A new report released today by Transportation For America and the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership takes stock of how city streets built for speed and not safety can be deadly to pedestrians. “Dangerous By Design: Solving the Epidemic of Preventable Pedestrian Deaths (And Making Great Neighborhoods)” ranks the nation’s 52 largest metro areas based on a calculated Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) and reveals how investment in pedestrian infrastructure could save hundreds of lives and prevent thousands of accidents each year.

While the report ranks the Bay Area as the safest California metro area for pedestrians, Oakland’s streets are still no walk in the park. Close to 20% of all traffic deaths in Oakland are pedestrians. Given the high percentage, pedestrian safety spending is remarkably low – only 1.5% of federal transportation dollars in California are spent on pedestrian and bicycling facilities. And those most at risk – particularly seniors and people of color – face disproportionate danger that could be reduced through increased investment in pedestrian safety.

“Oakland has come a long way in pedestrian safety over the past decade, but the city’s fiscal crisis has put the squeeze on our public works budget,” said Carli Paine, president of Walk Oakland Bike Oakland. “Federal support for Complete Streets policies and increased funding for pedestrian safety projects are critical to meeting our goals for walkable neighborhoods and safe access to transit.”

Walk Oakland Bike Oakland calls on our local and national decision-makers to support a national Complete Streets policy, and to increase funding for pedestrian infrastructure in the upcoming federal transportation bill. Join concerned citizens nationally to call for safer streets by clicking here!

To read Walk Oakland Bike Oakland’s press release, click here.

For the full report and more information, click here.

Walk Oakland Bike Oakland invites you to join in:

Oakland’s Second Kidical Mass

A social ride for families with kids of all ages, and others interested in riding along.
This is your opportunity to get to know some other families who are moving around Oakland by pedal power.

Saturday August 22
Meet up at Frog Park
(also known as Hardy Park, 491 Hardy St, Oakland)
Between 10:00 and 10:30
Depart around 10:45

Ride to Lake Shore Park
(between Lake Merrit and 580)
This location gives us all a chance to visit the farmers market, have lunch and hang out.

Bring the kids on the the trail-a-bike, the trailer, the Xtracycle, on their own bikes, or however you happen to make it work. Enjoy the camaraderie of others who are doing the same. Don’t have kids? Come anyway and share the joy of a casual social ride. This ride is about 3 miles. Expect a leisurely pace and relaxed atmosphere. We will, hopefully, spend a few minutes talking about the future of Oakland Kidical Mass. So please be ready to share ideas for future rides.

Please pass the invitation along to your friends.

Questions contact:
Mark
mark@walkoaklandbikeoakland.org

Wednesday, July 22 is the Federal Transportation Day of Action – and it also happens to be the day the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) will be discussing the Oakland Airport Connector project.  What a perfect day to stand up for better transportation choices in Oakland!

Start the day off right at a rally for more transit funding at the federal level.  In solidarity with communities around the nation, citizens will gather at 8:30am  at Frank Ogawa Plaza (14th & Broadway) for a mock “funeral” mourning the death of transit lines resulting from inadequate funding for transit operation.  As proposed, the Federal Transportation Bill allocates only 20% of spending to transit, as opposed to 80% for highways – a formula for disastrous cuts in transit services that will
* harm already-disadvantaged low-income communities dependent on mass transit
* dramatically expand greenhouse gas emissions from continued automobile over-use
Join your neighbors as well as local advocacy groups Urban Habitat, TransForm, Genesis, and BOSS, and staff from Congressperson Barbara Lee’s office to demand a transportation bill that takes us in the right direction.  The rally will also highlight the current opportunity to win federal support for AC Transit, BART, VTA, MUNI, SAMTANS, and the rest of the Bay Area’s transit operators currently facing major service cuts and fare increases.  Click here for more information on the Federal Transportation Bill and what you can right now.

Then, once you’re all riled up, you can head to the MTC hearing on the Oakland Airport Connector.  Tell the commission that they cannot give another $140 million to a project that costs nearly $300 per new rider. Priority regional transporation projects are starving for money, while MTC and BART continue to spend more than the cost of an airline ticket to travel 3.2 miles from BART to Oakland airport. The hearing begins at 10am at MTC headquarters at 101 8th Street (near Lake Merritt BART).  Click here for more information about the project, and the more cost-effective and community-oriented alternative, RapidBART.

Now’s the time to show our leaders that Oakland wants transportation choices that are just, affordable, and sustainable.  See you Wednesday!

Looking for some outdoor fun this weekend that involves bikes, bands and brews? Look no further than Fairfax, the host of this year’s Biketoberfest – a celebration of the bicycle for cyclists of all ages. The “stationary” part of the festival happens at the FairAnselm Plaza parking lot (at 765 Center Blvd), but it wouldn’t be a celebration of the bicycle without group road and mountain bike rides.

What can you expect from the fest? Live music, excellent brews (from 11 NorCal brewers), great food, new bikes to test drive, family fun (including a bike rodeo), drawings, a classic bike show featuring lots of vintage bikes and a beer tasting to benefit bicycle advocacy in Marin County.

The event runs from 11am-6pm, but the group rides go out as early as 10am. For full details, visit the official Biketoberfest website.