Urban Transport Strategy. Management in Developing Countries John A Cracknell, страница 6

Accident reporting- data from accident sites are collected by the traffic police and, in developing cities, many data bases are incomplete and of poor quality.  Accident policies and programs need to be based on sound data and improved data bases are necessary.  This requires improved police training, data processing systems and changes in police attitudes to eliminate bias which are often directed against low income road users.

Accident Data Analysis - in many cities, accident analysis is reactive and confined to reported problem sites; there is no systematic, periodic transfer of data from the traffic police to the traffic management agency or systematic evaluation for program planning; improved procedures are necessary.

Accident Prevention - as part of its role in planning traffic strategy and designing schemes, the traffic management agency should:

♦       promote safety as an integral part of scheme planning and design and in particular pay attention to "designing into schemes" measures to (i) control speeds (ii) calm traffic, (iii) meet the needs of vulnerable road users including pedestrians (particularly children) and cyclists; and

♦       the concept of safety audits (in which all but the simplest of schemes are subject to scrutiny by traffic management designers who were not involved in the original scheme planning and design) is worthy of consideration in developing cities;

Accident Reduction - a well run "traffic management agency" should approach safety on a comprehensive basis and a priority task should be the conduct of a safety review of the city's traffic system and preparation of a comprehensive "traffic management safety program".  While accident occurrence cannot be reduced by traffic management measures alone, much can be done to alleviate specific problems.

Traffic Regulation Enforcement - enforcement of traffic regulations by the police is essential to safe traffic operations but in many developing cities, traffic police are ineffective, training and equipment are lacking (see training above).

Safety Experience in World Bank Projects - road safety is often stated as one of the objectives of traffic management components of Bank projects but there has been little, if any, systematic evaluation of the components and thus no impact analysis is possible.  There is a need for more rigorous (i) definition of systematic safety programs within projects, (ii) definition of safety targets and (iii) monitoring of targets and indicators

Traffic Management and Poverty

Transport assists in reducing poverty mainly by increasing economic efficiency – by lowering transport costs and prices and thus enhancing employment and social opportunities.  Traffic management can contribute to these aims.  In most developing cities, travel by the poor is by bus, para-transit, walking and bicycling.  Traffic management measures can assist poverty reduction by emphasising the objective to improve travel for “people” and not necessarily for “vehicles" and "bus-bicycle-walk" measures are highly relevant to poverty reduction.

Reallocation of road space to buses - in developed cities, it is accepted that full and unrestrained car use cannot be accommodated and this has lead to traffic management strategies which positively promote “people” and not “vehicles” and thus places buses priority measures at the top of a hierarchy of actions.  Reallocation of road space from cars to buses not only promotes efficiency but is entirely consistent with a policy of poverty alleviation as bus systems are used by the poor (although it would be a mistake to regard or plan for bus systems to used only by the poor).  As traffic congestion worsens in developing cities, bus priority will become an essential feature of traffic management strategy.  While many Latin American cities are world-leaders in busways and bus priority, the approach has not been widely accepted in developing cities in other regions.  This is due to a combination of factors - enforcement, poor standards of existing bus services, lack of understanding at technical and political levels, lack of familiarity with technical possibilities and difficulties of dealing with high volumes of para transit vehicles.  Good design of bus priority can address some of these issues but more is needed - better information to decision makers, better enforcement, better image for buses and better dissemination of information on the benefits of bus priority.