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Today’s Headlines – 8/26/11

August 26, 2011
By Transportation for America

Upgrading infrastructure is more immediate problem than deficit reduction, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin told his home state newspaper. (Des Moines Register)

Longer-term discussions on transportation finance are likely to involve a vehicle-miles-traveled tax. (Fast Company)

California Governor Jerry Brown appointed his top jobs adviser to the state’s high-speed rail board. (San Jose Mercury News)

Maryland residents now an additional 60-days to weigh in on the statewide smart growth plan. (AP)

Readers responded to the New York Times’ coverage of pedestrian safety in Florida. (NY Times)

And, the 12 members of the new deficit super committee were profiled. (Reuters)

Today’s Headlines – 8/25/11

August 25, 2011
By Transportation for America

The president of AASHTO, the trade group representing state transportation officials, said half a million jobs are at risk if Congress fails to extend infrastructure funding next month. (Truckinginfo)

The 2009 Recovery Act is still having a positive — albeit, small — economic impact, according to  the Congressional Budget Office. (USA Today)

House Republicans are worried that constituent anger over the economy puts their majority at risk. (The Hill)

The Chicago-based Active Transportation Alliance launched its Riders for Better Transit campaign. (Tribune)

West Virginia bridges were not damaged by Tuesday’s earthquake, state transportation officials said. (Beckley Register-Herald)

And, support for a 10-cent gas tax increase was surprisingly high at an Iowa forum. (Des Moines Register)

Photos of dangerous streets have been streaming in

August 24, 2011
By Stephen Lee Davis

After putting out the call far and wide for pictures of streets designed for speeding traffic at the expense of safe travel by people on foot or bike, we’ve been getting some great — and by great, we mean frightening and terrible — photos of inconvenient, poorly-planned, dangerous and downright hostile conditions for pedestrians.

Here is a sampling of some of what we’ve received so far.

Bladensburg-22 Originally uploaded by wtrecat to Flickr.

MD 450 just west of junction with MD 202. Very busy road with no pedestrian crossing at this spot across from El Primo international market, 5403 Annapolis Rd.

Note that this photo from Maryland just outside D.C. is taken at a Metro bus stop. And there appears to be no safe crossing immediately nearby.

Incomplete Street Originally uploaded by Boenau to Flickr.

No sidewalks? No problem!

There’s no sidewalk at all along this road. And the overgrowth forces anyone trying to walk out into the roadway. If there is a crosswalk at the light up ahead, pedestrians have to cross at least 8 lanes of traffic and a median to make it across.

Incomplete Street Originally uploaded by Boenau to Flickr.

As if walking on the goat path isn’t bad enough, rainfall drains and collects on the grass, forcing pedestrians into the street.

Just because there aren’t any sidewalks doesn’t mean that people won’t or aren’t walking. It has to be terrifying to walk on this narrow strip of grass next to 3 straight lanes of high speed traffic. And once again, if there is a crosswalk 200-400 yards down behind this pedestrian, people on foot will have to cross at least 6 lanes of traffic and a median in one light cycle.

elkton_rd3 Originally uploaded by Transportation for America to Flickr.

Submitted photo by Frank Warnock of Bike Delaware. www.bikede.org/ (Please credit photographer, not T4 America.)

Smooth, graduated turning radii like this are especially dangerous to pedestrians. Turns are engineered like this so traffic can make a right turn while only having to barely slow their speed, making it extremely hazardous for people on foot to cross from the island back to the side of the road.

IMG_6603 Originally uploaded by Transportation for America to Flickr.

Bee Caves Rd/RM 2244 west of Walsh Tarlton Lane in Austin, Texas. Roadway under TxDOT jurisdiction. Submitted photo by Joan Hudson, P.E., of the Texas Transportation Institute. (Please credit photographer, not T4 America.)

The photos we got from this supporter in Texas were all taken on roads managed by the Texas DOT. Pedestrians here have to walk in a ditch with nowhere to escape to if a car veers slightly out of the lane.

