Infrastructure upgrades to make KL schools safer


Maimunah (second from left) leading students across one of the new pedestrian crossings built in SK Danau Kota 2 in Setapak.

More schools in Kuala Lumpur will receive infrastructure upgrades to make the streets around them safer for students and local communities, says Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Maimunah Mohd Sharif.

The mayor announced this during her visit to SK Danau Kota 2, Setapak, a pilot school under the School Road Safety Project.

The school now has features such as raised zebra crossings and pedestrian lanes.

These aim to reduce speeds of passing vehicles while improving safe access to the school.

As part of the project, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) introduced a 30km/h speed limit around school zones.

This was in line with last July’s announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on the government’s plans to reduce speed limits and improve safety infrastructure around school areas.

To test new road flow designs in the area, DBKL’s Urban Transport Department collaborated with Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI) and its local liaison Bike Commute Malaysia, as well as Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros).

The collaboration was carried out under the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS).

“We remain steadfast in our mission to reduce road traffic injuries and fatalities, particularly for our most vulnerable citizens, including schoolchildren,” said Maimunah.

“By addressing the primary risk factor – vehicle speed, we aim to expand these efforts to more schools each year, starting with three in 2025.”

She said that making schools safer would require commitment from all relevant agencies.

These would include road designers to retrofit self-enforcing infrastructure, especially within a 200m radius of school entrances, she said.

Maimunah highlighted that the project aligned with the DBKL Local Plan and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

These include SDG 3 of working to halve global road fatalities and injuries, and SDG 11 of promoting sustainable cities and communities through safe access as well as sustainable transport systems.

The project also aims to meet SDG 13 by advancing safer roads as a pathway to a climate-proof future, and SDG 17 by fostering strong partnerships to accelerate progress.

GDCI regional lead (BIGRS Asia and Africa) Kim Lua said this initiative showed how transforming streets could improve road safety and save lives by reinforcing safe behaviours while discouraging unsafe ones, and could contribute to sustainable development in Kuala Lumpur.

“What began as a pop-up trial shows DBKL’s commitment to creating a safe environment for children and vulnerable road users.

“We are delighted with the city’s efforts and believe this project will serve as a valuable case study for other school streets in Malaysia,” he said.

DBKL chose Setapak for the pilot project as the area has neighbouring primary and secondary schools.

It is also a high-density urban area where more than 70% of students commute from homes within 3km of schools.

The government has been looking into ways to improve safety around schools following grim road accident statistics involving students.

Last year, Bukit Aman Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department director Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri revealed that 779 fatal crashes involving school students were recorded in the first nine months of the year.

The Statistics Department’s 2023 report showed that road deaths were the second highest contributor to fatalities among children under 14 in Malaysia.

These accounted for 3.8% of deaths.

Also, high speeds were found to be the biggest risk factor for deaths on streets.

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Bloomberg philanthropist , mayor , maimunah

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