For the third year in a row, Hempstead Turnpike in Nassau County is the region’s most [...]]]>

Multiple lanes of fast-moving cars, destinations that draw foot traffic from surrounding areas, and scarce crosswalks or other pedestrian accommodations: The ingredients which make a deadly road for walkers are all present on Long Island's Hempstead Turnpike.

For the third year in a row, Hempstead Turnpike in Nassau County is the region’s most dangerous road for walking, according to Tri-State Transportation Campaign’s just-released Most Dangerous Roads for Walking report.  Between 2007 and 2009, twelve pedestrians were killed on that 16-mile stretch of suburban highway cutting through Nassau County’s most densely populated towns.  The victims included three seniors, and a pair of adult brothers.

At four to six lanes across along most of its length, and lined with strip malls, fast food restaurants, and shopping centers, the Hempstead Turnpike serves as a perfect example of a wide suburban “arterial” road.  In the tri-state region, nearly two-thirds (63%) of pedestrian fatalities occur on these types of roads.

Manhattan’s Broadway ranked second in the Campaign’s report, with 11 fatalities over the three-year period.  With the exception of one fatality near City Hall, all of the Broadway pedestrian deaths occurred in northern Manhattan, where the road handles two-way traffic.  There were no fatalities along the stretches of Broadway that have been transformed through NYC Department of Transportation’s Green Light for Midtown program.

TSTC's Most Dangerous Roads for Walking report includes a ranking of roads in the region by number of pedestrian fatalities, fact sheets and Google Maps which break out the analysis by county, and recommendations for how to make roads safer. Click to read.

The Campaign’s analysis found that the Burlington Pike (US-130) in Burlington County was the most dangerous road in New Jersey.  Over three years, ten pedestrians were killed on the road.  Like the Hempstead Turnpike, Burlington Pike is four to six lanes across most of the route’s 23 miles, with shops and retail destinations along both sides of the road, but few crosswalks.

The Campaign’s findings confirm previous reports which concluded that road design — and in particular, the design of conventional arterials — is a primary contributor to pedestrian risk.  With multiple lanes, long sightlines, and fewer interruptions from cross traffic or pedestrians, arterials encourage traffic to speed.  Prevailing travel speeds on arterials tend to be upwards of 40 mph.  A pedestrian struck by a vehicle traveling at this speeds has a dismal 15 percent chance of survival.

Communities across the tri-state region are beginning to recognize the hazards of typical suburban-style road design.  Connecticut has implemented a “Complete Streets” law requiring that new construction seek to accommodate the needs of all roads users.  And late last year, outgoing governor Jodi Rell announced significant changes to ConnDOT’s bicycle and pedestrian policies aimed at improving the delivery and increasing the funding available for bicycle and pedestrian projects.  New Jersey’s Department of Transportation has increased funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects and recently signed a Complete Streets policy.  New York State has implemented a SafeSeniors program seeking to address pedestrian safety for older New Yorkers, and NYCDOT has emerged as a national leader in carving out safe public spaces for pedestrians and bicyclists.  Elsewhere in downstate New York, at least six communities have adopted Complete Streets policies or resolutions.

But with approximately 415 pedestrian killed on the region’s roadways every year, there’s still a long way to go.  A good place to start would be for the New York State legislature to pass the critically-needed Complete Streets bill that has languished in Albany for nearly a year.  Beyond that, the Campaign recommends that all three states in the region:

• Make pedestrian safety a policy and investment priority;
• Protect the most vulnerable pedestrians through increased spending on Safe Routes to School, Safe Routes to Transit, and Safe Routes for Seniors programs;
• Designate a fair share of federal funding to improving bicycling and walking; and,
• Ask our congressional delegation to fight to protect and expand federal programs that provide significant funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects.

After the jump, the full ranking of the region’s most dangerous roads.

Last week, the Governors Highway Safety Association, which [...]]]>

Over half of pedestrian fatalities take place on wide "arterial" roads like Hempstead Turnpike on Long Island, even though arterials are only 12% of roads (by mileage). Yet "no single pedestrian fatality cause stands out," according to the umbrella group for government road safety agencies.

Last week, the Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents state road safety agencies across the country, released a report meant to call attention to a worrisome uptick in pedestrian fatalities in the first half of 2010. Too bad it offers essentially no analysis – then compounds it with idle speculation on the causes of pedestrian deaths and victim-blaming.

