Creating a network for the safety of pedestrians

Over the past few years, governments at all levels have committed considerable resources to pedestrian safety measures, from tougher penalties for drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians, to leading pedestrian intervals, refuge islands, marked pedestrian lanes and improved lighting at intersections.

Ministry of Transportation and Communications data showed that in the first six months of this year, 1,333 people died within 30 days after being in a traffic accident, down 15 percent from the same period in 2023. Pedestrian deaths also decreased by 16.

Although there has been improvement, significant disparities remain between cities and counties, and pedestrian fatalities rose in some areas. Pedestrian safety policies must shift from public awareness campaigns and enforcement toward addressing individual intersections and roads while improving local governments’ capacity to implement effective improvements in road engineering and management.

Many streets were built during a period of rapid growth in car and scooter ownership, during which road layouts were designed to accommodate traffic. Homes, shops, schools and markets gradually sprang up, but pedestrian infrastructure did not keep pace. There are sidewalks that suddenly end, uneven arcades, electrical boxes blocking walkways, parking spaces too close to intersections and areas where pedestrians must share the road with vehicles.

Although the government has made progress in expanding sidewalk infrastructure, the next step should be to develop a comprehensive pedestrian network. Improving the layout of a single intersection has a limited impact. Ensuring that people can walk safely to their destination is crucial to changing residents’ choices of transportation.

Local governments should develop pedestrian safety risk maps. Data on traffic accidents, school locations, the older people population, public transportation stops, medical facilities, markets and daily pedestrian flows can help determine which roads should be prioritized for improvement.

Local governments could adopt a regional risk management approach and publicly disclose high-risk intersections in each administrative district, and updates on the progress of improvement efforts. Areas around schools, communities with large elderly populations, hospitals and public transport hubs should be prioritized.

Once improvements are completed, authorities should track accident rates, vehicle speeds, pedestrian waiting times and illegal parking to determine whether the measures are effective. The central government could also incorporate these results into funding assessments.

Pedestrian safety policies also need to incorporate clearer government accountability and performance management. The enforcement plan of the Road Traffic Safety Basic Act (道路交通安全基本法) set targets for reducing overall traffic fatalities by 30 percent and pedestrian fatalities by 50 percent by 2030. These targets could be broken down by country and city, with reasonable annual improvement targets set according to population, road mileage and accident risk.

The government should publish more than just the number of kilometers of road improvements completed each year — it should also report the proportion of high-risk intersections improved, the completion rate of safe walking routes around schools, sidewalk network continuity and reductions in traffic accidents.

What matters to the public is whether they can safely reach their destinations. When road planning begins by considering peoples’ daily routes, pedestrian safety can become a routine part of urban governance, helping Taiwan progress toward its goal of zero traffic fatalities.