Making an Impact

May 2022 - Volume 9 - Issue 8

New Projection: U.S. Pedestrian Fatalities Reach Highest Level in 40 Years

Growing death toll underscores the urgent need for a multi-layered approach to protect people on foot from dangerous driving

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Drivers struck and killed an estimated 7,485 people on foot in 2021 – the most pedestrian deaths in a single year in four decades and an average of 20 deaths every day, according to a new estimate released today by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA). To provide additional context on pedestrian safety trends, the report also includes an analysis of 2020 data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that reveals a shocking new statistic – the percentage of speeding-related pedestrian crashes involving children ages 15 and younger more than doubled in the previous three years.

Last month, GHSA offered a preview of state and national pedestrian traffic deaths for the first six months of 2021 based on preliminary data reported by the State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs) in all 50 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.). The report warned that the number of pedestrian deaths increased significantly as speeding, impaired and distracted driving, and other dangerous driving behaviors proliferated. This new, comprehensive report, Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State: 2021 Preliminary Data, provides a detailed look at projected pedestrian fatalities for the full year using additional preliminary data provided by the SHSOs. The data analysis was conducted by Elizabeth Petraglia, Ph.D., of research firm Westat.

The new projection found that the 7,485 pedestrian deaths in 2021 was an increase of 12% from the previous year, resulting in 774 additional lives lost. Nationwide, there were 2.32 pedestrian deaths per billion vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in 2021, which is similar to 2020 but well above the pre-pandemic average of 1.9. The fatality rate per 100,000 people also increased, rising to 2.26 in 2021 from 2.02 the year before. Because 2020 was an unusual travel year with less driving, the analysis compares 2021 state-level data to both 2020 and 2019 to give a complete picture of the changes in each state.

“This is heartbreaking and unacceptable. The pandemic has caused so much death and damage, it’s frustrating to see even more lives needlessly taken due to dangerous driving,” said GHSA Executive Director Jonathan Adkins. “We must address the root causes of the pedestrian safety crisis – speeding and other dangerous driving behaviors, inadequate infrastructure, and roads designed for vehicle speed instead of safety – to reverse this trend and ensure people can walk safely.”

The GHSA report provides examples of successful state programs to keep people on foot safe and explains how the holistic Safe System approach can improve pedestrian safety. The report provides concrete ways that each of the five elements of a Safe System – safe people, safe roads, safe vehicles, safe speeds and post-crash care – can better protect people on foot and all road users. GHSA strongly supports the Safe System approach as a promising solution to the pedestrian safety crisis. Last December, the association published a report that discusses how SHSOs, their partners, and other traffic safety organizations and advocates can work together to implement the Safe System approach and help mitigate roadway deaths.

Pedestrian Safety Trends, 2010-2020

The GHSA report also examined recently released 2020 data from NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System to provide insights on trends regarding when, where and how drivers strike and kill people on foot. Findings included:

·   In 2020, the percentage of pedestrian fatalities involving speeding rose to 8.6%, a notable increase from 7.2% the year before. Speed has a significant impact on pedestrian safety. The average risk of death for pedestrians increases exponentially the faster a vehicle is traveling, from 10% at 23 mph to 90% at 58 mph.

·   Since 2018, the percentage of pedestrian fatalities among children younger than 15 in which speeding was a factor has more than doubled, from 5.8% in 2018 to 11.9% in 2020. Most of these fatalities occurred on weekdays (64%) and during daylight hours (53%), which is when children would typically be transported to and from school and related activities. However, millions of children began remote learning in March 2020, raising a troubling question about the increase in speeding-related deaths: Were more children going outside during the day away from controlled environments like playgrounds and schools?

·   Pedestrians accounted for 17% of all traffic deaths in 2020, compared to 13% in 2010. While pedestrian deaths have risen by 54% over the past decade, all other traffic deaths have increased by 13%.

·   Pedestrian fatalities fell by 8% in America’s 10 largest cities in 2020 after years of increases. This is likely due to fewer people walking and driving in response to public health restrictions. For example, deaths in New York City fell dramatically in March, April, May and December of 2020, when such restrictions were in effect.

·   Drivers of passenger cars have consistently accounted for the greatest number of fatal pedestrian crashes. However, over the past decade the number of pedestrian deaths in crashes involving sport utility vehicles (SUVs) increased at a faster rate than deaths in crashes involving passenger cars – 36% versus 27%, respectively. Because of their greater body weight and larger profile, SUVs can cause more harm to a person on foot when a crash occurs.

