Global Road Safety Partnership

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Facts

Roads

The Brazilian government has steadily increased funding for the construction of roads and highways beginning in the 1970s. Brazilian cities such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have modern metropolitan expressways. Paved roads link practically all twenty-six state capitals. While the road network (1,670,148 km of which 161,503 km are paved) is dense and many highways were built according to modern standards, road maintenance remains a problem.

Road transport is the leading mode of transportation for passengers and goods in Brazil. At least three-fourths of passengers and goods are transported by road. Although Brazil shares borders with all but two South American countries, road links are considered adequate only in the southern regions. In the North and Center-West, roads to adjoining countries are barely passable or non-existent (some in planning). Large areas of the country are accessible only by air.

GRSP in Brazil

GRSP began working on the town level in Brazil in 2001.  Presently (2007), there are 18 towns in the GRSP network in Brazil. GRSP works in close cooperation with the council road transport directors and local government of the towns, first to develop an overall road safety improvement strategy), combining projects, systems and rates, and then assessing road safety performance against set targets on a quarterly basis in what is called the Proactive Partnership Strategy (PPS).

The GRSP Brazil network presently includes Sumaré, Jacareí, Araraquara, Ribeirão das Neves, Santa Luzia, Resende, São Caetano do Sul, Macaé, Gravataí, Indaiatuba, Jundiaí, Florianópolis, Guaíba, Mogi das Cruzes, São José dos Campos, Santo André, São José do Rio Preto and Taubaté. 

The Proactive Partnership Strategy (PPS)

The PPS approach applied in Brazil includes a Crash & Traffic Injury Data System (C&TIDS), Proactive Partnership Process (PPP) and the Partnership Expansion Process (PEP). The PPP integrates an annual plan with Project Groups and a broader “systems approach” called Dynamic Road Safety Assessment Systems (categories of three road safety systems including transport, education and region). These three systems focus on bringing about a road safety cultural change.

Towns between 100,000 and 600,000 are engaged, as this seems to be initially the optimal size to support improvements based on the PPS approach.

Key to the success of the PPS is bringing about a change in the way road safety is perceived by the public and by providing technical assistance to road safety professionals. The impact of activities on the overall road safety situation is measured in terms of reduced crash and injury rates. Active participants in the GRSP programme in each town include entities of the public sector, private sector and civil society. The road safety performance of each DRSAS , (schools, professional transport drivers and municipality sub-regions) is evaluated and recognized at annual public award ceremonies. In all towns cooperation with Military Police has been critical in accessing / studying the needed crash data. 

This strategy has been successful in assiting the towns to bring about a reduction of road crashes rates and related fatalities”in situ”/injuries rates despite growing population and vehicle registration rates, as illustrated in the tables below.

Resende (Rio de Janeiro State)

Rates	2004	2005	2006
Crashes /10,000 MV	242.0	217.9	182.8
Fat.&Ser.Inj./10,000 MV	15.6	12.1	9.6
Light Inj. /10,000 MV	34.5	40.6	35.9

Town: Resende                                                                                   State: Rio de Janeiro

Absolute Figures	2004	2005	2006
Population	115,786	118,596	119,666
Motor Vehicles	28,137	29,834	31,175
Crashes	681	650	570
Fat.&Ser.Inj.	44	36	30
Light Inj.	97	121	112

Click here to contact the GRSP local coordinator at this location

GRSI in Brazil

Brazil was selected in early 2006 as the third region to participate in the Global Road Safety Initiative (GRSI). The GRSI engagement in Brazil has two dimensions. The first is an expansion of GRSP activities to towns not previously a part of the GRSP-Brazil network. The second focus is on capacity building and project implementation in all of the GRSP/GRSI towns based on the series of road safety good practice manuals being created as a part of the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration effort.

Expansion of the GRSP town model

GRSP aims to bring about a change in the road safety culture in the participating towns by addressing key road safety issues on a step by step basis. GRSP works closely with the council road transport directors / local government of the towns, first to develop an overall road safety improvement strategy, combining projects, systems and rates, and then assessing road safety performance against set targets on a quarterly basis in what is called the Proactive Partnership Strategy (PPS).

During 2006 road safety partnership agreements were signed with São Caetano do Sul, Macaé, Gravataí, Indaiatuba, Jundiaí, Florianópolis, Guaíba, Mogi das Cruzes, São José dos Campos and Santo André.  During 2007 road safety agreements have been signed with São José do Rio Preto and Taubaté. There are presently 18 GRSP&GRSI towns, which also include Sumaré, Jacareí, Araraquara, Ribeirão das Neves, Santa Luzia and Resende.  

For information on the strategy applied by GRSP in the towns, please see the GRSP Brazil site GRSP in Brazil

GRSI components

GRSP has agreed with a Brazilian University in São Paulo State to conduct a regular series of workshops beginning in late 2007 based on the themes of the good practice manual series. The first manual, Helmets: a road safety manual for decision makers and practitioners, published in late 2006, was distributed to all the GRSP/GRSI towns.

In late 2006 / 2007, surveys were undertaken in order to evaluate priorities for each town relating to the manual themes. During 2007, town crash data has been analysed and special roadside base-line data surveys conducted in order to more closely evaluate the specific needs of the GRSP/GRSI towns. 

Based on the information collected, the towns will decide on the themes of the workshops and projects to be implemented as part of the programme. GRSP will also assist and monitor the implementation of these projects in order to evaluate their impact visa vie the pre-project surveys.  

Click here to contact the GRSP local coordinator at this location

Example Projects

Quarterly reporting in all towns began in 2007 to enable progress and impact to be regularly assessed and the approach applied in each of the towns to be monitored and optimized. 

The participating towns are implementing numerous initiatives targeting a diverse spectrum of road safety issues, including traffic education, engineering, speed reduction, enforcement and “systems” such as safe schools, safe professional drivers, and safe regions.

The following examples provide a small insight into the kind of Project Groups or System Groups being implemented.