There has been a considerable shift in recent years which recognises the shortfalls of traditional car-centric road designs in urban areas. Some major cities across the world have fundamentally changed their approach to designing and managing their urban road networks, which prioritises safety and mobility for pedestrians and cyclists. Changes to road user groups themselves, such as increased cycling and micro-mobility, are also prompting cities to look for ways to provide safer urban road environments for all road users.

The aim of this exercise is to review existing literature and standards to consider the effectiveness of urban VRU treatments in different scenarios with view to expanding the range of urban-specific safety treatments which can be applied by the iRAP protocols. It includes a review of literature relating to self-explaining roads, shared space, safe speed, traffic calming and will cover a review of future technologies. The evidence documented in this literature review will be presented to the iRAP Global Technical Committee (GTC) as the basis for any recommended changes to the iRAP model.