This document provides guidelines for safer road design in cities. It summarizes traffic fatality rates in various global and Indian cities. It identifies vulnerable road users like children, pedestrians, and two-wheeler riders that account for many deaths in India. Design principles are outlined like shorter block lengths, density near transit, and access to destinations to reduce vehicle travel. Measures to improve safety in Indian cities are proposed like road diets, pedestrian refuge islands, and shared spaces. A collaborative process is recommended involving stakeholders to identify high-risk points and align priorities. Guidelines must be tailored and complemented with audits, policies and community insights for effective implementation of safer city designs.

1. Cities Safer by Design:
Guidelines for safe road design for cities
Bhubaneswar
19th September 2016
Nikhil Chaudhary
Senior Project Associate – Urban Transport & Road Safety
WRI India

2. Reported Traffic Fatality Rates in Selected Global Cities
Reported Traffic Fatality rate per 100,000 population
2. Chennai
4. Jaipur
16. Indore
23. Kolkata
24. Delhi
25. Bangalore
34. Pune
35. Surat
36. Ahmedabad
Source: EMBARQ technical note (Welle and Li 2015)

3. Identify the vulnerable users
Cities Safer by Design

4. 15
1
5
20
0
Children (<14 yrs) are killed every
day in road accidents in India
People are killed
every
hour in road
accidents
in India
Million people were seriously
Injured or disabled
in road accidents
in India in the past decade
Million
people died in road
accidents in India in
the past decade
3%
Annual GDP loss to India
due to road accidents
Statutes to protect children on the road
Who Is Traffic Safety About?

5. 70
300
120
5
600
Thousand +
two wheeler riders died in the
past decade
Thousand people can be
saved every year with timely
emergency medical care
Thousand + Vulnerable
road users killed in road
accidents in the past decade
Thousand + people died in bus crashes
from just 5 states in India in 2012
Thousand + pedestrians died in
road accidents in the past decade
Who Is Traffic Safety About?

6. Traffic Safety for People First
Traffic Safety Across the Sections of the Society
Youth:
In India, 15-34 years accounted for
53.8% of the total road accident fatalities
(NCRB)
The poor:
People from lower socioeconomic
backgrounds more likely to be involved in
traffic crashes; Often live in areas with low-
quality infrastructure (WHO 2003)
Elderly and the disabled:
Age group of 35-64 years accounts for a
share of 35.7% of road accident fatalities
(NCRB)
Commuters and workers: Most workers
spend anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes or
more traveling to and from work
Customers: Research has shown that
pedestrian and other crashes are associated
with the location of retail land uses

7. Reducing Risk and Exposure: Creating a Safe System for All
Source: Rosen and Sander (2009).

8. Identify measures and
contextualise them
Cities Safer by Design

9. Design Principles for Creating a Safe System for All

10. Design Principals for Safer Environments
Source: . Dumbaugh and Rae, 2009
Design principles
•Block lengths of 75 to 150 meters
desirable for walkability
•Provide midblock crossings, either
signalized or using raised crossings or
speed humps before crossings
Smaller block sizes aid speed reduction

11. Greater population densities can help
support mass transit and nearby uses
Design Principals for Safer Environments
Complementing population and Density
Compact & connected Urban Design
Design principles
•Density can be used with other
community design elements to
increase walking and cycling and
reduce motorized travel.
.
•Areas around mass transport
stations and corridors can be
targeted, especially those within a
half-kilometer catchment area of
stations.

12. Design Principals for Safer Environments
At commercial locations, transit points should be so located so as to set down and pick up
passengers as close as possible to main destinations.

