Once you have a detailed understanding of the issue you are going to address, compare possible approaches that could make a difference and then develop your activity plan.
Choosing between different approaches will depend on the context and resources available, including money, time and skills, including those of project partners. Once you have agreed an approach, develop an implementation strategy with a clear goal and measurable objectives that will show results and save lives!
SAFE STREETS
Once you have a clear understanding of what, when, why, where and how you will implement your project, design an implementation strategy with a clear goal, measurable objectives and enough funds to achieve expected results.
This section highlights importance of decisions guided by data, a strong evidence base and delivered by effective coalition working. Most often, it is not necessary to search for new solutions - the best-practice solutions have been developed and tested; they are readily available and presented below.
There are many different ways to develop an implementation strategy for safer routes to schools, but most follow these basic steps:
Step 1: Identify and engage stakeholders both internally and externally (see Coalition Building section)
Step 2: Define the community you will be working in – identify which schools will be involved in the project (see Data section)
Step 3: Conduct an assessment – what routes are children using to get to school, and what safety features need to be addressed around schools (see Data section) ? If possible, involve local transportation professionals such as an engineer or planner. Based on this, develop a long list of potential interventions, e.g. safer crossings, crossing supervision, speed reduction, etc. Funding sources may not be known at the time of assessment, but the assessment itself will help target specific interventions for which to seek funding, critical to long-term sustainability.
Step 4: Prioritize or choose the most cost-effective interventions that will save as many lives as possible (see sections below). Think about what has been successful in the past, what the research says is most effective and what is most feasible to implement in the community. Consider replication and scalability.
Step 5: Develop an implementation strategy. Set goals and objectives for the strategies that you decide to adopt. These should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound). Tackle the most pressing issues first, but remember to include your target audience (in this case children) in the development of the strategy. One way of doing this is through PhotoVoice (see Data section). At this stage you should consider how you will evaluate the programme. Waiting until the project is up and running to consider how you will measure its success is ineffective.
Step 6: Implement your plan. Document the intervention at each step. Each intervention should be clearly linked to your objective(s) and must be targeted for optimal success. The interventions you choose should be realistic in terms of cost and the time to implement.
Step 7: Measure progress along the way (see M & E section under Data section). Indicators are critical to measuring progress and determined if changes need to be made along the way. Data sources must be identified at the outset, or a mechanism developed to collect new data and information. We would recommend engaging an academic to help identify indicators, data sources and analyse your progress if you are unsure of this step.
Step 8: Communicate your results. Work with the media to share your results to wider stakeholders through newspapers, social media, etc as well as with the head teachers of participating schools so your primary audience is kept informed and educated.
Follow best practices. The 
WHO’s Save Lives Technical Package is based on good global practices and applies to all age groups. However, child-focused interventions should be a key part of implementing all six elements of the package.
Limited by physical, cognitive and social development, young children are more vulnerable in traffic than adults. We must make special efforts to address their needs particularly as pedestrians and cyclists. Adolescents may be more prone to take risks, particularly as drivers of motorized two- or four-wheelers.
Policies that protect children effectively on the roads will also strengthen protection for all vulnerable road users and indeed the wider population.
Limiting speeds to around 30 km/hr around schools has proven effective in protecting children and reducing road traffic injuries. Speed reduction measures around schools include sidewalks, speed humps and chicanes, signalized crossings, crossing supervision, safe play areas and the enforcement of speed limits.
Good road safety begins with good leadership and a strong lead agency. Countries that have reduced road traffic injury among children have:
Supervision is also key to protecting children on the roads, particularly in complex and risky road environments. Parents, teachers and caregivers can play an important role through education and supervision schemes, which are most effective when complementing other key interventions such as speed management. Partnerships between local communities, schools and the police to manage school crossing patrols and walking-bus initiatives can be effective, particularly when parents are at work and unable to supervise children.
Low speed leadership in Brazil
In São Paulo, WRI Brazil, Share the Road, and Instituto Clima e Sociedade prioritized children in urban redesign and involved them in the process. There, the quantity of cars increased by 31% from 1997 to 2007, and transport policies prioritized cars over people. Low-income children and adolescents often had no choice but to walk or cycle to school, placing them at high risk of injury or death. However, middle and higher income peers increasingly used private transport. Twice as many lower and middle-income public school children didn’t go to school in 2012 because they didn’t feel safe, compared to their higher income private school peers.
To play an active role in returning São Paulo’s streets to people, children conducted street audits. Walking school buses helped children commute safely.
Walking school buses, or pedibuses, are popular strategies to help children walk to school safely. They foster active transport and reduce demand for buses and vans, as well as associated municipal costs. WRI, Share the Road, and Instituto Clima e Sociedade included this mode of transport in their series of recommendations to promote active transport.
In 2010, pedibuses were implemented in 40 schools across low-income communities of Bogotá to reduce the high injury and fatality rate among children commuting to and from school. The pedibus not only provides children with a safe route to school, it also allows them to engage, learn, and play in urban environments on their daily journey.
Barranquilla also implemented walking school buses to revitalize the city, with children at its heart. There, walking school busses helped those between ages six and 12 stay safe on dangerous, busy roads. Safely exposing children to the city gave them more confidence to speak up, participate in decision-making, and voice their needs in a world of adults.
