Increased urbanisation has brought it with issues related to air quality, road safety, and urban sprawl. In several peri-urban areas, self-provisioning of public services is the norm in the absence of municipal capacity to deliver. It doesn’t have to be like this. Cities and towns in India can ensure better planning and ensure quality public services while protecting natural resources and create regions that are safe for the present and future generations.

Sessions

  • Vision Zero

India accounts for only 2 percent of global motor vehicles, yet it contributes to over 12 percent of global road traffic deaths. Around 150,000 people lose their lives on India’s roads every year, making them some of the most dangerous in the world. The conservation about road safety revolves around legislative changes while at local level its mostly about educating the users. Two big missing pieces in the road safety debate in India are involvement of the states and looking at comprehensive approach. Haryana has launched Haryana Vision Zero campaign by bringing together leadership of state government along with the concept of safe systems approach. The government of Punjab is now taking to the next level though the Punjab Vision Zero campaign. Therefore, learning from such state level initiatives can greatly influence safety in the country.

  • Child Friendly Cities: Creating Cities for Children

With the signing of the Brasilia Declaration by India in 2015, road safety got prioritised at the national level, followed by the state-led initiatives like Haryana Vision Zero furthering the agenda. As the nation moves towards reducing road traffic fatalities, there is no clear definition of the age-group that would benefit from the traditional road safety interventions.

The World Health Organization estimates that globally every day 224 children lose their lives in road traffic crashes. A report by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways released in 2017 estimates 25 children die on Indian roads every day. While every life counts, losing so many young ones to an avoidable catastrophe is not only devastating for families, but also a great loss to the nation. Cities across the globe have started acknowledging the need to prioritise the safety of our children over general road safety.

This session aims to bring the issue safer roads for children to the forefront of road safety deliberations. The discussion in this session will pivot around the need to prioritise child road safety, global best practices in creating safer roads for children, initiatives taken in the country at the national and sub-national levels, the way forward and anticipated challenges.

  • Safer Buses

Bus safety in urban areas is typically given less importance, partly due to the assumption that urban travel on larger vehicles is safer compared to other modes. WRI India Ross Center has been working with Indian public bus companies on improving the quality and safety of city bus systems. This session will focus on the issue of safety in the face of declining ridership across bus systems in most major cities in the country.

The issue of bus safety is extraordinarily complex. City bus service providers usually focus on measures and interventions that focus on the safety of passengers while they are inside the vehicles. However, crash records show a disproportionately higher number of fatalities amongst pedestrians and motorcyclists. Therefore, it is important to address safety at different levels, which has the potential to improve the quality and appeal of buses and thereby increase ridership and reduce congestion. The discussions will explore the issue of infrastructure gaps while making connections between different modes namely, bus to bus, bus to metro and bus to intercity bus.

  • Safer Buses

Bus safety in urban areas is typically given less importance, partly due to the assumption that urban travel on larger vehicles is safer compared to other modes. WRI India Ross Center has been working with Indian public bus companies on improving the quality and safety of city bus systems. This session will focus on the issue of safety in the face of declining ridership across bus systems in most major cities in the country.

The issue of bus safety is extraordinarily complex. City bus service providers usually focus on measures and interventions that focus on the safety of passengers while they are inside the vehicles. However, crash records show a disproportionately higher number of fatalities amongst pedestrians and motorcyclists. Therefore, it is important to address safety at different levels, which has the potential to improve the quality and appeal of buses and thereby increase ridership and reduce congestion. The discussions will explore the issue of infrastructure gaps while making connections between different modes namely, bus to bus, bus to metro and bus to intercity bus.