GerHub take a community-led approach to improving school zone safety in Ulaanbaatar
With the support of the FIA Foundation, EASST has been working with GerHub, our local partner in Mongolia, to improve the safety of school zones along the Chingeltei corridor: an arterial road in a Ger area on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar which is currently under development as part of an Asian Development Bank investment.
The project focused on two schools along the corridor that had been identified by the District Road Police as particularly dangerous. In partnership with the Police, GerHub have taken a community-led approach to jointly assess the roads around the schools using the EASST Assessing and Reporting on Road Safety in School Zones toolkit and co-design solutions with over 100 members of the community that aim both to improve safety and liveability for those living and working in the area.
At both schools, the assessments found limited pedestrian facilities, poor road signs and markings, and insufficient parking. Sidewalks were often not separated from the road, or were so narrow children that would be forced to walk along the road. Pedestrian crossings were barely visible and unmarked by any signage. Meanwhile, the lack of parking meant cars parked along the road, reducing the visibility of children and further restricting pedestrian accessibility.
The findings of the assessments were presented to local authorities, and together with GerHub’s road safety expertise, a set of low-cost upgrades were proposed to improve safety around the two schools. With EASST’s support, the most urgent issues were addressed: a number of new zebra crossings were added, and existing zebra crossings were repainted, all with brand new signage. To solve the parking issues, a Kiss and Ride initiative was implemented, so that cars would not wait longer than needed to drop off children.
Improving police engagement with the public and supporting enforcement was also an important objective of the project. To support this, GerHub hosted an additional road police workshop with representatives from four districts focusing on methods of effective communication with the public and media, as well as promoting the benefits of community policing. This was put in to practice on World Children’s Day in November, with the Road Police leading an open event at school No. 37. They used the occasion to engage the children, parents, and school community in the physical infrastructure changes around their school and supporting their road safety education in a fun and practical way.
This community-led approach and the involvement of parents, guardians, school authorities, and road police in the project implementation is crucial in not only addressing road safety issues and validating the findings of the school zone assessments, but it ensures ongoing support and continued collaboration for future improvements. Together, GerHub and EASST have created a community toolkit on Developing and Implementing a Safe School Zone, with the support of the Asian Development Bank. Its aim is to support schools and communities in implementing community-led road safety projects.
As GerHub move into the next phase of the project, they aim to continue empowering local communities in calling for and creating safer school zones while building their own advocacy work and promoting stronger regulation on traffic calming measures, pedestrian safety, and enforcement around school zones more widely.