Image credit: Estrellas de Neuquen

Original article content from the Global Alliance of NGO’s for Road Safety

New street-level data is helping to highlight the realities of people’s journeys around the world, and the impact of actions that aim to make our streets safer, particularly for people who walk.

Through Mobility Snapshots, a landmark initiative from the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety, road safety advocates in 44 countries gathered data at 118 busy intersections near public transport hubs and shopping facilities – places where many people walk.

The Mobility Snapshots leverages the iRAP Star Rating methodology to create snapshots – images and short video clips showcasing real commutes at high-risk intersections in different cities around the world. Using iRAP’s Star Rating model, the images capture the safety of the roads environment, with a particular emphasis on pedestrian access and usage.

The data reveals worrying gaps in pedestrian-friendly infrastructure and laws that save lives.

More than 156,000 pedestrians used the 118 intersections during peak hours, yet 102 of the intersections lacked 30 km/h limits or lower, 67 lacked usable footpaths, 106 lacked usable crossings, and 102 lacked traffic calming measures. These are key to making pedestrians’ journeys safer and more comfortable.

At these intersection – as with many more around the world – pedestrians have been overlooked in road design and implementation, even where their presence should be expected. To learn more, see all the Mobility Snapshots HERE.

The Mobility Snapshots are strengthening NGOs’ data-driven advocacy with their government authorities. Intersections in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe have already been transformed, with other NGOs also reporting valuable impacts.

Some examples:

New pedestrian crossing installed in CMC Adebabye intersection in Addis Ababa. © Save the Nation

The intersection of Asadov Street and School No. 4. © AMAK

The intersection of Tierra del Fuego and Pedro Mazzoni. © Bien Argentino

Movidana showing safe road designs with evidence-based interventions to the Mayor of Salinas and the Director of Mobility. © Movidana

The intersection of Kampala Road-Burton-Johnson street and The Square 1, Kampala, Uganda. © Uganda Road Accident Reduction Network Organisation’s (URRENO) 

As the 4th Ministerial Conference on Global Road Safety approaches, Mobility Snapshots are a reality check from the frontline of the road safety crisis: the every day journeys faced by people walking to work, school, market, or home. They are a resource for road safety advocates to show decision makers what needs to be done, at street level, city level, and national policy level. At the Ministerial Conference, the Alliance will launch a publication with findings from the Mobility Snapshots.

In the meantime, check them out on our Mobility Snapshot map.