Pedestrian safety - Global Road Safety Partnership

Prioritizing pedestrian safety interventions and preparing a plan of action
BOX 3.4: Pedestrian safety plan, Montgomery County, Maryland, USA
In 2007, the Montgomery County City Council prepared
a pedestrian safety strategic plan to address
the problem of pedestrian fatalities and injuries:
14 pedestrian deaths and 430 collisions involving
pedestrians per year in the period 2003–2006 (17).
The objectives of the plan were to reduce pedestrian-related
crashes, injuries, fatalities, and their
associated social and economic costs; and to
ensure that all areas of the county provide safe and
convenient travel options for pedestrians.
The plan focused on seven strategic areas: improving
pedestrian safety in high incidence areas;
assessing and improving pedestrian network
and connectivity needs; increasing emphasis on
pedestrians and cyclists in the planning process;
identifying and implementing intersection modifications
and traffic calming treatments; upgrading
pedestrian signals; assessing and enhancing
street lighting; and modifying pedestrian and driver
behaviour through enhanced enforcement and educational
efforts (17). The plan included a budget,
showing the amount of funding required, the source
and whether the funds which existed were one-time
or recurring funds.
The plan defined several performance indicators:
• Reduce pedestrian collisions in each of the targeted
high incidence areas by 20% following
completion of improvements.
• Reduce average traffic travel speeds in targeted
high incidence areas.
• Increase perception of pedestrian safety and
‘walkability’ in targeted high incidence areas using
an annual county survey of residents and visitors
to assess results.
• Increase the annual sidewalk construction effort
to 17 kilometres of new sidewalks each year.
• Complete ‘Safe Routes to Schools’ improvements
at 29 schools per year, completing the remainder
of county schools in a six-year timeframe.
• Review and update pedestrian signal timings at a
rate of 250 per year for three years.
• Upgrade all county-owned traffic signals to current
accessible pedestrian signal standards, adding
pedestrian countdown features, at a rate of five
per year.
• Complete improvements to 13 identified lighting
projects within six years.
3.4 Summary
The content of this module is summarized as follows:
• A comprehensive understanding of the local pedestrian safety situation is essential
to effective action.
• The situational assessment should cover the magnitude and nature of pedestrian
traffic injuries, the key risk factors, stakeholders in pedestrian safety, existing
programmes and the current policy environment.
• Development of an action plan for pedestrian safety requires collaboration across a
wide range of stakeholders and different levels of government.
• Core components of the action plan include a well-defined problem, clear
objectives, realistic targets, performance indicators, timeline and milestones,
adequate resources, monitoring and evaluation, and sustainability options.
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