Streetsblog USA

Michael Andersen blogs for The Green Lane Project, a PeopleForBikes program that helps U.S. cities build better bike lanes to create low-stress streets.

Plenty of states are saddled with a legacy of roads designed to be deadly for pedestrians, but Florida stands out as a special case. Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Miami have a monopoly on the four "top" spots on Transportation for America's list of the most deadly cities for pedestrians [PDF].

This Tweet from the Florida Department of Transportation last week was intended to exemplify the agency's efforts to make walking and biking safer on the state's notoriously deadly roads.

With a few exceptions, the five-year transportation bill heading to President Obama's desk continues what has been the core function of federal transportation policy for more than 60 years -- sending a ton of money to the states to spend on highways.

Smart people are wading through the 1,300-page transportation bill that came out of conference committee earlier this week, and we're starting to get a clearer sense of how it will change federal transportation policy for the next five years.

Sharrows: the consolation prize of bike infrastructure.

Traffic fatalities are on the rise up again, with an increase of 8.1 percent in the first half of 2015, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. As is their practice, NHTSA officials are attributing the problem to driver (or passenger) error -- drunk driving, speeding, failure to wear seatbelts -- but did promise "new initiatives to protect vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists."

If nothing else, the current round of federal transportation legislating should end the myth that highways are a uniquely self-sufficient form of infrastructure paid for by "user fees," a.k.a. gas taxes and tolls.

Anyone who does a fair amount of walking to get around will encounter gaps in the pedestrian network sooner or later. Sometimes they might just be minor annoyances, but they can also put people in very dangerous positions.