One of the most important topics that always come upthese days during any public meeting discussing a new project is road safety, and more specifically, pedestrian and bicyclist safety. Local jurisdictions are being forced to take this topic more seriously than ever. This was not the case two or three decades ago. All the focus was on how to move traffic, efficiently and quickly. The shift started in the late 90s when there was more focus started to shift to other modes of transportation. Bicycle Master Plans started to emerge everywhere in the country. Bicycle advocacy groups were created and strengthened. Louder voices were heard in every public meeting about bike facilities and bike safety. Now, there is more interest than ever in another topic; pedestrian safety and pedestrian facilities. How can local jurisdictions catch up and keep up with the trend to best serve the public?
All jurisdictions, at local and state levels, have the responsibility to provide a safe and efficient transportation system to serve the public. The question is how to do so with so many challenges? And what would be the best approach to reach this goal? There is so much that could be done, but let’s come up with three different areas that would pave the way to achieve this goal: Set clear policies, coordinate with neighboring jurisdictions, and set up a plan to get some work done.
Setting clear policies is essential to set up the groundwork for this important task of making the roads safe for all modes of transportation. This area also is a must to establish rules and expectations. One of the most important policies is the Comprehensive Transportation Review Policyto establish guidelines and rules on how the local jurisdiction will review the impact of new developments. The guidelines are not only related to roads and intersections’ capacity, but also related to bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and the impact of the new developments on all modes of transportation. Another important policy is the Complete Streets Policy. All developers and residents need to know that the jurisdiction is serious about creating a space for everyone and all users. The Complete Streets Policy will set up the expectations that all streets will be built to accommodate bicyclists, pedestrians, vehicles, as well as parking and green space if applicable.
Setting clear policies is essential to set up the ground work for this important task of making the roads safe for all modes of transportation
A Sidewalk Prioritization Policy is also needed to set up sidewalk priorities. Where should new sidewalksbe built?The priority order should be based on the area they serve, and their proximity to schools, shopping centers, metro stations and bus stops.While sidewalks are considered important facilities for pedestrians, there is often resistance from residents who do not want sidewalks to be built on front of their homes. The Sidewalk Prioritization Policy will set up the priorities of the jurisdiction’s sidewalk program and will establish their importance.
A Bicycle Master Plan and a Pedestrian Master Plan will also be very helpful. Those plans gets the public involved in the process and in making the decision about how the jurisdiction is proceeding with the efforts of creating a new network for bicyclists and pedestrians. Those plans can go as far as drawing a map of all facilities considered in the jurisdiction’s vision for the future.
Finally, a Vision Zero Action Plan is the umbrella that takes allthose policies into consideration when it is time to act. This action plan is simply the work that needs to be done to prevent all serious crashes for all modes of transportation. The plan includes different components such as Engineering, Education, and Enforcement action items, which are all necessary to improve safety in public streets.
The second area a jurisdiction needs to work on to provide a safe and efficient transportation system to best serve the publicis to coordinate efforts with neighboring jurisdictions.On many occasions, the local jurisdiction is intermingling with another larger jurisdiction such as the county or the state. Often a traffic signal is owned by the state but operated by the county and it falls with another smaller jurisdiction. Coordinating with neighboring jurisdictions is important for two reasons: 1) to be consistent with the treatment of roads and intersections in the same area to minimize any confusion for the public. It is crucial that the public sees similar philosophy in applying safety measures on the roads regardless of the authorized jurisdiction, and 2) to send the message to the public about the importance of public safety, and applying a Vision Zero Action Plan, by all levels of the government in the same area.
The third area a jurisdiction needs to work on to achieve its goal of providing a safe and efficient transportation network to best serve the public is to come up with a plan to get some work done.To begin with, support from the elected officials is crucial, not only to encourage the concept and the effort, but also to provide the necessary resources to fund and support the program they care about. Quarterly or semi-annual reports from staff are essential for the elected officials to track the efforts. Including projects in the Capital Improvement Programs is a must. Following up on implementing all components of the master plan is needed. Installing the necessary traffic control devices, new sidewalks, traffic calming measures, etc. is the only way to show the public the importance of this program and to convince everyone about the seriousness to improve public safety and road safety.
It should be noted that this article is focusing on bicycle and pedestrian safety. Of course, there are other modes of transportation that should be addressed in their own way such as transit, scooters, let alone the new world of autonomous vehicles, but this is all can be discussed in another day.
