The International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) has said that it has received $2 million in grant funding and additional support from Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, to provide children with a safer journey to school.
Road traffic crashes are the leading cause of death among children and young people worldwide. Over 100,000 people are killed or suffer life-changing injuries on the world’s roads every day. To address this issue the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.6 strives to halve road deaths and injuries by 2030 and Member States have agreed on voluntary targets to improve road infrastructure safety to the iRAP 3-star or better global standard.
The Chief Executive Officer of iRAP, Rob McInerney, said, “The AI-enabled Star Rating for Schools partnership with Google.org is a global game-changer that will support sustainable mobility for youth and contribute to at least eight of the UN Global Goals.
“We know that children are approximately 20 times more likely to be killed or injured on a 1-star road compared to a 5-star road. By using artificial intelligence to identify high-risk 1- and 2-star roads that children use on their journey to school we can identify known hazards and mobilise evidence-based upgrades that will save children’s lives.
“Our ultimate dream is to Star Rate every road on earth and ensure every journey is safer. Achieving the UN target for more than 75 per cent of travel on 3-star or better roads will help save over 100 million deaths and injuries over the life of the upgrades. The Google.org partnership is a big safe step in that direction.”
Using AI, satellite imagery and Street-View images to detect road safety risks, iRAP, together with partners AIP Foundation, Anditi and the University of Zagreb (FPZ, FER), will provide a country-wide star rating evaluation of road infrastructure around schools in Vietnam and support the upgrades at the highest-risk schools. The YEA Youth Engagement App will also be used to capture student perceptions of the risks they face to inform decision-making.
The Global Technical Director of iRAP, James Bradford, said, “Road safety is not only an under-represented public health crisis, but it also impacts people’s ability to access education, health, well-being and job opportunities. With AI and big data, we maximise the effectiveness and efficiency of the Star Rating process to allow governments to save time and resources.”
As a charity, iRAP’s vision is for a world free of high-risk roads for all road users. Through iRAP’s global Star Rating for Schools and AiRAP partnerships, the project has the potential to scale to other countries and inform new policies and investments in pedestrian-friendly roads that will minimize preventable harm.
Google.org’s AI for the Global Goals Impact Challenge is part of Google’s company-wide commitment to help accelerate progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. iRAP is one of 15 organizations receiving support through the $25 million philanthropy challenge for projects that use artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate progress towards these goals. Out of many submitted proposals, 15 were selected for funding. Importantly, all of the projects will be open-sourced, so other organizations can build upon the work.