Political leadership is always key. As Mayor of São Paulo from 2013 to 2016, Fernando Haddad was a pioneer. His goal was to make São Paulo a city for all social classes, with children at its centre.
With necessary policy changes, he became a brave but controversial figure. Speed reduction is generally unpopular, yet he focused heavily on it to reduce crash severity. In 2013, low speed zones were implemented. About a year after, pedestrian fatalities decreased by 71%, and crashes fell by 18.5%.
The built environment around schools should be designed or reconfigured to prioritize pedestrians and cyclists to make the journey to school as safe as possible. The provision of safe infrastructure such as uncluttered sidewalks, safe crossings, traffic calming measures, speed bumps, and supervised crossing should be a priority. Infrastructure for traffic calming, when linked to speed enforcement, can create effective low-speed zones around schools.
The Star Ratings for School App can be used to assess what infrastructural changes are required around schools. Once the app has generated treatment options, such as speed management, infrastructure modification, etc, these should be discussed with local stakeholders and a risk reduction assessment conducted. Based on the outcome of this assessment the team should agree and implement appropriate interventions in collaboration with local authorities.
Global street design guide
Many tools exist to identify the most cost-effective strategies to protect children. For examples. NACTO-GDCI has been applying tools and strategies from its Global Street Design Guide to implement street design projects around the world, in places such as Fortaleza, São Paulo, and Bogotá. Created with input from practitioners across 72 cities in 42 countries, the guide offers technical details to support street design that prioritizes pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders through real world examples.
To date, the guide has been endorsed by 37 cites, 25 organizations, one country and one region, and downloaded almost 10,000 times. It has been used for capacity building workshops and serves as a reference guide for practitioners developing their own street designs. It is also being used to support development of updated street design guides in several cities.
In applying design principles from the guide around the world, NACTO has seen that streets which are safe for children, elderly, and those with disabilities, are safe for all road users. All too often, however, streets are dangerous places for children and their caretakers. Consequently, injuries and fatalities among these populations are on the rise, and local practitioners are looking for guidance on strategies to reclaim their streets and make them safer places for kids.
Inspired by this perspective, NACTO is creating a Streets for Kids supplement to its guide together with the FIA Foundation’s Child Health Initiative, Bernard van Leer Foundation, and Botnar Foundation. Capturing international best practice in designing streets and public spaces that are safe and encourage play, the supplement will help practitioners see streets from the perspective of a child. It will include real world examples of programs and policies that cities have used to engage children in the design process, create new spaces for play, provide safe routes to schools, and improve streets overall. Examples and technical assistance will span a variety of contexts, including low- and middle-income countries.
Not all children walk or cycle to school. Some are transported as passengers in cars and buses. To improve vehicle safety for child passengers all vehicles should be fitted with ISOFIX child restraint anchorage points and all children transported in age appropriate child restraints. In addition, to protect child pedestrians, vehicles should comply with pedestrian protection that includes softer bumpers and modifications to the front ends of vehicles that reduce the severity of a pedestrian impact with a car. New Car Assessment Programmes can promote consumer awareness and demand for higher standards of safety for all car occupants including children.
Toolkit for child safety in cars
Proper use of child restraints is another important factor in the equation to protect children. Every parent deserves access to child restraints and information on how to use them properly, regardless of where they live and how much they earn. This requires legislation, awareness, education, and behaviour change, along with active participation from the public, governments, and expert voices such as automobile clubs.
To promote the use of car restraints throughout the region, Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez launched the ‘EDU-CAR’ child seat campaign in Uruguay in 2008, supported by the FIA Foundation and the World Bank Global Road Safety Facility. Through research, training and awareness raising, the Fundación advocated for mandatory use of child restraints, which was successfully passed in 2012.
Replicating this success, automobile clubs worldwide are building awareness among governments, stakeholders, industry, and the public to reach a critical mass and advocate for child seat safety legislation. They have the technical knowledge, influence, and tools to communicate the vital importance of child restraint systems.
For example, in 2017, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates adopted child restraint legislation following an advocacy campaign by their auto clubs using the FIA’s ‘Toolkit for child safety in cars.’ The toolkit is part of the FIA’s ‘Action for Road Safety’ program, funded by the FIA Foundation and built on the principle that every country can improve its child restraint use. This digital advocacy and campaigning tool has been disseminated to member clubs involved in child road safety advocacy.
Designed to serve as a centralized resource database, the toolkit provides an advocacy manual, materials and methodology to conduct surveys, and visual materials to promote child restraint use. Developed to work in five different stages of legislation, the toolkit ranges from countries without child restraint and seat belt laws, to those with strong legislation and enforcement. In late 2016, pilot projects to help clubs use the toolkit, promote regulatory reforms, and raise public awareness began in Belarus, Chile, Japan, Mexico, Paraguay, United Arab Emirates, and Uruguay.
Many countries have laws to protect children on the roads but they are either not comprehensive or are not adequately enforced. Laws addressing child restraints should be set and/or enforced in all countries and helmet regulations should include addressing children as passengers particularly in countries where the motorcycle is the family vehicle. Laws and regulations to ensure seatbelts on school buses and the safety of school vehicles are often absent. Communication and social marketing strategies focused on the need to protect children are often an effective means of promoting public support for road safety enforcement..
