A game-changing project to make a dangerous road safer. A toolkit to help small and mid-size companies upgrade their road safety procedures. An app that trains people around the world on data-driven road safety practices.
These are just a few examples of the ongoing work AB InBev is undertaking with Together For Safer Roads (TSR) and United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) to make roads safer in the communities where our people live and work.
Every year, the AB InBev fleet travels 1.5 billion kilometers or 934 million miles – roughly 37,000 trips around the globe. Learn more about how we're helping drive meaningful change to make for safer roads for all.
Why does AB InBev make road safety a priority? We have one of the largest fleets in the world, operations in over 50 countries and 164,000 colleagues and their families who travel on roads every day. To help reduce traffic injuries and fatalities, AB InBev and our partners are delivering impactful road safety solutions to tackle risk factors, including speeding, distracted driving, and drinking and driving, as well as improve vehicle design and road infrastructure.
Here is a look at some of the latest progress we've made together.
Together for Safer Roads: Supporting smaller fleets, aiming for ‘zero' in Houston
In 2014, AB InBev helped establish Together For Safer Roads (TSR) a coalition of private companies tackling road safety issues by sharing knowledge, data, technology and global networks.
A new area of focus for our TSR partnership is small to mid-sized fleets. These account for roughly 88% of all commercial fleets on the road and their operators often don't have the time or resources to develop and manage safety programs that go beyond basic compliance.
To address this issue, we worked with TSR and other member companies on the Focus on Fleet Safety program to help small and mid-size companies upgrade their road safety standards and procedures.
On World Safety Day 2021, TSR and AB InBev called on companies around the globe to enroll in the Focus on Fleet Safety program for small- to mid-size fleets.
The program focuses on three key areas of a effective and sustainable road safety: training, leadership development and technology. The best practices and practical knowledge provided assist operators in implementing a world-class safety program that can help save lives on the road.
We also helped kick-off another ambitious new TSR project in April, Houston Vision Zero, which aims to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries in this Texas city by 2030.
“We are committed to improving community safety where our employees and their families, our business partners and our consumers all share the same roads,” said Cesar Vargas, Chief External Affairs officer at Anheuser-Busch. “We have deep roots here, with Houston being the home to one of our flagship breweries.”
In April Together for Safer Roads broke ground on a Vision Zero project to help make roads safer for all in Houston. The city is home to a flagship Anheuser-Busch brewery that's been in operation since 1966. (Photo source: Office of the Mayor of Houston)
Houston Vision Zero will first tackle safety issues on Hillcroft Avenue, which is considered one of the city's most dangerous roads. The initiative, based on the Vision Zero road safety methodology, will create safer pedestrian crossings, protected bike lanes and public spaces that ultimately improve walkability. The purpose of this initial intervention is to showcase the potential of Vision Zero to improve the road safety conditions in the greater Houston.
UNITAR: Bringing our toolkit to more stakeholders
Last year, we renewed our partnership with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) to continue working toward our shared ambition of the UN Sustainable Development Goal to reduce road traffic injuries and deaths by 50% by 2030.
Together with UNITAR we launched the Management Practices for Safer Roads Toolkit in 2019. The toolkit is an interactive, e-learning tool that outlines best practices for data collection, identifying key risk factors linked to road traffic accidents, corrective measures and impact measurement. It can be used by government officials, road engineers, planners and policy makers from the public and private sector. The methodology is also part of the curriculum at 20 UNITAR training centers around the world.
The Management Practices for Safer Roads Toolkit highlights case studies and best practices from Brazil, China, the Dominican Republic, India, Mexico and South Africa.
To expand the toolkit's reach it was recently translated into four languages to train over 2,000 people in more than 90 countries and made available as a mobile app.
The Management Practices for Safer Roads toolkit is now available for free on the Play Store for Android and the App Store for iOS.
“[The new UNITAR learning app] serves as a substantive contribution to advance our shared goal of making cities safe, resilient and sustainable,” said Dr. Deisi Kusztra, President of the World Family Organization and Member of the UNITAR Board of Trustees.
“We believe that making the toolkit available on mobile devices will greatly benefit the organizations and governments that wish to make a positive impact toward improving road safety,” said John Blood, AB InBev Chief Legal and Corporate Affairs Officer & Corporate Secretary.
The road ahead
AB InBev will continue to work with partners and experts around the world to create safer roads for all. We are building a company to last, and we know that safe roads are critical to the health and wellbeing of our colleagues, our families and communities across the globe.