Together For Safer Roads Marks 5th Anniversary, Launches Global Leadership Council for Fleet Safety

Together For Safer Roads Marks 5th Anniversary, Launches Global Leadership Council for Fleet Safety

Coalition heads into 2020 with pilot projects and public-private partnerships to significantly accelerate progress in preventing traffic deaths and serious injuries

 

BROOKLYN, NY ? Dec. 17, 2019 ? Together for Safer Roads (TSR), a coalition of leading private sector companies driven to save lives, celebrates its fifth anniversary this month with significant road safety milestones and program updates, including the formation of its new Global Leadership Council for Fleet Safety (GLCFS). The coalition was launched in late 2014 to align the private sector?s road safety efforts with the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety. Since that time, the coalition has expanded its programs to partner with public sector leaders who are catalysts for safer roads.

Supported by its membership?s commitment, TSR?s mission is to bend the curve on road traffic collisions so they are no longer one of the leading causes of death and injuries worldwide.  This mission is realized through projects around the world. In 2019, the coalition forged projects and partnerships across three core program areas:

  • Safer Companies and Fleets
    • TSR introduced the Global Leadership Council for Fleet Safety (GLCFS) to a select test group at the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance annual meeting in October. Now integrated into TSR?s Fleet Safety Program, the Global Leadership Council uses peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing to help smaller fleet operators create safety cultures that reduce risk and save lives in the communities they serve;
    • TSR received a challenge grant from the Anheuser–Busch Foundation, which focuses on supporting organizations that help individuals and communities thrive. The funds will be used to support fleet safety work in NYC and Houston, as well as the Global Leadership Council, inviting businesses interested in fleet safety to join TSR and participate in the Council;
    • The City of New York?s fleet, under the direction of the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services, (DCAS), joined the Council as a founding member;
    • TSR also announced a formal partnership with the City of New York to improve bicyclist safety. The partnership kicked off with a workshop in October, Digitizing Vision Zero, where both parties convened public and private sector leaders in fleet safety management, technology, and bicycling to develop data, analytics and technology pilots to reduce conflicts between large vehicle operators and people riding bikes.
  • Safer Cities
    • Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner appointed TSR to the Houston Vision Zero Executive Committee. The Committee is focused on drafting the City?s Vision Zero Action Plan, a commitment to end traffic-related deaths and serious injuries among all road users in the City by 2030;
    • This spring, TSR launched Houston Safer Streets Phase 1, an initiative focused on improving safety for all road users, pedestrians, bus riders, bicyclists and drivers in the Gulfton neighborhood;
    • TSR and the City of Bellevue, WA, launched a first-of-its-kind citywide analysis of near-misses and collisions. TSR and Bellevue partnered with Brisk Synergies Tech Corp. and the Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium (PacTrans) at the University of Washington to collect and analyze traffic data to study the correlation between near-misses and crashes. TSR member Republic Services also provided data and expertise on using the analysis to improve fleet safety.
  • Data & Digital Innovation
    • During the launch of the United Nations? Fifth Global Road Safety Week in May, international leaders held a briefing to recognize New York City?s leadership in Vision Zero and pledge their support for it. Together for Safer Roads and its members, including Anheuser-Busch, supported the City of New York?s Connected Vehicle Pilot: Anheuser-Busch has equipped its local fleet with connected vehicle technology to test driver alerts and other safety measures;
    • TSR?s Global Entrepreneur Program prepared to induct its third cohort. The unique mentorship program connects early stage companies with road safety experts at multinational companies, governments, universities and others. Its goal is to reimagine solutions that reduce crashes and fatalities on the world?s roads. The 2020 pitch day finalists and road safety leaders included CY Vision, Derq, Digisure, Impairment Measurement Marijuana and Driving (IMMAD), NoTraffic, Road-Aware, and Populus. CyVision, Derq and Populus will comprise Cohort 3 and join the coalition as associate members.
    • Dreampact Ventures, a venture capital firm; Rio Ventures Holdings, a BVI Private Venture Fund; and Marsh & McLennan Companies, a global professional services firm,  joined the Coalition as new members with a specific interest in advancing new, safer and sustainable modes of transportation.

