In 1995 the British Government announced that £5 million sterling was available for what was then called the Safe Town Initiative. Bidders had to satisfy three criteria: (1) The town or city should ideally be surrounded by countryside, not part of a wider conurbation, so that any effects could be measured within it; (2) It would have to have a population of around 100,000 to allow the effects to be statistically significant (national figures suggested that a town or city with this population would normally experience around 500 road casualties a year); and (3) It should ideally have a range of housing developments and road layouts. There were 29 bidders and Gloucester's was successful. It had a population of 100,165 in 1991 and is virtually freestanding. While Gloucester's image is of a typical cathedral city and county town, it had extensive industry in the 19th century and was a major port. Gloucester has a car ownership rate of 4.39 per 1,000 population, which is above the national average but lower than for the county as a whole (499 per 1,000). At 5.72 percent, the ethnic minority population is below the national average but high for the south west of England. TRL (Transport Research Laboratory were commissioned to monitor both the process, and changes in: (1) Air quality; (2) Vehicle emissions; (3) Traffic noise; and (4) Ground vibration. The Gloucester Safer City project began in April 1996, and ran for five years until March 2001. The signs are that the project has been a success. Some indicators are that, compared to 1991-95, in 2001: (1) Serious injuries and deaths are down by 48 per cent, and that is better than the target; (2) Adult pedestrian casualties are down by 54 per cent; (3) Child pedestrian casualties are down by 29 per cent; (4) All casualties are down by 8 per cent, despite the greater awareness of road safety in Gloucester leading to a rise in accident reporting of 13 per cent; and (5) The severity ratio (the proportion of all casualties killed and seriously injured) fell from 13 per cent to 8 per cent. For the covering abstract see ITRD E117761.
Abstract