SHIFT-ing Behaviour to Save Children’s Lives in Thailand
In Thailand, traffic crashes kill more than 7 children a day and road crashes injure or disable almost 200 children each day. That’s 2,000 children losing their lives and 73,000 children injured on Thai roads in a year. Wearing a motorcycle crash helmet can significantly reduce the risk to children but only 7% of the 18 million child passengers in Thailand do so.
Save the Children and the AIP Foundation worked together with global and regional experts on the “7% Project,” a nation-wide initiative focusing on behaviour influence strategies, education, and enforcement to increase helmet use and helmet-wearing awareness among children. The 3-year program concluded in 2019, after bringing on board government agencies, corporate partners, and media to ensure that all children will be wearing helmets every time they travel as a passenger on a motorcycle, ultimately decreasing the number of road traffic injuries and fatalities across Thailand.
The program hosted comprehensive trainings for invested community leaders, including law enforcement officers and educators, both of whom serve as primary role models for the general public, under The 7% Project in Bangkok. As a result of teacher capacity building trainings hosted by AIP Foundation, in the 2018-2019 school year, 5,700 students, 550 teachers, and 15,000 parents in 75 communities benefited from the program.
Sadly, we cannot prevent all collisions from occurring so a trauma response that can accommodate the needs of children is required. This ranges from training teachers and school transport drivers in safe immediate stabilization of injuries; equipping emergency vehicles with child-sized medical equipment and supplies; and improving paediatric-specific rehabilitation services for children.
Road traffic deaths are the ninth leading cause of death across all age groups and account for around 1.4 million deaths and up to 50 million non-fatal injuries around the world every year. In addition to the grief, suffering and cost to victims and their families, road traffic crashes constitute an important public health and development problem with significant health and socioeconomic costs. Road crashes cost most countries around 3% of their gross national product.
Children are on the front line, exposed to the dangers of traffic each day on their journey to and from school, and on other trips, with little protection. Vulnerable on the roads, and unable to cope with the consequences following injury, the poor and the young suffer multiple, ongoing impacts from road trauma. Of course, it is not only children who are killed or injured, and the loss of a parent, or other breadwinner, can have devastating effects on household economies, educational opportunities and can set a lifelong downward trajectory for families.
Investing in safer journeys to school for children saves not only lives, but also money. Simple solutions such as providing footpaths and safe crossing points and reducing vehicle speeds are relatively low-cost but highly effective public health investments. For example, evidence indicates that speed bumps are particularly effective interventions with one study demonstrating a cost of only $10.90USD for each disability-adjusted life year saved. Interventions undertaken in Tanzania by Amend, with support from the FIA Foundation, have demonstrated that low cost infrastructure improvements on the schools with the highest road traffic injury rates prevents one road traffic injury for every 286 at-risk children, reducing injury rates by at least a quarter, and serious head injuries by half.
Michael's story
Michael is a young boy from an ordinary family in Accra, Ghana – his father works for a trader in car spare parts, and his mother has a small business selling disposable cups, plates and cutlery.
Despite these somewhat humble beginnings, all of his teachers agree that he has a very promising future. They describe him as being bright, intelligent and confident.
However, in November 2015 he suffered a major setback when he was hit by a ‘trotro’ – a public minibus – on his way home from school. The roads around the school are busy at home-time, and there are no safe crossing places, so every day the pupils have to dart between traffic. The driver of the trotro was going fast and did not see Michael. Michael was dragged along underneath the vehicle for several metres before it eventually came to a stop.
All of the passengers disembarked and the trotro driver, with the assistance of one passenger, rushed Michael to hospital. One ankle, one hip and both of his knees were badly broken. He remained in hospital for two months, and had two major operations.
He is now back at home, but has not yet been able to return to school and has to visit the hospital twice a week. He cannot walk properly, and cannot play with his friends. But his biggest concern is to not fall behind in school. At home, he sticks strictly to the school timetable, using his books to teach himself. Incredibly, he remains cheerful and optimistic.
Michael’s parents and extended family support him as well as their means allow. The medical bills and other expenses have come to over $2,000, which was beyond the means of his parents, even more so as their combined monthly income of around $125 reduced when Michael’s mother had to leave her job to care for him. Michael’s aunt took out a bank loan of around $1,300 – with an astronomical interest rate. The National Health Insurance Scheme, with which Michael is registered, has covered very little of the costs. Recognising Michael’s potential, his family are doing everything they can to support his education, even to the detriment of some of his siblings.
Read about 'Crash costing' on iRAP's Road Safety Toolkit Read iRAP's 'The true cost of road crashes' report Read 'The Cost of Inaction: Can We Afford Not to Invest in Road Safety?' Read 'Making the Economic Case for Reducing Road Traffic Deaths and Serious Injuries'
When assessing any project, it is important to understand what it will cost to implement, and how this compares with the range of benefits that it will bring. Combining local data with information from previous projects allows an estimate of potential impacts to be made. Often benefits are given a monetary value in order to allow a direct comparison with costs, but this isn’t always appropriate, particularly if benefits are hard to adequately value. In this case, comparing the cost of achieving this outcome is an alternative approach.
