Pedestrian Safety
To reduce pedestrian deaths, we must restore their rights as primary street users, argues a former NYC traffic commissioner.
New York Daily News
One writer argues that rules that prioritize driver safety and ignore pedestrian infrastructure have led to a sharp increase in fatalities on U.S. roads.
Bloomberg CityLab
The new formulas for calculating the length of walk signals are designed to give people more time to safely cross the street.
The Seattle Times
The novel coronavirus wasn't the only public health risk spreading around the United States in 2020.
Governors Highway Safety Association
The locations with the largest increases of pedestrian activity during the pandemic year are all in Florida.
Smart Cities Dive
The Virginia General Assembly has passed a bill that would allow localities to set speed limits as low as 15 miles per hour.
The Virginia Mercury
The findings of a recent memo highlight the disproportionate effects of unsafe road conditions on low-income people and BIPOC communities.
Bike Portland
Feature
Even supporters of Vision Zero—a goal to eliminate traffic fatalities from roadways adopted by cities and states all over the United States—doubt that such lofty ambitions are possible. But there are plenty of reasons to believe in the cause.
Dangerous by Design 2021 quantifies the transportation sector's ongoing neglect of the health and safety of people performing that basic human action of taking a walk.
Smart Growth USA
Blog post
One common scapegoat for rising pedestrian death rates is "distracted walking." But there is little reason to believe that smartphone-wielding pedestrians are a major cause of roadway carnage.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation's annual traffic crash report highlights the city's slow progress towards its Vision Zero goal.
Bike Portland
Minor pedestrian-oriented improvements alone won't improve walkability if infrastructure still prioritizes fast-moving vehicles, according to this article.
City Observatory
Beginning in March, police will no longer be able to stop people for crossing the street outside of a crosswalk, a small component of reform intended to protect BIPOC from the historically discriminatory application of traffic laws.
The Virginia Mercury
Record numbers of pedestrians have been killed by drivers in recent years. The federal government says a "team effort" will be necessary to stop the carnage.
Smart Cities Dive
Angie Schmitt and Charles T. Brown make nine arguments against the criminalization of jaywalking.
Bloomberg CityLab
The ITDP's new Pedestrians First tool describes why and how to improve walking conditions, and provides comprehensive analysis of walkability for 1000 cities.
Pedestrians First
The broader safety implications of the death of Elaine Hertzberg after being struck by an Uber autonomous vehicle in Tempe is still being litigated. Last week, the back-up driver of the vehicle was charged with negligent homicide.
NPR
The majority of pedestrian master plans consider how to make equitable walking infrastructure. Less than half of plans implement strategies to address the fact that people of color are disproportionately represented in pedestrian fatalities.
Streetsblog USA
Speed limits in Washington, D.C. are safer for everyone.
The Washington Post
Vision Zero arrives in one of the country's most car-centric big cities.
Atlanta Intown
