A school district in North Carolina is leading an effort to improve road safety for students and school staff who walk or bike to school.
The Durham Public Schools system is taking on road safety as "a transportation equity issue," writes Akilah Davis. "They're looking into ways to increase mobility, accessibility and safety for students going to and from school."
This is the first time a North Carolina school district has taken the lead on traffic safety. DPS transportation planner Kristen Brookshire "will be in meetings with local government and NCDOT identifying problems and coming up with solutions." One suggestion is creating designated routes so children and their guardians can walk to school together. "Lower-income communities are more likely to live in higher traffic or higher volume roads. So then, you have traffic safety concerns for those students walking or biking to school," said Brookshire.
Road safety for schoolchildren is a widespread concern for pedestrian advocates. The USDOT's Safe Routes to School initiative "promotes walking and bicycling to school through infrastructure improvements, enforcement, tools, safety education, and incentives to encourage walking and bicycling to school."
FULL STORY: DPS' new transportation planner focuses on getting kids to school safely
How Seattle Achieved Safe Routes to School Goal
SDOT has installed safety improvements at more than 260 public schools since 2015.
Opinion: Road Safety Data Should Include Close Calls
Even in the absence of lethal collisions, the experience of repeated near-misses can discourage pedestrians from walking and degrade public perception of road safety.
Pittsburgh Excels at Low-Cost, Quick-Build Traffic Calming
The city’s traffic calming initiative has led to a 6 percent average reduction in speeds on corridors with recent interventions.
Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.
Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units
Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing
The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.
Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant
A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.
When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing
Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions