Plenary Sessions

Tineke Netelenbos, Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, The Netherlands Speech of the Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management of the Netherlands

Paul Osborne, Sustrans, UK Safe Routes to School Safe Routes to Schools is a practical initiative to reduce traffic danger on school journeys by encouraging more walking and cycling and reducing car use. The initiative involves children, teachers, traffic engineers, road safety professionals and public health workers. Several countries around the world are now implementing safe routes to schools and establishing strong links between transport, education and health policies. Sustrans is a UK based civil engineering charity which builds safe cycling and walking routes. Over the last 5 years, it has been pioneering safe routes to schools projects in the UK in collaboration with schools and local authorities. This paper gives a brief overview of the policy background in the UK and describes some of the key reasons why school journeys are a vital place to start to encourage cycling, especially in countries where cycling levels are low. One prerequisite for a successful project is the close involvement of young people. Three students from the UK and Denmark will describe how they came to become involved in the project, their own school journeys, their school exchange visit and subsequent presentations to traffic planners and local politicians which was the catalyst for changes at their schools. They will also describe latest best practice in the UK and Denmark and give their views on the importance of this work.

Jan Pronk and Nico van Ravesteyn Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, The Netherlands Speech on behalf of the Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment Jan Pronk

Rustica Tembele, Tanzanian National Team for Non-Motorised Transport Productive and Liveable Cities, Guidelines for Pedestrian and Bicycle Traffic in African Cities Urban transport problems cannot be "solved". Over the last two decades they have only grown, and there is no evidence to suggest that this process will not continue. This is not unique for Africa: Europe, the America's and Asia face the same reality. In Africa, to reduce. some of the most acute mobility crisis effects and to prevent an unchecked further growth of urban mobility and accessibility problems is already a formidable task. To deal with that task, long-term commitment is needed, organisational as well as financial. To translate that commitment into work on the ground, the combination is needed of innovative short-term improvement programs for existing roads with a well conceived long-term urban mobility strategy and vision.