A Resident's Guide for Creating Safe and Walkable Communities

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Resource Sheet 1: Pedestrian Safety Improvement Activities

This checklist shows the processes and activities that can be followed to improve pedestrian safety in your community. Use this checklist to guide you through your role as an active participant in efforts to improve pedestrian safety.

Identify problems with walking conditions in your neighborhood

  • Document common problems with photos, video, or written descriptions.

Communicate pedestrian safety problems to other residents and identify shared interests

  • Speak one-on-one with the people in your neighborhood to identify shared interests and address pedestrian safety concerns.
  • Collaborate with other established community groups.

Identify organizations responsible for making improvements

  • Determine the agency/organization(s) most responsible for making improvements to address specific problems in your community.
  • Identify staff contacts for pedestrian safety issues at these organizations.
  • Anticipate agency concerns and prepare responses.

Contact agency representatives and present your case

  • Contact the agency to express your concerns, provide evidence, and discuss how problems could be addressed.
  • Follow up at a later date and record your progress.

Build support for change

  • Join or speak with your local pedestrian advisory board (PAB).
  • Join or form a pedestrian coalition.
  • Contact local elected leaders.

Consider various engineering solutions

  • Learn about engineering treatments and prepare questions related to problems in your community.
  • Talk with transportation staff about possible measures to improve pedestrian safety.

Educate yourself and your community

  • Participate in a pedestrian safety campaign.
  • Distribute fliers with pedestrian safety tips to community residents.
  • Develop education programs within your schools, parks and recreation programs, after-school programs, and churches.
  • Get involved in Safe Routes to Schools program activities.

Consider enforcement opportunities

  • Understand your state laws that apply to pedestrian safety; create a summary and distribute it to community members.
  • Contact your local law enforcement agencies, public health/injury prevention professionals, or traffic safety organizations to find out what is being done and what could be done in terms of enforcement.
  • Start or participate in a community-based enforcement program.

Encourage more walking

  • Start or participate in a Walk to Work or "Car Free" day or week event.
  • Organize walking groups in your community.
  • Walk whenever you can: to work, to run errands, to go to the park or to transit.

 

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Program Contact

Tamara Redmon

202-366-4077

Dick Schaffer

202-366-2176

What's New

The FHWA Safety Office is continually developing new materials to assist states, localities and citizens in improving pedestrian and bicycle safety. The materials listed on this page were completed recently.

Examples of State/Local Pedestrian Safety Action Plans

Pedestrian Forum - Fall 2009

LTAP/TTAP Interchange, Tamara Redmon

Evaluation of the Focused Approach to Pedestrian Safety Program (PDF 225 KB)

“Not in Roadway” Pedestrian and Bicycle Crashes (PDF 132 KB)

How to Develop a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan (PDF 5.14 MB)

FHWA Guidance Memo Contains Provisions to Improve Pedestrian Safety

Toolbox of Countermeasures and Their Potential Effectiveness for Pedestrian Crashes

Pedestrian Safety Guide for Transit Agencies

Evaluation of Pedestrian Countermeasures in Three Cities: San Francisco, Las Vegas and Miami

Pedestrian Road Safety Audit Guidelines and Prompt Lists