Safe streets for all: How can we create better conditions for cyclists and pedestrians?

In the heart of bustling cities, the raucous sound of car engines and honking often tends to monopolize our attention. But there's a quieter rhythm at play—a subtle melody of footsteps and spinning bike wheels. All around the world, walking and cycling are essential to people’s mobility. In Africa, for instance, a staggering 78% of the population rely on their own two feet or on bicycles to access essential services. That amounts to more than one billion people, who spend an average of 56 minutes a day walking or cycling.

Unfortunately, pedestrians and cyclists in many countries face significant risk, making up more than half of the 1.19 million people who lose their lives on the world’s roads annually. Every day in August, World Pedestrian Day urges decisionmakers and practitioners to turn this around and move pedestrian safety to the top of their agenda.

Prioritizing active transport modes such as walking and cycling can do more than just improve safety; it is a holistic approach to public health and environmental stewardship. Active mobility can minimize many of the negative impacts of transport, from climate emissions and air pollution to noise and congestion. By giving people an opportunity to exercise, walking and cycling also bring considerable public health benefits and can help reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases, including several types of cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Every step is a step toward better health!

The Sustainable Mobility for All Partnership has long recognized the importance of walking and cycling, which will have a key part to play in achieving the four main policy goals of sustainable transport—accessibility, safety, efficiency, and green mobility:

• SuM4Alls’ Global Roadmap of Action Report (GRA), for example, underscored how “expanding the network of sidewalks and bicycle lanes” can profoundly impact universal urban access, gender, and safety, while also contributing to greener mobility.

• Our Gender paper also highlighted that promoting walking and cycling can be a critical step toward building more inclusive transport systems, as non-motorized modes are predominantly used by women, who frequently journey with young children or elderly people.

• The SuM4All Universal Urban Access paper calls for a revaluation of transport infrastructure metrics: instead of measuring the performance of transport systems based only on indicators like road length and density, the paper stresses the need to include metrics that focus specifically on active transport, such as dedicated bicycle lanes and sidewalk coverage. 

• The Global Mobility Report (GMR) 2022 includes transport indicators such as the average time adults and adolescents spend walking and cycling and the percentage who choose these modes for their commute to school or work. These indicators should be accompanied by performance targets that encourage a shift toward active transport and public transit. 

Through all this work, one clear message emerges: to harness the full power of active mobility, policymakers and planners need to rethink their approach to transport in a fundamental way. For decades, pedestrian and cyclist pathways have been overshadowed by investments in motorized transport, with an emphasis on commercial and private vehicle use. A shift in investment priority could usher in a new era of equity and sustainability.

Some of the required investments are fairly obvious: more bike lanes, more sidewalks, better street lighting, safer pedestrian crossings, etc. But this is only one part of the equation. To initiate real change, cities and countries need to ensure that the transport system as whole becomes more friendly to pedestrians and cyclists. This could entail, for instance, lowering speed limits, implementing traffic calming measures, and reallocating road space to prioritize active and public transport.

The vision for all urban streets is clear, they must safely accommodate walking and bicycling, not as an afterthought but as a fundamental design consideration. This includes the provision of well-maintained sidewalks, crosswalks, paths, bike parking, and even charging stations for e-bikes. As we observe World Pedestrian Day, let's commit to a future where every step and bike ride count, and every pedestrian's and cyclist’s journey is safe, respected, and valued!