Rationale: Case for Action.

Beginning in 1998, Metuna has operated its Vision Zero Jerusalem Project in the Neve Ya'akov and Har Nof neighbourhoods where it has dramatically reduced pedestrian injuries due road crashes from nearly thirty per year down to zero in five years.

With this success Metuna has begun  to work in six Arab (Shuafat, Beit Hanina, Wadi Jawz, Issuwiya, Jabel Mukaber, and Sur Baher) and  eight Ultra Orthodox neighbourhoods (Rommema, Geula, Mea Sha’arim, Bucharim, Beit Israel, Makor Baruch, Shmuel Hanavi and Kerem Avraham) where knowledge and interest in road safety amongst the residents are quite minimal and where fifty to sixty people are injured in road accidents.

In addition to the neighbourhood program Metuna operates a "Moked" for reporting road hazards directly to the Traffic Management Department. In the past five years over one hundred reports have been forwarded to the Municipality and some 60% of the hazards have been rectified.

The Action Plan

In each neighbourhood,  local residents interested in road safety act as the leadership group to operate the Vision Zero Plan. The Plan focusses on four components for road safety:  infrastructure improvements;  traffic law enforcement;  road safety education and community road safety publicity. All four elements together are crucial for a successful community-based Vision Zero program.

Infrastructure Improvements: the key to Vision Zero injuries is to reduce the average speed of all vehicles travelling through the neighbourhood. Using local volunteers to measure speeds with a laser speed gun, speed traps are located. Local committees sit with city traffic planners to reduce speeds by means of  speed bumps, traffic circles, road narrowing, and new traffic arrangements. To protect pedestrians from vehicular traffic we suggest guard rails, traffic dividers, proper paint on the roads and sign posting. 

Local committees work with the police to set up traffic enforcement program to reduce speeding, illegal parking and reckless driving.

Education programs target children with subsidized bicycle helmets, bicycle safety programs and special pedestrian campaigns in the schools. The elderly are included with sight and hearing tests and pedestrian safety and bus travel workshops. 

Neighbourhood safety publicity campaigns are targetted to high risk groups such as children on bicycles during the simmer vacation, young drivers or the elderly walking at night. The local newspapers, flyers and posters all warn residents about potential dangers and safe road behaviour.