U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/pedforum/
Each year pedestrian fatalities comprise about 11 percent of all traffic fatalities and there are approximately 4,600 pedestrian deaths. Another 70,000 pedestrians are injured in roadway crashes annually. Safety is important for all roadway users, and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Safety has established a goal of reducing pedestrian fatalities and injuries by 10 percent by the year 2011. Pedestrian safety improvements depend on an integrated approach that involves the 4 E’s: Engineering, Enforcement, Education, and Emergency Services. The Pedestrian Forum highlights recent pedestrian safety activities related to the 4 E’s that will help reach FHWA’s safety goals and save lives.
An international scan on pedestrian and bicycle safety and mobility took place in May. The team included federal, state, and local officials, as well as researchers and APBP representatives. The scan purpose was to identify best practices related to walking and bicycling safety and mobility that could be implemented here in the States. The team met with transportation officials in Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In the near future, a summary report will be posted to the FHWA web site. This short report will recap some of the major items the team hopes to implement here in the States. Later this summer the scan team will reconvene in Washington DC to finalize the full report. It will be posted on the web and published later this year. A scan PowerPoint presentation will be developed soon. Link: Jon Kaplan’s blog for the International Scan is at: www.pedbikesafetyinternationalscan.blogspot.com.
Pedestrian crossing in London. The yellow globes on top of post flash to indicate pedestrian presence.
(Photo courtesty of Jon Kaplan)
FHWA has been hosting bi-monthly webconferences for its focus states and cities (see below map for list of 13 states and 5 cities) for about three years. Recently, these webconferences have been opened up to anyone who is interested in the topics. FHWA now has a webpage that contains information on upcoming webconferences and past recorded webconferences that can be checked for info: http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/ped_focus/webinar.cfm.
The next webconference will take place on August 3, from 1:30-3:00 Eastern Time. Featured presentations will be about Pinellas County, Florida’s Pedestrian Safety Action Plan and about the International Scan mentioned in the article in the opposite column. To be added to the e-mail list for notification of upcoming webinars, please send an e-mail to tamara.redmon@dot.gov.
The FHWA's popular Interactive CDs, Bicycle Safer Journey (publication number: FHWA-SA-03-013) and Pedestrian Safer Journey (publication number: FHWA-SA-03-014) are available once again and can be ordered in increments of 150. The Safer Journey CDs (which are in English and Spanish) teach pedestrian and bike safety by tracing the path of John (a teenager) as he travels through town. The user must use their knowledge of pedestrian and bike safety to help John make critical safety decisions as he travels on foot and by bike.
In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration just had more copies of How to Develop a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan (publication number: FHWA-SA-05-12) made, and they can be ordered in increments of 30. See article below for more information.
Please visit the website to order copies of all materials: http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/ped_bike_order/.
This report helps state and local officials know where to begin to address pedestrian safety issues. It is also intended to assist agencies in further enhancing their existing pedestrian safety programs and activities, including identifying safety problems, analyzing information, and selecting optimal solutions. The guide also contains information on how to involve stakeholders, potential sources of funding for implementing projects and how to evaluate projects. The guide, which was primarily a reference for improving pedestrian safety through street redesign and the use of engineering countermeasures, now contains expanded sections on law enforcement and education. This guide can be used by engineers, planners, traffic safety and enforcement professionals, public health and injury prevention professionals, and decision-makers who have the responsibility of improving pedestrian safety at the state or local level.
Please visit the website to order copies of all materials: http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/ped_bike_order/
.In response to the 2005 increase in pedestrian fatalities, the FHWA Office of Safety developed “Pedestrian Road Safety Audit (PRSA) Guidelines and Prompt Lists” for State and local governments. The purpose of these guidelines is to provide a multi-disciplinary team approach to solving pedestrian safety issues within a roadway corridor or intersection environment. FHWA recently partnered with the North Carolina DOT and New Mexico DOT to train over 50 State and local representatives on the new PRSA Guidelines. The NCDOT training in Raleigh brought together states from the East and participants were led through an actual PRSA on Hillsborough Avenue on the North Carolina State University campus. This street was an excellent training ground, as participants used the new guidelines and prompt lists to focus on pedestrian safety issues. The second training was held in Santa Fe on Cerrillos Road, which is a primary arterial serving the city. The multidisciplinary team identified many countermeasures that will improve pedestrian and bicycle travel in and through this busy government and commercial center. These training courses provided Focus States with the tools to conduct PRSA training in their states. The FHWA Resource Center will also be assisting the Focus States in using and applying these PRSA Guidelines and Prompt lists. This will ensure that the Focus States can successfully use this tool to reduce pedestrian crashes and fatalities. These Guidelines are available for review and download at the FHWA Office of Safety Website: http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/. Hard copies of the PRSA guidelines will be available by August.
