Propuesta de un plan estratégico de seguridad vial para el cantón Baños, provincia de Tungurahua

Abstract

This present research work named "Proposal of a Strategic Road Safety Plan for the Canton Baños, Tungurahua Province", aimed to focus on three main actors: pedestrians, motorized and non-motorized vehicles, and infrastructure, whose main purpose is to reduce traffic jam in Baños city, using these principles of road safety with a clear focus and that generates an important benefit since the city, being a traveler place and small in terms of territory, needs to apply an improvement in urban mobility because, in this way, we can generate and improve the tourist part of the city, resulting in obtaining more economic income for the city development. We conducted the research through information gathering, bibliography review, and direct observation. These results got from this research include urban road infrastructure in poor condition, deficient vertical and horizontal signaling, together with a low road culture by the users. We conclude that there is minimal support from the authorities to improve urban mobility in this city, which is why it is necessary to implement a Strategic Road Safety Plan and the different actions designed to achieve safe roads, users, and vehicles. Therefore, we recommend imposing restriction measures for motorized vehicles in the center of the city since, being a tourist city, pedestrian access should prevail as a primary factor in a large part, thus generating a road culture and avoiding vehicular congestion in different strategic sites.