The challenge
Fortaleza had some of Brazil's highest rates of traffic deaths.
The case
Fortaleza, Brazil, had some of the country's highest rates of traffic deaths. From 2015 to 2020 the city worked directly with the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety, lowering speed limits on major avenues, adding speed cameras and enforcement, and redesigning dangerous streets with safer crossings and bike lanes. Bloomberg's Idea Exchange reports a 68% reduction in fatal crashes on roads where maximum speeds were lowered. City figures show traffic deaths fell from 377 in 2014 to 157 in 2022, a reduction of 58.3%. Bloomberg says the approach has been replicated in 27 cities across five countries.
Why it worked
Speed is the single biggest factor in whether a crash kills someone, and lowering it is cheap. Pairing new limits with visible enforcement and street redesign made drivers actually slow down.
Sources
- Bloomberg Cities Idea Exchange: Traffic Fatalities.
- What Works Cities: Fortaleza, Brazil.
- Global Designing Cities Initiative (2023). Fortaleza achieves eighth consecutive year of reduction in traffic deaths.
Spot an error or know a better source? Tell us