Overall campaign
Better Streets for Birmingham is chaired on an annual term basis. At the start of each term, the Chair presents their aims for the year ahead. Read the aims for the current year.
If you sign up as a supporter, you will receive a monthly email newsletter to update you about our campaign.
Campaigns
Get a window poster for the May 2026 local elections
We have produced several posters with messages that support our ten manifesto asks to address the road safety emergency.
Posters are available to order through our website for the price of a stamp (£1.55) until 27th April.
Ten manifesto asks to address the road safety emergency
Based on current rates, 106 people will lose their lives in crashes on Birmingham’s streets during the 2026 to 2030 council term.
We have joined as a coalition of 16 local and national organisations to ask those preparing to stand for election: Will you make Birmingham’s streets safer?
Birmingham Mail’s road safety campaign
We are currently supporting the Birmingham Mail’s 2025 road safety campaign.
They are demanding better sentencing, action against ghost plates and better overall enforcement, rolling out 20mph zones and changes to our city’s streets.
Birmingham’s road safety emergency
We got Birmingham City Council to declare a state of emergency on the city’s roads, acknowledging there is an issue and committing to making more interventions with greater urgency.
School play streets
We have organised play streets to help families reimagine the school run through removing car traffic from outside schools for a day.
We are hoping that these events increase the demand for car free school streets.
Safe Streets Now
When vulnerable pedestrians are killed by motorised traffic in unsafe areas, Safe Streets Now collaborates with groups from around the country to ensure these deaths are not forgotten and that they are linked to a reality of poor infrastructure and dangerous driving.
Safe Streets Now works with Councillors, MPs and safety groups, aiming to reclaim these danger spaces and make them safe again, finding peace for the victims of road danger whist making sure the death never happens in that space again.
Free shopping home delivery
A massive worry of residents transitioning to active travel is “How will I do the big shop?”. Better Streets for Birmingham has previously run Free shopping home delivery to help Kings Heath residents get over these fears. The delivery is via cargo bike, allowing community members to travel by walking, by bike or by bus, without having the stress of lugging multiple shopping bags.
We are unable to run this service at the moment as our e-cargo bike is part of a recall.
Red means STOP
Red light jumping is a systemic issue in Birmingham, posing danger and threat to pedestrians and drivers. To highlight the scale of the issue, Better Streets for Birmingham members collaborate on this ongoing data project to measure how many drivers run red lights at observed junctions.
Our largest study was performed in September 2023, where members from across the city watched 21 junctions. Collectively, Better Streets members have volunteered over 50 sessions. The data observed is collected here.
Run a campaign with us
We can help you to set up a petition for your local area and get media attention. We are also open to teaming up on promoting existing or national campaigns.
We regularly provide advice and guidance to people wanting to start local campaigns.
Our previous campaigns
We have previously run an information campaign about low traffic neighbourhoods.
We also ran a campaign documenting candidate stances on active travel during the 2022 Birmingham local elections, in partnership with Sustrans and Pushbikes.
B-plates – Better Drivers, Better Streets
Better Streets for Birmingham is not anti-car. We understand that many people own a car a need it for essential trips. We also understand that there are many law-abiding and safe-driving car users on Birmingham roads.
That is why we started our B-plates campaign. We want these drivers to show their solidarity against road violence by making the pledge against harmful driving and for using your car only when necessary.
We are no longer taking requests for new B plates, but do get in touch and we will see if we can get one to you.
Support our campaign for a better Birmingham
Together, we’ve reduced speed limits, increased camera enforcement, overhauled third-party reporting, defeated the city centre cycling ban, forced the mayor to keep the active travel commissioner role, and challenged our authorities to go further and faster.
You can support our campaign by joining our mailing list or donating to support the running of the organisation.