This paper was presented at the `Recent achievements and developments in maintenance and construction outsourcing' session. The concept of Road Safety Audits is just beginning to pique the interest of Canadian provincial transportation departments. Despite its widespread use of audits in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, there are still misconceptions in North America regarding what an audit is and how it should be applied. While there have been isolated applications of parts of the audit process, the Fredericton-Moncton highway project is the first in North America to incorporate fully the use of audits from the planning stage through to post-opening of the facility. This paper provides an overview of the concept of road safety audits, highlights existing practices, and describes potential relationships between audits, value engineering, and design/build projects developed through public-private partnerships. Furthermore, the paper discusses the potential role of audits in the Canadian context and discusses emerging issues including ineffective or unconventional applications of the process. (A)
Abstract