Transport survey

On April 15 and 16 Youthlink surveyed the community about road safety. There was a polling board, letterbox for further suggestions and information was given out.

Polling Board

Outside Solar Kitchen, Youthlink set up a polling board split into twenty-four sections with individual road safety concerns such as speeding, driving under the influence etc. 235 votes were cast. As each participant had three votes, roughly 78 people participated. The survey shows road quality as the biggest concern for residents, with a total of 38 votes, followed by speeding (31) and people driving with high beam headlights on(24).

Concern Letterbox and Dreamline

The ‘dreamline’ gathered information on people’s outlook into the future of road safety. The ‘concern letterbox’ allowed people to voice concerns which were not presented on the polling board. They received 29 concern letters and 13 dream letters, as well as verbal community feedback: 14 letters about the way people were driving; such as driving whilst using a mobile, underage driving and driving under the influence 8 letters addressed road quality 6 letters on the Solar Kitchen roundabout and whether people knew how to use it properly 5 letters on too much traffic on the roads 3 letters were concerned with electric bicycles on cycle paths.

Suggestions

After gathering all this information Youthlink came up with the following suggestions:

1. Creating leaflets to be circulated in all guest houses for tourists/guests to understand the regional driving laws and safety concerns within the community

2. Creating benches on cycle paths

3. Creating a cycle path map of Auroville

4. Putting up more road safety sign boards

5. Build a driving school that has driving courses for Aurovilians and Newcomers and have a place for new learners to practice driving

6. Put reflective tape on turns

7. Place convex mirrors on blind spots

8. Place reflective tape on cow horns.

Action Plan

The Youthlink team wish to visit the high schools of Auroville to help spread information and start an open conversation on the dangers of some of our driving habits. They hope to collaborate with working groups on implementing some of the above points. They are working alongside the Auroville Security Service Team to design a First Aid course, so more people are able to provide assistance in case of accidents.