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Presentations
Keynote 1: Promoting walking and safety – the role of Government – Matt Rodda MP, Shadow Minister for Local Transport
Cities, land use and transport – moving to active and sustainable travel – Peter Jones, Professor of Transport and Sustainable Development, UCL
Promoting danger reduction, active travel and pedestrian safety in a city centre where pedestrians are the majority – Iain Simmons, Assistant Director (City Transportation), City of London Corporation
Towards a walking world – international good practice in promoting walking and its benefits – Isabel Dedring, Global Transport Leader Arup and former London Deputy Mayor for Transport
The changing face of vehicle safety and pedestrian protection measures – Jolyon Carroll, Vehicle Safety and Technology Consultant, Transport Research Laboratory
Government plans to encourage walking and improve safety for pedestrians – Pauline Reeves OBE, Deputy Director, Road User Licensing, Insurance and Safety (RULIS), Department for Transport
UK pedestrian safety and casualty reduction measures – overview – Caroline Wallbank, Principal Statistician, TRL
The Road Investment Strategy – what’s in it for pedestrians – Felicity Clayton, Team Leader, Integration & Sustainable Transport Team, Highways England
Soundbites from the ‘Streets Safe for Walking – the way to healthy and prosperous places’ conference, organised by PACTS, which takes on 8 November.
- Session one: Setting the context
- Session two: Strategy and reality
- Session three: Thinking big
- Session four: Back to street level (panel)
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Session four
15.30 – Panel – views from the streets
- Jeremy Leach (JL), London Campaigns Co-ordinator, 20’s Plenty for Us
Since 2013, Jeremy Leach has worked with campaigners across London – along with councillors, boroughs, TfL and the GLA – on the introduction of 20mph limits throughout the Capital. - John Dales (JD), Director, Urban Movement
John Dales is director of Urban Movement, a consultancy specialising in transport planning and the design of urban streets and spaces. - Dr Nazan Kocak (NK), Senior Research Fellow, Transport Research Institute, Edinburgh Napier University
Having worked in academia, consultancy and local government, Nazan Kocak has in-depth knowledge of and experience in the development and delivery of transport policies and strategies. - Jennifer Wiles (JW), Regional Director (North), Living Streets
Jenny currently leads a team delivering projects in schools, workplaces and communities across the north of England, develops strategic partnerships and influences policy and investment in the walking agenda.
Reflections on the day (from the panellists)
‘We must change people’s behaviour and the quality of the pedestrian environment if we are to reduce pedestrian casualties’
– Andreas Markides, Chair of afternoon session
‘We have come on such a journey with regard to speed and it’s all coming to fruition now’
‘Lots of cities and towns are waiting in the wings for the Atkins report’
– Jeremy Leach, 20s Plenty for Us
‘We routinely undervalue walking – this is a real challenge for us’
– John Dales, Urban Movement
‘We’ve got a lot of money (in Manchester) and now we need to start building stuff…we also need to engage politicians and the wider community’
– Jennifer Wiles, Living Streets
Session three
14.35 – Felicity Clayton, Team Leader, Integration & Sustainable Transport Team, Highways England
Presentation: The Road Investment Strategy – what’s in it for pedestrians?
Highways England working hard on integrating the SRN with pedestrians, cyclists etc
HE’s accessibility strategy recognises the barriers roads can create
Corporate changes – introduced a KPI to help cyclists (crossings etc), walkers & other vulnerable road users, introduced performance related pay and made policy changes
Introduced a walking, cycling and horse-riding assessment & review process
Of the 23,805 ped casualties, 153 occurred on the SRN
Why do more male ped casualties occur on the SRN than the wider road network?
We are informationally poor in terms of who is using our network
14.15 – Jolyon Carroll, Vehicle Safety and Technology Consultant, Transport Research Laboratory
With 15 years’ experience at TRL, Jolyon Carroll has contributed towards scientific projects covering a broad range of vehicle safety topics – including a study on the feasibility of measures relating to the protection of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users.
Presentation: The changing face of vehicle safety and pedestrian protection measures
1997 – Important milestone for pedestrian safety – the introduction of Euro NCAP
2003 – First European incentive for vehicle manufacturers to consider pedestrian safety
2009 – Technical regulation on ped safety & new NCAP rating system
2013 – UN regulations aligned with EU
Does it work – there has been a downward trend but this has plateaued
Vehicle design has changed the front of cars
Pedestrian safety legislation has had some influence on this
Extent is only keeping pace with exposure
We are only addressing one part of the puzzle and not very well – so what is next?
