usRAP: The U.S. Road Assessment Program

To make the highway system safe, decision-makers need to be able to identify risks and match them up with remedies that are known to reduce injury severity and save lives. Right now, there is no nationwide system in the U.S. to rate the relative risks of different roads; however, such systems do exist in other parts of the world.  For example, the European Road Assessment Program—or EuroRAP—was developed by European motoring clubs and rates the relative risk of roads based on their crash history and design features. A similar program, called AusRAP, is also in place in Australia, and a new international organization called the International Road Assessment Program—or iRAP—has been organized to spread the RAP concept around the globe. 

In 2004, the AAA Foundation initiated a pilot project, conducted by the Midwest Research Institute and the Iowa State University Center for Transportation Research and Education, to explore the technical and political feasibility of adapting the concept of EuroRAP and AusRAP in the United States. After an initial feasibility study of the United States Road Assessment Program—usRAP—conducted in Iowa and Michigan, the pilot program was expanded to states of Florida and New Jersey in 2006.  This year the pilot will be expanded into several additional jurisdictions.

All usRAP products, including a report of the initial pilot study in Iowa and Michigan, an informational brochure, and several presentations, as well as links to EuroRAP and AusRAP, are available at www.usrap.us. A report of the pilot studies in Florida and New Jersey will be posted this summer.