?The City of New York is proud to have the cleanest and safest municipal vehicle fleet in the country, and we are proud to partner with the TSR Global Leadership Council for Fleet Safety to build upon this success,? said Keith Kerman, Deputy Commissioner for the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services and NYC Chief Fleet Officer. ?As a national leader in fleet safety, it?s important for us to share best practices with others and to learn from other colleagues in the world of fleet management. The Global Leadership Council for Fleet Safety is a unique and vital program bringing solutions to under-resourced, smaller fleets. This initiative will help extend the work we are doing in New York City to places across the country and we are eager to advance this mission in 2020.?

?TSR?s work with the City of Houston has already helped improve our strategy to achieve Vision Zero,? said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. ?Having TSR on our committee aligns very well with our goals and brings great expertise to our initiative to end traffic deaths in Houston by 2030.?

?The City of Bellevue takes a Safe Systems approach to Vision Zero, emphasizing data as a central strategy,? said Franz Loewenherz, principal transportation planner and project manager for the Vision Zero Action Plan. ?Working with TSR and its members to capture near miss data is yet another step we?ve taken to make our roads as safe as possible and move toward the elimination of traffic fatalities and serious injuries. The analysis of data gathered from this project will be an instrumental part of improving our street safety record and shaping a safer Bellevue for all road users. We?ll have additional insights to share in 2020.?

?It?s been great to be a part of TSR and its innovation ecosystem raising the profile of safety,? said Pablo Gonzalez, Co-founder and Principal of Dreampact Ventures. ?The work that the coalition has been doing in the last year is outstanding – actionable projects that are making a real difference. TSR is not just talking about problems but solving them.? 

“The fleet safety world has been underserved by technology for decades, and Together for Safer Roads serves a crucial purpose trying to change that, said Raffi Mardirosian, Vice President Business at Ouster, one of the charter members of the Global Entrepreneur Program?s Cohort 1. ?By partnering leading progressive, safety-oriented fleets with startups pursuing the latest technology that can make drivers and vulnerable road users safer, TSR is catalyzing and accelerating safety impact – serving a unique role in the ecosystem.??

?As a major user of roads around the world and with over 180,000 colleagues and their families using the world?s roads every day, road safety is a top priority for our company.  As a founding member of TSR, we are proud to be a part of and to support the new Global Leadership Council for Fleet Safety?, said Catalina Garcia, Global Corporate Affairs Director at AB InBev.

?Helping to ensure that our roads are safe through smarter driving is a priority that we take very seriously at AT&T,? said Chris Penrose, Senior Vice President, Advanced Mobility and Enterprise Solutions, AT&T. ?With the advent of 5G, smarter cities, data collection and analysis and eventually automated driving, the possibilities will be limitless. Working with Together for Safer Roads puts us at the forefront of harnessing technology to improve road safety and save lives.?

?I am very proud of our team, members and partners and the work we?ve done this year, said Dave Braunstein, President, Together for Safer Roads. ?As we move into 2020, we will continue to expand our work with both the private sector members and the public sector partners to initiate problem-solving projects. We?re dedicated to unearthing data to help us create better drivers, smarter cities and safer road users. In particular, through the new Global Leadership Council for Fleet Safety, we will be working with fleets to help educate drivers on safer interactions with other road users. This is a unique initiative that we believe will make a big impact on road safety. Our safer cities work will also continue to expand around the globe, working with the public sector to create smarter and safer roadways.?

ABOUT TOGETHER FOR SAFER ROADS

Together for Safer Roads is a global NGO that builds public-private partnerships around local projects, fleet safety management and technology initiatives to prevent traffic crashes, injuries and deaths. TSR was started in conjunction with the UN’s Decade of Road safety and has partners around the world. TSR?s members include AB InBev, AIG, AT&T, CalAmp, Republic Services, Lyft, Marsh, iHeartMedia, Octo Telematics, Geotab, PepsiCo, UPS, Walmart, and others. Learn more at www.togetherforsaferroads.org.

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