Parents and students are returning to the hustle and bustle of back-to-school season, and the City of Calgary are encouraging people to slow down by installing more traffic safety tools.
Members of the city’s Mobility Safety Team met with the media in the northeast community of Taradale on Monday morning to share the physical improvements they have made near schools to enhance pedestrian safety.
As of Aug. 24, traffic engineer Surndra Mishra said that the city has added new safety features at about 50 schools across Calgary since the 2026 campaign began. He said that these include curb extensions, rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFBs), speed humps, and speed cushions.
“The goal is not simply to add infrastructure,” said Mishra.
“The goal is to use the right safety treatment at the right location. We want streets to work better for everyone, especially children, who are less visible because they are small, and they are still developing judgement around traffic.”
Schools are considered worthy of these alert and traffic-calming measures being installed after they have been reviewed for local conditions, such as the posted speed limits, average vehicle volume, and pedestrian crossing activity, he said.
Mishra explained that the city’s use of AI to track traffic patterns, which started last summer alongside other new technologies like drones and VR cameras, is just one tool they might use to determine where infrastructure is needed, and that this will be weighed against traditional data.
“We have eyes on the roads,” he said.
“We get those cues from the schools and the school boards and the general public. When they complain, we can review that and then come up with the proper solution.”
Combining all the mentioned instruction types is the most effective way to improve pedestrian safety, but due to cost, both city and police officials said the issue requires all hands on deck.
Safety improvements come as pedestrian fatalities grow
Mishra said that simple curb extensions cost around $80,000, and that areas requiring drainage could increase this to $300,000. A pair of RRFBs costs around $90,000, while speed humps and cushions are far cheaper at just under $30,000 for a set of two or three.
The campaign follows the city’s Vision Zero initiative, which aims to spread awareness to limit the number of major injuries and fatalities on Calgary’s roads. Last year, the number of pedestrian fatalities hit an 11-year high, with 15 people killed by a vehicle.
So far in 2026, more than 10 pedestrians have been killed, and the city is on track to reach 40. Const. Les Mills, with the police’s Residential Traffic Safety Unit, said that they have made remedying this number a priority, and that infrastructure improvements have helped.
“These make a huge difference,” he said.
“As soon as you put in an extension on the curb, you can see the cars aren’t going to park there, making the road narrower. People will look ahead of them and see that the road is narrower, and will automatically start to slow down.”
Mishra cited city studies that found the combination of curb extensions and speed cushions reduced collisions by between 70 and 80 per cent. Additionally, after RRFBs were installed, the yield compliance rate among drivers increased from 70 to 95 per cent.
However, Jacquelyn Oriold, the city’s safety education program manager, said that improving pedestrian safety depends on drivers, walkers, and cyclists working together, encouraging community cooperation.
“At this time of year, we see so much more activity around schools, especially at pickup and drop-off times,” she said.
“We need people to slow down, put distractions away, obey the playground zone speeds, and stay alert. We need to be ready to stop.”
