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<\/a>Comparing the rise in pedestrian deaths to an epidemic that deserves a public health response similar to what we saw with Covid-19, the Portland based nonprofit The Street Trust has laid out a list of six steps Oregon should take to make streets safer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to tackle these rising death rates at the root (route) cause: the continued investment and prioritization of the automobile and driving alone at the expense of the health and well being of people, communities, the environment, and the economy,\u201d wrote The Street Trust Executive Director Sarah Iannarone in an article released Thursday<\/a>.<\/p>\n The article was cheekily titled, \u201cWhat Oregon Can Do to End Traffic Deaths (Besides Close Crosswalks),\u201d (a reference to ODOT\u2019s recent move to close over 180 crosswalks in the Portland region<\/a> as part of an ADA safety initiative).<\/p>\n The push from The Street Trust comes as the number of people who died while walking on Oregon highways was up about 45% in 2022 compared to the previous year (see chart at right). That statistic gives this issue added urgency. And The Street Trust\u2019s focus is well-timed because the Oregon Department of Transportation is well aware of the problem and is actively looking for remedies.<\/p>\n At a meeting of the Oregon Transportation Commission on March 9th, ODOT Public Transportation Division Administrator Karyn Criswell shared a presentation on the Bicycle Pedestrian Safety Action Program<\/em>, a proposed new program that would look to streamline severe crash responses, speed up infrastructure solutions, and redirect funding from car and truck safety issues directly to more pedestrian-focused projects. \u201cSevere and fatal crashes involving people walking and biking have been happening far too often and they are on the rise,\u201d Criswell told OTC members in her pitch for the new program.<\/p>\n \u201cThe numbers demand an action and w\u2019re prepared to move in that direction,\u201d said ODOT Delivery and Operations Administrator Mac Lynde at the meeting.<\/p>\n The Street Trust wants to keep pushing ODOT to do more and they\u2019ve come up with six things they think Oregon could do this year to bend the pedestrian death curve downward:<\/p>\n Iannarone said she doesn\u2019t expect masses of Oregonians to give up driving until viable alternatives are more robust, but she thinks, \u201cA stated commitment to safety from our elected officials,\u00a0a focus on community engagement, and coordinated safety investments across our siloed governments and agencies would be a start on the right track.\u201d (Read more from her article here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n For ODOT\u2019s part, they hope to formally launch the Bicycle Pedestrian Safety Action Program later this year.<\/p>\n If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus<\/a> on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone\/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/a><\/figure>\n
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