Category: In The News

Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2021) Report News Coverage

Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2021) Report News Coverage

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We list all media clips on our website, but on this post we consolidated some of the media coverage for the Fatal Pedestrian Crashes in MA (2021) Report. Please let us know if we missed any others that you’ve seen and we can try and keep this current.

Report Overview

Every life lost on Massachusetts’ roads is tragic. At WalkBoston, we advocate for the most vulnerable road users – people walking. In 2021, at least 75 pedestrians lost their lives in traffic crashes in Massachusetts, accounting for 18 percent of all lives lost in traffic crashes.

Findings:

  • Of the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts, 47 had a fatal pedestrian crash in 2021. Over half (40 of 75) of the deaths happened in 12 municipalities.
  • Older adults were hit and killed at a higher rate than those in other age groups: 36% of fatal crash victims were over the age of 65. In Massachusetts, only 17% of the population is over 65.  1  
  • Over half of Massachusetts’ fatal pedestrian crashes (50.67%) occurred on streets with speed limits of 30 to 35 MPH. These are neighborhood streets and main streets where more people are walking.
  • Roughly 65% of the people killed while walking were on roads owned by a city or town, while approximately 35% were walking on roads owned by a state agency (MassDOT or MassDCR).

Read the press release | Read the full report

Coverage

Boston Globe: “The Argument: Should Massachusetts toughen penalties for jaywalking?”

Boston Globe: “The Argument: Should Massachusetts toughen penalties for jaywalking?”

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Boston Globe: “The Argument: Should Massachusetts toughen penalties for jaywalking?”

NO | Brendan Kearney, Deputy Director, WalkBoston; Framingham resident

The term “jaywalking” was created by the auto industry in the 1920s to divert blame from drivers who were hitting and killing people. A century later it has proven to be a highly successful marketing effort. The proposed bill to crack down on jaywalking would just place an unnecessary burden on pedestrians without making anyone safer.

Making it illegal to cross anywhere outside a crosswalk — which the bill effectively does — is unrealistic. Existing law allows you to cross outside a marked crosswalk provided you are more than 300 feet from a crosswalk or signalized intersection and yield to motorists. The law reflects how we all use our streets and how our communities are designed.

I live on Central Street in Framingham. There is a sidewalk on one side of the street, opposite my house. I cross to that sidewalk when there are no drivers coming, or when someone yields. No crosswalk exists. It is unsafe to walk on the narrow 30-mile-per-hour street with traffic at my back to the crosswalk a quarter-of-a-mile away — and illegal. When there is a sidewalk, I’m supposed to walk on it; if there isn’t one, the law says to walk against traffic. The proposed bill would make it illegal for me to cross or walk along my street.

There are also significant equity concerns around jaywalking enforcement. Jaywalking laws contribute to racial profiling. A report by ProPublica and Florida-Times Union found Black people in Jacksonville, Fla. were three times as likely to be stopped and cited as white people. Similar patterns have been seen elsewhere; Streetsblog NYC reported that nearly 90 percent of people issued jaywalk citations in New York in 2019 were Black and Brown. In response, efforts to decriminalize jaywalking have been mounted in a number of places, including Virginia and California.

Moreover, increasing fines is not a proven strategy to change behavior. The National Institute of Justice has found increasing the severity of punishment does little to deter crime. If the goal is to keep people walking safer, let’s build streets that provide them with the same level of ease and comfort as those people who are behind the wheel. As it stands, this punitive bill does nothing to improve pedestrian safety.

Posted February 20, 2022

Boston Magazine: “Jaywalking in Boston Is a Crime in Name Only. Thank Goodness.”

Boston Magazine: “Jaywalking in Boston Is a Crime in Name Only. Thank Goodness.”

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Boston Magazine: “Jaywalking in Boston Is a Crime in Name Only. Thank Goodness.”

We’ve come a long way since the early 20th Century, when the auto industry invented the “jaywalking” concept as a way to shift blame for collisions away from drivers and toward people with the audacity to get in their way. A century later, pedestrian activists still cringe at the mention of the word. Despite the term’s negative connotation, says WalkBoston Executive Director Stacey Beuttell, places where jaywalking is commonplace are often among the city’s most welcoming corners. Take Downtown Crossing, for example, where cars, bikes, and shoppers co-mingle on shared roadways like School Street. “That’s one of those places where it’s vibrant, there’s a lot of economic activity, there’s a lot of positive community social cohesion and behavior. Those are the types of spaces that we want to create in the city,” Beuttell says. “‘Jaywalking’ is a sign of a healthy and vibrant, economically vital place.”

