The effectiveness of sidewalks on pedestrian safety in a township environment

Abstract

South Africa faces challenges to adequately provide safe roads for all road users. In its urban environments, pedestrians have often been neglected in the design and construction of road networks; a phenomenon seen in almost all urban areas, but which is ironically often most evident in poor income areas where residents are most dependent on walking as a form of mobility. These poor income areas include older ‘Township’ establishments as well as the more recent RDP housing developments that have been built since the end of apartheid. Some urban local authorities have begun the process of remedying poor pedestrian safety in such areas, through, for example, the retrofitting of sidewalks. International studies have shown that the physical separation of pedestrians and vehicles will typically reduce road crashes and fatal injuries to pedestrians in particular. In a township environment, where walking may be the predominant mode of transport, the potential of sidewalks to improve road safety seems straight forward. However, operational elements such as the lack of traffic enforcement and poor driver behaviour; poor road safety education; lack of infrastructure and undisciplined pedestrian and public transport movement, may well influence the effectiveness of sidewalks, and this has yet to be investigated. This study assesses the effectiveness of new sidewalks on pedestrian safety along four roads in three townships in eThekwini. Comparisons were made of crash data before and after installing a sidewalk on already constructed roads, and observations were carried out along each route to begin to understand the behaviour of the pedestrians and the overall effectiveness of the sidewalks at the sites. The analysis confirmed that sidewalks in this township environment have had a positive effect on pedestrian safety in that they have reduced pedestrian fatalities. The results also show, however, that even with the installation of sidewalks, pedestrian crashes persist – especially at non-designated crossing points. This is although sidewalks, and formal pedestrian crossings, appear to be used by the majority of pedestrians, which suggests that crashes are occurring at locations where pedestrians are unexpected. Unfortunately, the lack of driver behavioural studies before the sidewalks were installed means that it is difficult to assess whether drivers themselves are driving less safely now that pedestrians are better managed, and so this does remain a possible contributory factor.