The raw numbers show 1,891 pedestrian fatalities from January through June of 2010, compared to 1,884 in the first six months of 2009, a 0.4% increase after four years of steady decline in pedestrian deaths. By itself, an increase of just 7 fatalities nationwide is not particularly striking, but GHSA’s directors express concern about the findings, particularly in light of an 8 percent drop in overall traffic fatalities from the first half of 2009 to 2010. Said Chairman Vernon F. Betkey Jr., “Given that we have made so much progress in this area, GHSA is concerned to see this reversal.”

If the trend does indeed continue in the second half of 2010, there may be good reason to worry. But preliminary numbers for the tri-state region suggest that pedestrian fatalities have continued to fall. In New Jersey, for example, the number of pedestrian deaths fell by 11 percent in 2010 compared to the prior year, according to preliminary data from the State Police.

Regardless of the GHSA’s findings, the report itself is atrocious. The author resorts to analysis via anecdote, linking the increase to anything from distracted drivers to “broad economic and social factors” to car-centric road design. But the report devotes the most ink to the theory that distracted pedestrians and efforts to increase physical activity by encouraging walking are to blame.  A “blame the victim” theme runs throughout the report, with repeated references to pedestrians distracted by cellphones or headphones — and no reference to data. Here’s a typical excerpt (emphasis added):

[Connecticut officials noted]:

“We’ve had some ‘distracted’ pedestrians, but not enough to create a trend.”

[...] As Delaware noted:

“Though there is no solid data to indicate how large the scope of the problem is, there have been isolated cases to show that distracted pedestrians are becoming an issue… particularly those who walk or run for exercise and may be using headphones while listening to music.”

Despite “no solid data” to back up these “isolated cases,” here’s how the organization’s press release summarized that aspect of the report:

A growing national focus on walkable communities and “get moving” health and fitness efforts may cause pedestrian exposure, and thus risk, to increase.

Conservative news outlets picked up on this conclusion, suggesting that First Lady Michelle Obama’s efforts to push fitness could be responsible for the slight jump in pedestrian fatalities.

The report concludes that “no single pedestrian fatality cause stands out and no single countermeasure can make a substantial impact.” But both Tri-State’s reports on pedestrian safety and the national report Dangerous by Design cite evidence suggesting that the biggest single cause of pedestrian fatalities is road design that favors speeding cars over pedestrian safety. For example, in 2009 more than 53 percent of pedestrian fatalities occurred on wide “arterial” roads, even though those roads comprised only 12 percent of the nation’s lane mileage.

Most appallingly, the report highlights the death of a 14-year-old girl who was trying to cross Sunrise Highway on Long Island as an example of pedestrian fault. Anyone familiar with that roadway knows that an old-school engineering design that put six lanes of speeding traffic through town centers is the reason it has been repeatedly named one of the most dangerous roads in the tri-state area. Shame on GHSA for saying otherwise.

Photo: Google Street View.

Following on the heels of a letter from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Environment New Jersey, and NJPIRG urging Governor Christie to redirect the billions in transportation funds that had been slated for the Access to the Region’s Core project to transit and repair projects, a new TSTC report identifies [...]]]>

(Click to view report.)

Following on the heels of a letter from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Environment New Jersey, and NJPIRG urging Governor Christie to redirect the billions in transportation funds that had been slated for the Access to the Region’s Core project to transit and repair projects, a new TSTC report identifies more than 200 deficient major New Jersey bridges.

Those bridges carry nearly eight million cars and trucks daily, according to the report, “More than a Bandage for New Jersey’s Crumbling Bridges: Making the Case for a Long-Term and Sustainable TTF.” Many are in need of immediate repair or reconstruction — but the expected bankruptcy of New Jersey’s Transportation Trust Fund threatens to derail progress on improving bridges and other critical infrastructure. Beginning in July 2011, all of the gas tax and other revenue flowing into the TTF will go to service payments on decades’ worth of past borrowing.

The majority of New Jersey’s structurally deficient bridges are concentrated in the heavily populated counties of northern New Jersey. Bergen County tops the list with 26 structurally deficient bridges, followed by Essex and Morris Counties with 20 and 19 structurally deficient bridges, respectively. But as a percentage of total major bridges, rural Sussex and Warren counties, each with far fewer major bridges than their more urbanized neighbors, rank at the top with 14 percent of major bridges rated structurally deficient.

States are also required to calculate a sufficiency rating based on nearly two dozen factors related to a bridge’s condition and use. Tri-State ranked all 202 of New Jersey’s structurally deficient major bridges by this category, identifying 18 with a very low sufficiency rating of less than 25% (the sufficiency rating can range from 0 to 100%):

(This table and TSTC's report reflects federal data from 2009, the most recent available.)

