The City of Surrey, further to its 2008 Transportation Strategic Plan, has embarked on the development of a Safe Mobility Plan (SMP). The SMP was developed with the objective of reducing the crash risk on Surrey’s roads for all travel modes, and to reduce the subsequent costs to the community and society at large that result from crashes and injuries. The City of Surrey is the first municipality in BC to develop an SMP that involves the three P’s: Partnership, Policy and Process: The “partnership” approach included the engagement of key stakeholders, including multiple City departments, partner agencies and the general public. The “policy” part of the approach consisted of developing City-wide policies that would implicitly strengthen the safety culture of the institution. The “process” part of the approach was aimed at making the explicit consideration of safe mobility prominent in project and programming decisions at the City across departments, from the project planning and design stages through to construction and operations. The City partnered with agencies from the policing, insurance, health, emergency services and training sectors to steer the development of the SMP and explore common objectives and collaboration opportunities. The review included 1) a cross-departmental audit of all activities related to road safety and the identification of gaps, 2) a detailed review of the City’s crash and injury trends and causes, 3) workshops engaging a diverse group of stakeholders, and 4) surveys and discussions with the public. The result was the identification of a list of short-term and long-term strategies and supporting actions that the City and its partners could pursue with the objective of achieving a continuous reduction in crashes and injuries. City staff will be seeking the support of its Council and the public towards the adoption of the plan and increased and ongoing investment in partnerships, policies and processes that support safe mobility.
