Report: St. Louis Region’s streets rank 17th most dangerous to pedestrians

The Surface Transportation Policy Project has released its findings on pedestrian safety from 1994-2003 in a new report, Mean Streets 2004 – How Far Have We Come? The St. Louis Region ranks 17th most dangerous and that our Pedestrian Danger Index increased 5.7% in 2002-2003. This is despite having the 3rd highest federal spending on pedestrian & bicycle projects for FY1998-2003 for an average of $1.56 per person. So we are spending the bucks but not getting the results!

From the report:
“Overall, the nation’s transportation networks have been largely designed to facilitate high speed automobile traffic, treating our communities and pedestrian safety as an afterthought. Streets designed with wide travel lanes and expansive intersections have been the norm or local zoning and parking requirements that don’t account for pedestrians and public transportation riders is too often standard practice. Private sector actors routinely design malls, shopping centers and housing for automobile access, without suitable facilities for pedestrians, bicyclists or transit users. Importantly, communities with a good design and a focus on features that support travel options from the start don’t have to be fixed later, reducing the dangers to pedestrians today and into the future.”

Mean Streets 2004 – How Far Have We Come? (40 page PDF)

Pedestrian Safety and Spending in Missouri (One page PDF)

APA Press Release, 12/2/2004

Walkable Communities – a great resource

Hopefully we as a region can do better at improving the walkability of our city & region. Spending the funds is not enough – we’ve got to think about how we are spending the money. We also need to stop building more sprawl and focus on rebuilding our existing communities.

– Steve