Cost minimization: The least costly way to achieve a specific outcome. Several equally effective interventions are assessed to find out which one is the cheapest to implement. For example, speed humps, chicanes, roundabouts all reduce speed and speed-related collisions, injuries and deaths.
Cost-effectiveness: The least costly way of achieving a specific health outcome, e.g. reductions in head injuries because of helmet use. Usually expressed as a cost effectiveness ratio, i.e. cost of the intervention (in this case a helmet) /unit of health outcome (injury averted).
Cost benefit: The least costly way of achieving any positive benefit. This allows comparisons between health and non-health outcomes and is the most complete, but most difficult analysis to undertake.
It is important to take a comprehensive approach to designing projects. In particular, rather than simply looking to reduce injuries, is it possible to significantly lower risks to such a threshold that would mean that deaths and serious injuries no longer occur.
The Safe System Approach is a holistic framework used to examine road traffic injury risk factors and interventions. It is based on Sweden’s Vision Zero strategy, which has the long-term vision of achieving no fatal or serious injuries within the transport system. There are four guiding principles behind the approach which are:
In developing and implementing a safe journey to school programme remember to think about the road user, the environment and road infrastructure, and the vehicles. Addressing just one aspect of the system is unlikely to have a meaningful and lasting public health impact.
Modern school zones project
Safe Kids Worldwide is working with primary schools in 10 different countries to develop safer school zones. Using the systems approach, the Model School Zone project works toward four types of change in each school zone:
As a result of this project, in 2018 four primary schools in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam received school zone modifications including installing sidewalks, yellow warning lights, and refuge islands as well as basic elements like school zone and pedestrian crossing signs and slow down markings. The roads were evaluated before and after modifications with the International Road Assessment Program’s (iRAP) Star Rating for Schools (SR4S) app, which helps rate the risks and safety of roads on a 1-star (least safe) to 5-star (safest) scale. These road upgrades led to an increase in the star rating of all four schools, with all schools receiving at least a 3-star rating, measurably improving the safety for students on their way to school and justifying government investment for modifications at additional target schools.
Through its School Area Road Safety Assessments and Improvements (SARSAI) projects, AMEND translates results of school assessments, site visits, and discussions with relevant authorities and the community, decisions can be made of what minor infrastructural changes could be incorporated into a road safety implementation package in the school zone. Based on this information, an implementation proposal should be written which covers activities, deliverables, responsibilities, timelines, necessary approvals and resources necessary (including financial). There are several key steps to this process. Be sure to budget for infrastructural changes by obtaining quotes from engineering and construction firms who will carry out the work. Most government authorities will have a list of approved contractors to carry out such roadworks.
In collaboration with the schools, education authorities and, if needed, education consultants, develop a package of road safety education material to be delivered to students at the school whilst the infrastructural work is being carried out. The material should cover basic importance of road safety as well as specific information regarding the infrastructural changes being made to the school environment. This can be paired with other Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials and public awareness campaigns to highlight the SARSAI project. Involvement and regular communication with all stakeholders from project design through actual implementation is crucial for the success of the project. Activities such as workshops, stakeholder meetings, and townhall meetings should be organised at regular intervals throughout, and when the construction of the infrastructural changes has been completed. For example, organize a ribbon-cutting event at the school with all the relevant stakeholders to launch the project.
Most of all, collect data. In partnership with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, AMEND conducted a multi-year population-based control study impact evaluation of SARSAI. 18 schools were identified (9 intervention and 9 control schools) using the SARSAI method. Surveys were carried out in households with 12,957 school-aged children at baseline and 13,555 children at follow-up. In the intervention schools, a SARSAI programme was fully implemented at a cost of approximately US$18,000 per school. Infrastructural changes included:
The evaluation found that the SARSAI programme results in a statistically significant reduction in the number of children injured in road traffic. For every 286 children whose schools are part of the SARSAI programme, one RTI is prevented per year. This is the first known road safety programme of any type proven to reduce RTI among children in sub-Saharan Africa. The methodology consisted of before and after household surveys in catchments areas of both intervention and control schools allowing for a more rigorous evaluation. Details of this evaluation can be found here.
Around the world, cities are committing to eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries through Vision Zero. A growing group of these cities is focused on improving safety in school zones and other places where children and youth walk and bicycle. Starting with youth - the most vulnerable population, often less politically contentious - can help build momentum towards Vision Zero.
Vision Zero for Youth recognizes that starting with youth can be the catalyst to build community support for Vision Zero, and that Vision Zero should include a focus on youth.
The FIA Foundation has supported Vision Zero for Youth from its inception in early 2016 when it was a promising concept based on more than twelve years of research by the National Center for Safe Routes to School. Vision Zero for Youth is an initiative of the National Center for Safe Routes to School supported by the FIA Foundation, Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center and UNC Highway Safety Research Center in the USA. The FIA Foundation is also working with ITDP Mexico and WRI India on implementing VZY programmes in number of cities in both countries.
