New school safety zone built through collaboration with 3M Indonesia: A youth initiative

Image credit (above): Estiara Ellizar

In Bandung City, Indonesia, a new school safety zone at Junior High has increased safety from 2- to 5-stars, impacting more than 800 students and 5,000 nearby residents, thanks to a collaboration between 3M Indonesia, Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety Youth Leadership Board Member Estiara Ellizar, the Department of Transport (DoT), teachers and students. It is a beautiful story of partnership success and community consultation over time, and highlights the effectiveness of including youth voices to promote road safety and the value of the Star Rating for Schools (SR4S) tool to measure safety outcomes.

The project started with the “Safer Roads Save our Lives” workshop held in August 2022, where youth voices were empowered to identify their demands and concerns about road safety. One of the concerns raised during the workshop was the Flyover development in front of Junior High School 22 Bandung City, which created a very dangerous situation for pedestrians to cross the street. Many students chose to cross the street near the Flyover, despite the risks to their safety. Estiara Ellizar, as part of her Global Road Safety Leadership Course (GRSLC) Alumni Fellowship, recognized this problem and proposed building a new safe school zone to improve road safety around the school.

With the support of 3M Indonesia, Estiara extended the collaboration, and the project began with a meeting in September 2022 to share the workshop’s results. The relevant stakeholders, including Junior High School 22 Bandung City students, attended the meeting. In the following weeks, a joint survey was conducted to decide the location of the safe school zone.

In January 2023, the safe school zone was built, funded by 3M Indonesia. The new zones included a pedestrian crossing, signage, road markings and speed humps. The impact of the safe school zone was immediately apparent, with the number of pedestrians crossing the street near the Flyover decreasing to 64%. Most students used the pedestrian crossing in the safe school zone to cross the street, and the student perception of the safe school zone was that it made crossing the street easy and improved their safety by 80%.

Post-construction SR4S surveys conducted by Estiara revealed that the average speed opposite the school was below 30km/h, but the speed in front of the school was still quite high, in the range of 30 – 40 km/h. To address this issue, Estiara proposed building a raised pedestrian crossing, which would force drivers to slow down. This proposal was presented to the Bandung City Government on March 15, 2023, and was well received.

The School Safety Zone project is an excellent example of how collaboration between youth voices, community stakeholders, and the private sector can improve road safety and save lives. The success of the project also highlights the importance of empowering youth voices and including them in decision-making processes. By working together, we can create safer roads and a better future for everyone.