Modified Epoxy Chip Seals (MECS), Modified Epoxy Asphalt Surfaces (MEAS) and Fibre Mastic Asphalt (FMA) respectively. The technologies are a result of many years of research in New Zealand (MECS and MEAS) and Malaysia (FMA) where their in-situ performance has been demonstrated through trials and they are as a result routinely used in service. 

Access presentation and recordings of the following CRISPS webinars to learn more: 

Should you wish to keep abreast of developments and to exchange with peers about these technologies, join the dedicated CRISPS LinkedIn Group.

More information is available here: 

Private Sector Road Safety Coalitions

The TotalEnergies Foundation and the International Road Federation (IRF) have entered into a partnership aiming at establishing private sector road safety coalitions in a number of countries around the world. The objective: federate private sector stakeholders to work together, in close collaboration with international institutions, NGOs, and local authorities in order to improve road safety via hands-on, impact-oriented, and scalable activities. 

As a result of the ongoing collaboration, first private sector road safety coalitions have already been launched in Tanzania, Pakistan, Morocco and Zambia. The founding members of these coalitions aim to use their combined knowledge and experience to reduce road crashes in their country. For example, some of the initial priority areas of work identified by the Tanzanian private sector coalition: education and awareness; drivers training; vehicle standards and inspections and infrastructure.

More coalitions are currently being set up in various other countries around the world.

More information is available here:

LEARN

Improving road safety is a key development priority for Africa. Despite comparatively low motorisation levels, the continent witnesses the world’s highest rate of road traffic fatalities, with approximately 26.6 deaths per 100,000 people (WHO 2018). The importance of and the need for better road safety data have been highlighted at the United Nations, African Union and other multilateral platforms. The latest Road Safety Resolution, approved by the UN General Assembly in April 2018, specifically recognises the importance of capacity-building in this field. In recent discussions surrounding the creation of an African Road Safety Observatory, African governments further recognised that coordinated efforts are necessary to address the significant need for better data. 

LEARN is a joint initiative of the International Road Federation and the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety. This joint effort aims to enhance the data knowledge, skills, and actions of a selected group of road safety professionals and stakeholders via a hands-on, real-time and contextual capacity development process in African countries. Phase 1 of the project was made possible thanks to the support of the FIA Road Safety Grant Programme and Phase 2 is generously supported by the TotalEnergies Foundation.

After the pilot countries Kenya and Senegal, over the past months, the LEARN Project has also been introduced in Uganda, Cameroon, Zambia and Tanzania through an interactive data workshop built around the specific needs of each country and during which the multi-sectoral coalitions are formed. In the case of Uganda, for example, the coalition is looking into ways to improve overall the crash data collection processes in the country.  

More information is available here:

COMPLETED

COVID-19 Response & Recovery

COVID-19 is having a devastating socio-economic impact globally and has been acutely felt, not the least by people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Transport is at the centre of managing the spread of the pandemic and will be key to ensuring rapid and sustained recovery. In response to COVID-19 Response & Recovery Transport Research Fund’s Call for Action,  established by the Research for Community Access Partnership (ReCAP) and the High Volume Transport Applied Research Programme (HVT) as part of the UK Department for International Development’s (DFID now FCDO) response to COVID-19, two IRF projects were selected for implementation.

Firstly, the IRF and the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety collaborated on the project “Africa’s response to COVID-19 and its impact on transport and mobility of people and goods.  A review of policy and practice in seven African countries.”, which focussed on Cameroon, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda.  The final report provides evidence-based suggestions that policymakers in Africa should consider when defining responses to potential future waves of COVID-19 and recovery measures.

Secondly, the IRF transformed the Global Transport Knowledge Portal (gTKP). This platform was enhanced to fast-track access to knowledge, experience, learning resources and good practices on COVID-19 response and impacts. The COVID-19 repository within gTKP gathers currently available and relevant resources for LICs, and provide effective access to hands-on knowledge and expertise that can inform action at all levels and help build local capacity, as well as identify the needs and potential gaps.

More information is available here:

SaferAfrica

The SaferAfrica Project was approved and funded by the European Commission as a part of the Horizon 2020 “Mobility for growth” call for proposal within the “Smart, Green & Integrated Transport” Work Programme. 

The overall objective of SaferAfrica was to create favourable conditions and opportunities for the effective implementation of actions for road safety and traffic management in African countries by setting up a Dialogue Platform between Africa and Europe. Through the Dialogue Platform, policy recommendations were provided to support the implementation of the African Road Safety Action Plan and foster the adoption of specific road safety initiatives. This Dialogue Platform was also used as a network framework for activating Twinning Programs on specific issues. The primary role of the Dialogue Platform was to act as a high-level and high-powered body that could help to positively influence changes in the African region. An additional project objective was to increase the awareness of African stakeholders and end-users on road safety by means of an African Road Safety Observatory.

The project consortium was based on the participation of sixteen partners from different European and African countries. The International Road Federation was a proud member of this consortium.

More information is available here:

Safe Roads, Safe Kids!

Children below the age of 14 represent 15% of all the deaths on Moroccan roads and are typically pedestrians. Many of them are young kids on their way to or from school. Against this background, the International Road Federation and Motoring Club Morocco (MCM) joined hands and initiated the project “Safe Roads, Safe Kids!”, made possible by the support of the FIA Road Safety Grant Programme.

“Safe Roads, Safe Kids!” aimed to build an evidence-based case that can be replicated in the rest of Morocco and exported to other Francophone countries. In its first phase, the initiative was targeting some of the poorest schools in Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city, where children confront severe risks on their daily journeys. Children can face traffic speeding at over 60km/h on their journey to and from school. They are typically exposed and unprotected as pedestrians, walking from their homes to school.

The IRF, MCM and their partners used iRAP’s ‘Star Rating for Schools’ methodology to assess the safety of road networks by presenting a 1-5 star rating. The partners also worked with AMEND’s methodology to identify which countermeasures – such as safe sidewalks, road humps, and crossings – should be implemented to reduce risk and improve safety. 

The project was selected by the FIA Foundation to be presented at its General Assembly hosted in St. Petersburg on 6th December 2018.

More information available here:

For further information on IRF projects, please contact the IRF Secretariat at info@irfnet.ch.