Sustainable Urban Transport Saves Lives

EMBARQ road safety staff speak at Rio+20 side event.

EMBARQ
2012/06/21

Holger Dalkmann, EMBARQ Director. Photo by Mariana Gil / EMBARQ Brazil

Chaired by EMBARQ Director Holger Dalkmann, the event "Sustainable Urban Transport Saves Lives" brought together technicians, researchers and experts in road safety, on the morning of June 20 at the headquarters of Rio Ônibus in Rio de Janeiro. Organized by EMBARQ, FETRANSPORand the Latin American Association of Integrated Systems and BRT (SIBRT), the meeting was held in parallel to the Rio+20 Conference in order to exchange information and discuss best practices to reduce the number of traffic crashes and traffic deaths.

Among the speakers were Cláudia Baptista, manager of traffic information for the development board of CET-Rio; Luiz Augusto Galvão, manager of sustainable development and environmental health at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO); Luis Antonio Lindau, director of EMBARQ Brazil; Guilherme Wilson, operations manager for mobility of FETRANSPOR; and Luis Gutierrez, Latin America strategic director for EMBARQ and secretary general of SIBRT; and Tyrrell Duncan, director of transport and communication at the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

"We need to make sure road safety is a priority among decision makers and operators," Dalkmann said.

Luis Gutierrez, SIBRT. Photo by Mariana Gil / EMBARQ Brazil

The speakers showed statistics demonstrating the damage lack of concern for safety causes to signs and infrastructure. It is estimated that 1.3 million people die and 50 million are injured in traffic crashes each year.

"We began to understand that crashes were not just a transportation problem but also a public health problem," Dr. Galvão said.

Tools like GEOGIT, presented by CET-Rio's Baptista and André Ormond, help to map traffic information and data to help prevent traffic crashes.

"The challenge was to organize the data and bring them together in one place. The tool enables us to do so," Baptista said. "It will be important, for example, when we want to compare the number of crashes along BRT routes before and after deployments."

According to Luis Gutierrez of SIBRT, traffic safety is a problem in most Latin American cities and require technical advice, which can reduce the risk of crashes on public roads by up to 40 percent.

Road safety audits are one method to minimize the risks of traffic crashes. Lindau, director of EMBARQ Brazil, presented EMBARQ's "Traffic Safety on Bus Corridors: Pilot Version - Road Test". "We must remember that bus lanes alone do not offer more security but well implemented bus lanes do provide more security," he said.

For audits to be effective, however, their recommendations must be put in place with financial support, which often comes through development banks. Tyrrell Duncan of the Asian Development Bank discussed this in his lecture.

"We have not hit it at all, but we're trying," he said. "We need to come together with experts and organizations like these here in this room to save lives."

Guilherme Wilson of FETRANSPOR noted that deaths due to traffic also are a result of health complications caused by air pollution. "Looking at the numbers, there is no doubt that we must prioritize public transportation. Moreover, there is a commitment to invest in more environmentally friendly fuel, reducing the burden of emissions," he explained.

Presentations available for download:

"Actions aimed at reducing road crashes in Rio de Janeiro" - Claudia Bautista, Manager of Traffic Information of the Development Board of CET-Rio

"Decade of Action for Road Safety" - Luiz Augusto Galvão, Manager, Sustainable Development and Environmental Health, Pan American Health Organization - PAHO

"EMBARQ road safety manual for BRT projects and road safety audits of the BRT corridors in Rio de Janeiro" , Luis Antonio Lindau, Director, EMBARQ Brazil

"Reducing emissions from the implementation of BRT and BRS in Rio de Janeiro" - Guilherme Wilson, Operations Manager of Mobility, FETRANSPOR

"Road safety in bus lanes in Latin America" - Luis Gutierrez, Latin America strategic director of EMBARQ and secretary general of the Latin American Association of Integrated Systems and BRT (SIBRT)

"The new global initiative of multilateral agencies in road safety" - Tyrrell Duncan, director of the Division of Transportation and Communication, Asian Development Bank