April 22 is Earth Day. Celebrate your support for walkability!

PEDS’ advocacy for a walkable Atlanta and more transportation choices makes a real difference to the environment. Transportation is the largest single cause of air pollution in the US. In 2010, it was the source of 32% of CO₂ emissions. Transportation in the US alone causes almost 9% of global CO₂ emissions. A whopping 65% of this was from personal vehicle use.

The challenge is huge. From 1990 to 2010, carbon emissions from transportation increased 18%, mostly due to increased travel miles and inefficient vehicles. Miles traveled by passenger cars and light-duty trucks increased an alarming 34% from 1990 to 2010. (Source: Environmental Protection Agency 2012).

Sprawling, un-walkable suburban expansion has been a major factor. Burning just one gallon of gasoline produces 19.4 pounds of CO₂.

Walkability improves the health of individuals, the community, and the planet.

Walking instead of driving not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions. It also reduces other harmful emissions that damage human health and the natural environment locally: particulate matter, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, and toxic pollutants such as benzene and acetaldehyde. (You can learn more from the Union of Concerned Scientists.)

Reducing miles driven also improves water quality. It reduces the volume of harmful pollutants from vehicles running off our roads into urban creeks, streams and beyond.

PEDS’ advocacy for walkable neighborhoods, safe access to transit, and transportation choices is making Atlanta a safer and healthier environment for all its residents.  Walking to destinations and to transit should be a safe option for everyone. It  also needs to be attractive enough to persuade people to leave their cars behind.

Feel REALLY good this Earth Day about supporting PEDS and promoting sustainability.

Have you calculated your carbon footprint?

On July 31, voters within the ten-county Atlanta region will vote whether to fund projects through a regional transportation sales tax. The estimated $7.2 billion raised through this tax over ten years will be split into two separate pots of money. Some $6.1 billion (85% of the total) will be used for regional projects selected last October  by the Regional Transportation Roundtable. The remaining 15% will be allocated directly to counties and cities.

The City of Atlanta expects to receive $9  million per year for ten years to spend on local projects. City officials are working to develop a rolling five-year list of projects to be funded by the 15% local allocation if the referendum passes in July.

To get public input on how residents want this money invested, the City is holding a series of information sessions. PEDS is encouraging the City to invest in repairing broken sidewalks, installing pedestrian activated signals and other devices that make it safe to cross the streets, and converting streets that were designed for cars only into ones that are safe for all users. We encourage you to attend one or more of these sessions to learn more about the referendum and to speak up for investing in a walkable Atlanta If you can’t attend, please submit your comments by e-mail to tiacomments@atlantaga.gov or call 404-330-6145 by March 15, 2012.

Just two sessions remain:

Thursday, March 1, 2012 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm (presentations at 6:00pm and 7:00pm)

Atrium, MARTA Headquarters, 2424 Piedmont Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30324

Accessible via MARTA Gold & Red Lines and bus routes 5, 6, 27, 30 and 39

Monday, March 5, 2012 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm (presentations at 6:00pm and 7:00pm)

Carpenter’s House, Atlanta Mission, 2353 Bolton Rd NW, Atlanta, GA 30318

Accessible via MARTA bus route 60

If you need special accommodations please call 404-330-6145 at least 24 hours before the session you plan to attend.

In Cobb County, three pedestrians were killed while attempting to cross high speed roads last week. As we learned from following Raquel Nelson’s trial last summer,  Cobb County pedestrians often have to put their lives at risk just to get across the street.

Most roads in Cobb County were built to serve motorists only. The county’s population has changed, with more people who walk or use transit to get around. The roads, however, have not evolved to meet the needs of a changing population.

Traffic volumes on South Marietta Parkway and other roads are high, which prevents pedestrians from finding safe gaps in traffic. Meanwhile, crosswalks are few and far between. In a WSB-TV story about a fatal crash near the Marietta [bus] Transfer Center, reporter Ross Cavitt pointed to signs reading “no pedestrians/use crosswalk.” He then asked: “Where are those crosswalks?”  In one direction, they’re”almost too far away to see.” In the other, detouring to the crosswalk to get across the street would require a walk equivalent to the length of four football fields.

