ARRB works with local government to identify infrastructure risk

ARRB is excited to be working with the Sunshine Coast Council to assess the risk on their higher order sealed and unsealed roads.

ARRB will assess the 1208km network using AusRAP (the Australian Road Assessment Program) to calculate Star Ratings for vehicle occupants, motorcyclists and bicyclists.

Star Ratings are a proactive assessment of risk by identifying the road and roadside factors that contribute to exposure, likelihood and severity to calculate the risk on a section of road.

The project is being led by Dr Joseph Affum, who is based nearby in Brisbane. Joseph has more than 20 years' experience in infrastructure risk assessments across Australia and internationally.

            Source: VIDA

As part of the project, ARRB is developing a Safer Roads Investment Plan (SRIP) to guide investment. This Plan will consider more than 90 proven countermeasures to generate an affordable and economically sound plan that Council can use as the basis for upgrades to improve safety and save lives.

The ratings will assist to inform and providing guidance on safety deficiencies, the SRIP will provide a baseline upgrades package, and along with local data such as maintenance costs, will be used by Council to prioritise road safety upgrades in future transport capital works programs.

In addition, ARRB will be measuring the real-life performance of a road network by analysing crashes that have occurred by reporting on two measures:

Collective risk – indicates crash frequency as experienced by the community, being the number of crashes over a given length of road.

Individual risk - measure of risk to an individual road user expressed per kilometre of travel by a vehicle, or vehicle-kilometres travelled (VKT).

The availability of both the Star Ratings and Risk mapping will enable Sunshine Coast Council to develop a prioritised program of works based on infrastructure risk (Star Ratings) and actual crash risk (observed crashes).

Infrastructure risk assessments

Infrastructure risk assessments are a proactive analysis of risk across a network allowing high risk locations to be identified and targeted with appropriate treatments. The assessment involves identifying the road and roadside factors that contribute to exposure, likelihood and severity to calculate the risk on a section of road.

Applying a predictive risk assessment approach at a network- or route-level enables road managers to identify areas that are higher risk for further investigation. This allows strategic decisions to be made about the allocation of funding, with the areas of greatest need targeted to deliver road safety prevention outcomes and greater return on investment.

There are a number of models typically used within Australia including:

* AusRAP Star Ratings;

* ANRAM (Australian National Risk Assessment Model) assessments;

* Road stereotype analysis (Network safety plans) based on AusRAP and ANRAM assessments using a simplified list of attributes.

Contact us to find out which is the most appropriate assessment for your network.

Why ARRB?

ARRB led the development of AusRAP and ANRAM and has contributed to a global initiative (iRAP - the International Road Assessment Programme) that has seen over 1.6 million kilometres of roads assessed across 102 countries.

ARRB has staff accredited by iRAP and has been Australia’s iRAP Centre of Excellence for over 10 years.

ARRB’s expertise in assessing infrastructure risk sees us participate on the advisory groups for Australia and New Zealand (Austroads Steering Committee, and the technical Infrastructure Risk Assessment Group), as well as the iRAP Global Technical Committee (GTC) – the group that oversee model development and the technical integrity of iRAP protocols worldwide.

How do I contact ARRB?

Please contact Emily McLean, Leader Infrastructure Safety Management, if you would like to find out more about AusRAP, or understand which model is best for your needs.

Update - July 2022

Sunshine Coast Council is an early adopter for NetRisk2 – extending their existing project to use Australia’s two premiere infrastructure risk assessment models AusRAP and ANRAM within the one platform.

The subscription will allow Council to interrogate their data to identify high-risk sections of road and test treatments to understand their impact on safety before they are delivered.

This supports the delivery of safer infrastructure through targeted investment - ensuring a real impact on minimising road fatalities and serious injuries.

ARRB is pleased to be supporting Council on their journey to safer roads.

For more information, visit our NetRisk2 page.