Now monthly! Streetsmart News. Vol. 10, 2019

Evidence and Insight for Better Transportation

What's Going on with Pedestrian Fatalities? In 2016 there were about 6,000 pedestrians killed in traffic crashes in the U.S. This number of pedestrian fatalities is the highest it has been in 20 years. While there is a strong tendency to blame distracted pedestrians ( or distracted drivers ), there are other risk factors can help explain the increase. Robert Schneider, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, presented his research at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting on the risk factors associated with pedestrian fatalities. Robert found that 58% of pedestrians killed in 2016 were crossing or waiting to cross the road when they were struck. The majority of those were not at controlled crossings and not at intersections. Furthermore, the speed limit in the majority of these locations was over 35 mph. Compared to crashes at controlled crossings, crashes at uncontrolled crossings are more likely to be fatal. Key pedestrian injury risk factors are vehicle size, vehicle speed, and pedestrian age.   What does this suggest we do? Robert examined pedestrian crash studies, pedestrian perception and proxy studies, and safety guidance to identify potential solutions. In summary, he found that uncontrolled pedestrian crossings are more risky when there are higher motor vehicle volumes, higher motor vehicle speed limits and speeds, and longer crossing distances/more lanes to cross. However, uncontrolled pedestrian crossings are less risky when there are median crossing islands , advance yield or stop lines/bars , and pedestrian hybrid beacon crossings and other similar treatments. You can find Robert’s full presentation on the TRB Pedestrian Committee (ANF10) website . Another resource for understanding pedestrian fatalities is Smart Growth America's report, Dangerous by Design , now out for 2019. Their web site also includes a Pedestrian Danger Index for each metro area and state and an interactive map that shows the location of every pedestrian fatality, using data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

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Healthy Commercial Corridors Wondering what to do with under-performing, unhealthy commercial corridors? The Urban Land Institute and Smart Growth America recently released a report , Blind spots: How unhealthy corridors harm communities and how to fix them , to address just that. This report examines unhealthy corridors, their prevalence and location, the conditions they share, and the impact they have on people’s lives. For more strategies and resources for developing healthy corridors, check out the companion document from 2016: Building healthy corridors: Strategy and resource guide . Want to advance research in this area? The TRB Task Force on Arterials and Public Health released its e-circular, Arterial Roadways Research Needs and Concerns , which identifies health-related research questions for arterial streets (Streetsmart is mentioned as a resource on page 13).

Data for Health and Transportation You may be familiar with the US DOT Health and Transportation Tool that provides health and transportation indicator data for each metropolitan area and state as well as information about strategies that can improve performance. Another resource for data sources is the Health and Transportation Data page from the Travel Forecasting Resource , an open-source platform for travel forecasting research and resources. The transportation and public health data featured on the site is categorized into three groups: data describing the built environment and transportation system, measures of transportation-related exposures and transportation behaviors that impact health, and measures of health outcomes associated with transportation-related exposures and transportation behaviors.

WHY STREETSMART? We get it. Civic leaders struggle to find the evidence they need to evaluate and prioritize transportation investments. The research is scattered, time-consuming to find, and difficult to digest. We do all the work of synthesizing the research and presenting in an intuitive and easy-to-use format, without compromising quality or rigor.  Civic leaders need to make the case for solutions that work best for their community, which sometimes requires defending innovation. Streetsmart reduces risk by providing the evidence and examples of what works in other communities. We’ve got your back.  Find success stories with key lessons learned in one easy-to-search place. Why re-invent the wheel? Streetsmart offers insight via case studies and guidebooks relevant to each topic area. Learn from others in the trenches working on issues similar to yours.

Want to help us integrate social equity concerns into Streetsmart? Get in touch to help develop a strategy for funding and developing equity principles, questions, and guidance. Got more feedback about the prototype? Take the survey or drop us a line to give us your insight. Want to collect and summarize resources for Beta? Help us collect resources and case studies on one of the fifteen strategies that will be in Streetsmart Beta. We are always looking for academic and practitioner collaborators to build and refine Streetsmart. Talk to Kelly at  [email protected]  to explore the opportunities.

Streetsmart Planning |  [email protected]