DUBAI // Understanding pedestrian behaviour and identifying obstacles to increasing residents’ use of public transport are key to improving road safety and reducing traffic deaths, a conference was told.
Experts at the three-day Gulf Traffic conference on Monday highlighted the need for more pavements, footbridges and dropped kerbs to encourage people to walk and cycle, as well as use buses and the metro.
“Cities should be liveable and that is emerging as a very strong theme because we should not satisfy only one class of people, the car user. Our planning should cater to pedestrians and cyclists to make the city a pleasant place to live in for them also,” said Javad Akhtar, an engineer at Arcadis UAE.
Amid initiatives in Dubai to create alternative routes to Sheikh Zayed Road, and Abu Dhabi moving to a grid system of roads, the challenge is to enact such measures successfully.
“It is wonderful to see development in cities, but perhaps the focus has been on the car users and not so much on pedestrians,” Mr Akhtar said.
“In some areas sometimes it is difficult to find a continuous footpath or if a cycle track exists it may have obstructions. This kind of attention to fine detail takes care and attention. It requires a partnership of developers, consultants, contractors and authorities.”
Experts said it was important to provide people with broad sidewalks from metro stations and bus stops to their offices and homes. It was also imperative to focus on protecting vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians, they said.
“What can we do to improve infrastructure for the vulnerable road user [such as] pedestrians, cyclists, motorcycle riders, anybody using roads without a vehicle around them to offer protection?” said Jodie Mairs, principal consultant and road safety specialist with Aecom, an engineering and infrastructure company.
Globally, road accidents are the eighth leading cause of death. According to the Global Road Safety Partnership, which monitors road accidents throughout the world, there are 21.3 fatalities per 100,000 people in the Middle East a year.
Despite high-speed traffic, some pedestrians risk crossing s busy motorways, leading to accidents and deaths. Ms Mairs said heat fatigue was a contributing factor because the nearest traffic junction might be too far away.
“The design or lack of planning may limit a person’s desire to walk or use public transport,” she said.
“Road safety audits are important to look at survey data, understand pedestrian and vehicle flow, existing and future land use, cycle lanes and bus stops. The addition of dropped kerbs will make areas safer and accessible because pedestrians will understand where to cross, it would help mothers with prams and cyclists.”
Simon Labbett, regional director of the Transport Research Laboratory, addressed the need to build strong processes in light of new technologies such as autonomous vehicles.
“We are always chasing technology, but one of the things we need to be aware of is that we must have the fundamentals in place,” he said.
“We need to build protocols, legislation. The UAE is still a very young country and what has been achieved in a short period is remarkable, but we must have standards and procedures in place.”
rtalwar@thenational.ae
