France’s SRU Act (Solidarity and Urban Renewal Act) makes safe transportation systems one of the priority objectives of Urban Transportation Plans (PDUs).It views the organising authorities of urban transportation systems and their partners as directly accountable for urban transport safety problems. This is because road traffic accidents are neither inevitable nor strictly a question of user behaviour. Moreover, it will only be possible to develop the environmentally-friendly modes of transport advocated in the PDUs if cities become sufficiently safe for all vulnerable users. The PDUs’ new focus on safety, which aims to achieve safer transport systems, has raised several questions for those working in related fields:· What is meant by the concept of safe transportation as used in PDUs?· At the level of an urban area, how can the issues be assessed?· How should the urban transport authorities and the teams in charge of drawing up PDUs be organised?· How should PDUs be implemented and monitored to ensure that safety is taken into account?PDUs provide a very interesting framework, thanks to their geographical scope, the homogeneity of the area covered, their medium-term outlook and the resources deployed, which creates an opportunity to make major changes to how transportation systems and the environment in which they are set are organised. For this, it is important that, in each local authority, convergence is achieved between the various fields covered by the PDU. This is because safety is a cross-cutting issue, and the objectives involved coincide with those of quality of life, the environment and the planning of public spaces. Certu works on these issues, in partnership with urban transport authorities, the INRETS, the CETE agencies and professionals in the field. A technical guide on the subject, aimed at everyone involved in drawing up and implementing PDUs, was published in December 2004. Drawing on the most up-to-date knowledge, developed in France and Europe-wide, it provides tools and methods for sustainably incorporating safety into PDU projects; a brochure designed to raise awareness among elected officials was published in June 2004. This is available for downloading on this website.A conference on the subject of French urban transportation plans: safety, accessibility and the environment, what’s new in France and Europe, was held in Lyon in partnership with INRETS, ADEME, the GART, Techni-cités and Greater Lyon on 29 November 2005. The proceedings are available on CD-ROM, together with a downloadable brochure.