Initiative details
Increasing the safety and visibility of pedestrian crossings has to be a priority, especially in an urban environment. In Porto, 31,2% of all travels are done walking, with the exponential rise of tourism most likely increasing that value over the next few years. We set out to highlight pedestrian crossings without traffic lights in main streets, but also to induce the idea that pedestrian crossings with traffic lights in main streets are safer. In Porto, there are 298 intersections regulated by traffic lights.
Initiative date
to
Who was/is your target audience?
Pedestrians
Topic
Create awareness
Improve vehicles and infrastructure
Organisation details
Municipality of Porto
Local Public authority
Portugal
Portugal
Contact name
David Lourenço
Telephone number
+351914050557
davidlourenco@cm-porto.pt
Website link
Project activities
If you work together with external partners, list the most important partners and briefly describe their role.
None.
Please describe the project activities you carried/are carrying out and the time period over which these were implemented.
Three main axes: 1) introducing more exclusive pedestrian phasing in traffic lights; 2) creating plaques (and attaching them to traffic columns) about safe pedestrian crossings with traffic lights and how to use them, namely by waiting for the green light; and 3) highlighting pedestrian crossings in main streets by covering the vertical signs’ tubes with reflective vinyl.
In terms of implementation, what worked well and what challenges did you need to overcome?
Mostly operational: designing the plaques, establishing the right materials, ordering them and implementing them. The three axes proposed were well received, both from a technical standpoint and from a political standpoint.
Evaluation
Please summarise how you have evaluated the initiative’s impact (e.g. social media reach, survey, feedback forms, statistics).
All of these initiatives are interesting from a communication point of view. They’re valuable in terms of road safety, but also to create awareness about how to cross a busy road and avoid jaywalking. When we published news about the plaques, we received good feedback on the Municipality of Porto’s official social media pages and even a few quirky posts from local influencers. We hope to avoid run-overs, but we still need more time to evaluate any kind of change in statistics.
What has been the effect of the activities?
For now, the biggest change is in infrastructure: all pedestrian traffic lights columns have a visible plaque, with text in Portuguese and English, and we’re still placing vinyl on several tubes, which will make pedestrian crossings more visible at night.
Please briefly explain why your initiative is a good example of improving road safety.
Pedestrians are the most vulnerable users of the public space, and they often have to invade the traffic lanes to cross to a different side of a street. Any idea that helps to make those crossings more visible and that reminds pedestrians to be aware of the risks that surround them, especially on main streets, is a plus.
How have you shared information about your project and its results?
That’s the next step of our project, which is why we’re now applying for this award.