Starting safety initiatives near schools and in places where youth often walk and bike, first and foremost creates a safer environment for children. In addition, prioritizing the needs of child pedestrians and bicyclists can form an integral piece of a plan to meet larger safety goals. Safety measures targeted at protecting youth, whether in controlling speed, creating safer, improved walking and biking facilities, or in changing behaviors, have broader effects that benefit entire communities. Based on our experience serving as the SRTS clearinghouse for the Federal SRTS Program for eleven years, we have learned that starting where youth walk and bike offers five ways to integrate into broader safety initiatives such as Vision Zero plans.
Vehicle speed impacts both the likelihood and severity of crashes, and the higher the speeds, the more dangerous and uninviting the environment becomes for pedestrians. Speed management is a difficult issue with much potential payoff. There are many known strategies for slowing down traffic. But elected officials’ knowledge of and support for these countermeasures isn’t always enough. Implementation of these countermeasures often face social and political hurdles because lowering speeds to improve safety can conflict with motorists’ desire to travel quickly. More and more, cities are turning to places where their youth walk and bike to begin addressing vehicle speeds. Read more about how to slow down traffic starting where youth walk and bike
Crashes impact youth, and often result from decisions where youth have had no opportunity for input. As a comprehensive approach to addressing safety, Vision Zero must account for all road users, those in and out of vehicles of all ages and abilities. Because of young people’s place in the transportation system, and the everyday needs of youth traveling to and from school and other commitments, youth engagement is a necessary and valuable component of any safety initiative like Vision Zero.
Getting youth thoroughly engaged helps ensure programs are effective in developing understanding and helping promote traffic safety culture. Programs that have seen success enable youth to take on meaningful leadership roles that make them responsible for the group and the outcomes of their work.
For youth involved in groups addressing road safety, proper engagement provides a chance to have a voice in their community. The work rewards youth by helping them learn how to make a difference while seeing real improvements in safety for themselves and others outside their peer group. For the community and community leaders, youth emerge as true stakeholders. Rather than a system where elected officials and city staff make decisions that affect young people, communities that engage youth can begin to see these youth as ongoing partners in decision making.
Follow links below to learn about city focus on youth:
The International Vision Zero for Youth Leadership Award recognizes and highlights noteworthy road safety practices with the goal of inspiring other cities to take bold steps to reach zero traffic deaths among children and youth. The Award is presented by the Vision Zero for Youth initiative, led by the National Center for Safe Routes to School with support from the FIA Foundation. The International Award is an expansion of an award program that began in the U.S. It is guided by the International Vision Zero for Youth Committee, comprised of international road safety organizations.
Here you will find a suite of materials that provide an additional reading and resources when considering creating Vision Zero for Youth.
Click here to learn more about Creating Safer Streets Starting Where Youth Walk and Bike
Use the Mayor’s Statement on Safe Walking and Biking for Youth to get commitment for change
Use International Walk to School Day to build visibility about safety needs and the value of walking
Read about using Events as Tools for Change
Watch webinars on using events for inspiring action, successes in slowing traffic near schools and youth leadership in traffic safety.
In Mexico City, the Vision Zero for Youth reinstated road safety as a political priority, by focusing on youth. ITDP and the FIA Foundation piloted the initiative at a public school known for its active community and committed teachers, Secundaria 4 Moisés Sáenz. They held community workshops and brought together teachers and students to identify the most dangerous intersection near the school, learn about different traffic calming measures, and implement a temporary street redesign. Directly involving students in changing streets increases road safety awareness, empowers them to create the streets they want, and exposes them to career options in urban design, road safety, public health, and related fields.
They gained media attention from major outlets. With the help of volunteers from AXA, an insurance company, and the Urban Management Agency, ITDP made the temporary changes permanent, widening sidewalks, reducing pedestrian crossing length, installing speed humps, and adding bollards. ITDP is working with the new administration to scale up the project and implement it in other schools, while also working with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct conflict analysis, assessing near misses before and after interventions.
At an August 2018 meeting with the FIA Foundation and the Inter-American Development Bank, ITDP launched their report detailing the successful pilot Vision Zero for Youth project. The report, “Vision Zero for Youth: Making streets safer one school at a time” outlines successes and challenges, and can be used as a model to replicate and scale the project elsewhere. They also launched a report evaluating Vision Zero in the city to provide guidance to the new administration on continuing and improving the initiative.
Key to the success of the initiative was placing children at the heart of the political agenda, and getting support from the Mayor for the Child Health Initiative declaration and Vision Zero for Youth. Vision Zero for Youth is an a-political strategy that is resilient to administration changes.
Puebla, Hermosillo, Mexico City and San Pedro Garza García (Monterrey Metropolitan Area)
With the support of the FIA Foundation, ITDP Mexico and school communities from further four Mexican cities have taken part in “Vision Zero for Youth”. The project aims to empower school communities to learn about road safety and demand that their city’s authorities implement Vision Zero, starting in school zones. To raise awareness, children co-design their ideal school environments and make it visible by celebrating the international walk and bike to school day.
Videos:
News and other resources:
Puebla: Analyzing traffic conflicts in school zones
With the support of the FIA Foundation and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, ITDP Mexico and the city of Puebla have applied the Swedish technique of traffic conflict analysis to prevent further crashes to occur near schools. This quantitative method has been applied in a conflictive intersection surrounding a 9,000-student school, before and after a low-cost street redesign intervention was implemented. The technique showed that the intervention reduced traffic conflicts from 65%.
