Low-speed zones, a new guide to safe walking and cycling

Faced with an increased urgency to make roads safer for walking and cycling in the pandemic era, a push for ‘low-speed zones’ has just got a design boost with resource inputs from Bengaluru.

Anchored by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Bank, the guide sets standards to plan, design, implement and evaluate such zones.

The rationale behind the guide, articulated by Claudia Adriazola-Steil of the WRI Ross Centre for Sustainable Cities, is this: “Walking and cycling are among the most sustainable ways to get around cities – but not if they are extremely dangerous.”

Road accidents due to high vehicular speed remain a leading cause of deaths worldwide. “Low-speed zones are a key solution for effective speed management,” says Nikita Luke, Senior Project Associate for Health and Road Safety at the WRI Centre.

“A low-speed zone is a defined area – such as a school zone, neighbourhood or commercial district – that aims to improve the safety of vulnerable users through traffic-calming measures.” By supporting safe active travel, these zones could also boost air quality and broader sustainability, she notes.

High-density streets

On ‘high-density, mixed-use streets’, the design guide prefers prioritising the comfort and safety of vulnerable road-users over motorists. “These streets must provide adequate and clear separation between transport modes to ensure safety for the most vulnerable, like pedestrians and cyclists, while allowing smooth traffic flow. Speeds on these streets should be lowered to 20-30 kmph".

“It’s important to provide both visual and physical cues to encourage drivers to slow down. Examples include elements that narrow lanes and slow vehicles at key points, such as centre medians and curb radii less than 4.5 metres,” Nikita and Urban Mobility Associate Siba El-Samra explains in a blog.

Besides, the visibility of pedestrians and cyclists should be increased through high-visibility crossings, and pavement markings that extend through intersections and at midblock crossings, where needed.

Residential streets

Residential streets, the guide stresses, should provide safe, accessible spaces for social interaction and frequent travel by all types of users. “These streets should focus less on traffic flow and more on providing a safe environment for families walking around the neighbourhood or children playing on the roadside.”

To visually and physically narrow the roadway for drivers to encourage slower speeds, a strategy suggested is to accommodate on-street parking.

“It helps ‘perceptive’ narrowing of streets and creates a buffer zone between bike lanes or sidewalks and vehicular traffic.”

School zones

An estimated 10 million children are injured/disabled due to road accidents in school zones worldwide. “Children are more vulnerable to collisions than adults due to their size, limited impulse control and slower reaction time,” says Nikita. “Children are often obscured by parked cars, tall landscaping and other street elements, so sightlines are also important to consider.”