Photos like these could be taken in almost any place in the country. These conditions are far too common and much too accepted by the people who plan and design our streets and roads. Two-thirds of all pedestrian fatalities in the last 10 years occurred on roads much like these — high-speed arterials designed first and foremost for moving speeding traffic as fast as possible with little consideration for the needs or safety of people on foot or bike. Federal dollars and design guidelines have helped create these dangerous situations across the country, and the federal government shouldn’t be able to walk away and pin the problem on the states.

Simple policy changes and priorities for spending at the federal level can help save lives immediately.

We’re not finished collecting these photos — we want to see yours! When you send them in (click here for instructions), feel free to include location information as well and we’ll plot and share the location. And bonus points for photos that show people in them.

Thank you so much to the dozens of people who sent us photos or submitted them to our Flickr group. Keep it up!

Today’s Headlines – 8/24/11

August 24, 2011
By Transportation for America

Congress’ small window for renewing the federal transportation program continues to make state officials nervous. (WP)

Despite what looks to be a brief Libya-related spike, gas prices are expected to continue falling. (Time)

The Federal Highway Administration signed off on Seattle’s plans for a new tunnel to replace the Route 99 viaduct. (AP)

Connecticut train riders decried a proposed a 16.4 percent fare hike. (Hartford Courant)

Long-time finance official Jonathan Davis was named interim chief for the MBTA. (Boston Globe)

And, West Virginia engineers plan to inspect state bridges following yesterday’s 5.9 magnitude earthquake. (Metro News)

Today’s Headlines – 8/23/11

August 23, 2011
By Transportation for America

Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, which would be privatized under a House Republican proposal, received $745 million from USDOT. (The Hill)

Several newspapers came editorialized in favor of renewing the federal gas tax next month. (Denver Post, Houston Chronicle, Winston-Salem Journal)

The debt-ceiling agreement provided scant guidance to Congressional appropriators, who must push a temporary extension until 2012 spending can be approved. (The Hill)

A resolution establishing a complete streets policy earned unanimous approval from the Billings City Council. (Billings Gazette)

And, the executive secretary for Oregon’s Building and Construction Trades Council made the case against transportation cuts. (Oregonian)

Today’s Headlines – 8/22/11

August 22, 2011
By Transportation for America

A combination of economic urgency and legislative deadlines has renewed interest in the transportation bill, but the House and Senate are likely to remain far apart. (WSJ, Innovation NewsBriefs)

Americans have become better drivers during the economic downturn. (Ezra Klein)

Domestic investments like high-speed rail are held to an unfair standard compared to spending abroad, Matthew Yglesias argued. (Think Progress)

Congress should make it easier for cash-strapped transportation departments to make revenue from rest stops, the Boston Globe editorialized. (Globe)

House transportation committee chairman John Mica toured flood-striken eastern South Dakota and got an earful from residents about federal responsiveness. (AP)

And, large crowds lined up for an inaugural ride on light-rail in Hampton Roads. (Virginian-Pilot)

Today’s Headlines – 8/19/11

August 19, 2011
By Transportation for America

More than 700,000 households in the U.S. lack access to both an automobile and public transit, a Brookings Institution study found (Reuters)

Despite discouraging reports, there is still time to fight to preserve dedicated funding for the Safe Routes to School program. (Streetsblog Capitol Hill)

High-speed rail in California could share a track with Caltrain in a so-called “blended” system. (San Mateo County Times)

Commissioners in the traditionally sprawl-friendly Oakland County, Michigan gave a thumbs up to complete streets. (Royal Oak Daily Tribune)

The Port Authority for New York and New Jersey approved higher bridge and tunnel tolls, as well as PATH rail rates. (NYT)

And, Salt Lake City remains an example to other areas in quality public transportation options. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Today’s Headlines – 8/18/11

August 18, 2011
By Transportation for America

USDOT announced the allocation of $417.3 million in Federal Highway Administration grants. (Journal of Commerce)

Recipients of the funds included Chicago; Quincy, Massachusetts; Montana’s Fort Belknap Indian Reservation; and the California Central Valley. (Crain’s Chicago Business, Boston Globe, Great Falls Tribune, Central Valley Business Times)

