News

It’s quiet in our offices now, but we know it’s just the calm before the storm.

The Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works is likely to drop their version of the next federal transportation authorization bill this afternoon.

Once that happens, we’ll be working with our national partners to analyze the text and decide our next steps. We hope that the draft bill will reflect your letters, meetings, and calls in support of Complete Streets: that we need to create safe streets for everyone, regardless of age, ability, or chosen mode of travel.

We know that our roads are dangerous:

• 67% of pedestrian fatalities from 2000 to 2009 occurred on federal-aid roadways.
• 58% of highway fatalities occur on rural roads, twice the amount on urban roads.
• 250 kids were killed by cars while walking or biking in 2009, representing 25% of all children’s traffic fatalities that year.
• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among Americans aged 5-34.

We also know that our communities need more flexibility when deciding how to invest their transportation funds and that our families need more wallet-friendly options to get to their destinations. Our economies can’t continue to bear the increasing costs associated with vehicular fatalities and chronic health problems associated with obesity and poor air quality.

A federal Complete Streets policy isn’t a silver bullet, but it’s a necessary tool to ensure that our roads are safer.

We’ll have more on the draft bill next week, so stay tuned — and be ready to take action in support of Complete Streets.