The National Cooperative Highway Research Program of the Transportation Research Board has contracted with Toole Design Group to develop an outline of the scope and content of the next edition of the AASHTO Guide for the Planning, Design and Operation of Pedestrian Facilities. The Guide was first published in 2004, however much of the content was written several years earlier. In the years since, many advances in pedestrian planning, design and operation have been made. The new Guide will reflect this progress.
As a part of the project, State DOT officials and other practitioners are being asked to give their opinions about what should change about the Guide.
Please click on the link below to participate in the survey.
http://tinyurl.com/AASHTO-Ped-Guide
The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center announced the launch of the updated and redesigned pedestrian and bicycle image library at www.pedbikeimages.org.
The PBIC Image Library is a searchable collection of free, high-quality images relating to walking and bicycling. Visitors to the site may use the images in any non-commercial projects including web pages, presentations and reports. There are no per-image costs, royalties, or extra payments for the images, but users must adhere to the Usage Guidelines posted on the site at www.pedbikeimages.org/usage.cfm.
The updated site features hundreds of fresh images of people, transportation facilities, and livable places in the US and in more than 10 other countries. The images can be searched for using keywords, or users can browse by popular search terms. Users can also search for images from specific states or countries, photos taken by a particular photographer, or for a specific format or print quality.
The PBIC is encouraging users to submit their own pedestrian and bicycle-related photos. For the 6 weeks starting on June 1, users who submit their own related images will be automatically entered in a weekly random drawing. Users will be entered into the drawing for each image they submit, so your odds of winning increase as you submit more photos. The winning recipient for each week will receive one PBIC retro-reflective bike pants strap.
The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center is funded through the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and maintained by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center.
Operation Lifesaver (OLI) is developing new materials and outreach channels, including expanded use of the internet, to disseminate safety education information. The education materials are also produced in Spanish and other languages to meet the needs of a diverse population. OLI’s new animated PSAs include messages for drivers and pedestrians (view them at http://www.oli.org/shark).
The National Center for Safe Routes to School (NCSRTS) is accepting applications for the 2009 James L. Oberstar Safe Routes to School Award. The deadline for applications is July 15, 2009. To access the award application and criteria, please visit www.saferoutesinfo.org/oberstar.
The Oberstar Award is given annually by the NCSRTS to an exemplary Safe Routes to School program in the United States. The 2009 Oberstar Award will recognize outstanding achievement by a school or community in conducting a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program that benefited from the Federal SRTS funding awarded by its State. The Award specifically will recognize a school with a Safe Routes to School program that has achieved success while overcoming challenges in implementing and/or sustaining the program.
“We realize that programs with outstanding achievements have had to find ways to address local challenges,” says Lauren Marchetti, Director of the National Center for Safe Routes to School. “We want to recognize current issues affecting our schoolchildren and how schools are dealing with these issues. We ask the applicants to describe how SRTS addressed any type of adversity or challenge – in their own terms and within the realities of their own environments.”
The award is named for Congressman Oberstar (D-MN) to honor his dedication to American schoolchildren as the pioneer for the National Safe Routes to School Program. Oberstar, current Chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, sponsored the SRTS legislation that strives to create safe settings to enable more parents and children to walk and bicycle to school.
States have announced funding for more than 5,200 schools and communities throughout the U.S. to conduct SRTS programs as a way to meet the challenges posed by safety, health and environmental concerns. Selected program(s) will be announced at the end of August. For more information, please visit: www.saferoutesinfo.org/oberstar.
Register for 2009 Walk to School Day Registration is open for 2009 Walk to School Day, an international event where communities from more than 40 countries join together to walk and bicycle to school. Walk to School Day is October 7, 2009.
To register a Walk to School event, please visit www.walktoschool.org/register. This site is hosted by the National Center for Safe Routes to School. Registration is free and available to individuals or organizations holding an event in the U.S. By registering, Walk to School organizers gain access to a variety of downloadable materials, including certificates, templates for printing stickers and a frequent walker punch card. Registrants can also subscribe to a weekly Walk to School e-newsletter with tips and resources on holding a Walk to School event. Participation reached a record high last year with more than 2,800 events from all fifty states and the District of Columbia registering on the Walk to School Web site (www.walktoschool.org). You can also view a clickable map of Walk to School events to find one in your area and participate.
This Pedestrian Forum is available on the Web at http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/pedforum/
To subscribe to the newsletter, send an e-mail to the Editor:
Tamara Redmon, tamara.redmon@dot.gov
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Safety
1200 New Jersey Ave SE, E71-303
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4077
