CARSP SNN Video Interview Transcript (Fall 2024)

Date: October 3, 2024

Interviewer: Dr. Emily McCullogh, York University, member of the CARSP editorial board

Interviewee: Dr. Ian Pike, Full Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, at the University of British Columbia, investigator at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, and former director of the BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit. Dr. Pike will be sharing insights regarding the Vision Zero Road Safety Grant program in British Columbia.

Emily: Can you tell us a fun fact about yourself?

Ian: I think the most fun fact might be that my career started in academics, went to the private sector, went to the charitable sector, and then came back to academics. But throughout that journey, the valuable lessons that I learned from each of those different sectors that I've been able to apply in my research has been invaluable. And I think had I stayed continually in academics, I would have missed out on some very rich understanding of how, for example, policy/practice are moved through policy. So while it may not be the fun thing that you are looking for, for me, it really has impacted how I do my work, how I think about my research projects, and how I'm able to interface with private, public and charitable sector organizations, I think very comfortably because of that experience.

Emily: Well, that's great. Thank you for sharing. And what a wonderful example of the need to bridge this research practice gap, and the fruits of that kind of collaboration and connection. How did you get involved in the injury prevention and road safety world?

Ian: Well, I first started my academic career as an aquatic director and junior faculty member at the University of Regina. I had put myself through undergraduate school being a lifeguard and swimming instructor, and this was an evolution of that career. I've always been very interested in safety first aid response. My mother was a nurse. My mother was a St. John Ambulance serving sister and Commander. She required all of us to learn how to respond, so I think for me safety, health and well-being has been something that's at the forefront and it's figured in how I wanted to have a career and where I wanted to put energy, doing work for and on behalf of myself and the community in which I worked. When I moved into the private sector, that focus was on workplace health promotion and safety in the healthcare industry in British Columbia, so I worked to try and improve health, safety, and well-being of health professionals through workplace policy and environmental improvements and practices. When that job came to its logical conclusion I moved into the charitable sector with the Canadian Red Cross. And the Canadian Red Cross has had many programs that are related to injury prevention. They have a child abuse prevention program, they have first aid, they have water safety. Consequently, I sat on a Minister's Advisory Committee for injury prevention in British Columbia, representing the Canadian Red Cross, and it was through that that I met Dr Mariana Brussoni, who was at the BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit at the time. She indicated that they were recruiting a director, and she jokes that she stalked me to get that job, and I'm so glad that she did because it has been the most enjoyable job in my career, to work fully immersed in injury prevention and the public health approach to injury prevention. And so I came to it through a bit of a winding journey in three different sectors. But as I said earlier, I think the value of those other sectors in the way I think about research, and how I've completed my research has been particularly helpful. And of course in British Columbia, like in many other jurisdictions, the toll exacted because of road vehicle crashes and road incidents is such that it's a priority in British Columbia. It's one of three major priorities of this government and of the research unit to assist government with policy and practice decisions around road safety. And so I came to it because A, it's an important priority, and B, I had a long and winding road to get there.

Emily: Thank you for sharing such an exciting journey. Can you tell us a bit about BC’s Vision Zero microgrant program

Ian: Of course. Well, as I just mentioned, road safety is a priority in this province for public health and for the government. Unfortunately, each year we see about 80,000 people injured as a result of a road incident that leads to about 2500 of them being hospitalized because those injuries are serious enough, and regrettably and tragically, 250 people on an annual basis, are killed on our roads. It's a very expensive burden, not just in the social toll in terms of those numbers, but it's about $650 million annually. And we believe, through the right policies, practices and preventative interventions, we can save those lives, reduce the hurt, and be able to redirect some of that $650 million to other priorities within the health system. When we looked at what we can do, in addition to research about restraint, speed, alcohol, all of the factors that contribute to road safety, there was a suggestion from around the world that micro granting is a very positive way to impact small groups, small communities in particular, and that small investments can make a huge difference. And you've only got to think about the micro grants that are made to women entrepreneurs in developing nations to see how big an impact that small amount of money can have in the independence, health and well-being of those individuals. And we took that concept and it became the Vision Zero Road Safety Grant Program in British Columbia, whereby we give small grants to solve problems that were identified by communities, or contribute in part to larger projects identified by communities that they felt would impact road safety. So we wanted to focus on vulnerable road users, so those people who are at greatest risk on the road... pedestrians, cyclists, and motor motorcyclists. We also wanted to think about the communities where the vulnerability perhaps is highest, and so small communities with limited resources, Indigenous communities. 

So the grant program focuses on vulnerable road user safety, and has two streams: one specifically for Indigenous communities who can make an application based upon their assessment of the needs for road safety improvements in their community. It could be speed zones, it could be rapid flashing crosswalk indicators, it could be installing crosswalk stops. It could be a whole host of things. It could also be something beyond physical improvements to the road infrastructure. It could be education, it could be promotion. And so for the Indigenous stream, it really is defined completely by that community to tell us their needs, and then to convince the reviewers that this is a project that is worthy and that will have the impact that they say it will. And then that investment is made. It's slightly different in the other communities and with not-for-profit organizations, typically, the grants are made to make improvements in the road environment, so speed zones, sight lines, crosswalks, speed bumps, and so on. The program invites people to submit proposals and we've designed the proposal process to be as succinct as possible, to not require volumes of paper and rationalization, but there are some requirements. We want applicants to describe the problem, to describe how their proposed intervention will address that problem, what their expected results will be, and how they will determine that they achieved those results through some kind of evaluation plan. And in the case of environmental and structural changes to the roadways or the pathways, some engagement of road safety engineers or engineers, and then it's a fairly rapid review process. 