Posted October 22, 2021

Updates to MassDOT’s Complete Streets Program Funding Guidance

Updates to MassDOT’s Complete Streets Program Funding Guidance

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In March 2021, MassDOT released the new Complete Streets Program Funding Guidance for cities and towns interested in participating in the program. Launched in 2016, the MassDOT Complete Streets Funding Program is the first state program in the United States devoted to funding complete streets – streets that are designed to make travel safe, comfortable, and accessible for all users. Five years later, more than 50% of all Massachusetts communities are involved in the Complete Streets program.

Major changes to the Guidance Document include: 

  • Update to the Tier 2 Prioritization Plan 
  • Revision of the Tier 3 Project Application Template
  • Update to the funding eligibility criteria for Tier 3 grant recipients
  • New chapter on public engagement
  1. Update to the Tier 2 Prioritization Plan 
  • Tier 2 no longer has three entry options as previously indicated. The municipality must develop a Complete Streets Prioritization Plan and can still provide a commitment letter to MassDOT to pass the Complete Streets policy within one year. (This would be completing Tier 1 and 2 simultaneously).
  • Municipalities can request up to $38,000 in technical assistance funding (it is no longer $50,000). 
  1. Revision of the Tier 3 Project Application Template 
  • Revised template is available on the MassDOT website
  1. Update to the funding eligibility criteria for Tier 3 grant recipients 
  • Effective Fiscal Year 2022, municipalities can receive a maximum award of $400,000 in Tier 3 funding within any four-fiscal year timeframe. Municipalities can receive several smaller grants within the four-year window or one full grant of $400,000. It is important to note that Tier 2 grants do not count toward Tier 3 grants. Municipalities can check to see if they are eligible for additional funding here. 
  • If the municipality is applying for a project that costs more than the funding they are eligible for, they must include the amount of money they will need covered by external funding sources. 
  • A municipality can apply for a 2nd (or 3rd, 4th…) construction project only after the prior awarded project has been completed. 
  1. New chapter on public engagement
  • The 2021 Guidance document includes for the first time a section on “Public Engagement and Complete Streets.” MassDOT strongly recommends municipalities engage with community members– especially marginalized groups– on identifying issues and areas for improvement in the community. 
  • In order to engage with a community, MassDOT suggests: 
    • establishing working groups or planning committees with a diverse set of individuals, representative of the municipality;
    • engaging and listening to community members’ experiences and feedback; 
    • speaking with the public during all three tiers of the Complete Streets Funding process and providing updates on any changes and final decisions; and
    • removing barriers to participation, such as language, time, and access. To do this, MassDOT recommends:
      • Partnering with trusted community leaders and organizations to reach members of the community. Potentially compensate individuals for their time and involvement
      • Requesting time at a community/neighborhood meeting or hosting a pop-up at a public place like a grocery store or public library
      • Providing multiple options for individuals to provide in-person and online feedback at meetings and events 
      • Translating materials and having appropriate translators at events and meetings 
      • Ensuring accessibility for individuals with differing visual and physical abilities 
      • Providing incentives for participation, such as food, childcare, or stipends 

WalkBoston and the Complete Streets Program

WalkBoston has had a measurable impact on the success of MassDOT’s Complete Streets Funding program. We have worked on walking with 122 of the 267 municipalities that have participated in the funding program, with targeted assistance for the funding program provided to 25 cities and towns.

WalkBoston has assisted communities at each major program milestone: passage of a policy (Tier 1); development of a prioritization plan (Tier 2); and acquisition of capital funding (Tier 3). Specifically, WalkBoston provided technical assistance to:

  • 25 different communities in at least one Tier
  • 3 municipalities during Tier 1, 2, and 3
  • 10 municipalities in both Tier 2 and Tier 3
  • 19 municipalities that received Tier 3 funding, 11 of whom received funding for projects identified in walk audit recommendations

New Complete Streets Funding Announced 

On July 20, 2021, MassDOT announced that $6.05 million have been awarded to 18 communities for Complete Streets Funding Program Awards. For the full press release and information on communities awarded, visit the website here.

RealEstate by Boston.com: “Together, neighbors can thwart speed demons. Here’s how”

RealEstate by Boston.com: “Together, neighbors can thwart speed demons. Here’s how”

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RealEstate by Boston.com: “Together, neighbors can thwart speed demons. Here’s how”

Assisting Mahoney, Rana, and others is WalkBoston, a pedestrian-advocacy organization that works throughout the Commonwealth, not just the capital. This nonprofit can pinpoint a road’s jurisdiction and identify key decision-makers: elected officials, business groups, disability organizations, and neighborhood associations. Often WalkBoston will guide them on a “walk audit’’ of the targeted area. “We talk about destinations that people want to access,’’ said Stacey Beuttell, the nonprofit’s executive director. “Can they access them through crossings? What are the posted speeds? Should we narrow the travel lanes or add bike lanes?’’

Posted June 24, 2021