Land use and transportation are inherently intertwined. For example, even a strong network of bike lanes or sidewalks will not be used if people have to travel long distances to get from one destination to another. Although land use and transportation should be considered an inseparable pair, we often find that many people have difficulty connecting them.
The US prides itself on being a global leader. Yet there’s one way we’d rather not be leading—in the number of people dying on our roads. Across all income levels, among the countries with the largest populations, we’re the only one where deaths reached these historic highs.
7,522 people were hit and killed while walking in 2022—an alarming increase that represents a 40-year high in preventable pedestrian deaths. Yet, at the local level, these deaths are often seen as individual instances, disguising the depth of the issue. Gaps in slow-to-update national datasets are part of the problem.
When we design our roads for the speed of vehicles, we sacrifice safety and comfort for everyone, including people who primarily travel behind a wheel.
We’ve always said that “you measure what you treasure” and the limited, incomplete data about the deaths of people walking suggest that it’s simply not a crisis that our nation cares about. But that doesn’t need to be the end of the story. Here are some specific recommendations to bring things out of the dark ages and into the modern age, while making it clear that reducing these deaths is a top priority for transportation agencies at all levels.
On July 9th, 2024, Smart Growth America and partners engaged the Future of Transportation Caucus and the Office of Senator John Fetterman on the importance of creating a transportation system that is safe for all users.
In urban planning and development, transit station areas are the unsung heroes shaping our cities. By examining the period from the Great Recession of 2007-2009 through the global COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2023, a recent report offers invaluable insights on how transit-oriented development can transform our urban landscapes.
Recently, the Coalition for Smarter Growth, an SGA partner, released their Blueprint for a Better Region for the Washington, DC metropolitan area—a stellar example of the important work being done on the ground, one that can be replicated in communities across the country.
LOCUS, SGA’s coalition of triple-bottom-line real estate developers and investors, is proud to announce three new priorities. Created in partnership with the LOCUS steering committee, these new priorities will guide the future of LOCUS’s advocacy efforts. LOCUS is a long-time leader in advocacy efforts to advance transit-oriented development and leveraging infrastructure investment to support housing … Continued
Kalamazoo, Michigan, is dealing with a problem seen in a number of cities across the US: a state highway running through the downtown as a “couplet,” two parallel one-way streets. These two wide and fast state-owned routes cut through a downtown neighborhood full of parks, restaurants, and museums near Western Michigan University. Six lanes with … Continued