European cities are historically devoted to pedestrians and walking was long the dominant way of transport. However, during the latest centuries, car driving has been given more and more priority in investment programs, and the increasing car dependency in cities has negatively affected pedestrians quality needs, that means accessibility, safety, comfort and environmental aesthetics. Most road safety problems for pedestrians are common to all European countries and, as regards mobility issues, walking seems to have declined over the last ten years. European cities have to change car-oriented policies, tending to more sustainable Design and Traffic Planning, as well as Mobility Management. Over the past decades, several efforts have been spent in order to give priority to walking (and cycling) in urban areas and, as regards safety issue, the target of European countries is to strongly reduce pedestrians fatalities by 2010. Countries are on the right lines and there are several pedestrian-friendly cities examples, however much has to be done and in European context there are too many disparities with countries that perform better than other. Technical (engineering) interventions are not sufficient in many cases and policy making measures are required too to ensure pedestrians a safe and pleasant environment where to walk and live. Parallel to interventions, other issues have to be considered. Particularly, it is necessary to encourage European countries to collect exposure and safety data on pedestrians, implementing standardization of procedures and improving collection’s quality. Official statistics on walking and pedestrians mobility is heterogeneous and incomplete, and safety data lack in quality (i.e. under-reporting problem, incorrect information, lack of completeness, inhability to integrate). Pedestrian environment and the cities’ walkability could not be improved if Local Authorities do not include pedestrians in policy making for planning, development and transport in urban areas. Furthermore pedestrians research could not be improved if European countries do not exchange information and do not tend to standard methods in data collections. Within this context, particular groups have to be considered to create walking-friendly cities: children, elderly and disabled people. Walking should be encouraged among children, because it is the most efficient and the only fully sustainable mode of travel and children represent the future. Particularly, “walking to school” has to be supported and School Travel Plans, together with engineering measures, are the best opportunity to achieve the goal. In Europe there are several examples of child-friendly cities, where School Travel Plans have been implemented, introducing mainly educational and training programs and “Walking School Bus” initiatives. There are both good resolutions and solid bases on which to work, and improvements most definitely are on their way. (Author/publisher)
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