Why measuring traffic deaths alone doesn’t paint a full picture.
In a piece in Next STL, Christian Frommelt argues that planners and transportation officials shouldn’t rely exclusively on crash statistics to understand road safety conditions in their cities. “We need metrics that keep us accountable and crash data alone is inadequate in implementing serious, sweeping change.”
For Frommelt, “Measuring modal share—the proportion of people walking/rolling, biking, taking public transit, and driving—will help determine whether car-dominant planning continues to supplant overall health and safety.” Moreover, Census data only shows modal share for commutes to work, obscuring the many other types of trips that people take to grocery stores, schools, healthcare facilities, entertainment venues, parks, and more.
In St. Louis, where Frommelt lives, a new Complete Streets bill could help the city gather more information about those metrics and assess how infrastructure investments are paying off for pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users. Measuring mode share more accurately can also unlock federal funding opportunities.
FULL STORY: Why Crash Statistics are Inadequate for Planning Safer Streets
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A bill named in honor of a U.S. diplomat killed while on her bicycle would let state DOTs access full federal funding for road safety projects.
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Road fatalities fell by a meager 4 percent in the first half of 2023.
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New federal grant programs are injecting millions of dollars into road safety projects in an effort to stem the alarming growth of traffic deaths on U.S. roads.
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Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving
Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.
Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan
Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.
Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding
The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.
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