[QuietCars] Feds Call for State-Local Cooperation on Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety - Route Fifty - October 24, 2022

[Deborah Kent Stein]

We might start thinking about ways we can get involved in these discussions,
if they occur.

  

-----Original Message-----
From: QuietCars [mailto:quietcars-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Nightingale, Noel via QuietCars
Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2022 4:08 PM
To: quietcars at nfbnet.org
Cc: Nightingale, Noel <Noel.Nightingale at ed.gov>
Subject: [QuietCars] Feds Call for State-Local Cooperation on Pedestrian and
Cyclist Safety - Route Fifty - October 24, 2022


https://www.route-fifty.com/infrastructure/2022/10/feds-call-state-local-coo
peration-pedestrian-and-cyclist-safety/378858/
Feds Call for State-Local Cooperation on Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety By
Daniel Vock Route Fifty October 24, 2022

The Biden administration is urging state DOTs to turn to local governments
as they plan for projects to make streets safer for people outside of
vehicles.
The Biden administration is pushing state transportation departments to work
with local leaders to reduce the number of vehicle crashes involving
pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable street users.
The Federal Highway Administration's emphasis on states working with local
governments and community groups comes as part of the agency's directions
for complying with the 2021 infrastructure law. The $1.2 trillion package
requires states to assess the safety of vulnerable users on their roads by
next November, and to develop strategies or identify projects that can help
keep those people safe.
The additional reporting requirement comes as non-motorists have become a
larger share of the people killed in traffic crashes. About a fifth of all
road deaths in 2021 were people who were not in vehicles.
"It is up to all of us to keep those who walk, bike or roll safe as they
travel," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.
"Because of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, states have new resources to
improve safety for vulnerable travelers, make our roads safer and more
accessible for all, and help move us closer to reaching the ultimate vision
of zero fatalities."
The highway agency's 19-page guidance document fleshes out how states can
comply with the new reporting mandate. But the recommendations do not have
the force of law.
In fact, many agencies, particularly from Republican-led states, have
criticized the Biden administration for emphasizing its priorities in
previous guidance materials that, they say, go beyond what Congress included
in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
But the Biden administration has stuck with its approach, including in the
guidance released Friday.
And Buttigieg reinforced the message when he addressed a convention of the
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in
Florida last week.
"Not just dedicated highway safety dollars but every penny [of state
transportation funding] could and should do something about transportation
safety," Buttigieg told the group. "There are lives at stake. In the
military, if you save three lives on the battlefield, you win a medal. Yet
everyone at this table has a chance to save hundreds of lives every day."
As part of the infrastructure law, states must compile data on vehicle
crashes involving non-motorists. They also are required to track demographic
data about the people killed in those crashes, and in the areas where the
crashes occurred.
The FHWA encouraged states to use outside sources of information, including
local governments, while assembling that data. It also recommended that
state agencies work with other groups in places where fatalities and serious
injuries are high. That approach, the federal agency noted, would promote
the Biden administration's goal of racial equity, because non-white road
users make up a disproportionate share of traffic deaths.
"This guidance can help states identify what safety issues for those outside
of a vehicle need to be addressed and where," said Stephanie Pollack, the
acting head of the FHWA.
"States are then positioned to incorporate the results as they make
decisions about their safety investments. It also improves transportation
equity by making sure extensive dialogue with relevant stakeholders takes
place and the concerns of those most at risk in towns, cities and
underserved communities are heard through better public engagement at the
local level," she added.
The document encouraged states to identify projects that separate different
types of road users in time and space, with features such as bike lanes,
pedestrian islands, leading pedestrian intervals on stoplights, removing
vehicle travel lanes and adding warning devices for pedestrian crossings.


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