[sustran] Re: Road Safety Infrastructure Spending devoted NMT--project examples and figures needed!

[Morten Lange]

Hi Gabrielle Hermann, 

I am sorry that I can not answer your question on examples of 10% spending on infrastructure for NMT.  ( Hmm,  wait I have heard that Copenhagen spends a large portion of the road budget on cycling, and the same must hold true in many Dutch settings. No concrete figures or references though ) 

But your request did spark the following suggestion for a wholly different approach on the matter. 

I think the first item on the agenda should be to do some investigation and critical thinking into different approaches to achieving improved road safety for Healthy Transport (HT), or Human Powered Transport (HPT). 

It is paramount that the Global South does not copy the mistakes of the North, although some of statitistics suggest that segregation and expensive infrastructure is working.  At what price have they been working ?   Materials, huge costs, enourmous land-use, and land degradation,  pollution, at times long detours for cyclists and pedestrians, improved access for cars, bad health problems beacuse of lack of exercise as part of the daily routine, blame the (HT) victims if they are run over,  overdependence on very expensive and very unsustainable cars etc, etc. 
Furthermore the sitation in the Global South is completely different from the countries with the lowest figures for the number of deaths yearly per 100.000 inhabitants. The modal split is an ocean apart from what Sweden or the UK has, and thinking that modals splits should change in the Global South to mimick the North would be a big mistake. 

Healthy Transport (HT)  and Human Powered Transport (HPT)  are not generally used as concepts, I think,  but I suggest these concepts  or something of the sort be taken up as alternatives to the term non-motorized transport NMT, or vulnarable road users, mainly because they define cycling, walking et al positively, not as something "other" than cars etc.


In evaluating the different approaches I suggest that the potential for win-win situations figure very prominently.  Does the appraoch 
- improve accessibility and efficiency for HT/HPT 
- improve the competitiveness of HT/HPT
- reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- reduce other pollution to air, water, soil + noise pollution
- improve the psychological / aesthetic environment
- increase the liveability and / or attractiveness 
- entail flexibility and cooperation or rigid rules, with sharp edges
- use resources in a close to optimal way
- help the car, oil and tire lobby

Road safety "activists" ( Is it fitting to call FIA an activist ?  ) often 
overfocus on just that, and "forget" to see the whole picture. The road saefty problem is one in a big set of problems that have to do with the overuse of the car, and in part the overuse or wrong use of roadgoing motorised transport.  

The largest public health problem connected with transport is probably sedentary lifestyles and the resulting obesity, and a long range of life-threatening diseases. Some are associated with obesity, others not. Is is estimated that in the US 40.000 die in road accidents, and 400.000 from obesity. It has been suggested that half of the 400.000 stems from sedentary lifestyles, not getting the daily gentle exercise that cyclists and walkers get.  WHO has publishes a large study showing that in many major Europeans cities fumes and suspended particulate matter ( mainly from cars exhaust pipes ) kill substantially more people than road accidents. 


I and many others are looking to solutions that slow down cars, and change the aesthetics of places so that they are more similar to cosy streets than the tracks for racing in computer games. 


Bring down the speeds of cars.  Plant trees and bushes along roads. Bring life to the streets.  Some experiments in urban settings with taking the infrastructure, including signs and traffic lights away, have been successful. Motorists and HT / HPT start to interact.  Accidents have been reduced. Another appraoch in roughly the same vein, and then regarding cyclists specifically, is to paint bike-and-chevron markings in the streets. The markings remind bothe cyclists and motorists that cycøists are welcome on the streets.  Very cheap, and effective in improving interactions between drivers and cyclists as well as saefty. And a small piece of bicycle advocacy that is a consrtant reminder to all. Used in Paris, San-Francisco, recently in Reykjaavik, and in many other cities. (e.g in Australia and North America  ) 


Rural settings and some major roads in cities can demand different solutions. There higher speeds of cars can have its merits and separation will increase the accessibility and competitiveness  HT / HPT.   But the lessons from urban areas should still be kept in mind. Big detours or bad designs or lousy mainentance should be avoided.

I am sorry if my style conveys that I purport some great authority on the subject. That was not my intention.  I wish the proponents of segregation and expensive infrastructure would also include similar disclaimers :-) 

If anyone wants references to studies that support my claims, I guess many on the list will be able to help, including myself.

Best Regards,
Morten Lange, 
Reykavik Iceland 
( and a former resident of  Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania ) 


--- On Wed, 2/9/09, Gabrielle Hermann <gabbyherm at yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: Gabrielle Hermann <gabbyherm at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [sustran] Road Safety Infrastructure Spending devoted NMT--project examples and figures needed!
> To: sustran-discuss at jca.apc.org
> Date: Wednesday, 2 September, 2009, 8:05 AM
> Dear Colleagues,
> 
> In writing a section for the forthcoming UNEP paper, "Share
> the Road:  
> Minimum 10% for Safety, Sustainability, and Accessibility"
> (funded by  
> the FIA Foundation) ITDP Europe has been asked to discuss
> what current  
> road infrastructure budget allocations look like in terms
> of road  
> safety.
> 
> Specifically we need examples of road building projects
> where the  
> budget line item for road safety is broken down to show
> what  
> percentage and how much is allocated to such NMT
> infrastructure as  
> raised sidewalks, traffic signals, separated cycle lanes,
> road  
> signage, raised zebra crossings, pedestrian crossing
> islands, etc.  We  
> would need to know what percentage of the entire project is
> devoted to  
> road safety infrastructure since the paper and the Share
> the Road  
> Campaign advocates for devoting at least 10% of road
> infrastructure  
> budgets to road safety
> 
> We would very much appreciate any suggestion on where we
> could get  
> access to such figures for specific projects in either
> Africa, Asia,  
> or Latin America.
> 
> Thank you in advance,
> 
> Gabrielle Hermann
> ITDP Europe
> 
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