A new, pan-European partnership with the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), one of the leading independent road safety organizations in Europe, was announced today, Thursday, by Wolt, in the context of European Mobility Week, which takes place from 16 to 22 September.
The one-year partnership will focus on how urban infrastructure affects the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and two-wheeler drivers in European cities, including couriers who move through them every day.
The partnership is taking place at a time when progress in road safety in Europe remains slow. According to ETSC’s latest Road Safety Performance Index, Europe is currently on track to achieve only half of the required reduction in road deaths needed to meet the European target for 2030.
In this context, the design of urban infrastructure and the creation of safer conditions for those who use the roads every day are gaining particular importance.
As part of the partnership, ETSC will prepare a special study on policy for safer urban infrastructure, examining, based on available scientific data, issues such as the design of intersections, segregated bicycle infrastructure, and speed management in cities, while maintaining full independence regarding the drafting and conclusions of the study.
The results of the study will be presented through a pan-European webinar and an in-person conference, bringing to the same table representatives of institutional bodies, local authorities, and road safety experts, with the aim of discussing the findings and the ways in which they can be used for safer urban mobility.
At the same time, Wolt and ETSC will explore how the experience of the couriers themselves can contribute to the expansion of the available knowledge around the safety of urban mobility. This specific aspect of the partnership is at an early stage and will develop over the coming months.
Wolt’s Vice President and Head of International Public Policy, Samuel Laurinkari, stated:
“Couriers are on the roads every day, and the quality of infrastructure directly affects their daily experience. We want the discussion about safer road design to be based on real data. That is why we are partnering with ETSC, and as the project develops, we aspire to find ways for what partner couriers see and experience every day to contribute to this effort”.
In Greece, “Moving the City, Responsibly” places responsible mobility at the center
The new partnership with ETSC comes a few months after the presentation in Greece of “Moving the City, Responsibly”, the largest responsible mobility initiative that Wolt has developed internationally to date.
The initiative is being implemented in collaboration with the Road Safety Institute “Panos Mylonas” (I.O.AS.), under the auspices of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and with the support of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), with the aim of contributing to the shaping of a new culture of responsible mobility in Greek cities.
Its starting point was qualitative and quantitative research, with the participation of 980 partner couriers, as well as partner businesses and citizens.
Based on the research findings, a comprehensive information and training program was developed for Wolt’s more than 17,000 partner couriers in Greece, which is also integrated into the onboarding process for new partners.
The program is supported by a specialized digital information and training platform, actions for partner businesses, fleet management companies, support teams, and courier representatives.
At the same time, it includes an upgraded mechanism for reporting and managing incidents concerning not only road safety, but also issues of violence, harassment, and racist behavior.
An important part of the initiative is addressed to the general public, while in collaboration with the I.O.AS. “Panos Mylonas,” experiential activities will be carried out in more than 12 schools in the region, with the participation of more than 600 students.
Wolt’s Head of Communications and Corporate Affairs for Southeastern Europe and Central Asia, Akis Stamoulis, stated:
“The more our footprint in cities grows, the more our responsibility toward them grows as well. That was also the logic behind Moving the City, Responsibly, which we launched in Greece. For us, responsible mobility is not only about how we drive, but about how we move and coexist in the city every day.
The partnership with ETSC now opens this discussion at the European level as well, putting at the center something equally important: how we design the cities themselves and their infrastructure”.
The partnership with ETSC is being added to a series of initiatives that Wolt is implementing in European markets in the context of European Mobility Week.
Among other things, in Germany it is collaborating with DEKRA to create an e-learning program and actions for partner couriers, in the Czech Republic it is implementing actions with the organization Dám respekt, in Hungary it has co-signed the Budapest Safety Charter, while in Romania it is collaborating with the cycling organization HaiCuBicla.
More information about the ETSC study, the pan-European webinar, and the conference that will follow will be announced in the coming months.
Summary of Changes