Road safety strategy puts West Kazakhstan Region on right trajectory for reducing road casualties

In August, our five-year project to improve road safety in the West Kazakhstan Region came to a close. Implemented in close partnership with the Akimat (regional government), and with support from Shell Kazakhstan and Eni, the impact of the project has been groundbreaking and puts the region on the right trajectory towards reducing road casualties.

The project began in 2019 with the development of a five-year regional road safety strategy with the aim of reducing road casualties by 25% by 2025. This strategy was the first of its kind in Kazakhstan and was based on an integrated Safe System approach, bringing together a range of stakeholders and focusing on 4 priority areas: safe roads, safe speed, safe road users, and safe vehicles.

Over the past five years, numerous activities and initiatives have been implemented under the guidance of this strategy and significant reductions have been measured in relation to the most serious consequences of road crashes with police data showing a 38% reduction in the number of road fatalities in Uralsk and a 14% reduction across the whole region.*

On 20 August 2024, a conference was organised in the city of Uralsk to showcase and celebrate these achievements, assess how road safety in the region has changed over the course of the project, and identify priorities for the future. It was attended by key stakeholders including the Deputy Akim of the West Kazakhstan Region, officials from Eni and Shell, EASST, local community representatives, and the press.

During the conference, the Deputy Akim emphasised that road safety had become an important priority for the region and that the project marked “a starting point for further development and improvement of road safety.”

He noted “that the success of this project was made possible through the coordinated work of all participants: authorities, businesses, public organizations, and the local media” emphasizing in particular “the importance of civil society and youth participation in these initiatives.”

Representing EASST, Tatiana Mihailova presented a report on the extensive work carried out as part of the project, including delivering over 500 master classes on road safety, reaching over 29,000 students in the region; training over 1300 police officers, engineers, instructors and drivers, fleet managers, teachers, NGOs, media representatives, youth, and civil society on road safety and their role in the safe system; conducting surveys and studies involving over 10,000 participants into pedestrian safety, speeding, and seat belt use; and publishing reports on disability and road risk, and post-crash response.

According to the Global Status Report on Road Safety, vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, and users of powered two-wheelers) account for 30% of road deaths in Kazakhstan. Amongst these groups, older people, people with disabilities, children, and youth are at particular risk. It was therefore a key focus of the project to prioritize vulnerable road user safety through the improvement of road infrastructure and crossing facilities.

Throughout the project, road safety audits were conducted at 27 high-risk intersections in Uralsk. Recommendations from these audits were then used in the transformation and reconstruction of thirteen intersections with the aim of reducing road crash risk: six of these transformations were funded through the project with additional funds from the Safer Roads Foundation covering four more, and the city budget covering three. This work included the installation of raised pedestrian crossings, pedestrian traffic lights, and high-visibility road signs in addition to re-surfacing works and in some cases narrowing of the carriageway and corner turns. This work has seen particularly impressive results with police data recording a 55% reduction in pedestrian fatalities in Uralsk and a 56% reduction in the region overall between 2019 and 2023.

Speaking at the final conference, Aliya Ibadildina, Social Performance Analyst at Shell Kazakhstan, said:

“We are pleased to have initiated a project aimed at promoting responsible and safe behaviour on the roads. Road safety is a set of measures designed to protect all road users. As part of the project, a regional road safety strategy was developed for the West Kazakhstan Region. We hope our efforts will bring tangible benefits and improve road safety in the region.”

Bolat Davletyarov, Asset Coordinator at Eni Kazakhstan, added,

“We are proud that Eni is a partner in this project that promotes safe behavior on the roads. There is still a lot of work ahead in the region, but thanks to the joint efforts of the authorities and civil society, we can continue these initiatives and move towards the goal of making the region’s roads safe for all road users. This project is just the first step towards the common goal, and we hope that the regional administration and local community, having gained support and extensive experience in various project areas, will maintain the foundation of local cooperation for road safety.”

As the West Kazakhstan Region moves into the next phase of its road safety journey, we hope to see the commitment it has made to road safety grow and see even more lives saved. The Region has demonstrated what is possible and proven the Safe System approach can have a significant impact when implemented holistically. We hope that this serves as an example to other regions and with five more years of the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety and global goals to reduce road fatalities by 50% by 2030, that much more can be accomplished.

*It is important to note that in 2023 the traffic police changed the criteria by which they collect and measure road crashes and casualties. Any data from 2023 onwards therefore uses an expanded definition of what constitutes a reportable road traffic crash or injury. This means that data on the number of crashes as well as injury data from 2023 onwards is not comparable with previous years. However, measurements in the number of fatalities have not been affected by this change.