A program of the

The Unique Challenges of

Urban Road Safety
Ben Welle, Senior Associate Transport Planner
An increasingly urban, car-filled world
Worlds urban
population will
double by 2050
1 billion motor
vehicles today will
triple by 2050
2.5
5.2
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
2009 2050
Global Urban
Population
Developing
Countries
World Urban Population
(billions)
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050
World Car Population
(billions)
Cities are key to reducing traffic fatalities
73% of US traffic fatalities occur within
cities and 5 miles of urban areas
Source: US DOT 2006
40 45%
of traffic fatalities
occur in urban
areas
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
S
t
o
c
k
h
o
l
m
B
e
r
l
i
n
T
o
k
y
o
H
o
n
g

K
o
n
g
L
o
n
d
o
n
P
a
r
i
s
A
m
s
t
e
r
d
a
m
N
e
w

Y
o
r
k
I
s
t
a
n
b
u
l
W
a
s
h
i
n
g
t
o
n

D
C
C
h
i
c
a
g
o
L
o
s

A
n
g
e
l
e
s
A
h
m
e
d
a
b
a
d
S
u
r
a
t
M
u
m
b
a
i
A
t
l
a
n
t
a
R
e
c
i
f
e
B
o
g
o
t
a
*
P
o
r
t
o

A
l
e
g
r
e
R
i
o

d
e

J
a
n
e
i
r
o
L
i
m
a
*
K
o
l
k
a
t
a
B
e
n
g
a
l
u
r
u
J
a
k
a
r
t
a
S
a
o

P
a
u
l
o
M
o
n
t
e
v
i
d
e
o
B
e
i
j
i
n
g
B
a
n
g
k
o
k
B
e
l
o

H
o
r
i
z
o
n
t
e
J
o
h
a
n
n
e
s
b
u
r
g
S
h
a
n
g
h
a
i
I
n
d
o
r
e
B
r
a
s
i
l
i
a
C
u
i
d
a
d

d
e

M
e
x
i
c
o
*
C
u
r
i
t
i
b
a
P
u
n
e
D
e
l
h
i
L
e
o
n
*
C
h
e
n
n
a
i
G
u
a
d
a
l
a
j
a
r
a
*
J
a
i
p
u
r
A
d
d
i
s

A
b
a
b
a
*
D
a
r

e
s

S
a
l
a
a
m
*
N
a
i
r
o
b
i
F
a
t
a
l
i
t
i
e
s

/

1
0
0
,
0
0
0

p
o
p
u
l
a
t
i
o
n
* indicates metropolitanarea
North America / Europe
Asia
South America
Africa
Unpublished EMBARQ research
Traffic Fatalities per 100,000
pop. in select world cities
Addis Ababa
57.2/ 100,000
Nairobi
70/ 100,000
Sao Paulo
17.1/ 100,000
Delhi
31.3/ 100,000
Challenges
Very dense and mixed traffic
prominent in developing cities
Challenges
Institutional challenge: Who is in
charge of this project?
Speed kills
90% of pedestrians survive when
a car hits at 35km/h
75% of pedestrians survive when
a car hits at 45 km/h
Orienting the city to people
Improving basic design of streets
Making pedestrians safer
Making cyclists safer
South America North America
Northern Europe
An Asian bicycle context?
Reducing and restricting vehicle travel
Reducing and restricting vehicle travel
Move people through mass transport
Mumbai: Change in
total traffic fatalities
(all road users)
computed for four
scenarios of growth
in motorized travel.
Bhalla et al (2007)
Mass transport
Move people through mass transport
Road safety audits for cities
Brazil: 60 to 90% of safety audit
recommendations adopted
Road safety audits for cities
Istanbul: Improve safety on
bus corridor
Harnessing city crash data with technology
Using software to analyze
pedestrian crashes
The Safe System Approach
Brining the comprehensive
approach of shared
responsibility to high-
fatality countries
Conclusion: Safety = Quality of Life
A program of the
Thank you!
Ben Welle, Senior Associate Transport Planner
bwelle@wri.org
Twitter: @Benj_WDC and @EMBARQNetwork
Visit our blog at http://thecityfix.com/