UC Berkeley SafeTREC is excited to share the new Safe System Strategies for Bicyclists and Pedestrians Toolkit, which provides a starting point for anyone looking to plan a bikeable and walkable community. It lists potential community improvements that can help create a safer community with the Safe System Approach.
Safe System Approach to Road Safety:
The Safe System Approach focuses on saving lives, with the understanding that humans make mistakes and bodies are fragile. Attention is focused on reducing fatal and serious injuries when a crash occurs through ways a street is designed, the ways we manage our streets and their infrastructure, and engaging and educating communities on how to use streets safely.
The Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Training (CPBST) team adapted the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Safe System elements and principles to make them impactful for the communities we work with. Specifically, we include community engagement as a key element in a Safe System, and make equity a central component. We also acknowledge the key role of collaboration between transportation professionals and the communities they work with in order to create safe streets for all.
Explore the Toolkit
We’ve created a table of potential community improvements that can help you create a safer community with the Safe System Approach. There are many ways
to plan a bikeable and walkable community; this toolkit is just a starting point. Within our table of potential community improvements, we’ve tagged them with keywords we found relevant to the specific strategy. These keywords include:
- Community Engagement/Partnerships - allow opportunities to engage with the community and create partnerships with community-based organizations, local businesses, and others.
- Data - strategies that collect, analyze, and provide data for projects.
- Encouragement and Education - encourage communities to walk, bike, or use public transportation and/ or provide educational opportunities to learn how to safely walk, bike, or roll in communities.
- Infrastructure - infrastructure-specific and change the layout of the roadway.
- Safe Routes to School (SRTS) - encourage and support SRTS efforts in communities.
- Speed Management - help manage speeds on the roadway to make communities safer for those walking and biking.
- Vulnerable Populations - create safer streets and communities for our most- vulnerable populations such as seniors, people with disabilities, and children.
Download the Safe System Strategies for Bicyclists and Pedestrians Toolkit.
About the CPBST
The Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Training (CPBST) program is a statewide active transportation and community engagement project of UC Berkeley SafeTREC and California Walks. It uses the Safe System Framework to engage residents and advocates to develop an action plan to improve active transportation safety in their communities, support complete streets planning, and strengthen collaboration with local officials and agency staff.
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.