Background The United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030 sets a global target to halve road traffic fatalities and injuries by 2030. Several jurisdictions have formulated even more ambitious targets by setting a date for achieving zero road trauma, typically by 2040 or 2050.

There is a growing body of evidence around what initiatives are effective in reducing road crashes and injuries. The Global Plan, supporting the Decade of Action includes an extensive list of such measures. However, what is missing is how to prioritise these measures and guide stakeholders on a national level in producing a context sensitive road safety action plan.

There is also a lack of tangible planning frameworks to assist countries to link near and long term targets with day-to-day operations and maintain a focus on the ultimate objective of zero trauma by a set date.

Objective The aim of this work was to implement a Vision Zero planning framework to guide jurisdictions seeking an evidence-based pathway to transform their road system to achieve zero road trauma by a set date.

Programme Description Back-casting was used to develop a 6-step Vision Zero planning framework. These steps included: Define a Safe System end state, Assess the current state of the network, Gap analysis between the current and future state, Identify interventions using trauma modelling, Strategic response, and Performance indicators for monitoring.

Outcomes and Learnings The framework was used in developing road safety action plans for jurisdictions in Australasia and the Middle East. Bespoke Safe System end states for specific end dates were developed together with credible business cases and interim targets for key components to achieve overall goals. The designed end states were estimated to help these jurisdictions achieve a 90% reduction in road fatalities by 2050.

Implications and Conclusions This framework supports jurisdictions seeking detailed guidance to achieving ambitious trauma reduction targets within fixed timeframes. Compared to previous approaches, this framework favours sustainable solutions to eliminate road trauma over the long term, while also bringing forward cost effective solutions to achieve near term interim targets.