·   Most pedestrian fatalities continue to occur at night, although nighttime deaths have accounted for an even larger share over the past few years. In 2020, more than 76% of deaths with a known lighting condition were at night. Since 2014, nighttime pedestrian deaths have risen by 41%, from 3,510 in 2014 to 4,951 in 2020. 

·   The percentage of pedestrian fatalities where no sidewalk was noted on the crash report rose to 67% in 2020 from an average of 62% over the four preceding years. The presence of sidewalks can help protect people walking by separating them from vehicle traffic, but additional infrastructure design considerations, such as raised crosswalks and traffic calming that slows vehicle speeds, can provide even more protection.

·   Non-freeway arterial roads, which typically carry large volumes of traffic at high speeds, are the most dangerous for people on foot, accounting for 60% of all fatalities in 2020. Approximately 17% of pedestrian deaths were on freeways, suggesting the need for strong Move Over laws that require drivers to slow down and change lanes when approaching a stopped vehicle.

GHSA will bring together national and state leaders this September in Louisville, Kentucky, to discuss the increase in pedestrian and overall traffic deaths as well as how the Safe System approach can help protect people who are walking.

The complete report, including state-by-state pedestrian traffic fatality projections, is on the GHSA website.

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About GHSA

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) is a nonprofit association representing the highway safety offices of states, territories, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. GHSA provides leadership and representation for the states and territories to improve traffic safety, influence national policy, enhance program management and promote best practices. Its members are appointed by their Governors to administer federal and state highway safety funds and implement state highway safety plans. Visit ghsa.org for more information or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Gov. Brown helps ODOT celebrate West Coast Electric Highway milestone

Gov. Kate Brown demonstrated an electric vehicle charging station in Woodburn Tuesday, marking a new phase of the West Coast Electric Highway

WOODBURN -- Gov. Kate Brown helped ODOT celebrate completion of the crucial Phase 1 upgrades to the West Coast Electric Highway in Oregon on Tuesday with a news conference at an electric vehicle charging station near Interstate 5.

The governor was joined at the Woodburn Transit Facility by ODOT director Kris Strickler; and Ian Vishnevsky, COO/CFO of EVCS, the company that administers the charging stations on the West Coast Electric Highway.

Brown said public–private partnerships will be critical as the state moves quickly to address the effects of climate change.

“This will take all of us working together to create a seamless national network of charging stations that is reliable, affordable, convenient and of course equitable,” Brown said. “I absolutely believe that by working together we can build a better future for Oregon. We certainly have a lot work ahead of us and it’s much better if we do this work together.”

The West Coast Electric Highway, a network of EV charging stations that stretch from British Columbia to southern California, has 44 stations in Oregon along Interstates 5 and 84, and U.S. 101.

Phase 1 upgrades to the network, which wrapped earlier this month, outfitted Oregon’s stations with more charger types and upgraded existing chargers to serve a wider range of electric vehicles, including e-bikes.

EVCS says Phase 2 of their upgrade plan will begin this summer. The company will convert 11 stations to “superstations” that will have even faster charging speeds. Phase 3, which begins this fall, will add three brand-new stations, expanding the network to 47 total stations in Oregon.

“Our goal is to create the most reliable and accessible EV charging infrastructure in the nation,” said Ian Vishnevsky, COO/CFO of EVCS. “EVCS’s collaboration with ODOT to upgrade the West Coast Electric Highway will improve driver confidence in going electric as we seek to combat climate change through our sustainable and accessible charging stations.”

ODOT is contributing $4 million for the project, a mix of state and federal dollars.

ODOT’s support of the West Coast Electric Highway upgrades is part of the agency’s recent $100 million commitment to expand public EV charging infrastructure in Oregon over the next five years. The agency will partner with private firms to place fast-charging stations every 50 miles along major interstates and highways, and bolster charging access for urban, rural, and underserved communities.

Expanding electric vehicle charging opportunities aligns with ODOT’s Strategic Action Plan, which calls for electrifying our transportation system to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and address climate change.

Find here a fact sheet looking at EVs in Oregon.

Find below video of Tuesday’s event from Gov. Kate Brown and ODOT Director Kris Strickler. Also find EV B roll.