The first road safety programme to reduce RTI among children in sub-Saharan Africa, SARSAI focuses on speed reduction to yield life-saving results.
School population: 990 (2017)
Anecdotal road traffic injuries (based on school report) in past year: Four (2016)
Infrastructural improvements: a short length of footpath, speed hump, zebra crossings, signage, bollards, two small pedestrian bridges over a ditch (to encourage children to cross at the correct place and also walk off road). A small gate was also introduced for the sole use of pedestrians.
Average cost per school: USD$25,000 (including infrastructural changes and staff costs)
|
Infrastructural Improvements at Tlhabologo Primary School I Infrastructural Improvements at Tlhabologo Primary School III |
Infrastructural Improvements at Tlhabologo Primary School II Post Implementation Event at School with Pupils Skit |
Tlhabologo Primary School: Speeds at School Entrances ‘Before’ and ‘After’ Implementation
| Tlhabologo Primary School | Speeds (km/hr) Before Implementation (Baseline) |
Speeds (km/hr) After Implementation |
Speeds (km/hr) % Change from Baseline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Speed | 37km/hr | 21km/hr | -43% |
| 85%tile Speed | 45km/hr | 27km/hr | -40% |
| Tlhabologo Primary School |
|---|
| Average Speed |
| Speeds (km/hr) Before Implementation (Baseline) |
| 37km/hr |
| Speeds (km/hr)After Implementation |
| 21km/hr |
| Speeds (km/hr) % Change from Baseline |
| -43% |
| Tlhabologo Primary School |
| 85%tile Speed |
| Speeds (km/hr) Before Implementation (Baseline) |
| 45km/hr |
| Speeds (km/hr)After Implementation |
| 27km/hr |
| Speeds (km/hr) % Change from Baseline |
| -40% |
School population 1,579 (2018)
Anecdotal road traffic injuries (based on school report) in past year: Six (2017)
Infrastructural improvements: footpath, speed humps, zebra crossing, signage and bollards
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Infrastructural Improvements at Mikumi and Mzimuni Primary Schools I Infrastructural Improvements at Mikumi and Mzimuni Primary Schools III |
Infrastructural Improvements at Mikumi and Mzimuni Primary Schools II Ribbon Cutting at Mikumi and Mzimuni Primary Schools with Minister of State Present |
Mikumi and Mzimuni Primary Schools: Speeds at School Entrances ‘Before’ and ‘After’ Implementation
| Mikumi and Mzimuni Primary schools | Speeds (km/hr) Before Implementation (Baseline) |
Speeds (km/hr) After Implementation |
Speeds (km/hr) % Change from Baseline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Speed | 30km/hr | 23km/hr | -23% |
| 85%tile Speed | 37km/hr | 29km/hr | -22% |
| Mikumi and Mzimuni Primary schools |
|---|
| Average Speed |
| Speeds (km/hr) Before Implementation (Baseline) |
| 30km/hr |
| Speeds (km/hr)After Implementation |
| 23km/hr |
| Speeds (km/hr) % Change from Baseline |
| -23% |
| Mikumi and Mzimuni Primary schools |
| 85%tile Speed |
| Speeds (km/hr) Before Implementation (Baseline) |
| 37km/hr |
| Speeds (km/hr)After Implementation |
| 29km/hr |
| Speeds (km/hr) % Change from Baseline |
| -22% |
In Mexico City, 60% of children walk to school and are from low- and middle-income families. Often, they walk with grandparents – meaning the two most vulnerable populations are engaging in the most dangerous but necessary activity. To save lives, ITDP replicated lessons learned from Vision Zero for Youth launched by the National Center for Safe Routes to School and FIA Foundation in the US, collaborating with government, schools, media, and the community.
Years prior, Mexico City had adopted Vision Zero, but it lost momentum. Like many others, the city had traditionally approached road safety though isolated policies focused on unsafe infrastructure, inadequate behaviours, or harsh sanctions. Vision Zero meant embracing an integrated strategy encompassing a wide range of prevention measures, but momentum faltered in achieving what seemed to be an unreachable goal of zero deaths on its roads.
Vision Zero for Youth became the spark necessary to reignite momentum behind Vision Zero, making Mexico City the first emerging economy to implement the initiative.
ITDP capitalized on Vision Zero’s emphasis on protecting vulnerable road users – children. In Mexico, road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among children ages five to 15, the second for those between the ages of 15 and 2947, and the seventh cause of death for all age groups. Pedestrians represent nearly half of total fatalities on roads. Speed is a known issue in Mexico, blamed for over half of injuries occurring on the country’s highways. Child pedestrians are at particularly high risk.
ITDP saw an opportunity to save lives by piloting Vision Zero for Youth in low-income areas of Mexico City, with support from the FIA Foundation. They built upon the Vision Zero strategy to include and implement a safe system for children, namely:
You can learn more about ITD”s efforts in their report, " Vision Zero for Youth: Making streets safer one school at a time." It outlines successes and challenges, and can be used as a model to replicate and scale the project elsewhere.
