TfL dashboard links deprivation to road traffic injuries
A tool developed by Transport for London (TfL) presents compelling data-driven evidence that the more deprived an area of the city, the greater the chance of being killed or seriously injured in a road-traffic collision.
The Vision Zero Inequalities Dashboard is thought to be the first of its kind in Europe, enabling users to filter data relating to people being killed or seriously injured (KSI) on London’s streets. Those filters include borough, casualty severity, mode of travel and year. Areas of higher casualty rates can be explored with mapping functions.
Photo by Tom Chen
TfL is already committed to the goal of Vision Zero, which is to eliminate death and serious injury from London’s roads and transport networks by 2041.
To achieve this, it is vital to better understand where accident hot-spots occur and the wider context that can cause them. In fact, the results seen on the dashboard suggest previous studies such as Inequalities in Road Danger in London (2017-2021), which also linked deprivation to increased numbers of serious injuries and death in road-traffic collisions. The report found that the 30% most deprived postcodes suffered more than twice the number casualties per km of road than the least deprived 30%.
TfL says this will help to identify and prioritise areas and issues most in need of action, targeting investment to protect the most vulnerable. The dashboard will inform TfL’s own investment priorities but it had also shared finding with the London boroughs that suffer the highest casualty rates and casualty location rates. This can then inform their local implementation plans (LIPs).
Data on collisions in London is collected by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and City of London Police (CoLP), and is also reported to the police by the public. At present, the dashboard uses data from 2017 to the end of 202 but it will be updated each year. Additional data relating to age and gender will also be added to the dashboard later in 2024.
Lilli Matson, Chief Safety, Health and Environment Officer at TfL, says: ‘The interactive dashboard displays crucial information on the relationship between deprivation levels and road casualties in London. Protecting everyone on the road is a priority for us and we will continue to research how road risk varies for certain groups of Londoners and engage with boroughs, police and other stakeholders to reduce these inequalities.
‘Without safe streets we know that people won’t choose the most healthy and sustainable modes of transport and there is still much more to do to eradicate road deaths and serious injuries. We are determined to make London a greener, more sustainable and safer city for everyone.’
Jeremy Leach, from Action Vision Zero, adds: ‘Poorer communities face much greater risk when using the roads. Now though, communities and campaigners across London have a powerful new tool to help them to tackle road danger and make walking and cycling safer. TfL’s new Inequalities Dashboard helps people to pinpoint places where risk is higher and demand action from their local Councillors and their borough.’
Cllr Rezina Chowdhury, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Sustainable Lambeth and Clean Air, says: ‘Lambeth Council welcomes this move because in our borough people who live in deprived areas are nearly three times more likely to suffer an injury or be killed in a road collision. Our road danger reduction strategy, which was published in November, sets out how we will tackle this stark inequality, and the new Vision Zero Inequalities Dashboard will help us, and other London borough’s collect the essential data needed to track progress.”
‘Road danger is a social justice issue, and we are past the point where it’s enough to just ask motorists to slow down or pedestrians to look both ways when crossing a road. It is about making sure in the future streets are designed with road safety built-in, making them more equal and less dominated by motor traffic.’
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