Improving road safety and mobility in Georgian towns

Active Travel and Healthy Streets, Georgia, Road Safety Governance and Capacity Building

Last week, EASST partner and Founder of the Partnership for Road Safety in Georgia, Gela Kvashilava, attended the TU Delft ‘Planning Public Transport Services’ course in the Netherlands.

The course provides the ultimate guide to public transport planning, operations and policy. The aim is to promote the use of public transport as a pro-active means of improving road safety as well as “addressing the negative economic, environmental, social and urban consequences of traffic congestion”.[1]

Reflecting on the course, Gela said:

“The public transport system in Georgian towns is chaotic. There are significant issues related to parking and we need to do more to encourage walking and cycling, ensure safe mobility and reduce air pollution.

There is, therefore, an urgent need for better planning schemes and management of public transport, including the introduction of modern technologies and integrated approaches.

As the Partnership for Road Safety works closely with government and local communities in different transport related projects, the knowledge that I have gained from this course will help me to deliver practical information to improve transport planning, network design and improve performance evaluation of Georgian towns. In particular, practical advice on improving data collection and how to improve service reliability will be shared with national and local government institutions.”

Gela is a frequent commentator on issues related to road safety, sustainable mobility and public transport on Georgian news channels and has implemented a number of initiatives aimed at improving public transport. You can read some of his commentary pieces below.

Only the land use master plan can stop the urban sprawl and improve mobility in Tbilisi

Transport in Tbilisi – Vision for a Modern European City

Towards a people-centred integrated transport policy

Another city falling into the trap of overpasses to reduce congestion

[1] Find out more about the course at https://ppts-course.org/