California Governor Jerry Brown called for high-speed rail in his state to move forward, saying “I’m doing the best I can to keep this train running.” (SacBee)

A judge dismissed calls from some Brooklyn residents to halt bike lane construction. (NYT)

And, the Portland City Council approved millions for biking and walking initiatives. (Bike Portland)

Governor Cuomo signs Complete Streets legislation as New York Times surveys pedestrian safety in Orlando

August 17, 2011
By Sean Barry

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s decision to sign Complete Streets legislation is a step forward for pedestrian safety, though a New York Times report out of Orlando yesterday illustrates how much further we have to go.

First, the New York measure — known as “Brittany’s Law” in honor of 14-year old girl struck by a car in a crosswalk on her way to school — sailed through the legislature with unanimous votes and broad-based support earlier this summer. The Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a T4 partner, played a pivotal role in passage of the bill, along with the New York chapter of AARP. Republican Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, chairman of the transportation committee in the upper house, was the original sponsor.

Complete streets policies aim to make new and reconstructed roadways safe and accessible for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, wheelchair users and transit riders, as well as motorists. Sadly, the status-quo for most users around the country is woefully unsafe and insufficient, perhaps nowhere more so than in Florida.

“As any pedestrian in Florida knows, walking in this car-obsessed state can be as tranquil as golfing in a lightning storm,” wrote the Times’ Lizette Alvarez yesterday, continuing:

Sidewalks are viewed as perks, not necessities. Crosswalks are disliked and dishonored. And many drivers maniacally speed up when they see someone crossing the street.

Then there are the long, ever widening arterial roads — those major thoroughfares lined with strip malls built to move cars in and out of sprawling suburbs.

New York Times photo from the story by Chip Litherland.Send us your photos of similar unsafe streets designed for speeding traffic

Alvarez, who spoke with T4 America for the piece, noted that four metropolitan areas in the state were ranked as the worst in the nation for pedestrians in our Dangerous by Design study, with Orlando at number one. And, as her reporting demonstrated, these statistics are borne out by real people everyday:

Just down the street, the same scene played out repeatedly, only pedestrians raced across the road (where there was no median) to a neighborhood supermarket. One group included a child in a stroller. The road, like so many others, was built for cars and not people.

Fortunately, Orlando officials are starting to see the situation with the urgency it demands. They are building miles of new sidewalks, putting in audible pedestrian signals and instituting measures to slow traffic. Frank Consoli, traffic operations engineer for the city of Orlando, told Alvarez the goal was “to change the culture and this thinking that is car-centric.”

But local efforts alone will not suffice. As the article points out, many roads fall under multiple jurisdictions with conflicting priorities. That’s why actions like those of Governor Cuomo and New York State legislators are crucial — to ensure the kind of uniformity and safety that pedestrians everywhere deserve.

As we pointed out in Dangerous by Design, two-thirds of the 47,700 pedestrian fatalities from 2000-2009 occurred on roads eligible for federal funds or with federal guidelines for design. Since federal transportation dollars have helped build these unsafe streets that treat pedestrians as an afterthought, the federal government must play a role in fixing the problem.

In the House, Democrat Doris Matsui of California and Republican Steve LaTourette of Ohio have introduced national complete streets legislation, and Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is sponsoring a companion piece.

Portions of the Orlando metropolitan area, incidentally, are represented in Congress by John Mica, the powerful chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Will Mica respond to the needs of his constituents by making safe and complete streets a priority in the next transportation bill?

We’re gathering pictures of unsafe conditions for pedestrians to show online and in meetings with members of Congress here in D.C. Share the conditions near you by sending in photos. Details here.

Today’s Headlines – 8/17/11

August 17, 2011
By Transportation for America

Budget shortfalls will force more than half of the nation’s public transit agencies to raise fares or cut service this year. (Bloomberg)

The deadlock over transportation policy and funding levels in Washington is worrying state officials. (Stateline)

Anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist say he will not oppose extending the federal gasoline tax, set to expire next month, at current levels. (The Hill)

President Obama is considering as