NEWS RELEASE

CONTACT: Jacob Brostoff, 1000 Friends of Oregon, (503) 497-1000
Ellen Vanderslice, Willamette Pedestrian Coalition, (503) 222-1077
Kasandra Griffin, Bicycle Transportation Alliance, (503) 226-0676

REPORT FINDS OREGON NEGLECTING PEDESTRIAN SAFETY
Despite rising fatalities, state spends just $1.13 per person to protect pedestrians

A new national report finds that while pedestrians represent 12% of Oregon's traffic deaths, the state is spending just 1.1% of its federal transportation funds on pedestrian safety.

The report, Mean Streets 2002, was released by the Washington, DC-based Surface Transportation Policy Project. It analyzes federal safety and spending databases to rank the danger faced by pedestrians and assess the level of investment in pedestrian safety.

From 1998 through 2001, Oregon spent an average of just $1.13 per person each year to protect pedestrians and cyclists from fatal traffic accidents, the report shows. Pedestrian deaths increased from 52 in 2000 to 59 in 2001, reflecting a national increase in pedestrian fatalities.

Local transportation experts pointed to several recent pedestrian deaths that have received significant public attention in Oregon:

• In Woodburn, a mother and daughter were killed trying to cross Oregon 214 after leaving a parent-teacher conference at Woodburn High School on December 5, 2000
• In Portland's Linnton neighborhood, a child was struck and killed crossing US Highway 30 after leaving his school bus on November 29, 2001.
  
• In Eugene, a boy died when he was struck by a car on South 42nd Street on February 27, 2002. Shortly thereafter, there were five more accidents in the same neighborhood.

"This study shows us that these high-profile cases are not isolated incidents," said Ellen Vanderslice, president of America Walks and the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition. "Oregon may not be as bad as some places in the country, but we should be doing much more to protect children walking to school, seniors on the way to the store, and everyone else who walks."

"Too often, these tragic accidents spur the construction of safety improvements only after lives have been lost," said Jacob Brostoff, transportation advocate with 1000 Friends of Oregon, noting that the deaths in Linnton and Woodburn led quickly to pedestrian safety projects in each area. "We need to invest in safety before people die, not after. Our investment in pedestrian safety should match the percentage of traffic deaths that are pedestrians."

The study also ranks large metropolitan areas according to their danger to walkers by calculating deaths per capita and the amount of walking in the community. The most dangerous metro area is Orlando, Florida, followed by Tampa and West Palm Beach. The Portland region (from Salem to Vancouver, WA) ranks as the 37th most dangerous metropolitan area of the 49 areas ranked in the index.

The report finds that dangerous streets are discouraging people from walking and may be contributing to the rise in obesity. Wide, high-speed streets without sidewalks and with few crossing points-a common development pattern in suburbs across America-increase the dangers faced by walkers. According to federal transportation and health surveys, the portion of Americans walking to work has dropped 26 percent in the last ten years, while the percentage of overweight Americans has grown by 60 percent.

"When walking becomes more dangerous, people choose to walk less. When people walk less, they are less healthy," said Brostoff, noting that at least 250,000 people die each year due to diseases related to physical inactivity and unhealthy eating. "Investing in safety for pedestrians and cyclists-for people-is a common-sense step we can take to end this deadly cycle," he continued.

Congress will have an historic opportunity to address this issue next year as it takes up renewal of the nation's surface transportation law, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). At stake is how over $200 billion in federal transportation funds will be spent. Oregon has spent $1.4 billion on transportation projects since TEA-21 took effect in 1998, but only 1.1% of this total was spent on walking and bicycling safety projects.

"We call on our Congressional representatives to prioritize making our communities safer for walking as they work on the reauthorization of the federal transportation bill," said Vanderslice. Several members of the Oregon delegation sit on committees that will play key roles in the upcoming debate: Representatives Peter DeFazio and Earl Blumenauer are members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Senators Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden sit on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

Kasandra Griffin of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance called on state and federal legislators to fund a "Safe Routes to School" program to make it safe for kids to keep healthy by walking to school. The Oregon Legislature passed a BTA-promoted bill in 2001 directing Oregon school districts to assess the hazards and barriers to children walking and bicycling to school, but failed to provide funding to reduce those hazards. In 2003, the BTA would like to see funding for hazard elimination provided at both the state and national level.

"Congress and the Oregon Legislature must invest now to ensure that our kids aren't risking their lives every day on their way to school," said Griffin. "How can we say that children's safety isn't important enough to justify the cost?"

The groups made the following recommendations to protect the lives of walkers and cyclists:

1. Match the Level of Funding to the Level of the Problem. If 12 percent of traffic fatalities are pedestrians, a similar portion of safety funding should be directed to protecting walker safety. Investments in pedestrian facilities should be highest in the areas where the most walkers are killed.

2. Build Walk-Friendly Streets. State and local governments should include safe access for bicyclists and pedestrians in all non-restricted transportation facilities.

3. Safe Routes to School Program in TEA-3. Create a new federal source of funding for building bicycle and pedestrian facilities and calming traffic around schools in the next federal transportation law.

4. Safe Routes to School Funding in Oregon. Despite a state budget crunch, the 2003 Oregon Legislature needs to make children's safety a top priority by providing funds to eliminate barriers and hazards to walking and bicycling safely to schools.

# # #

STPP is a national not for profit coalition of more than 800 organizations working to ensure that transportation policy and investments strengthen the economy, promote social equity, and make communities more livable.

1000 Friends of Oregon works to protect Oregon's quality of life through the conservation of farm and forest lands and the promotion of more compact and livable cities with a full range of choices in housing and transportation.

The Willamette Pedestrian Coalition is a grassroots organization in the Portland region working to promote walking and improve the conditions for walking.

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance works to create healthy, sustainable communities by making bicycling safe, convenient and accessible.