Safer Streets Plans Announced as 9 in 10 Women Feel Unsafe Walking at Night
New nationwide plans have been announced to design safer streets across England, after findings revealed that 9 in 10 women report feeling unsafe walking at night.
The initiative, led by Active Travel England, focuses on improving street design, lighting, visibility and public space planning to help people feel and be safer when travelling, particularly after dark.
The message is clear: feeling unsafe has become the norm for many women and that must change.
Why It Matters
The Community Safety Context
For many women, walking at night is not a simple everyday activity, it involves constant decision-making:
Choosing routes based on lighting and visibility
Avoiding certain areas or transport links
Sharing locations with friends or family
Staying alert to surroundings at all times
When public spaces feel unsafe:
Confidence in communities declines
Access to work, education and social life is restricted
Inequality is reinforced through behaviour change
Designing safer streets is a critical step but environmental change alone is not enough.
imabi’s View: safety must be felt - not just designed
We welcome investment in safer street design, but what matters most is how safe people actually feel when they’re moving through those spaces day to day.
Many people already adapt their behaviour to feel safer. The next step is ensuring they have tools that support them in the moment, not just long-term planning changes.
Through the imabi platform, we:
🔵 support individuals while they are on the move, enabling them to share journeys, access guidance and raise concerns if something doesn’t feel right (Travel Guardian)
🟠connect local authorities and partners with the community (imabi Connect), enabling them to share targeted safety alerts, guidance and location-based information
🟣 enable communities to share insight on where they feel unsafe, helping identify patterns and inform safer design decisions
We are here to work together to turn plans into practical, joined-up solutions that people can feel.