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In South Bend, Pete Buttigieg challenged a decades-old assumption that streets are for cars above all else

Ian Duncan

January 16, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, South Bend, Indiana

Reconfiguring streets to slow automobile traffic through its downtown business district and encourage pedestrians and bicycling enlivened South Bend's street life and proved a boon to its restaurants and other businesses. Then-Mayor Pete Buttigieg pushed for the $25 million plan to make the streets safer and encourage people to spend more time and money in the area. Drivers complained about increased travel time, as they have about other cities’ “complete streets” programs. But Buttigieg and his supporters hope to push the concept when he runs the federal Transportation Department.

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The U.S. Could Make New Cars a Lot Less Deadly

David Zipper

January 06, 2021 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

American cars made since the early 1980s have carried ratings from the federal New Car Assessment Program, showing how risky they are to human life in a crash. NCAP ratings motivated a host of safety enhancements by manufacturers. Since the 1990s, similar programs in the European Union, China, Australia, Korea, and Japan have also rated vehicles' risks to pedestrians and bicyclists, and their fatalities have dropped. Not so in the U.S., where industry resistance has stalled expansion of NCAP ratings. Advocates hope the Biden Transportation Department will finally expand the program.

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How Oakland Got Real About Equitable Urban Planning

Rikha Sharma Rani

October 08, 2020 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

Oakland is making an effort to make city planning more equitable to include the needs of communities of color. "Esential Places" is the second iteration of a program that started off as "Slow Streets" and was criticized by local residents for catering to "white and moneyed interests." The initial attempt was informed by survey respondents who were overwhelmingly white and rich. Meetings with community members in distressed neighborhoods resulted in different traffic challenges and pedestrian needs. The shift in policy planning has led to safer intersections with no collisions at previously dangerous sites.

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Do We Need Police To Curb L.A.'s Traffic Violence? Some Cities Are Saving Lives Without Them

Ryan Fonseca

September 24, 2020 |

LAist |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

Five years after Los Angeles launched its Vision Zero program to reduce traffic fatalities, the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists killed on city streets have soared. By relying too heavily on the racially fraught and often ineffective practice of police stops of vehicles, and by not spending enough on street redesigns and automated enforcement technologies, L.A. has failed to make the kind of progress that cities like New York and Seattle have made with engineering innovations, stricter speed limits, and camera enforcement.

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#MakeCyclingSafer: In Nairobi and cities around the world

Duncan Lukoye

June 03, 2020 |

DIRAJ |

Multi-Media |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Nairobi

In Nairobi, as in other major cities around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted travelers away from mass transit to bicycling for social distancing purposes. This presents policy and safety challenges, as many more cyclists use streets designed only for automobiles. But, with benefits extending beyond virus protection to physical fitness and lowering carbon emissions, planners are pushing for cycling lanes and other design changes in hopes that the cycling craze will continue even after the pandemic danger eases.

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Zero bikers or pedestrians were killed by cars in Oslo last year: What can the U.S. learn from its success?

Adele Peters

January 09, 2020 |

FastCompany |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: Norway, Oslo

Oslo, Norway saw zero pedestrian and cyclist deaths in 2019. The success comes from infrastructure redesign, increased traffic enforcement, overall policy prioritization of road safety, and collaboration between residents, organizations, and government. In the United States, many cities are working toward “Vision Zero” – zero pedestrian and cycling deaths – and are looking to Oslo as an example.

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What Happens When a City Tries to End Traffic Deaths

Laura Bliss

November 21, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

An extensive investigation that, despite implementing an initiative called "Vision Zero" that aims to eliminate traffic and pedestrian fatalities, many cities still struggle to reduce the number of fatalities, year-over-year. Now, cities like Chicago and Washington D.C. are analyzing their failures - from lack of budget planning to missing coordination between government departments - in order to get on track to eliminating traffic deaths within a decade.

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Are D.C.'s Streets Finally Getting Safer?

Andrew Small

November 11, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

As the District lagged on its Vision Zero goals, bike and pedestrian advocates in Washington turned traffic fatalities into a rallying cry, and got results.

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San Francisco's Market Street Car Ban Is Overdue

Laura Bliss

October 17, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

A plan to redesign Market Street in San Francisco uses a controversial approach used by cities around the world: eliminating personal cars entirely. This bicycle, pedestrian and bus-oriented layout approach reduces traffic accidents and fatalities; San Francisco plans to move forward with their plan in 2020.

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Street by Street, Amsterdam Is Cutting Cars Out of the Picture

Feargus O'Sullivan

October 07, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Netherlands, Amsterdam

In order to cut back on automotive emissions and traffic within the city center, Amsterdam has introduced road-dividing "cuts" - called "knips" in Dutch - along major roadways to make travel in the city center easier for pedestrians and public transportation users. These cuts consist of barriers set to close off short sections of a street, therefore disabling through-travel to cars. The city notes that a "knip" effectively cuts automotive traffic on a blocked-off road by 70 percent.

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