Source: Streets for Life report, page 26
In Vietnam, road injuries are the leading cause of death for children aged 5-14. According to the Ministry of Health, as of 2015, every year 1,900 children lose their lives on Vietnam’s roads. For every one child that dies, another four children are permanently disabled, and a further ten children are seriously injured because of road crashes.
As part of its mission to make schools in Ho Chi Minh City safer for pedestrians and road users, AIP Foundation teamed up with Safe Kids Worldwide for the “Walk This Way” program to install school zone modifications at four schools in the city to make them safer and more accessible for all. These modifications are in addition to road safety education, public awareness campaigns, and advocacy for increased law enforcement and reduced speed limits.
The project installed sidewalks, yellow warning lights, refuge islands, school zone signs, pedestrian crossing signs, slow down markings, and raised crosswalks to reduce speed of passing vehicles. (This is the first time raised crosswalks have been installed at school zones in Ho Chi Minh City.) After evaluating installations, AIP Foundation found that one of the simplest and most effective ways to reduce speed in school zones is to place visible “SLOW DOWN” markings on roads, which is easily replicable and cost effective.
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Ket Doan Primary School in District 1 is located on a narrow street that lacked a proper sidewalk until renovated:
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Pham Van Chi Primary School in District 6 needed refuge islands for pedestrians to safely cross the road:
|
As a result of modifications, all schools increased in safety ratings as assessed by the Star Ratings for Schools (SR4S) tool:
| School | SR4S result before modification | SR4S result after modification |
|---|---|---|
| Ket Doan Primary School | 1 Star | 3 Stars |
| Mach Kiem Hung Secondary School | 2 Stars | 4 Stars |
| Pham Van Chi Primary School | 3 Stars | 5 Stars |
| Hung Vuong Primary School | 3 Stars | 4 Stars |
| Ket Doan Primary School |
|---|
| SR4S result before modification |
| 1 Star |
| SR4S result before modification |
| 3 Stars |
| Mach Kiem Hung Secondary School |
| SR4S result before modification |
| 2 Stars |
| SR4S result before modification |
| 4 Stars |
| Pham Van Chi Primary School |
| SR4S result before modification |
| 3 Stars |
| SR4S result before modification |
| 5 Stars |
| Hung Vuong Primary School |
| SR4S result before modification |
| 3 Stars |
| SR4S result before modification |
| 4 Stars |
Following the pilot modifications of these four schools, Walk This Way seeks to set a precedent and expand its programming to other schools.
8 80 Cities and Bernard Van Leer Foundation’s collection of 21 case studies around the world, from India to Brazil, explore best practices to engage children and families in creating the cities they want to grow up in, and grow old in.
The case studies answer the following questions:
Which cities are the pioneers in inclusive civic engagement processes with families and caregivers with young children?
What strategies have produced the best results for including the perspectives of young children, their parents and caregivers, and pregnant women?
What are some key engagement principles to consider when working with this specific target group?
Contains excerpts from Bernard van Leer Foundation document
CLEAN AIR
The primary goal of air quality management (AQM) is to ensure clean air and protect the human health and the environment. AQM is an iterative process that involves setting air quality goals, identifying emission sources, ascertaining air quality status and its impacts, and formulating and implementing solutions to reduce emissions.
This section explains how understanding the city’s levels of air pollution, emission sources as well as local health and environmental impacts of pollution can be used to develop a comprehensive action plan. Strategic AQM can also encourage collaborative planning and implementation through engaging various stakeholders in the process of developing implementation and monitoring and evaluation frameworks.
The toolkit provides guidance for local decision makers and technical officers in developing a clean air action plan (CAAP). A CAAP consolidates scientific information on the levels of air pollution within a locality, emission sources, health and other impacts, as well as the local government’s capacity to manage air pollution (See Data section). This understanding becomes the basis for how the government and various stakeholders come together to prioritize actions in the CAAP, and mobilize resources in the most effective and efficient manner to reduce emissions, protect human health and the environment.
The toolkit offers a stepwise guide to CAAP development with the following aspects:
National and local policy- and decisionmakers, AQM practitioners and technical officers
Step-by-step Guide to Clean Air Action Plan Development
1. Organizing Stakeholders
This task includes mapping local stakeholders and identifying each of their roles and responsibilities in the planning process. One of the major outputs of this task is to identify the core working group that will steer the development of the CAAP. This working group will be composed of key stakeholders that will ensure communication and cooperation between public and private sectors. Stakeholders are categorized based on experience and expertise, and often involves national and local government agencies, academia (including school administrators and educators), private sector, NGOs and foundations, civil society, and the mass media. Respective roles of the working group are defined at the outset.
2. Creation of a Roadmap
The roadmap creates awareness of and defines responsibilities of stakeholders in undertaking the tasks involved in CAAP development. Developing a CAAP with a strong participatory approach has proven to reinforce cities’ ownership of the planning process and its outcomes.
The roadmap describes the key air quality issues and challenges for improving the air quality of a city. Upon the identification of stakeholders, the group must create a roadmap which should include this key information, and later, sets out steps to formulate the CAAP:
3. Visioning and Goal-setting Workshop
The objective of this task is to develop a common vision for the CAAP of the city. This participatory activity helps the stakeholders to be aligned with a single goal and set achievable air quality objectives. The output of the workshop can be disseminated to the public through media and other communication outreach.
