CONTACTS:
Ron Achelpohl, MARC Asst. Director of Transportation, 816/474-4240

Heidi Schallberg, Transportation Planner, 816/474-4240

Jody Ladd Craig, Public Affairs Director, jcraig@marc.org, 816/701-8241

Kansas City region improves in preventing pedestrian deaths

Dangerous by Design report indicates region’s success in addressing safety issues

The Kansas City metro area has shown a dramatic decrease in the danger to pedestrians since 2004 according to a report released today by Transportation for America (T4America.org) and the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership.

In this update of the 2004 Mean Streets report, Dangerous by Design: Solving the Epidemic of Preventable Pedestrian Deaths (and Making Great Neighborhoods) ranks America’s major metropolitan areas and states according to a Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) that assesses how dangerous they are for walking. The Kansas City MSA ranked 32^nd safest out of 52 metropolitan statistical areas over 1 million population. This is an improvement from 35^th in rank in 2004.

The Kansas City MSA's PDI has dropped more than 15 percent from the 2004 Mean Streets report. In the current report, Kansas City’s PDI is 84.6 based on an average of 1.18 deaths annually per 100,000 people and 1.4 percent of workers who walk to work. In the 2004 report, Kansas City was one of the metro areas with worsening pedestrian safety according to the PDI calculations (a PDI of 100.3 for 2002-2003 and a PDI of 90.8 in 1994-95). Using Transportation for America’s methodology, the Kansas City MSA has improved significantly in pedestrian safety since 1994.

The report also examined how states and localities are spending federal money that could be used to make the most dangerous streets safer, and found that Kansas City ranks 16^th out of 52 large metro areas, spending $1.70 per person. This is a 65% increase from the 2004 Mean Streets report, which found that Kansas City spent $1.03 a person.

Recent activities in the region have contributed to this improvement in pedestrian safety.

• The Share the Road Safety Task Force, a regional group of bicycle and pedestrian advocates, transportation experts and local government representatives, was created in 2006 in response to the region’s alarming rate of cyclist- and pedestrian-related crashes. The task force aims to educate the public, encourage biking and walking as forms of transportation, and enforce the laws relating to cyclists, pedestrians and motorists sharing the road. More information on the task force is available at www.sharetheroadkc.com.

• Over the past two years, the Share the Road Safety Task Force organized various traffic safety education and enforcement events throughout the region. The task force worked with local law enforcement agencies through Operation Impact to issue citations to cyclists, drivers and pedestrians who failed to observe proper safety habits and distributed safety education materials. Using MARC’s regional crash data, education and enforcement activities were strategically targeted around corridors of concern for pedestrian crashes. This fall the task force distributed lights to help increase visibility for pedestrians as part of its Be Bright at Night campaign funded through the Destination Safe Coalition.

• In March 2009, MARC hosted a Federal Highway Administration Road Safety Assessment workshop on conducting safety assessments for all road users, including pedestrians. In 2010, MARC will work to create a program to conduct these safety assessments within the region.

• Pedestrian crashes in the region are tracked through the Destination Safe Coalition, and in 2010, a more in-depth analysis of pedestrian crash data will be conducted that could potentially assist in targeting safety funding and activities.

• MARC recently partnered with local jurisdictions and transportation providers to pursue federal stimulus funding for the Kansas City region through the Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. The request included more than $20 million for pedestrian and bicycle improvements that address mobility, safety and public health, and reduce vehicle emissions.

As early as 2006, the region recognized the significant safety issues pedestrians faced, and in response to the data on fatalities and crashes available at that time, area partners began developing strategies to directly address these problems. The “Dangerous by Design” report shows that although progress has been made over the past few years, the region still has a lot of work ahead.

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