The county plans a billboard and public safety announcement campaign to warn people about risks. Without additional infrastructure, warnings will not solve the problem.

Am I the only one who wishes that doctors, restaurants, government agencies and others should stop validating parking? Or do you agree that people who walk to their destinations shouldn’t have to subsidize those who travel by car? If so, express your thanks next time you see a sign like this.

Every time I visit my dentist, the receptionist offers to validate my parking in Colony Square’s pricey parking garage. People who drive may appreciate that, but since the dentist incorporates parking costs into the fee for office visits, why not offer a discount to those who came on foot?  Or at least a round-trip MARTA pass?

The City of Atlanta needs to take responsibility for fixing broken sidewalks.

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In Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., tax dollars pay for sidewalk repairs, with substantial amounts budgeted each year. The City of Atlanta, in contrast, makes sidewalk repairs the responsibility of adjacent property owners.

Undercover police officers had several near misses Thursday afternoon in a pedestrian sting operation in downtown Atlanta. The officers, who were dressed like college students, repeatedly crossed streets in crosswalks near Georgia State University as part of an enforcement sting.

The field exercise was part of an all-day Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Workshop organized by PEDS for police officers from 20 jurisdictions across Georgia.

Watch the CBS News clip here. Scroll past the text to watch some dramatic near misses.

A recent national TV feature called Blueprint America, a PBS initiative exploring the state of the nation’s infrastructure, spotlighted Buford Highway, Georgia’s deadliest road for pedestrians. Watch the 8-minute video here.

The video focused attention on what PBS reporter Jon Larson called a “Great American Mismatch”: suburban roads and the people who live along them. Contrary to stereotypes about inner city poverty, 85 percent of metro Atlanta’s lower income residents live in the suburbs. Buford Highway was built for cars. “Problem is,” Larson said, “many people here can’t afford them.”

Blueprint America, a PBS initiative exploring the state of the nation’s infrastructure, is shining the spotlight on Buford Highway, Georgia’s deadliest road for pedestrians.  The segment in which PEDS appears was broadcast as part of a TV news magazine called Need to Know on July 23 at 8:30pm.

Michael Orta, PEDS’ Director of Community Education, worked closely with the Blueprint America film crew, participating in interviews, providing background and crash data and connecting reporters with government officials and people living along Buford Highway.

Watch it here:

You can also see this video on the Need to Know website along with comments from other viewers.

PEDS has asked the Georgia Department of Transportation to address Buford Highway’s lack of safe crossings and high pedestrian fatality rate for over a decade. This film enables us to highlight these issues on a national stage. It also gives the Georgia Department of Transportation an opportunity to explain — after years of inaction — where its safety improvement plans stands.  Don’t miss this revealing show.

Or is the sign just moronic? Research has already shown you can’t really drive safely while using  a cell phone.  Driving while talking on a cell phone distracts the brain from its primary task: driving.  DeKalb County should remove this sign on East Roxboro Road and others like it.  See the sign on Google Maps street view.

It’s oxymoronic to see this sign in DeKalb County, especially since DeKalb passed a law in 2006 that punishes drivers who wreck while using cell phones.  If you cause a crash while talking on your cell phone in DeKalb, you could face prosecution and fines up to $500.  Yet, according to a report by WSB Channel 2 Action News in April 2010, the law is rarely enforced.

Good news: the Georgia DOT is replacing the flashing yellow crosswalk signals in the Chamblee/Doraville area of Buford Highway with HAWK signals. What’s a HAWK signal? It’s basically a pedestrian-activated red light. PEDS has been recommending these to GDOT for years. With 7 lanes of 45 – 55 mph traffic, Buford Highway is Georgia’s most dangerous road for pedestrians. HAWK signals provide a safe way for people to cross. The new signals haven’t been turned on yet, but GDOT’s Calvin Duncan says they’ll be turned on in about two weeks. More to come.