This week, the Alliance for Biking and Walking released its 2012 Benchmarking Report, and the timing is impeccable. As Streetsblog points out, the release coincides with the soon-to-appear national surface transportation bill, and in the tri-state region, it comes just after state legislatures have gotten into full swing. With statistics, case studies and loads of other resources, the Benchmarking Report shows legislators where the nation’s biking and walking infrastructure stands.

After the jump, TSTC presents some of the report’s most interesting figures.

The report’s snapshot of the tri-state region highlighted some remarkable facts:

• New York State has the third highest share of people who walk and bike to work, and the state ranks second (after Alaska) in the number of people who walk to work.

• Connecticut is the 22nd-safest state for walkers, and 12.8% of its traffic fatalities are pedestrians.

• New Jersey spent .86% of its federal transportation dollars on bicycle or pedestrian projects from 2006-2010, a figure that ranks them below the national average of 1.6%. To be fair, New Jersey does contribute state money, though we have argued that it’s not enough.

Nationwide, there have been some commendable advances in cyclist and pedestrian welfare:

• A growing number of city and state policies have promoted biking and walking. These include complete streets legislation, goals for increased biking and walking, and bike/ped master plans. 19 of the 51 cities surveyed have complete streets policies.

• In 2009-2010, states and cities spent more on bike/ped improvements than they did in 2007-2008 (but they’re still not spending as much as they did in 2005-2006). Over the same period, state per capita funding for bike/ped has increased from $1.29 to $2.17 per person, and city funding for bike/ped has increased from $1.49 to $1.80.

There are also some worrying trends in the report, though:

• Traffic fatalities have decreased, but pedestrian traffic fatalities have increased from 11.3% to 11.7%. This means that, although there are fewer car accidents, pedestrians make up a larger share of accident victims. TSTC saw this trend in an NHSTSA report as well.

• States are disproportionally giving back Transportation Enhancements (TE) funds when the federal government issues rescissions (the term refers to the annual process in which Washington asks states to return unallocated federal transit funds). The trend is troublesome because TE money is used to fund bike/ped projects. In 2009, the average state gave back 21.9% of TE funds to the federal government, while in 2010, the figure was 26.4% (each year TE made up 2.3% of federal apportionments).

The Report aggregates data from federal sources, state DOTs, MPOs and non-profits to assemble a detailed analysis of biking and walking in the United States. Spanning all 50 states and the 51 largest U.S. cities, it covers biking and walking levels, cyclist and pedestrian demographics, safety, policy, and federal funding. The document also details the economic and public health benefits of investing in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, linking these kinds of projects to job creation, increased property values, cleaner air, and better personal health.

To see the full report, click here.