Austria study visit 2022 II
A delegation from the Bulgarian State Agency Road Safety (SARS) and the Ministry of Interior, led by deputy chairperson of SARS Anjelina Toteva, accompanied by ETSC and the European Commission, participated on 7-8 April in a study visit on the topic of safe road infrastructure in Vienna, Austria.
The visit was hosted by the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK), lead partners in the EU Road Safety Exchange project, and included meetings with some of the main stakeholders from Austria, namely KFV, the Ministry of Interior, the Municipality of Vienna and ASFINAG, as well as visits to a section control and road construction sites.
🇦🇹 is 1 of 12 🇪🇺 Member States who’re joining forces to share smart ideas for improving #RoadSafety to reduce road fatalities. Today #BMK & #Bulgarian 🇧🇬 experts teamed up for another #RoadSafetyExchange sharing best practices on safety management & on building safe road INFRA. pic.twitter.com/7g3yDOy5OI
Klimaschutzministerium (@BMKlimaschutz) April 7, 2022
On the first day of the visit, the delegation from Bulgaria visited BMK, where they were welcomed by the head of the department of infrastructure procedures and road safety.
Here, they found out about the main activities undertaken by Austria in the field of road safety, the priorities of the national strategy and the Austrian Road Safety Fund. They were presented the ambitious cycling policy of Austria and there were lively discussions on the topic of infrastructure safety management, with a focus on the revised EU RISM directive.
Later in the day, the Municipality of Vienna hosted the group at its premises and shared a comprehensive presentation on the maintenance management, safety zones and other measures taken by the municipality to increase road safety.
On the second day, the group was invited to visit the Austrian maintainer of motorways and expressways ASFINAG. Here, they found out about the main projects of the operator, focusing on the works done on the busiest motorway in Austria which carries around 200,000 cars daily. The participants exchanged ideas on possible measures that could be applied in their country and on mobile section controls, an innovative solution for managing speed in work zones, was one of the most discussed measures.
After the theoretical part, the group went to see the section controls, as well as one of the main construction sites on the highway crossing Vienna.
Today 🇧🇬 colleagues are with us in 🇦🇹 as part of the EU #RoadSafetyExchange project. We’re checking out speed enforcement with time-over-distance cameras on the busiest motorway in Austria. Thanks to @ASFINAG and @BMKlimaschutz for the warm welcome. pic.twitter.com/PXFu0GKACS
European Transport Safety Council (@ETSC_EU) April 8, 2022
During the second part of the day, the Bulgarian delegation visited the Federal Ministry of Interior, where they learned about the key activities of the department, focusing on traffic law enforcement, had lively exchanges on the procedures employed and saw the vehicle fleet of the Traffic Police.
The visit offered a great space for exchanges among peers, and the Bulgarian delegation and the Austrian hosts were keen to continue the sharing of good practice in improving road safety.