More bike paths? Safer sidewalks? Biden’s infrastructure bill has money for them
More bike lanes that are clearly separated from streets. More pedestrian-friendly street designs. And more safety features on cars
California and other states are in line for a lot more money to implement such plans, thanks to the $1 trillion infrastructure bill the House is considering.
The Senate has already approved the infrastructure bill, and it’s seen as having strong support in the House. Progress has stalled as liberals insist there be no vote until a separate tax and spending package gets a vote, a process that could go on for weeks.
Once the infrastructure bill is approved, Caltrans officials say the bill’s federal money would “further the progress” the state has made on safety already.
A 2017 California law that increased transportation funding provides about $100 million a year for cities, counties and regional transportation agencies to build or convert more safe bike paths, crosswalks and sidewalks.
The federal bill would boost that funding even further. The bill will mean an estimated $11 billion to the states for safety-related programs, more than double current level, according to the White House.
States with high rates of bicycling and walking fatalities, including California, will now be required to increase investments in vulnerable road user safety significantly.
Advocacy groups in Washington and Sacramento are generally enthusiastic about the federal bill, though many wished Congress would go further.
“It’s a strong step forward,” said Caron Whitaker, senior vice president of the League of American Bicyclists, though she urged even more strict safety requirements..
“There’s a lot there that involves pedestrian safety,” said Nathan Smith, vice president of engagement at the American Traffic Safety Services Association.
More dangerous streets
Roads have become more dangerous for cars, cyclists and walkers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When you have back to back years of fatalities increasing on the roadways that heightens urgency,” said Mark Chung, vice president, roadway safety at the National Safety Council
In the first half of 2021, traffic deaths were up 21% from the first half of last year in California to 1,848, according to a preliminary council estimate. That trend was apparent nationwide, as fatalities over the period declined in only six states.
Pedestrian deaths totaled 1,026 in California last year, up six from 2019, according to preliminary data from the Governors’ Highway Safety Association.
Deaths of cyclists involved in fatal crashes statewide was down to 138 in 2019, the latest data available, from 173 the previous year. In Sacramento, two cyclists died in 2019.
Other 2019 cycling death in fatal crash totals: Fresno, two; Modesto, one; San Luis Obispo, none.
Russell Martin, senior director of policy and government, cited several reasons for the pandemic trends.
With roads emptier, “people had more opportunity to speed,” he said. And with people traveling less distance, there was more cycling and walking.
Add to that “people under more stress, and you have a combination of these factors that led to a lot of crashes,” he said.
Help for pedestrians, cyclists
The bill requires states to address cycling and walking safety with such measures as improved street design. Vehicles will move toward more sensors to detect pedestrians and cyclists. Strategies to curb vehicle speed will be implemented.
The legislation also promotes strategies such as Vision Zero, an approach that brings together different interests in crash prevention. It encourages policies that discourage speed, targets communities with large numbers of fatalities and injuries and uses data to determine the best approaches.
Not everyone is pleased. Transportation For America is concerned that states are being given too much flexibility.
A requirement that states have to spend 15% of their highway safety money if 15% of road deaths are pedestrians, cyclists, or people using mobility-assistive devices is not enough, the group says.
“We’re fond of saying that you can’t use a teaspoon to fill up a hole you’re still digging with an excavator,” said Stephen Davis, a spokesperson for Transportation for America.
The flexible money, he said, “will just exacerbate the same problems that we’re concurrently trying to solve with incredibly small amounts of money dedicated to safety.” He called the bill the same kind of approach “that has made travel outside of a car more dangerous than it has been in two decades.”
At Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, President Cathy Chase also sees the bill as too timid. “Firm deadlines for agency actions have been detoured with needless studies, insufficient requirements or not included at all,” she said.
For instance, the bill has no deadline for the government to require new cars and big trucks to include automatic braking systems, nor does it assure the systems can respond effectively to pedestrians, cyclists and other road users.
The Bicycle League’s Whitaker isn’t wholly satisfied with the bill either, but cites the politics of what’s happening.
If this pass fails, advocates will have to wait until the next Congress, which could be run by less friendly lawmakers.
“I don’t want to take that chance,” she said.
This story was originally published October 5, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "More bike paths? Safer sidewalks? Biden’s infrastructure bill has money for them."
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