Right of Way

April 15, 2014

An assessment of safety and accessibility of roads in Indian cities 

alk, cycle, and public transport will not work if people are not safe, are injured or die while accessing jobs, educational services, markets, recreation and a range of daily chores. Road injuries and deaths have recorded an unacceptable increase in Indian cities. An astounding number of walkers, cyclists, public transport users and poor people meet a similar harsh fate on roads.

This has spurred Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) to assess the accident risk in Indian cities, investigate accident hotspots in Delhi and carry out a safety audit of selected streets of Delhi to identify the factors contributing to unsafe roads. This has helped assess policy gaps to understand the solutions and the way forward. This assessment has become necessary at a time when Delhi and other cities face the daunting challenge of increasing the share of public transport along with walking and cycling for clean air and public health, and reduce fuel guzzling and climate impacts.