|
City Council takes action on transportation, now it's your turn
Recently, Tucson Mayor Romero and City Council voted to spend an additional $14 million to repair residential streets in the coming fiscal year. This is good news as 63% of Move Tucson survey respondents said it was “very important” for the City to invest in repaving streets. Unfortunately, the funding is only focused on the surface of roadways, which means it can't be used to fill sidewalk gaps, build curb ramps, or fund other critical safety and accessibility enhancements.
But this funding can still do a lot of good for walking and biking and that's where you come in. We encourage you to contact Tucson Mayor and Council and the City Manager and encourage them to prioritize bicycle boulevard corridors—especially those included in Proposition 407—as they move forward with identifying the neighborhood streets that will be resurfaced. (Visit our website to learn more about how this creates much-needed "match" funding to repave bicycle boulevards being implemented through other mechanisms.)
|
|
And while you're at it, make sure to also thank Mayor and Council for their recent decision to extend the suspension of transit fares through the end of this fiscal year, June 30th. Continuing to waive fares and maintaining reliable transit service will keep riders and transit workers safe and help ensure that they can travel to work and other essential destinations during the pandemic. We applaud this decision and encourage you to do the same.
|
|
|
Speed continues to take lives on Tucson's streets
U.S. traffic deaths went up during the first nine months of 2020 despite a decline in traffic due to Coronavirus lockdowns. "Preliminary data tells us that during the national health emergency, fewer Americans drove but those who did took more risks and had more fatal crashes," The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in an open letter to the driving public. The agency cited a recent report showing a 22% increase in speeds in select metropolitan areas.
In 2020, Tucson also saw a surge in fatalities, particularly for motor vehicle and motorcycle drivers and passengers. Tucson Police Department (TPD) officials confirmed similar trends on Tucson's streets citing “excessive speed” as the top factor in most recent road deaths. In late January, several local media outlets reported on TPD's increased enforcement efforts in response to hundreds of community complaints about speeding and street racing. “Over the last two years, 169 individuals have lost their lives on our streets, 40% of that is related to speed," stated Capt. James Scott in this alarming AZ Daily Star article.
According to TPD data, 89 people died on our streets in 2020 compared to 79 in 2019. This map shows the magnitude of the tragic loss we have experienced on our streets just in the past four years not to mention the additional toll of serious injuries. Given our high speed, multi-lane street network, we suspect speed may be playing an even bigger role in our traffic crashes and fatalities even when speeding per se is not reported to be a factor.
We, at Living Streets Alliance, continue to advocate for engineering and design solutions to make our streets safer and "self-enforcing" rather than relying on law enforcement which disproportionately targets and inflicts harm on racialized people, and particularly Black communities. (See Arrested Mobility in our "Reads" section for more on this.)
|
|
|
Check out the Move Tucson Virtual Open House
As we've highlighted in previous newsletters, the City of Tucson is preparing a city-wide transportation master plan called Move Tucson that is intended to create a mobility blueprint and inform future transportation investments. We hope that many of you have had the opportunity to participate in the process.
This master plan was an implementation step that was identified in Tucson's Complete Streets Policy we spearheaded (which just turned two on February 5th), so we've been following it closely and sharing updates as engagement opportunities arise. One such moment has just arrived.
Last week, Tucson Department of Transportation and Mobility launched a virtual "open house" to recap what they've heard from Tucsonans who participated in the Move Tucson process so far. You can review the materials and share your thoughts on the draft vision and the guiding principles on the Move Tucson website.
We invite you to take a look and arrive at your own conclusions, but if you're curious about our take on it, we feel pretty encouraged by what we've seen and are excited that Living Streets Alliance's Complete Streets advocacy efforts seem to be bearing fruit. Happy Complete Streets anniversary to all of you who've been with us as we've built this movement together!
|
|
|
Apply today to be a Walking College fellow
Are you looking to hone your skills and knowledge around creating vibrant, safe, connected and accessible places for all people in your community to walk and move as they desire? The Walking College could be just the place for you!