Many of these bridges, like the Pulaski Skyway, are notorious to drivers for their potholes and craters. Others suffer from problems not apparent to the average motorist, but no less worrisome. Some of the bridges date from World War I.

While the term “structurally deficient” does not necessarily indicate that a bridge is in danger of collapse, it is an indication that a particular bridge is in need of repair or reconstruction in the immediate or near future.

NJDOT has made steady progress on a legislatively mandated goal of reducing the backlog of deficient bridges.  But according to the agency’s 2010 Statewide Capital Investment Strategy, annual spending of more than $850 million is necessary to make a significant dent in the state’s backlog. Without a solvent Transportation Trust Fund, continued progress is likely to stall.

Tri-State’s report makes the following recommendations to improve New Jersey’s bridges:

• Identify a new long-term sustainable funding solution to the Transportation Trust Fund revenue crisis.
• Continue the state’s fix-it-first policy by fixing existing infrastructure before building new roads and bridges.
• Require NJDOT to make significant and documented progress on reducing the backlog of deficient bridges.
• Maintain funding for transit projects and operations in order to curb traffic and reduce future wear-and-tear on bridges and other infrastructure.
• Redirect available ARC funding for transit and repair projects.

The report and a Google Map showing the exact location of each structurally deficient major bridge, as well as details about each bridge are available on TSTC’s website.

Local governments in New York are still waiting for the state to distribute tens of millions of dollars from the federal Transportation Enhancements (TE) program, which is primarily used for bicycle and pedestrian projects. The last round of grants [...]]]>

Transportation Enhancements money was used for part of NYC's Ninth Avenue complete streets redesign.

Local governments in New York are still waiting for the state to distribute tens of millions of dollars from the federal Transportation Enhancements (TE) program, which is primarily used for bicycle and pedestrian projects. The last round of grants came in April 2009, and the last time NYSDOT solicited applications from municipalities and other eligible entities was more than two and a half years ago, in January 2008.

This is actually typical; solicitations are usually announced only every 2 or 3 years. But when Tri-State contacted NYSDOT’s Transportation Enhancements office to find out the timeline for the next round of awards, we were told that it was “currently under discussion internally.”  Sounds like solicitations won’t be announced any time soon.

It’s not even clear how much TE money the state has to give, and state officials did not respond when asked. Since the last round of TE grants, New York has received another $29 million in TE contract authority (the maximum the state is allowed to spend in a federal program) through an extension of the federal transportation law, SAFETEA-LU.

States can only spend about 90% of the federal transportation apportionments they receive. States can spread their obligations evenly, funding all federal programs at about 90%, or fully fund some programs while underfunding others. In New York, Transportation Enhancements is one of the programs that suffer.

New York City typically gets short-changed in the distribution of TE funds despite having greater rates of walking and cycling than other parts of the state.  While the State DOT’s Region 11 (NYC) office represents more than 40 percent of the state’s population, it received only 25 percent of TE funds in the last round of awards.  And none of those awards were made under the stimulus act, which offered the advantage of not requiring a match to the federal dollars.

Meanwhile, demand for bicycle and pedestrian projects continues to grow, as evidenced by recently passed Complete Streets policies in communities as different as urban Buffalo and suburban Brookhaven.  Municipal transportation planners need to know when they might expect federal funding to be available so they can meet those demands.

Images: Top — Tri-State Transportation Campaign. Bottom — Surface Transportation Policy Project.

Traffic deaths have fallen to their lowest level since 1950, according to newly-released data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).  33,808 motorists, motorcyclists, pedestrians, and bicyclists were killed in traffic collisions in 2009, down 10 percent from 2008 and an incredible 22 [...]]]>

(Click to view larger version.)

Traffic deaths have fallen to their lowest level since 1950, according to newly-released data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).  33,808 motorists, motorcyclists, pedestrians, and bicyclists were killed in traffic collisions in 2009, down 10 percent from 2008 and an incredible 22 percent from the recent peak of 43,510 in 2005.  A preliminary Tri-State analysis shows that the drop is fairly evenly spread among victim type, with significant declines in driver and passenger deaths, and slightly smaller declines in pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities (the one exception is motorcyclist deaths, which fell only slightly).

In the late 1980s, traffic fatalities plummeted for four straight years, largely as a result of increased seat belt use and concerted efforts to stop driving while under the influence.  But the cause of this recent drop in fatalities is unclear.  USDOT has put considerable energy into addressing driving while distracted, and credits a six percent drop in distracted driving deaths to those efforts.  Certainly USDOT’s distracted driving campaign deserves praise for saving lives and for bringing national attention to this deadly problem.  But if USDOT’s numbers are correct, the drop in distracted driving deaths accounts for only a fraction of the year-to-year absolute change, and distracted driving deaths have not fallen as a share of total traffic deaths.

Officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which is charged with tracking and reducing traffic deaths and injuries, told MTR they did not have a good explanation for the drop and that the distracted driving campaign was their top priority for the moment. But understanding why fatalities are falling so dramatically could allow policymakers to institutionalize whatever changes have contributed to the decline.

Tri-State spent some time earlier in the year examining NHTSA’s data sets and talking with researchers in the field to see if there was any obvious explanation for the drop.  The consensus seems to be that multiple factors are contributing to the decline. Americans are driving less as a result of the spike in gas prices and the great recession, but this does not appear to explain the entire decline.  In 2008, total vehicle miles traveled fell by 1.9 percent nationwide, but in 2009 VMT actually increased by 0.2%.  There is some evidence to suggest that the recession and gas price fluctuations has changed the type of driving that Americans are doing — fewer recreational trips (which are more likely to involve alcohol), fewer trips by young drivers (who are more likely to be squeezed by higher gas prices and more likely to be out of work), slower travel speeds as drivers try to conserve gas, etc. Greater use of graduated licensing laws may also be making a dent, given that young male drivers are responsible for a disproportionate share of traffic deaths.

33,808 deaths on the nation’s roads are still far too many.  Getting to the bottom of the recent decline in fatalities would allow for sustained progress toward a zero fatality goal.

Graphic: TSTC.

Fewer pedestrians and cyclists are dying on the Garden State’s roads, sidewalks and bicycle paths this year versus 2009, even as the number of drivers and passengers killed has more or less [...]]]>

Police in Hillside, NJ conduct a "crosswalk sting," having a plainclothes officer cross the street to see whether drivers will yield.

Fewer pedestrians and cyclists are dying on the Garden State’s roads, sidewalks and bicycle paths this year versus 2009, even as the number of drivers and passengers killed has more or less held steady.

According to NJ State Police year-to-date statewide fatal crash statistics through August 25, total fatalities are down to 351, an 8.1 percent decline from the 380 persons killed during the same period last year. (These 2010 statistics are preliminary and will likely be revised up, but not enough to significantly offset the decline.)

What’s most striking about the statistics is the victim classification break down. A 25 percent decline in bicycle and pedestrian fatalities makes up the entire year-to-date reduction in statewide traffic fatalities:

Obviously there isn’t enough data to show causality between the decline in fatalities and New Jersey’s recently passed law requiring drivers to “stop and stay stopped” for pedestrians in crosswalks, or the ensuing crackdown on motorists who fail to yield. But the numbers certainly help allay concerns that the law would increase pedestrian fatalities by emboldening people to – horror! – cross the street.

Photo: David Gard/NJ Local News Service.

Citing even one crash as “one crash too many,” New York City DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan on Monday released the city’s “roadmap for safety strategies.”  The study recommends four specific engineering and design strategies to improve pedestrian safety:

The report found that home values within two miles [...]]]> A ground-breaking new report from the Regional Plan Association confirms that the Access to the Region’s Core project will have immense economic benefits.  The $8 billion project broke ground last year, and when complete in 2017, will double rail service between Manhattan and New Jersey.

The report found that home values within two miles of the 10 NJ TRANSIT lines and two MetroNorth lines that will benefit from ARC will increase by an average of $19,000, generating an additional $375 million in annual property tax revenue for New Jersey’s struggling municipal budgets.

To determine the effect that ARC could have on home prices, RPA’s Juliette Michaelson looked at the effect on home prices of three previous improvements to NJ TRANSIT rail service: Midtown Direct Service on the Morris & Essex Line; the Montclair Connection; and the Secaucus Junction.  Michaelson performed a statistical analysis on 45,000 home sales within two miles of stations along those lines, and found that home values increased by an average of $23,000 (in 2009 dollars) as a result of the trip time reductions from those three projects.  For homes within walking distance (1/2 mile) of stations, property values increased by $34,000.  Cumulatively, the three projects produced about $11 billion in increased home values, and generated $250 million per year in additional property tax revenues.

Michaelson calculates that each minute of time savings from NJ TRANSIT rail improvements results in a $1,959 increase in home value (houses within a 1/2 mile of a station can expect a $2,902 increase per minute of time savings).  By applying those rates to the anticipated time savings from the ARC project — averaging 10 minutes across the region — Michaelson determines that the ARC project will produce a cumulative increase in housing prices of nearly $18 billion.