13. Design Principals for Safer Environments
• Vehicle travel in cities is most strongly related to accessibility to destinations,
meaning that efforts to increase access to jobs, retail and public space can
decrease vehicle travel and improve overall safety.1
Ease of access to destinations

14. Design Principals for Safer Environments
Source: OECD (2009)
Access to Destinations
Design principles
•Neighborhoods should be designed, considering a 0.5-km catchment area for all activities.
•Complement with safe pedestrian and bicycle routes to nearby destinations
•Provide residential densities that support local facilities

15. Measures to improve Road Safety
Indian urban roads are unique in their challenges
Each design element must function in coordination with others

16. Measures to improve Road Safety: Road diet
Lesser lane widths for speed-calming and better capacity
Designing outside-in vs. inside-out

17. Measures to improve Road Safety: Road diet
Lesser lane widths for speed-calming and better capacity
Designing outside-in vs. inside-out

18. Measures to improve Road Safety: Road Diet
‘Grey Zone’ between the roadway and sidewalks are often unused or occupied by
haphazard parking/ vending

19. Retain existing
median
Retain existing CC
lanes
Proposed bus-stop/ taxi-auto stand/ trees/
utilities + Uninterrupted walkway 1.8m
Measures to improve Road Safety
‘Grey Zone’ between the roadway and sidewalks are often unused or occupied by
haphazard parking/ vending

20. Measures to improve Road Safety
2m
Footpath
2.5m
MUZ
10 m
Carriageway
1.5m
M
10 m
Carriageway
2.5m MUZ 2m
Footpath
Speed humps can
reduce accidents by
up to 50%,
Ped. crashes
increase by 6% for
every extra 1 meter
of crossing distance
Lesser lane-widths
and MUZ allows for
continuous clear
walkways

21. Measures to improve Road Safety
Pedestrian refuge area
with bollards
Pedestrian crossings/
ramps with curb cuts
Channelization with holding
area
Slip lane with speed-
calming/ raised
crossing
Continuous and wide
footpath
Lane balance and
alignment
Curb cuts with
ramps and bollards
at property entry

22. Safe access to Public Transit
Median division for
waiting area with
protected refuge
island
Corner kerbs
Minimum turning
radii with well
oriented ramps
Optimised signal
phasing with protected
phase for pedestrians
Wide refuge area with
tapered carriageway

23. Shared streets to create speed-calmed zones
•Enhanced paving, alternating pavers, and street furnishings within the street can be used
with maximum speeds at most around 15 km/h.

24. Scale-up through a
collaborative process
Cities Safer by Design

25. Aligning priorities with stakeholders
1 fatal accident
2 fatal accidents
>2 fatal accidents
Junction Locations No.
CST Bridge Junction 4
Kalpana Cinema 1
Sheetal Cinema 1
Kamini Signal 1
Ghatkopar Police Station 1
Opp. Water dept. 1
Sarvodaya Hospital 1
Godrej Gate 2 1
Godrej Gate 1 1
Gandhi nagar Junction 2
Cine Vista Film Studio 1
Kanjurmarg Station Jn. 3
Total 18
Mid-block Locations No.
Old Agra Road Bus stop 1
Naaz Hotel 1
Mukund company 1
Opp. Toyota Showroom 1
Sainik Petrolpump 1
Ghatkopar Police Station 1
Roa Hotel 1
Gopal Bhawan 2
Sai baba mandir 1
Vijay sales 1
Kalpataru 1
Mahajan Compound 1
Vikhroli Bus Stop 1
Hindustan Kohinoor Complex 1
Hometown 2
HCC Bus Stop 1
Total 18
Equal number of fatalities at both
intersection and midblock black-spots
Kanjurmarg Station Jn.
Gandhi Nagar Jn
Hometown
Gopal Bhawan
CST Bridge Junction
Guru Nanak Nagar

26. Engaging with the city authorities

27. Engaging with the city authorities

28. Engaging with ward-level personnel

29. Engaging with the city authorities

30. Engaging with the city authorities

31. Engaging with the city authorities

32. Engaging with Traffic Safety experts

33. Engaging with the community & users

34. Engaging with the community & users

35. Engaging with the community & users

36. Multiple guidelines must complement

37. Multiple guidelines must complement

38. Multiple guidelines must complement
Road Safety
Audit/Inspection/ Reviews
City Specific Policy/Guidelines
Insights from city
authorities and the
community

39. Implementing Cities Safer by Design

40. Implementing Cities Safer by Design

41. Implementing Cities Safer by Design

42. Thank you!
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