4. Establish a Baseline
This task would include the assessment of local conditions (e.g., immediate vicinity of schools) to which the CAAP will be programmed. This task often includes a combination of air quality monitoring, emissions inventory development, health impacts assessment and transport review. Transport review is needed particularly in areas or localities where transport is the identified key emission source. These baselining activities provide essential information which is significant for monitoring the efficiency and effectivity of measures within the CAAP.
5. Identify Preliminary Measures
Once air quality targets are set, clean air measures will be identified by the CAAP working group to fulfil the vision and goals set by the stakeholders. A comprehensive set of measures will be created which aim to reduce emissions with emphasis on the most critical source and pollutant based on the baseline data analysis.
6. Screen and Prioritize Measures
The identified preliminary measures will be assessed and prioritized by the working group based on the criteria of cost-effectiveness, feasibility and potential risk and co-benefits. The measures should also be prioritized according to urgent needs or opportunities. Undertaking this screening task for each of the measures allows a reality check for the CAAP while still aiming for cleaner air as its end goal.
7. Plan for Implementation
This task includes assigning the prioritized measures to the implementer and scheduling its timeline. The implementation of measures is usually spearheaded by a government agency in collaboration with partners such as universities, consultants, and NGOs.
During the implementation planning, aside from identifying roles and timelines, the following steps must also be taken:
8. Monitoring and Evaluation Framework
A monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework should be operationalized through a monitoring committee whose role is to analyze CAAP implementation progress. The framework should include measurable indicators set by the responsible local government together with technical experts and the community.
9. Review and Update the Plan
The efficacy of a CAAP depends on its consistency in updating its implementation framework through proper monitoring and evaluation. The CAAP must always be updated in response to changes on air quality trends, local priorities and broader context of the economy, technology and society.
For the full details of how each activity in each task is to be implemented and their respective guidelines, access the toolkit here.
The toolkit provides guidance for urban development practitioners (including ADB staff and consultants) and city leaders. It introduces key concepts of Green City Development and provides an overview of each sector, emphasizing crosscutting themes and benefits of actions. The toolkit also sets out a framework for conducting assessments of localities (i.e., urban areas where most of the vulnerable members of the population are located, including children) and identifying and implementing sustainable development responses. It aims to provide greater understanding of issues for Green City Development that will assist in the preparation and design of programs and projects on sectors such as transport, energy, buildings and the built environment, and climate change adaptation in Asian cities. An inventory of existing resources that will support the design of green and sustainable development actions is also provided.
The toolkit presents a three-step approach which reflects the ADB’s project or program cycle.
These three steps can be dissected further into four main activities:
This toolkit functions on both strategic and detailed levels. At the strategic level, the toolkit can be used in identifying key issues and development requirements of the city that need to be addressed based on indicators of urban green development, including for example, improving air quality. Moreover, it allows cities to assess their current green city status and provides best practices and guidelines in formulating partnerships among cities in adopting and implementing tested interventions. This function can be helpful for decision-makers and policy developers which seek guidance in preparing frameworks for pollution measures as well as monitoring implementation of interventions.
At the detailed level, the toolkit aids in identifying and designing city-specific issues and interventions which enable and promote investments on pollution mitigation measures and technologies. This level presents a bottom-up approach wherein sectors such as local community leaders, school administrators, technical experts and private companies can participate. In both levels, objectives and targets are to be set, which form the basis of monitoring and evaluation frameworks.
The toolkit also provides a repository of sector and theme-based analytical tools, cross-cutting themes and related readings on green and sustainable development.
For detail guidelines of the green development framework and reference to other repository on sustainable development, please refer to the full document of the toolkit.
Technical personnel and city stakeholders in their respective roles in the preparation and implementation of green urban development plans.
Users are expected to be able to:
Involving Children as Key Stakeholders in India’s Urban Development
With its government’s commitment to the rights-based approach in addressing the emerging challenges and needs of children, India adopted its National Policy on Children in 2013. The policy recognizes the rights of every child as an integral part of the society and that each child is entitled to long-term, sustainable, and inclusive development for their well-being and protection. This proclamation of the national government puts children into a new spotlight in urban development.
A key outcome of the proclamation is the recognition of children as key stakeholders in the urban development framework through the Smart City Mission and Guidelines. Aside from giving children a significant role in consultation processes, the framework also includes measures which impact children’s development such as:
On the other hand, the Atal Mission for Urban Rejuvenation and Transformation also aims to develop infrastructures that cater to specific needs of children. This initiative’s goal is to improve children’s quality of living through the development of local amenities such as upgrading green spaces, parks and recreation centers.
The third major urban development programme which aims to improve the living condition of children is the Swachh Bharat (Clean India) Mission which aims at making the country open defecation free by 2019. This programme, which aims at improving access to better sanitation facilities at both homes and schools, is one of the crucial urban development programmes from the context of children’s health and development.
The bold move of the national government in recognizing a specific sector of the society as a stakeholder through the development of policies strengthens the implementation of multi-sectoral collaboration initiatives. In the case of India, the National Policy of Children reinforces the commitment from the government in implementing initiatives towards protecting children and enhancing their development.
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