In this sixth year of the program, America Walks is seeking 30 Walking College fellows who want to be part of bringing about transformative change to their neighborhoods. This year's revamped curriculum will include an increased focus on building leadership skills, storytelling, and social justice and climate. Applications are open through February 28th. Visit America Walks for more info including a short video on the program.
|
|
Andrew Street Bicycle Boulevard Virtual Town Hall
(Tonight!) Thursday, February 11th, 6-7:00pm
Online: bit.ly/AndrewStreet
Phone: (213) 293‐2303
Conference ID: 751 088 351#
The Andrew Street Bicycle Boulevard project uses low volume neighborhood streets to expand our citywide low-stress biking network by creating an east/west route to jobs, neighborhood destinations, schools, and parks. The planned and funded project extends along a 5.6 mile corridor along neighborhood streets from Tucson Boulevard to Wilmot Road between 22nd Street and 29th Street.
This project is identified in the City of Tucson Bicycle Boulevard Master Plan and funded by Proposition 407, a bond package approved by voters to fund improvements to parks and construction of new bicycle and pedestrian routes.
If you walk, bike, roll, or live in the project area, we invite you to join the town hall to learn more about the proposed improvements and share your thoughts.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q&A: Angie Schmitt On Race, Class and Traffic Violence in America
|
|
Right of Way: Race, Class, and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America is a new book authored by Angie Schmitt who was a leading reporter on pedestrian fatalities at Streetsblog USA for more than a decade.
"In that time, there has been a 50% increase in U.S. pedestrian deaths. Lax vehicle regulations, the explosive growth of Sun Belt cities, and a national emphasis on not impeding car traffic have all contributed to that terrible—and completely preventable—statistic. The data also makes clear that certain populations are bearing the brunt of the burden: Victims of traffic violence are disproportionately poor, people of color, immigrants, and/or elders."
In this interview she discusses her book, how media outlets can help shift the narrative around pedestrian deaths, and why she feels hopeful about the new administration.
{Image: Courtesy of Angie Schmitt}
|
|
|
|
Arrested Mobility: Exploring the Adverse Social, Political, Economic & Health Outcomes of Over-Policing Black Mobility in the U.S.
|
|
|
This recording is from a virtual event sponsored by the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, including a powerful keynote presentation by Charles T. Brown, MPA, CPD, LCI, on Arrested Mobility, followed by a thought-provoking panel discussion featuring Black thought leaders in transportation planning "to explore limits placed on Black mobility in the U.S."
"National priorities for increasing physical activity to improve health do not address the needs and specific barriers experienced by Black and Indigenous People of Color. This moderated panel presentation explored these barriers and offered strategies for ensuring racial equity and justice in efforts to increase physical activity."
Among the panel participants are Veronica Davis who helped us kick off our Complete Streets initiative here in Tucson back in 2017 and Irene Marion who recently became the Director of the Office of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Transportation.
|
|
|
|
Four Reasons to Hold Your Applause For Automakers’ Big EV Promises
|
|
|
"General Motors made waves when it announced last week that it would aim to manufacture only electric vehicles by 2035 — but advocates are skeptical that the move will have much of a climate impact without a slate of accompanying policy changes.
On its surface, the news that the automaker behind many of our roadways’ most notorious environmental nightmares seems like a big shift. But the path that the United States’ largest car company (and its peers, should they follow suit) will need to take to net zero emissions will almost certainly be slow — drawing the public and policy focus from the quick carbon-cutting solutions that experts say we need most urgently right now."
In this article, Streetsblog contributor Kea Wilson shares four reminders of why EVs are a harm reduction strategy rather than a real cure for our climate crisis and makes a compelling case for why G.M., in particular, doesn’t deserve a standing ovation just yet.
{Image: Streetsblog.org}
|
|
|
|
|
|
The mission of Living Streets Alliance is to advocate for a thriving Tucson by creating great streets for all of us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
