Guidelines for the development of road safety master plans

Public Works and Infrastructure Development Department
Roads and Stormwater Division
Traffic Engineering and Operations Section

May 2009

The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality is the administrative capital of the Republic of South Africa. The city is divided into 76 wards and a political representative (ward councillor) is elected for each ward. The city has a population of about two million people and is experiencing an annual population growth that is substantially higher than the national average for the country as a whole.

Tshwane is a city in transition and has a mix of established and historically disadvantaged areas. The disadvantaged areas are mainly situated to the north of the city. Since road safety in these areas was severely neglected in the past, the new municipality that came into being in 2000 was faced with the tremendous challenge of improving road safety and providing infrastructure in these areas. Fatality rates were high and the communities were discontented about the road safety situation.

The City of Tshwane acknowledged the problem and developed road safety master plans in collaboration with stakeholders and the community. The master plans mainly focused on the provision of engineering measures such as pedestrian bridges, walkways, raised pedestrian crossings, speed humps and loading facilities at schools, but due attention was also paid to education, awareness raising, law enforcement and evaluation.

The process has been found to be highly successful and has resulted in the City’s receiving a number of national and international awards. The process has now been implemented in all previously disadvantaged areas of the city and is being integrated in the established areas in the city.

Most of the road safety improvements in the City of Tshwane are targeted at areas with high levels of pedestrian activity. Low-income or disadvantaged communities are particularly vulnerable to pedestrian accidents. These communities often experience fatalities that are disproportionately high compared to communities with lower levels of pedestrian activity. In the past, there has been a tendency to address only the needs of motorised traffic; pedestrian needs have often been neglected.

The purpose of these guidelines is to provide an overview of the process of developing, implementing and maintaining road safety master plans as applied by the City. The process described in these guidelines has been refined through experience with a number of projects. It is a process that has been found to be highly acceptable to communities and to have a high level of sustainability. The process can readily be replicated in new areas and can therefore be applied generally for the development of road safety master plans.

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