Technical Assistance for the Capacity Building of KGM for the Road Infrastructure Safety Management in Türkiye Successfully Finalized Its Stakeholder Workshop

The "Technical Assistance for The Capacity Building of KGM for The Road Infrastructure Safety Management in Türkiye Project" was launched on 12 February 2021 within the scope of USOP for TR-EU Financial Co-operation, IPA II Period. The purpose of the project is to harmonize Turkish legislation with Directive 2008/96/EC as amended by Directive 2019/1936/EC and to improve road infrastructure safety management by increasing the capacity of the General Directorate of Highways to implement Road Infrastructure Safety Management (RISM).

The fact that the share of road transportation in passenger and freight transportation in Türkiye is around 90 percent, Türkiye's role as a bridge between continents and the current level of road safety increase the importance of road infrastructure safety studies. RISM is one of the elements of achieving the target of reducing road fatalities by 50 per cent in the next decade. RISM is a systematic approach to making the road and its environment safer for all road users and it consists of tools that focus on different stages of the project lifecycle.

Once the project is completed, legislation, guidelines, principles and documentations, training documents and handbooks will have been prepared in line with the EU acquis on RISM; revision of highway design manuals and theoretical and practical training of KGM technical staff on road infrastructure safety will have been conducted.

Within this framework, the Stakeholder Workshop organized by the General Directorate of Highways (KGM) in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Directorate General for European Union Affairs and Foreign Relations and the Delegation of the European Union to Türkiye within the scope of the "Technical Assistance for The Capacity Building of KGM for The Road Infrastructure Safety Management in Türkiye Project" was held on 17/18 January 2023 at the Directorate General of Highways premises in Ankara. The Stakeholder Workshop was organized with the aim of informing all stakeholders working in the road transport sector about the ongoing studies carried out within the scope of the project on RISM and receiving their opinions, suggestions and support on these issues.

On the first day, the workshop participants consisted of representatives from ministries and municipalities and KGM senior executives. On the second day, the participants were representatives from universities, the private sector and KGM employees.

The workshop started on January 17, 2023, with the welcoming speeches of Deputy General Manager of KGM, Mr. Mücahit Arman, Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure General Directorate of European Union Affairs and Foreign Relations Head of Department for EU Investments, Mrs. Tijen İĞCİ (PhD),  and Head of Economic and Social Development Department, EU Delegation to Türkiye, Mr. Angel Gutierrez Hidalgo De Quintana. 

After the welcoming speeches, presentations on the project’s objective, strategy and policy framework of Türkiye, road safety and safe system approach, RISM directives and their components were given. Both days of the workshop ended with a questionnaire, its results and closing remarks.