No single vehicle intervention will address the casualty population in entirety
More should be done
13.55 – Isabel Dedring, Global Transport Leader at Arup and former London Deputy Mayor for Transport
Isabel joined Arup in March 2016 from London’s City Hall, where she was deputy mayor for transport and deputy chair of Transport for London. In this capacity she was responsible for setting policy and ensuring delivery across the mayor’s transport portfolio.
In her current role she is responsible for driving the development of Arup’s business across the transport sector.
Presentation: Towards a walking world – international good practice in promoting walking and its benefits
Walking is a major mode in all cities – its benefits are well understood, but we are not getting it right yet
Walking doesn’t get the funding or attention that it should – based purely on its share of movement
How to bridge the gap?
- Large capital programmes – London cycling experience shows value in defining a large capital programme
- Assess the impact on property values/business revenues etc
- A burning platform – walking isn’t top of the list for decision makers. Need for a charismatic and tenacious influencer, a mobilised community and leveraging political pressure from other agendas
- Iconic interventions – even one intervention can change mindset
- Iconic events can reboot public perception
- Temporary infrastructure – less controversial and expensive to put in temporary interventions
- Flexible infrastructure – make more of what we have. ‘Zipper lane’ in San Francisco an example; more or less space for road users depending on time of day.
- Big data. Transport modelling massively underestimates walking – big data means we can truly understand pedestrian movement for this first time.
- Think bigger; could be covering over a motorway – or designing areas based on pedestrians
- Co-creation with the public – how do we tap into the emotive aspects of walking?
Grassroots: how can we actively use social media? A great opportunity to tap into.
Session two
12.00 – Iain Simmons, Assistant Director (City Transportation), City of London Corporation
Iain Simmons has worked at the City of London Corporation for over 30 years and has been responsible for the transformation of the City’s transportation and street environment.
Delivering what are now called Healthy Streets, Iain has led the award winning changes to Cheapside, Holborn Circus, Aldgate, the introduction of two-way cycling and has just overseen the dramatic changes at Bank Junction.
Presentation: Promoting danger reduction, active travel and pedestrian safety, in a city centre where pedestrians are the majority
The Square Mile – 500,000 people work there, but the number of motor vehicles has halved in the last 20 years (reduction in taxi use and introduction of cycle superhighway)
The streets are dominated by people on foot and there are lots of cyclists (at rush hour there are as many cyclists as there are vehicles)
95% of KSIs in City of London are vulnerable road users
Last 2 years – an explosion of collisions involving cyclists
At the moment Vision Zero is a theoretical/professional concept not known by the general public
Looking to introduce a 15mph speed limit
Bank on Safety scheme
- To make Bank a better and safer place – through a timed closure for vehicles and a ban on taxis
- Journey times, safety & air quality all improved
- There is huge support from people who live and work in the Square Mile
- When you engage with people they own the problem and solution
Aldgate Square
- Completed July 2018
- Grass, water features, shaded areas, public toilets etc
- Highway improvements
- Designed as a performance space
- It’s about people
11.40 – Stuart Reid, Vision Zero Director, TfL
Presentation: The London mayor’s vision zero, walking strategy and healthy streets
We believe we (TfL) have no choice but to achieve much higher levels of walking & cycling in London
Population of London expected to increase to 10m by 2030 – it is imperative that more people walk
Walking is already popular in London (24% of all trips) – but there is also potential for many more walking trips
We’ve set ambitious targets to increase walking and clear actions to deliver this (covering streets, planning, integrating with public transport & culture change)
With more walking we need to adopt a new approach to tacking road danger – fear of traffic is the main reason why people are unwilling to allow their children to walk unaccompanied
TfL’s Vision Zero action plan sets out London’s commitment to Vision Zero (part of Healthy Streets approach to encourage walking, cycling & public transport use)
Vision Zero action plan focuses on intelligence-led action to reduce road risk, and follows the Safe System approach (and directly tackles the greatest risks to pedestrian safety – safe speeds, safe streets, safe vehicles & safe behaviours)
In partnership with Met Police we are actively going after high-risk traffic offenders & increasing visibility of roads policing
A culture of acceptance of road deaths exists in society and we need the help of stakeholders to change this and create a culture change.
11.20 – Pauline Reeves, Deputy Director, Road User Licensing, Insurance and Safety (RULIS), DfT
Pauline Reeves is currently deputy director in charge of Road User Licensing Insurance and Safety at the DfT – having previously been in charge of sustainable accessible travel and delivering the prime minister’s ambition for cycling working with a wide range of stakeholders and other government departments.