We engage experts throughout the province to review the submissions  and these submissions are reviewed by the corresponding geographic health authority. So people who are very familiar with the geography and the needs of that region are the people who review the proposals from that region. Therefore, we hope that there is empathy and understanding to the context in which those proposals are being submitted. Once decisions are made we're able then to award the funding and the grants range between $10,000 and $20,000. It's a small amount of money, but as I said earlier, we have seen that money achieves the results. We've seen that money used to leverage other monies from other sources. We've seen it offset costs of a larger project in some municipalities. All of them indicate the huge importance of this program to the success of their project or their intervention. 

This is the third or fourth year and since we’ve started we have funded 156 different projects throughout the province, all of them completed successfully, according to what they proposed. 58 of those were Indigenous led projects, and that's in a province where I think we have 20 First Nations communities. That's roughly 25% of the total of all of our First Nations communities have availed themselves of the project, and in total, we've been able to award about $2.5 million. That fund is through the generous and visionary support of the BC government, both the BC Ministry of Health, the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, and the regional health authorities, some of whom have enhanced the granting program in their region, because they have also identified a priority and basically put their money where their mouth is and put extra funds for that region into the projects.

Emily: That's remarkable. And from what I know of the program, there is so much support from the health authorities for those potential applicants and the recipients of those funds, right? 

Ian: Yes, once the award is given, the project isn't just like, “here's your money, get on with it.” Each of the health authorities have injury prevention lead employees, and this program is one of their highest priorities in terms of working with the grant recipients, to stand beside them and to assist them whenever necessary, and to just facilitate the plan of their project as proposed. All of them do a fantastic job. For example, Tobin from the Fraser health authority, he is vitally interested in the success of this project and this program, and I think for the time that the grants are awarded and while they're underway, he devotes hours and hours beyond his work day to ensure the success of these projects across his region.

Emily: That commitment really illustrates the importance of those champions within local government as well communities, right? 

Ian: I think it's a really good example of how you can create a collaborative partnership, and in this case, between provincial government entities, between municipal government entities, between charitable organizations, between Indigenous-led community organized governments, because that is a government-to-government relationship where the expertise of people interested in road safety, traffic safety, are the people who benefit from it. So in many cases it's schools, it's local safety organizations, charitable sector organizations, and all of them coming together under a single program with a common cause that they are then able to collaborate on and solve. It's quite a beautiful thing. 

Emily: It's a really wonderful example, which leads into my next question, do you have any advice for our CARSP members working in different municipalities on how to start this kind of program in collaboration with their province or territory?

Ian: Well, I think, like anything, you need to take the first step. Decide to do it. Where there's a will, there is a way. And if you decide to do it, do it in such a way that works in your context, for your problems, for your people, for your issues. This is built in British Columbia, in the context of British Columbia and the needs expressed by our communities, and in consultation with those communities. To lift this blueprint and try and drop it into another jurisdiction, I fear it will likely fail because it is built by and for British Columbia communities around their needs for Road Safety. Conceptually, however, somebody took the first step to say, “you know what, I think small communities who are struggling with resources to implement some of the road safety needs, a simple thing like rapid amber flashing beacons, if we gave them the $10,000 that they need to be able to put that in place, what do you think the difference might be? Well, let's take a risk, and let's try.” Because in the grand scheme of things, $10,000 is not even a drop in the bucket of expenses that are committed to road safety. Yes, you need to reorganize some of them, and you need to say this is a commitment we're going to make to work with our municipal and community partners to see if we can do it in a way that works for them and for us, and it is a bit different than the traditional. So the advice is, get the will and there will be a way. Talk with government officials about where they're investing in road safety and whether there’s an opportunity to part of that investment being put in the hands of local decision makers in small amounts. Microgrants can be given so that there is this co-development and this collaboration to implement what the community sees as the important need in that community. We started that way. It is been iterative. It's grown, it's evolved, and every bit of that evolution has fit the need that was expressed or determined at the time. And so it continues to evolve because of everybody's concern that the program needs to be sustained in a way that it continues to make a difference in the safety and well-being of vulnerable road users. This is not a template or toolbox or anything like that. It's a concept of how to address vulnerable road safety user. The concept played out in this way in British Columbia, but the concept of investing in the end user in partnership and collaboration is the one that CARSP members could talk to their local leaders about.

Emily: Wonderful. And, again, the empowerment of those local communities and their investment in their own safety and well-being, that seems like a really wonderful ball to get rolling. 

Ian: Oh, absolutely. You and I have worked together on other projects, and I think you would know people ask, “well, how are we going to do this with that group?” And the answer is “I don't know, let's ask them.” Too often we sit in these ivory towers thinking that our research will solve all the problems. The best way to apply research is to go ask what's needed, and to go work with the people who need it and from that, everybody learns, everybody grows. There's a place for the expertise, but that place for the expertise comes because you've asked the group already, “What do you need? How can we work together to fulfill what you need? And here's a little bit of expertise that I think I have that can help,” right? But the first step is to ask about what people want. That's true collaboration.

Emily: Thank you so much. Dr Pike. Is there anything else you'd like to share with our audience before we sign off today?

Ian: I'd like to say thank you for this opportunity. And on behalf of all of the people who work in the Vision Zero Road Safety Grant Program, Thank You! It's an important program in this province. It is still evolving, but we think it's evolving in a way that it's meeting the needs. And thank you to CARSP for highlighting this program and I congratulate CARSP on its long history and best wishes for their continuation and efforts in road safety in Canada.