USDOT Thursday, January 22, 2015
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| U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx at the 2014 Pro Walk, Pro Bike, Pro Place Conference |
Secretary Foxx is challenging mayors and local elected officials to take significant action to improve safety for bicycle riders and pedestrians of all ages and abilities over the next year. Mayors' Challenge participants will be invited to attend the Mayors' Summit for Safer People, Safer Streets in March, and their cities will spend a year helping their communities undertake seven activities to improve safety. The challenge is based on the 2010 USDOT Policy Statement on Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodation.
Cities can join the challenge here or by emailing their Team Leader’s contact information to pedbikesafety@dot.gov
Mayors and other elected city officials can participate by leading a call to action and helping their cities take on the Challenge activities outlined below.
Call to Action
- Issue a public statement about the importance of bicycle and pedestrian safety
- Form a local action team to advance safety and accessibility goals
- Take local action through the Challenge activities (listed below)
Mayors' Challenge Activities
- Take a Complete Streets approach
- Identify and address barriers to make streets safe and convenient for all road users, including people of all ages and abilities and those using assistive mobility devices
- Gather and track biking and walking data
- Use designs that are appropriate to the context of the street and its uses
- Capture opportunities to build on-road bike networks during routine resurfacing
- Improve walking and biking safety laws and regulations
- Educate and enforce proper road use behavior by all
Take a Complete Streets approach
Complete streets make it safe and convenient for people of all ages and abilities to reach their destination whether by car, train, bike, or foot. A Complete Streets approach starts with a policy commitment to prioritize and integrate all road users into every transportation project.
Identify and address barriers to make streets safe and convenient for all road users, including people of all ages and abilities and those using assistive mobility devices
The ability for older adults, young children, and people with disabilities to travel safely is critical to freedom of mobility and quality of life. People may have challenges with eyesight, reaction times, cognitive ability and muscle dexterity that travel difficult.
Read more:Identify
and address barriers to make streets safe and convenient for all road
users, including people of all ages and abilities and those using
assistive mobility devices
Gather and track biking and walking data
The lack of systematic data collection related to walking and bicycling transportation, such as count data, travel survey data, and injury data, creates challenges for improving non-motorized transportation networks and safety. Communities that routinely collect walking and biking data are better positioned to track trends and prioritize investments.
Use designs appropriate to the context of the street and its uses
Transportation agencies are encouraged, when possible, to go beyond designing walking and bicycling facilities to the minimum standards. It is more effective to plan for increased usage than to retrofit an older facility. Planning projects for the long-term should anticipate likely future demand for bicycling and walking facilities and not preclude the provision of future improvements.
Capture Opportunities to build on-road bike networks during routine resurfacing
Expanding and improving existing roads and facilities to build biking and walking networks as part of regular and routine resurfacing and other maintenance programs can be a low cost alternative to building new roads or widening existing roads.
Improve walking and biking safety laws and regulations
Traffic laws such as reduced speed, failure to yield, passing, and helmet laws can be effective in improving safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, and others.
Educate and enforce proper road use behaviors by all
Highly-visible and well publicized targeted enforcement tied with educational campaign has shown to be effective in reducing crashes.
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