This Business Case will inform AT when establishing a programme of safety works organisation-wide and marks a transformational shift in how AT approaches road safety.
CLIENT BRIEF/PROJECT CHALLENGES
The Road Safety Programme Business Case (PBC) prepared for AT needed to include an implementation plan, targets, performance measures and cost estimates for road safety actions. The key outcomes that AT sought to achieve were: •
- A clear strategy to achieve the Vision Zero/Safe Systems commitment to confront the significant increase in traffic fatalities and injuries on Auckland’s streets.The Vision Zero approach states there will be no deaths or serious injuries on our transport system by 205.
- Have a business plan in place that prioritises road safety investment across Auckland Transport.
- Establish the current and potential operational capacity of the AT wide road safety programme through investment (using a Safety Management System approach).
- An accelerated programme of road safety projects for 2018 to 2021,with recommended intermediate measures of success, outcomes and targets. Identification of how much achieving these targets would cost and what resources will be needed to deliver them.
- A recommended five to 10-year road safety programme and implementation plan across behaviour change, infrastructure, major capital, maintenance, enforcement and legislation which sets a bold action plan in place for road safety for AT.
- A set of road safety targets across a number of funding scenarios for the next five to 10 years.
- A collaborative road safety road map across AT’s industry partners, and a strategy for how AT will work with the industry to deliver the long-term programme.
- A refreshed Road Safety Strategy from the outputs of the PBC.
The AT Road Safety PBC is a first of its kind. No New Zealand local authority had previously completed a Vision Zero based PBC for road safety. This required an innovative approach.
OUR SOLUTION
Asking questions was a key part of WSP’s approach. They continually sought and received feedback from various AT departments, as well as the Tāmaki Makaurau Road Safety Partners (NZ Police, Auckland Council, Ministry of Transport, District Health Boardsand ACC) as well as Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, who had ultimate sign-off of the business case. The team considered complex problems from different angles, to develop methodologies to identify and evaluate the efficacy of a range of road safety interventions.
The WSP team sought to constantly evolve, improve, modernise and excel, and to promote and adopt the Vision Zero approach to the business case work. To ensure they captured best international practice they collaborated closely with WSP Sweden, whose expertise and results acted as a catalyst for the AT Board to formally adopt the Vision Zero goal at the same time as they endorsed the PBC. WSP responded promptly to varying requests from the client and our agility was appreciated and recognised by the client team.
This project was all about delivering sustainable outcomes, firstly, through reduced deaths and serious injuries, but also through enabling a safer road environment. WSP recognised that a safer environment would play a major role in encouraging the use of more sustainable,yet potentially vulnerable transport modes, including walking, cycling and accessing public transport.
The team worked with the stakeholders to ensure that the delivery of safer streets was a recognised benefit of the programme and evaluated the potential for short list options to deliver increased use of active modes. WSP also highlighted the circular benefits,that safer streets lead to more active mode use, which in turn leads to less car use and safer streets.
The PBC recommended a combination of interventions that covered all four pillars of a safe system: •
- Safe Roads and Roadsides - including corridor and intersection improvements.
- Safe Speeds - safe and appropriate speed limits are a key and integral part of the recommended option.
- Safe Road Use - increased education and enforcement are both included in the program.
- Safe Vehicles - policy level interventions to ensure continual improvement in the safety of the vehicle.
OUTCOME/CLIENT BENEFITS
The primary aim of the PBC was to deliver a programme of road safety interventions that would deliver a reduction in deaths and serious injuries by 60% compared to 2017 levels. This was a target set within the Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP).
The recommended option has an expected cost of NZ $800 Million and is forecast to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on Auckland’s roads by over 60%, preventing over 1,750 deaths and serious injuries over the next 10 years. WSPs approach successfully secured funding approval from Waka Kotahi, whose Board endorsed the PBC in November and approved all recommendations. The WSP team leaders, together with the client, presented the project at both TRAFINZ 2018 and Engineering NZ 2019 Transport conferences, winning best presentation award at the latter.
