This research brief explores how the Safe System Approach works to reframe the current landscape in the United States to promote equitable transportation policies and planning. Topics identified for further discussion and analysis from current literature on equity and the Safe System Approach include 1) engaging diverse communities in transportation planning, 2) turning towards equity to address past systemic injustices, and 3) employing education and prevention strategies to promote “upstream” versus “downstream” (i.e., traditional) approaches.
Motor vehicle traffic fatalities are a public health problem in the United States. In 2022, there were 42,514 people killed and another 2.38 million people injured on U.S. roadways (National Center for Statistics and Analysis [NCSA], 2024). These fatalities are a leading cause of death and kill over 116 people each day. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS), in 2022, for people ages 15-24, motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death in the United States (CDC, 2022). Across all age groups, motor vehicle crashes are in the top 10 leading causes of death.
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.
Under federal statutes, transportation planners have an obligation to actively engage community members and to conduct equity-based analyses on transportation plans to ensure that people of color, low-income people, and other historically disenfranchised groups are neither disproportionately burdened nor denied the benefits of transportation investments. Planning professionals have an ethical and moral responsibility to involve and engage the communities they serve—to intentionally center community members in planning decision-making processes regarding their communities and ensure equity within the field. Equitably engaging all community groups is critical because having a political voice may empower community members to voice issues concerning their community. For instance, they may raise concerns about safety at an intersection, which may result in further investigation by agency staff. Community participation may also result in a city’s Active Transportation Plan or Circulation Element in the General Plan to take a different form if planners apply the community’s priorities and visions in these plans.
Preventing roadway deaths and injuries due to motor vehicle crashes continues to be a prevailing public health challenge in the United States. Included in this challenge is improving the safety of pedestrians on street and road networks. Researchers and other professionals continue to develop best practices for ameliorating the outcomes of pedestrian crashes by conducting studies that examine why these crashes occur and what steps can be taken to prevent them in the future. To do this, many researchers have employed a systems approach to addressing pedestrian safety by acknowledging that the causal factors leading to a pedestrian crash are multifaceted. The systems approach can include an analysis of factors related to the operator of a motor vehicle involved in a crash, the pedestrian involved in crash, or the elements of the built environment and their potential association with the crash. Given the high incidence of alcohol-related traffic incidents on roadways (CDC, 2022), the potential association between the presence of alcohol outlets in neighborhoods and pedestrian injuries has garnered attention in the research literature. This research brief explores that relationship further by reviewing past work from the literature and developing key insights that should be considered in future research on this topic
The Community Pedestrian Safety Training Program (CPST), funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), was established in 2009 to help promote informed community awareness, advocacy, planning, and programming in reducing pedestrian injuries and fatalities. Originally considering pedestrian safety only, the program was expanded to include bicycle safety in 2016 and became known as the Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Training Program (CPBST). The program is a statewide project of the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC), a research center created in collaboration with the Institute of Transportation Studies and the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, and California Walks (Cal Walks), a nonprofit organization that specializes in promoting communities that are more just, inclusive, and walkable. SafeTREC and Cal Walks have worked with dozens of communities across California to develop localized recommendations to improve the safety of walking and biking in their respective communities. The CPBST includes a series of planning meetings and site visits that culminate in a community-centered workshop that details crash data trends, walking and biking assessments and includes programmatic and infrastructure strategies to ameliorate traffic safety concerns.
With an aging state population, it is crucial to understand the factors that contribute to road safety among adults aged 65 and older and identify at-risk neighborhoods for targeted interventions. In this context, this report analyzes fatal and serious injury (FSI) trends and patterns among aging road users, including older pedestrians and bicyclists, with a focus on identifying neighborhoods at risk for crashes based on senior FSI rates. 2178 census tracts (32.7%) were deemed as being potential at-risk neighborhoods, as they all exceeded the state average senior FSI rate of 120 per 100,000 individuals (0.12%). The report also discusses factors that contribute to road safety among older adults, including physical changes associated with aging and the impact of new mobility technologies. By identifying at-risk neighborhoods and exploring factors that contribute to senior road safety, this report aims to inform targeted interventions to improve road safety for older adults.
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(link is external)), established in 2009, 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. The Planning Committee, consisting of local safety stakeholders, works with SafeTREC and Cal Walks to organize a workshop tailored to the community’s needs and priorities. During the workshop, participants assess priority areas for walking and biking, learn about the Safe System Approach and strategies from the framework to address concerns and formulate an action plan with short, mid-, and long-term recommendations.
