The Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP) is a national coalition of over 200 organizations working to promote transportation policies that protect neighborhoods, provide better travel choices and promote social equity. STPP has offices in Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Washington, DC.

Their Mean Streets 2002 report (go to www.transact.org) is the latest national study in a series that looks at the perils facing pedestrians, why where you live matters, and how states aren't spending enough to fix the problem. The new study ranks per capita deaths and spending by metro area for the first time, and finds children, the elderly and African-Americans at particularly high risk.

Nearly 5,000 pedestrians were killed in the U.S. in 2001, up from last year and the first increase in deaths since 1995. This increase in deaths occurred even as evidence indicates that fewer people are walking regularly. The death rate, combined with the decline in walking, indicates the US streets may be getting less safe for pedestrians.

The most dangerous metro areas tend to be newer, low-density developments, where wide, high-speed arterial streets offer few sidewalks or crosswalks. The report also finds that state spending of federal dollars for pedestrian safety is below average for nine of the ten most dangerous metropolitan areas.

San Diego currently ranks 28th out of 49 large metro areas nationally in terms of the pedestrian danger index (which adjusts the per capita number of pedestrian fatalities by the number of walkers). This is a gain of only one position from the 1997/98 rank of 29th. However, San Diego’s 24 per cent of traffic deaths that were pedestrians is second only to that of the New York metropolitan area. And San Diego’s average yearly spending of federal funds on bicycle/pedestrian projects is only $0.38 per person (or 34th out of 49) as opposed to the national average expenditure of $0.87 per person. The national average is not very impressive either when compared to the annual average spent per person on roads and bridges, which is more than $50.

A useful companion report to Mean Streets 2002 is the study prepared by the California branch of STPP, titled Pedestrian Safety in California: Five Years of Progress and Pitfalls (August 2002), it is the fourth annual analysis of pedestrian safety data for California’s largest cities and counties.

From 2000 to 2001, pedestrian deaths in California increased by 5 per cent – from 689 fatalities to 721 – one of the first significant increases in overall pedestrian fatalities in California for several years. Yet newly available data also shows that fewer Californians are walking to work. Because of current trends in land use and transportation policy, including rapid suburbanization, the widening of streets and intersections, and the removal of crosswalks – pedestrians are facing increasingly hostile physical environments.

In terms of pedestrian deaths as a percentage of all traffic fatalities, San Diego County ranks 6th, behind San Francisco, Marin, Los Angeles, Orange and Contra Costa. On the basis of its pedestrian danger index, San Diego ranks 19th out of 35 California counties, and has been improving steadily from its 1997 position of 23rd. Nevertheless, within the county, Oceanside ranks as the fourth most dangerous city for pedestrians in California. And in the decade between 1990 and 2000, San Diego county has seen a reduction of 24.5% in the number of commuters who report walking to work. This compares with a reduction for the entire state of 14.7%.

Mean Streets 2002 includes a section on the health risks of walking less, citing statistics on the national obesity epidemic and the soaring costs resulting from our sedentary lifestyle. Recommendations for state and federal action include increased spending on pedestrian safety, creation of walk-friendly streets, and improved data collection on pedestrian activity.

Photo: Crosswalk Dash	Photo: WalkSanDiego's Tina Zenzola calls for more SANDAG funding for pedestrian safety projects.