The author of this paper is deputy Chief Executive of the Parks and Roads Administration in Odense, Denmark. His department is responsible for the traffic engineering side of the 'safe routes to school' project in Odense, and for its technical budget. The success of this project results from a multidisciplinary understanding of the issues involved, including those involving pupils, teachers, politicians, the police, engineers, doctors, and nurses. A 'common sense' political perspective has been an essential motivation for achieving practical results. Denmark has an exceptionally high cycle ridership, and this public interest in cycling is reflected in the Danish Traffic Acts, which include safeguards for vulnerable road users. The Danish National Safety Plan of 1988 set an accident reduction target of 40-45% for the next 12 years. Odense conceived its 'safe routes to school' initiative in 1978, and provided the political will and public funding to implement it in 1980. The last part of the paper outlines how some of its most important technical solutions work in practice: (1) slow speed areas; (2) separate cycle paths, of which Odense already has 300km; (3) traffic islands; (4) humps and bus humps; (5) road narrowing; and (6) tunnels. As a result, accidents involving schoolchildren have fallen from 14.35% to 2.7% a year.
Abstract