The “Safe Cycling Lanes for Safe Cyclists” project, supported by the FIA Safe and Sustainable Mobility Grants Programme funded by the FIA Foundation, assessed the road safety performance of 143 km of cycling routes in the North Macedonian capital city Skopje, and its metropolitan area.
Over recent years, Skopje has been expanding its cycling network to promote active mobility. However, concerns about the safety and comfort of these new routes have been raised by cyclists and other road users.
The implementation of the CycleRAP methodology has equipped city managers and policymakers with valuable qualitative and quantitative insights into potential hazards in the existing cycling network. In addition, the methodology delivered prioritised investment plans as recommendations to support the design and construction of new cycling infrastructure, focusing on enhanced road safety and increased user comfort.
The project highlighted several recurring risk factors, and the proposed improvements are targeting both infrastructural changes but also soft measures such as:
- Improving delineation;
- Widening the Facility;
- Installing traffic calming;
- Installing Light segregation;
- Upgrading existing facility to an on-road Bicycle lane with safety barrier;
- Improving curb height differences;
- Reconfiguring parking/remove illegally parked cars.
The safety perception and comfort are playing a key role in increasing the modal share of active cyclists and e-scooter users, a contributing factor to the goal of achieving zero-emissions mobility.
CycleRAP, developed by the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP), is an easy, affordable, and fast methodology for evaluating road and bicycling infrastructure safety. It aims to reduce crashes and improve safety for cyclists and other light mobility users by identifying high-risk locations without the need for crash data.
This project represents a major step toward safer and more sustainable urban mobility in Skopje. It also holds significant potential for scaling within the Macedonian capital by continuously assessing improvements in road safety strategies, as well as expanding to other cities across the Balkan region.
As part of this effort, FACTUAL, a trusted CycleRAP Supplier which played a key role in the project, has already implemented Lane Patrol in multiple cycling assessment projects worldwide, including cities such as Barcelona, Madrid, Helsinki, Abu Dhabi, Oxford, Dublin or Sarajevo, among others. It is also currently cooperating with FIA Member the Automóvel Club de Portugal (ACP) in another project supported by the FIA Safe and Sustainable Mobility Grants Programme that aims to analyse the safety performance of the cycling infrastructure in Lisbon.
AMSM is the first organisation in the Eastern European region and one of the few in the continent to implement the CycleRAP assessment. This innovative project is just one of AMSM’s many initiatives dedicated to improving road safety for cyclists and other vulnerable road users. It reflects the Club’s ongoing commitment to evolving from a traditional auto-moto organisation into a comprehensive Mobility Club, catering to the needs of all road users.
Watch the video to learn more about the project:
Video of Lane Patrol – Cycling Infrastructure Safety Survey in Skopje
MobilityGrantsRoad SafetyMembers1MembersMobilityGrantsRoad Safety00Thursday, February 6, 2025 – 8:09amThursday, February 6, 2025 – 8:09am
Source : Fia
