#83 Area-wide vulnerable road user (VRU) treatments (part 3)

Vulnerable road users (VRU) face significantly elevated risk of injury in the event of a crash when compared with other road users (i.e., occupants of cars, trucks, buses). The current series of briefs looks at VRU treatments as part of an area-wide approach, drawing substantially on the Austroads (2020) report titled Integrating Safe System with Movement and Place for Vulnerable Road Users[1]. Indeed, an area-wide approach to VRU safety must be intrinsic to Safe System implementation, Network Safety Plans, and the application of Movement and Place and related principles. The series is structured in four parts, with the current brief (part 3) focusing on pedestrian safety measures:

• Part 1: Introduction to the series

• Part 2: Cyclist safety measures

• Part 3: Pedestrian safety measures

• Part 4: Motorcyclist safety measures

Pedestrian safety measures

As noted, area-wide safety measures for VRUs should be consistent with Safe System principles, underpinned by the application of low speeds, especially where mixed use of travel modes occurs. For pedestrians, 30 km/h is cited as the ‘aspirational’ operating speed where a collision with a motorised vehicle is possible.

From the VRU safety measures identified in Part 1 of the current series, reproduced from Austroads (2020), the following specific measures for pedestrians and their Safe System alignment are presented in Table 1. This table combines intersection and non-intersection measures, shows applicable location types and indicative implementation costs (refer to Part 1 and Austroads (2020) for applicability in intersection/non-intersection scenarios). Treatments are ordered in the table by indicative costs, from lowest to highest.

Treatments with lowest cost typically include lower speed limits and associated zoning, platforms, and other traffic calming measures (e.g., horizontal deflection, kerb blisters). High-cost treatments are generally those involving grade separation and/or other significant road space reallocation, usually focused on City Hubs and Movement Corridors and Connectors. Note that there is substantial overlap and similarity between some of the treatments identified.

Table 1: Pedestrian safety measures and indicative costs aligned with Safe System principles

(Source: AP-R611-20)

Key references for further reading

• Integrating Safe System with Movement and Place for Vulnerable Road Users (Austroads, 2020)

• Speed Zoning Policy and Technical Guidelines (Victoria, 2025)

[1] Austroads (2020). Integrating Safe System with Movement and Place for Vulnerable Road Users (AP-R611-20). Sydney, Austroads.