Yannis G., Laiou A., Papadimitriou E., Chaziris A., “An application of a road network safety performance indicator”, Proceedings of the International Seminar on Transport Safety Performance Indicators, organised by the Road Traffic Safety Agency of Serbia, Belgrade, March 2014.

Safety Performance Indicators (SPI) are used for measuring operational conditions of the road system that affect safety performance. Although several SPIs related to road users are commonly used (speeds, drinking and driving, seat belt and helmet use, etc.), SPIs for roads are rarely calculated. In this paper, the significance of a road network SPI is discussed and a methodology for its calculation is proposed. Based on this methodology, the road network SPI assesses whether the ‘right road’ is in the ‘right place’. Specifically, the existing road network connections between urban centers are compared to the theoretically required ones which are

defined as the ones meeting some minimum requirements with respect to road safety. The application of this methodology in Greece is also presented. Specifically, the Road Network SPI is calculated for the area of Peloponnese, the southern part of the Greek mainland. The Peloponnese was chosen because it is a large geographical area with numerous cities and towns of various sizes and populations, it includes all types of roads in a relatively ―closed‖ road network and finally it has a mountainous mainland, which is interesting to study. The application concluded that the overall SPI is the result of putting together an increased number of lower level theoretical connections presenting a very satisfactory SPI, with a small number of higher level theoretical connections presenting a poor SPI. A great unbalance of the road network in the study area is thereby revealed and the road links requiring upgrade are identified.