The Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Training Program (CPBST) is a collaborative effort between the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) at the University of California Berkeley and California Walks (Cal Walks) with funding from the California Office of Traffic Safety. Its main objective is to promote pedestrian and bicycle safety by educating residents and safety advocates, empowering community partners to advocate for safety improvements in their neighborhoods, and fostering collaborations with local officials and agency staff.
Since 2009, the program has conducted 126 community workshops across California. The program works with a planning committee of local stakeholders to plan a workshop tailored to the community’s needs and priorities. The Planning Committee recruits participants for the workshop, and together, the planning committee and workshop participants create a customized action plan that includes a comprehensive assessment of pedestrian and bicycle conditions in areas of interest within the community and identifies short-, mid-, and long-term projects to address safety concerns discussed during the workshop.
SafeTREC conducted our annual CPBST survey in the spring of 2024 with planning committee members from communities that had hosted CPBST workshops over the past five years (2019-2023). The objective of the survey was to evaluate the progress of the action plans formulated during each workshop and to determine if the communities needed additional support from the project team.
The Peer Exchange Program is a three-part webinar series for individuals, community agencies, and governmental agencies interested in furthering ideas and actions that surfaced in the past Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Trainings (CPBST) or Comunidades Activas y Seguras (Active and Safe Communities) (CAyS) program trainings. As of 2023, SafeTREC and California Walks have conducted 126 Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Program (CPBSP) workshops statewide.
California is rapidly building affordable housing, much of which is dedicated to specific populations like seniors, families, and formerly unhoused residents. However, these groups have unique mobility safety concerns as vulnerable road users and are often left out of current policies and funding programs that link housing and transportation. This research brief explores the gap in the literature and California’s policy priorities related to residents’ mobility and housing. It then analyzes data for Alameda County, finding that approximately 40% of government-funded affordable developments are within 100 ft of the pedestrian High Injury Network. It concludes with recommendations for municipalities and funding agencies wishing to better connect mobility safety improvements with anticipated affordable housing developments.
