Transportation For Pennsylvania

A new report by the Transportation For America coalition, Dangerous by Design, has released a new report that assesses America’s major metropolitan areas and states according to how safe they are for walking. The report, titled Dangerous by Design, notes that most pedestrian deaths occur on streets that are designed to encourage speeding traffic and that many pedestrian deaths could be prevented with proper protections. Fixing these problems is a matter of will on the part of state departments of transportation and local communities, and of shifting spending priorities.

Pennsylvania’s metro areas were rated well by the report. Every metro area centered in the state has a pedestrian danger index below the national average.  However, with only 2.1% of Pennsylvania’s federal transportation dollars being spent on pedestrian projects, there is still room for improvement.

While walking conditions remain perilous across the country, many communities are working to make their streets safe and welcoming for people on foot or bicycle. Communities across the country are beginning to reverse the dangerous legacy of 50 years of anti-pedestrian policies by retrofitting or building new roads as “complete streets” that are safer for walking and bicycling as well as motorists.

“As Congress prepares to rewrite the nation’s transportation law, this report is yet another wake-up call showing why it is so urgent to update our policies and spending priorities,” said James Corless, director of Transportation for America.

The Transportation for Pennsylvania coalition, led by 10,000 Friends, encourages members of Congress to support pedestrian safety through more walkable, bikable, transit-oriented communities as they deliberate the new federal transportation bill.

On the excellent Crossroads blog, Transportation For Pennsylvania partner Renew Lehigh Valley considers what it will take to make transportation a campaign issue in next year’s gubernatorial election. Here’s the meat of th piece, but be sure to click through to read the entire post:

The key for 2010 will be generating enough public and media interest so that the question that has surfaced again and again during this year’s gubernatorial race in Virginia–”What is your plan for the state’s transportation system?”–can be put into play here in Pennsylvania. Were transportation to become an issue here in 2010, a number of more Pennsylvania-specific questions for the candidates would naturally follow: What is your vision for how Pennsylvania can work with USDOT to implement an integrated rail system in the Commonwealth? (Note: PennDOT’s state rail plan will be completed by early 2010.) Will you continue the important work of the “Smart Transportation” initiative started by PennDOT Secretary Biehler? How can Pennsylvania promote transit-oriented development as an economic driver in older core communities?

At Transportation For Pennsylvania, we are working to develop a game plan to ensure that all the candidates are discussing transportation issues in their campaigns. We believe that this discussion will lead to an increased awareness among the public about the complicated issues facing our transportation systems.

It’s been over two years since the collapse of I-35 West over the Mississippi River.  After an initial wave of concern about the condition of our bridge infrastructure nationwide, interest in this area issue has faded into the background.

However, the issue remains.  Despite major investments by PennDOT for bridge repair and replacement, Pennsylvania still leads the nation in the number of structurally deficient bridges with nearly 6,000 statewide.

Now, new information published by the Philadelphia Inquirer reminds us that the bridge problem is about more than just roads.  Nearly half of Amtrak’s 302 bridges in Southeastern Pennsylvania have elements that have been rated “poor.”  While repairs on the bridges continue to be made, there is no long-term plan for sustaining this infrastructure that is vital to the state’s rail plans.  Some of the bridges are over 100 years old, and many more are nearing the end of their intended lifespan.

As Pennsylvania makes plans to expand our transportation infrastructure, we should also ensure that our existing systems are kept in good repair.