Woodburn Press Event.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s5cmizg4jfrs8rd/WCEH%20Woodburn%20Event%20SOT.mp4?dl=0

Woodburn Press Event B-Roll

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lbjb0bg34hrv1vj/WCEH%20Woodburn%20Event%20B%20roll.mp4?dl=0

Cannon Beach EV file

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vg37rrc2ftv0z5l/Cannon%20Beavh%20EV%20Broll.mp4?dl=0

Ian Vishnevsky co-counded EV Charging Solutions,the company that manages charging stations on the West Coast Electric Highway

News Release:

Commissioner Hardesty approves new Pedestrian Design Guide, helping add more space for trees while preserving access for people with disabilities and other pedestrians 

The first new rules for sidewalks in 24 years will help Portland fight climate change by forging a compromise that allows space for people and trees

The Pedestrian Design Guide modernizes the city's standards for sidewalks to ensure access for people, especially people with disabilities, as well as trees, lighting and other resources and amenities. Sidewalk corridors consist of three zones: the Frontage Zone, the Pedestrian Through Zone and the Furnishing Zone, and the guide sets standards for each, in various types of streets.

(May 13, 2022) Portland Transportation Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty has approved a new Pedestrian Design Guide, modernizing the city's standards for sidewalks to provide more access for people with disabilities, while ensuring the tree canopy grows, to reduce the urban heat island effect. The new guide, finalized after two years of public input, replaces standards from 1998. 

The Pedestrian Design Guide serves as the City’s primary guidance on how sidewalks should be built, to ensure they are context-appropriate and accessible to people of all ages and abilities. All pedestrian facilities designed and constructed in Portland by City-led capital projects and by private development must conform to the guide. It addresses modern needs, such as designing for facilities that accommodate both bike use and pedestrians, as well as some places where topography, narrow right of way or community needs make a traditional sidewalk not viable. 

The guide requires that sidewalks provide 6 feet of width for people walking or using a mobility device such as a wheelchair, as this is the space required for two people traveling side by side or passing each other on a sidewalk. In busier Pedestrian Districts, 8-foot sidewalks are required to accommodate a higher number of pedestrians.

The guide also enables the planting of large trees in the public right of way by requiring larger tree wells, the unpaved area surrounding the base of a tree. It also requires continuous planting strips, for a longer area of connected soil for tree growth -- along 80 percent of Portland streets -- and increases the planting strip width in residential areas by 2 feet, to 6 feet. To make more space for tree roots, the guide allows a curb to be extended into a city street, removing on-street parking, to accommodate a larger tree.  

"Climate change is real and it's already having catastrophic impacts here in Portland," Transportation Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty said. "I am determined to reduce our carbon emissions and help protect our low-income communities. This Pedestrian Design Guide will make it safer and more comfortable for people to walk or use a mobility device, giving them options that reduce the need to drive a car. I'm proud that the guide both makes our sidewalks more accessible while also including creative ways for us to accommodate more street trees, especially the larger trees that create a larger tree canopy and lower the street temperature on hot summer days." 

Commissioner Hardesty said the guide could not have been possible without the advocacy and engagement of community organizations and dozens of Portlanders who provided input over the last two years. In addition, numerous public agencies and experts provided technical expertise and assistance. 

Read the guide, and see background documents at the website for the Pedestrian Design Guide Update

The design guide includes a citywide minimum of 6 feet of width for the Pedestrian Through Zone. Six feet allows two people to walk or use a mobility device comfortably, side by side, while in areas with higher pedestrian traffic an 8-foot sidewalk may be needed, to accommodate space for three people to pass each other.

"We greatly appreciate Commissioner Hardesty's commitment to expand tree planting opportunities in the right of way," said Micah Meskel, Activist Program Manager for Portland Audubon. "The dedication of more space for larger trees in the Pedestrian Design Guide can help improve pedestrian experience and safety while providing environmental co-benefits in our most tree deficient and hottest urban areas." 

"PBOT reached out to Disability Rights Oregon about important updates to the Pedestrian Design Guide that would impact Pedestrian Through Zones," said Matt Serres, Managing Attorney for Disability Rights Oregon. "We provided a recommendation to preserve accessibility and safety for wheelchair users and blind individuals by not extending the size of tree wells. PBOT included this recommendation in order to prevent hazardous and dangerous conditions for people with disabilities on our city sidewalks. We appreciate Commissioner Hardesty and PBOT staff for their efforts to make the Pedestrian Design Guide a solution that works for everyone."  

