Friday, December 16, 2011

This Week on Foot

This week pedestrians scored a victory at the federal level as U.S. Senate Commerce Committee passed important T4-America policies in its portion of transportation reauthorization bill, including requirements for accommodation of pedestrians in federal surface transportation projects (aka complete streets). It's great news for pedestrians, as we know that Completing streets might prevent more ghosts

And across the country, others are also trying to save pedestrians' lives. In North Carolina, Troopers try to stop pedestrian deaths, announce crackdown, while in Austin Colorado Street to get wider sidewalks, fewer traffic lanes. In Philadelphia officials are urged to Protect pedestrians during Center City revival, while Developers aspire to create new public spaces in MidTown Oklahoma City    ,
CB1 Committee Backs Making a Tribeca Pedestrian Plaza Permanent in New York, and
Walkabout steps up ideas for Hernando in Tennessee.

All this hard work is important, especially since we see a  Growing trend in Bakersfield: Increase in pedestrian deaths. And guys should be especially concerned, especially if they live in New Jersey, where Male pedestrians more likely to be fatally struck than females along N.J. roads.

Elsewhere in the world there's a Plan to make city roads safer for pedestrians in Delhi, and in Australia there's a City taking right steps to encourage walking. But in the UK Ashford pedestrians avoid crossing in 'shared space', and the city is considering a return to more traditional crossings.

Of course, it's the traditional crossings that are problematic in Seattle, where there's no shortage of Crosswalk carnage: Why do cops still ignore drivers who won't yield? Hard to say, but maybe it would help if we Make Driving While Dialing the New DWI, as the Rhode Island Bicycle Coalition suggests. More money can't hurt either, as we learn this week in Ventura’s Cool Video Calling for More Bicycle and Pedestrian Funding. And if nothing else works, maybe we can just keep Fighting Job Sprawl, and keep more jobs in walkable central cities. 

1 comment:

  1. Thanks so much for posting our Video!! Everyone Please Remember to SIGN THE PETITION for more funding for peds and bikes.

    http://www.vccool.org/#form

    Also - Katie, we're working on some cool projects and would love your input. If you're interested drop me a note at action@vccool.org.

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