Non-motorised transport (NMT) offers basic mobility, affordable transport, access to public transport, and health benefits. Improving the convenience, comfort, and safety of walking and cycling reduces the demand for travel by personal motor vehicles, helping to alleviate the critical traffic challenges facing many cities. Despite a high level of reliance on NMT, many streets in cities in Zambia are not designed for people to walk or cycle. As many cities around the globe have realised, street designs that focus on vehicle movement rather than mobility for people undermine quality of life and the character of public spaces. Urgent steps are needed to ensure more equitable allocation of road space by focusing on walking, cycling, and public transport in the planning, design, construction and management of transport systems.
Toward this end, the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MOTC) has developed an NMT Strategy to guide the implementation of high quality non-motorised transport systems in Zambia. The aim of the NMT Strategy is to achieve improved access through sustainable transport modes including walking, cycling, and public transport. The NMT Strategy for Zambia is consistent with the National Road Traffic Safety Policy and Action Plan, which envision “a safe road network for all road users” in line with the United Nation’s Decade of Action for Road Safety, which declared a goal of reducing road fatalities by 50 percent by 2020.1
The NMT Strategy has been developed following extensive consultations including stakeholder meetings, capacity building workshops, and an online survey. Successful implementation of the NMT Strategy will be determined by the joint efforts of concerned stakeholders