At Commissioner Hardesty's direction, PBOT Director Chris Warner on Thursday signed an administrative rule implementing the new design guide. The new rules will be effective July 1, at the start of the new city fiscal year. 

The design guide includes a citywide minimum of 6 feet of width for the Pedestrian Through Zone. Six feet allows two people to walk or use a mobility device comfortably, side by side, while in areas with higher pedestrian traffic an 8-foot sidewalk may be needed, to accommodate space for three people to pass each other.

The guide will likely have its most immediate and largest impact in how it requires developers to adhere to better standards for sidewalk construction. To comply with the guide, homebuilders and real estate developers build or modernize nearly a marathon's distance of sidewalks in Portland each year.  

The guide provides rules but also guidance that allows flexibility and standards developers and city planners should aspire to. For example, sidewalk level bike paths are not required in the guide, but it does contain guidelines for how such paths should be designed, so they can accommodate the needs of pedestrians, people with disabilities and space for trees and public transit stops. 

The guide includes some significant new provisions that enable more and larger street trees: 

• Tree planting in the curb zone. The new guide allows trees to be planted beyond the sidewalk, into the street space normally preserved for on-street parking, as long as they don't interfere with traffic safety or physical conflicts, such as underground utilities. This provides an opportunity to plant trees along curb tight sidewalks or where the furnishing zone is too narrow for large street trees -- locations where tree planting is not allowed under current guidance. (The furnishing zone is the buffer that separates pedestrians from the street, where utility poles, street furniture and street trees are located.) 
• Longer tree wells. The guide increases soil volumes by increasing the length of standard tree wells in Portland. The updated Pedestrian Design Guide calls for tree wells that are a minimum of 9-feet long, an increase from today’s 6-foot-long standard. 
• Continuous Planting Strips. The new Pedestrian Design Guide increases opportunities for continuous planting strips in Portland by requiring this furnishing zone treatment on all Industrial Streets, Regional Corridors, and Local Streets, regardless of land use. Together, these street types account for about 80% of Portland streets. 
• Increased Furnishing Zone width on Local Streets in residential areas. Additionally, based on public feedback, the guide now calls for 6-foot furnishing zones on low-traffic residential streets outside of commercial areas. The 6-foot requirement may be met by extending the furnishing zone into on-street parking space or by voluntarily donating an additional two feet of private property.  

The design guide includes a citywide minimum of 6 feet of width for the Pedestrian Through Zone. Six feet allows two people to walk or use a mobility device comfortably, side by side, while in areas with higher pedestrian traffic an 8-foot sidewalk may be needed, to accommodate space for three people to pass each other.

PBOT staff continue to look for more ways to increase tree canopy in Portland. Subgrade soil treatments and planting requirements are outside the purview of the guide. However, PBOT is actively collaborating with Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R)’s Urban Forestry on updating planting specifications, including evaluating opportunities for structural soils, tree vaults, and suspended sidewalks. Additionally, PBOT is also partnering with Urban Forestry on a grant proposal to pilot tree planting in the curb zone. 

In fall 2021, PBOT released a Public Review Draft of the updated guide for public comment. Staff received hundreds of comments from Portland residents, which directly influenced the revised Guide released in February 2022. At a public hearing April 4, PBOT gathered more comments and written testimony and made adjustments to the plan. A memo on the project website describes recommendations from the public and the edits to the guide that were made based on public feedback.

The guide is a living document that will be revisited and updated over time, as needed, to keep standards current with best practices. 

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is the steward of the city’s transportation system and a community partner in shaping a livable city. We plan, build, manage, and maintain an effective and safe transportation system that provides access and mobility. Learn more at portland.gov/transportation

It is the policy of the City of Portland that no person shall be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination in any city program, service, or activity on the grounds of race, color, national origin, disability, or other protected class status. Adhering to Civil Rights Title VI and ADA Title II civil rights laws, the City of Portland ensures meaningful access to City programs, services, and activities by reasonably providing: translation and interpretation, modifications, accommodations, alternative formats, and auxiliary aids and services. To request these services, contact the Portland Bureau of Transportation at 503-823-5185 or 311 (503-823-4000), for Relay Service & TTY: 711.