Utrecht Road Safety Label and School Zones
Published on 26 July 2018
Netherlands
Utrecht
This is the good practice's implementation level. It can be national, regional or local.
About this good practice
Road safety is a shared responsibility.
The UVL is the hallmark (a quality mark) of the Regional Transport Safety Agency (ROV) of the province of Utrecht. By joining the Label, Primary schools make visible that they have traffic safety high on the agenda. For parents, this can play a role in choosing a school for their children.
The label is based on criteria, in exchange, the school gets support and a school zone. The label is based on 5 pillars:
1. Training classes in class
2. Practical traffic education
3. Parental involvement
4. Safe school environment
5. Anchoring in school policy
To apply for a label the next steps are needed.
STEP 1 – SIGNING IN
Schools wishing to register can contact CED Group. They complete an application form and an inventory form.
STEP 2 - SETUP ACTION PLAN
The school, together with the UVL advisor, prepares an action plan and sends it to [email protected]. The school is implementing the action plan.
STEP 3 - SCHOOL ZONE
As soon as the school has started actively drawing up the action plan, the municipality will set up a school zone around the school. The school zone consists of recognizable road signs to attend traffic at the schools proximity.
STEP 4 - FINALISATION
The school describes how the school meets the UVL criteria. The UVL commission of the ROV Utrecht decides whether the school is eligible for the UVL. After a positive assessment, the school receives a grant letter and a UVL label board to hang out.
The UVL is the hallmark (a quality mark) of the Regional Transport Safety Agency (ROV) of the province of Utrecht. By joining the Label, Primary schools make visible that they have traffic safety high on the agenda. For parents, this can play a role in choosing a school for their children.
The label is based on criteria, in exchange, the school gets support and a school zone. The label is based on 5 pillars:
1. Training classes in class
2. Practical traffic education
3. Parental involvement
4. Safe school environment
5. Anchoring in school policy
To apply for a label the next steps are needed.
STEP 1 – SIGNING IN
Schools wishing to register can contact CED Group. They complete an application form and an inventory form.
STEP 2 - SETUP ACTION PLAN
The school, together with the UVL advisor, prepares an action plan and sends it to [email protected]. The school is implementing the action plan.
STEP 3 - SCHOOL ZONE
As soon as the school has started actively drawing up the action plan, the municipality will set up a school zone around the school. The school zone consists of recognizable road signs to attend traffic at the schools proximity.
STEP 4 - FINALISATION
The school describes how the school meets the UVL criteria. The UVL commission of the ROV Utrecht decides whether the school is eligible for the UVL. After a positive assessment, the school receives a grant letter and a UVL label board to hang out.
Expert opinion
This practice encourages schools to educate children on road safety measures, and with the local transport safety agency, establish school zones that can give confidence to parents and students about the safety of cycling and walking in the area. It will be interesting to see if there is further roll-out from the pilot.
Works at
Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform
Resources needed
The schoolzones costs on average 7.000 euro per school. The UVL advisor costs 2400 euro per school. The costs for the educational lessons are 1000 euro per school.
The costs of human resources needed to implement the measure (internal) have never been specified.
The costs of human resources needed to implement the measure (internal) have never been specified.
Evidence of success
• Evaluation of the pilot in 2009:
• Children: 60% think road safety improved, 23% disagree
• Parents: 41% think road safety improved, 32% disagree
• Teachers: 40% think road safety improved, 5% disagree
• Residents near the schools: 33% think road safety improved, 31% disagree
Once every three years an independent advisor tests whether the school is qualified to maintain the label.
• Children: 60% think road safety improved, 23% disagree
• Parents: 41% think road safety improved, 32% disagree
• Teachers: 40% think road safety improved, 5% disagree
• Residents near the schools: 33% think road safety improved, 31% disagree
Once every three years an independent advisor tests whether the school is qualified to maintain the label.
Potential for learning or transfer
• We are currently working on the evaluation, this will offer an answer to the question if it is still effective for Utrecht. It is possible that the effects of the measure decrease with time or that the schools need different things now that it is 10 years down the road.
• Partner cities can learn both form our pilot phase, first implementation phase and how it works for us on the long term.
• Partner cities can learn both form our pilot phase, first implementation phase and how it works for us on the long term.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
Organisation
Municipality of Utrecht
Netherlands
Utrecht
Contact
Grant Manager