For Immediate Release: April 2, 2003

NATIONAL POLL SHOWS AMERICANS EAGER TO WALK MORE
AND SUPPORT SPENDING ON A BETTER WALKING ENVIRONMENT

Local Groups Say Oregon Needs More Federal Resources

Portland, Oregon -- Americans want to walk more places more often, and are willing to invest in making it more convenient and practical to do so. Those were the findings of a new survey released by 1000 Friends of Oregon and Willamette Pedestrian Coalition. The poll was conducted for the Washington, DC-based Surface Transportation Policy Project.

The local groups cited the East Bank Esplanade and the Gresham Civic
Neighborhood project as examples of the area's committment to making
transportation investments that make walking safer and more convenient.

Poll results show that Americans would like to walk more than they do and
overwhelmingly support policies that would make roads and intersections less
dangerous for pedestrians of all ages, especially children. A wide majority want federal transportation dollars to be spent on measures that will slow down traffic in residential areas, even if such measures require that they drive more slowly themselves.

"We know how to create a pleasant pedestrian environment," said Anne Canby,
President of the Surface Transportation Policy Project. "We need to use that
knowledge to build walkable, livable communities."

Canby noted that nearly half of respondents consider traffic where they live
a problem, yet building new roads is the least popular long-term solution among choices offered in the survey. Sixty-six percent say the best solutions are "improve public transportation" and "develop communities where people do not have to drive long distances to work or shop." Only 25 percent of respondents advocate building new roads.

"The poll found that people want to walk more and they're very willing to spend more of the transportation pie on making walking safe and convenient.
That's good news," said Ellen Vanderslice, president of the Willamette
Pedestrian Coalition. "It's also important to note that the main reason people gave for not walking more is that things are too far away. That really underlines the importance of the kind of work being done in the Portland region to make compact, urban centers where walking is a real choice."

Bob Stacey, executive director of 1000 Friends of Oregon, agreed. "This poll
shows that increasing transportation choices is not just a goal of urban planners and policy wonks. Average Americans appreciate the value of not having to get in the car every time they want to grab a cup of coffee or a loaf of bread."

Policies that would make communities more friendly for walkers find overwhelming support in the poll:

*Design Streets for Slower Traffic Speeds: 84%
A wide majority of respondents support using state transportation dollars for street design that slows down traffic in residential areas, even though they
may have to drive more slowly themselves. A majority of respondents report
speeding as a problem in their neighborhoods.

*Use Federal Funds to Make Walkers Safer from Traffic: 68%
A strong majority support increasing federal spending on making sure pedestrians can safely share roads with cars and safely cross the street, even within a constrained budget.

*Fund Safe Routes to School: 74%
A majority support using state transportation dollars to protect the walk to
school from traffic dangers, making it easier for children to walk to school. Though 71% of adults remember walking or biking to school when they were young, only 18% of parents say their kids ever walk to school.

Driving to destinations contributes to traffic congestion and pollution, whereas walking has many health benefits. "Listen to the people who are trying to live a healthy lifestyle and walk without being endangered by traffic," said Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder. "In Oregon the pedestrian accident rate is still way too high." Only 1.1 percent of federal transportation funds are spent on pedestrian/bicycle facilities in Oregon, even though 12 percent of all traffic deaths are people killed while walking.

Many recent development projects in the area have made significant progress
accommodating pedestrians.

Portland has widened sidewalks on its bridges. The East Bank Esplanade,
completed in 2001, connects downtown Portland with the Springwater Corridor
trail. The Esplanade reclaimed the east bank of the Willamette River, making it open and accessible for people. It is a heavily used commuter route for bicyclists and a popular downtown park.

Other projects have aimed to create neighborhoods that integrate many different kinds of uses all within walking distance. The Gresham Civic Neighborhood, for example, includes apartments, townhouses, and senior housing within an easy walk from restaurants, shops, groceries, and City Hall.

The Surface Transportation Policy Project made recommendations to Congress
on how the federal transportation bill, up for reauthorization this year, could give communities the resources to become more walkable:

*Authorize a Safe Routes to School program to dedicate federal safety funds
to improving the walking environment around schools

*Incorporate pedestrian and bicycle accommodations in every transportation
project.

*Provide local communities with more of the federal transportation dollars,
as local governments own 75 percent of the roads and streets in America's
transportation system; and

*Improve data and research efforts - currently only walking to work is counted in traffic studies.

The poll was conducted by telephone in October 2002 by Belden, Russonello
and Stewart, with a sample size of 800 adults 18 years and over. The margin
of sampling error is ±3.5 percentage points.

The full report and other supplementary information will be available online
at www.transact.org at 12:00 p.m. (ET) on Tuesday, April 1.

A conference call will take place 12:30 p.m. ­1:30 p.m. (ET), Tuesday, April
1, 2003. A recording of the call will be available for seven days.

To access the the teleconference, call 1-877-276-2599 and reference the
³STPP Conference Call² and the ID # 101446.

About Willamette Pedestrian Coalition
The Willamette Pedestrian Coalition is a grassroots advocacy group working mainly in the Portland region to improve conditions for walking.
http://www.americawalks.org/wpc/

About 1000 Friends of Oregon
1000 Friends of Oregon is a statewide nonprofit organization that works to protect Oregon¹s quality of life through the conservation of farm and forest lands, protection of natural and historic resources and promotion of more compact and livable cities. For more information about 1000 Friends of Oregon, please visit: http://www.friends.org

Contacts:
Ellen Vanderslice, President of Willamette Pedestrian Coalition
(503) 222-1077 office
(503) 803-6351 cell

Rob Zako, Transportation Advocate at 1000 Friends of Oregon
(503) 497-1000

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