Transportation safety is a key component of public health, and, nowadays, federal and state officials are putting a greater emphasis on safety-improvement projects in their funding and project selection. PennDOT’s Be Safe PA campaign provides an excellent summary of state efforts.
One problem is that many people don’t understand the rules or best practices for transportation safety, and this can make it challenging for planners to get support for active transportation improvements. Often, planners hear complaints from residents about cyclists and pedestrians and their use of local and state roads. In most cases, they are allowed to use the roads, but many drivers do not like this and consider them nuisances. It’s not just drivers who may not understand PennDOT rules, many pedestrians and cyclists don’t understand them either and may be unintentionally making their safety situation worse. Guidance for cyclists can be found online. And guidance for pedestrians can be found online.
Many local communities are refocusing on transportation health and safety, which is certainly not new for planners, but is welcome. Philadelphia’s Vision Zero effort is a great example of this type of initiative, which is particularly important with the rise in reckless driving.
