Greater Manchester advances Vision Zero strategy

Credit: Transport for Greater Manchester

The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has announced that it has taken a significant step towards adopting Vision Zero, a strategy aimed at eliminating all deaths and life-changing injuries on the region’s roads by 2040. GMCA has endorsed a draft version of Greater Manchester’s Vision Zero strategy, emphasising the commitment to halve the number of fatalities and life-changing injuries by the end of this decade.

Following the endorsement, the public and stakeholders will have the chance to provide feedback through an online survey on the Greater Manchester Consult platform in the coming weeks. This input will inform the development of an action plan crucial for implementing the Vision Zero strategy. The finalised action plan will undergo public engagement in May 2024 and seek approval from GMCA in November, with a planned launch during Road Safety Week 2024.

Vision Zero, originating in Sweden in the 1990s, aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and life-changing injuries while promoting safe, healthy, and equitable mobility for all. In the last decade, nearly 10,000 individuals in Greater Manchester have suffered fatal or severe injuries on its roads.

Statistics from 2018 to 2022 reveal that pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists have accounted for nearly two-thirds of these casualties, highlighting the need for intervention. Throughout 2022, an average of 71 traffic-related fatalities or severe injuries occurred monthly in Greater Manchester, underscoring the urgent need for action.

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The development of Greater Manchester’s Vision Zero Strategy and Action Plan is led by the Greater Manchester Safer Roads Partnership in collaboration with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), Greater Manchester Police, and other stakeholders.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “While there was a small decline in the number of people killed and seriously injured in 2022, much more needs to be done to make Greater Manchester’s roads a safer, healthier and more sustainable place for pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and motorists.”

In the UK, Vision Zero has been adopted in several local authority areas, including regions neighbouring Greater Manchester like West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Lancashire and the Liverpool City Region. By taking decisive action in Greater Manchester, around 3,800 unnecessary deaths and life-changing injuries could be prevented by 2040.