Presentation: Government plans to encourage walking and improve safety for pedestrians
DfT forms policy on the basis of evidence base and consultation
Since 2010 casualty reduction has been flatlining – and the DfT is trying to understand why – pedestrians are part of the reason behind this
In Scotland, casualties are still reducing – they are doing things differently, and DfT is looking at this – but even in Scotland there is an issue with pedestrian casualties
In 2017, 51% of primary school pupils walked to school (Gov’t target is 55% by 2025)
Jesse Norman is totally committed to the cycling and walking agenda (and is a pleasure to work with on this)
DfT running workshops looking at how to reverse the plateauing of road casualties – massive three year project, but interim report expected early in 2019
There are lots of things coming out in the coming months that will affect people who walk and cycle, and road safety as a whole.
Session one
10.20 – Caroline Wallbank, Principal Statistician, TRL
Caroline Wallbank is a chartered statistician and scientist. The work she is involved in at TRL spans a wide range of topics including road accident statistics, vehicle safety, casualty prediction modelling, the evaluation of safety interventions, autonomous vehicles and road worker safety.
Presentation: UK pedestrian safety and casualty reduction measures – overview
The number of pedestrian casualties is increasing…but so is the amount of walking that people are doing
A quarter of all pedestrian casualties are children
Alcohol impairment (by pedestrians) plays a significant role in adult pedestrian fatalities
Pedestrian injuries are most common to head and lower limbs
Britain has a good road safety record, but more could be done to reduce pedestrian casualties (compared to other European countries)
Britain has 6.8 pedestrian deaths per million of population (higher than Denmark, Sweden, Norway & Netherlands)
The number of child & older pedestrian deaths is higher than the EU average (and most individual EU countries)
Walking & cycling have a higher risk of injury compared to travelling by car (but deliver other health benefits)
Many local authorities have targets for active travel and targets for casualty reduction, but you can’t really have both – you need to balance these out
In-depth accident data analysis can help reduce casualties, as can street audits to assess the quality of pedestrian environments
We need to utilise our knowledge of what drives pedestrian behaviour (to reduce casualties) – and evaluate the success or otherwise of interventions
Older pedestrians will become a bigger challenge going forward
How will autonomous vehicles affect pedestrian behaviour in the future?
10.00 – Peter Jones, Professor of Transport and Sustainable Development, UCL
Peter Jones is professor of transport and sustainable development in the Centre for Transport Studies at University College London. He is also a member of the Independent Transport Commission, the DfT’s Science Advisory Council and co-chair of the Joint Analysis Development Group.
Presentation: Cities, land use and transport – moving to active and sustainable travel
Policy perspectives shape cites (cars, sustainable travel, cities as places)
In the 50’s and 60’s people tried to adapt cities to accommodate cars
This then levelled off – and now there is a decline in car use in cities
Quite large shifts can result from changes in policy
Busy main roads lead to pedestrian severance
Street design influences on pedestrian casualties
- KSIs hotspots are located close to junctions, bus stops, major attractions (shopping malls, parks etc) – but not underground stations
Street crime has been largely neglected in street design – this is not on the radar of highways authorities
There is a risk of increased street crime if society becomes more polarised, and huge potential for an increase in cyber security (as a result of the introduction of autonomous vehicles)
09.40 – Matt Rodda MP, Shadow Minister for Local Transport
Matt Rodda is a former journalist and civil servant, and a current Labour party politician. He is the sitting MP for Reading East, and is shadow minister for local transport.
Presentation: Promoting walking and safety – the role of Government
Labour wants to deliver a complete cultural shift with regards to walking
Government is set to miss its walking target…because of lack of investment
Labour has pledged to increase investment in cycling & walking to £10 per head
Change starts with a clear vision of what we want to achieve
Streets must become welcome places for people to walk – places that are pleasant, safe and attractive
In places where there has been investment in walking, there are fewer empty shops
Everybody must be able to cross the road safely and without delay
Fears about road safety deter people from walking – measures to address this can lead to a 20% increase in children walking to school
Labour would adopt a vision zero approach to road safety
We pledge to reset the country’s road safety vision and aspire to zero deaths
We believe in the use of road safety targets – the number of KSIs fell by a third under the last Labour government, partly as a result of targets
We would reintroduce targets at the earliest possible opportunity
The fall in number of police officers has led to an increase in the number of road traffic offences that are not detected.
Speed reduction to 20mph has an important role to play in reducing casualties (especially among children & older people)
All the areas where 20mph limits have been introduced have seen a reduction in casualties
Labour will ensure that all our streets are safe for walking
08.00 – Introduction
Authorities worldwide are promoting walking for health, environment, transport, sustainability, prosperity and other important objectives.
This conference will provide evidence from UK and internationally on ways to encourage walking and to deliver safe streets and places for pedestrians – to make them feel safe and to reduce casualties. It will explore transport strategies, land use patterns, urban and street design.
Pedestrian safety is a key objective in its own right and integral to delivering wider objectives, but achieving it needs understanding and specific actions.
7 November 2018
