Inspection and safety ratings of Danube bicycle routes is one of the main activities in the framework of the SABRINA project. The Covid-19 pandemic and travel restrictions have postponed our work in the field. Equipped with knowledge and experience from the route inspections done in 2021 in five Danube area countries and with improved weather conditions, we are planning to continue the safety inspections in the remaining three countries in the week from 7th to 13th March 2022.

In 2021, the team from the SABRINA project partner the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences (FPZ) completed the fieldwork needed to assess the safety of bicycle routes in Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Bulgaria and Romania (click on the countries’ names to learn about the details of the route inspections). Altogether, more than 2000 km of EuroVelo 6, 8, 9, 13 and 14 were surveyed with specially equipped car and bicycle. Next week, the FPZ team is planning to survey the selected sections of EuroVelo 9 in Czechia, EuroVelo 6 and 13 in Slovakia and EuroVelo 6 and 14 in Hungary.

The safety assessment of the bicycle routes surveyed in 2021 is currently happening. It includes more than 50 road design features that are known to influence the likelihood of accidents and the severity of injuries to road users and cyclists in mixed traffic. Every relevant design feature recorded during the route inspections is assessed in accordance with the existing protocols of the Road Assessment Program (RAP) (iRAP and CycleRAP) and the European Certification Standard (ECS) developed by the European Cyclists’ Federation. The results, including the iRAP Star Rating of the routes, will show how safe the respective routes are for cyclists and what could be done to improve their safety.

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Photos: Route inspections in Austria and Bulgaria (photo credit: FPZ)