Two new reports examine how well Iowa and other states are serving people who travel on foot or by bicycle. Yesterday Transportation for America released Dangerous by Design 2011: Solving the Epidemic of Preventable Pedestrian Deaths. The report looks at factors contributing to 47,700 pedestrian deaths and more than 688,000 pedestrian injuries that happened in the U.S. from 2000 through 2009. Iowa didn’t emerge as one of the most dangerous states for pedestrians, but our state did conform to national trends showing ethnic minorities, lower-income residents, senior citizens and children are at greater risk of dying as pedestrians struck by vehicles.

Iowa placed sixth on the League of American Bicyclists 2011 Bicycle Friendly States rankings, but our state scored much better in some categories than others. Falling short in a couple of areas cost Iowa the “silver” or “bronze” recognition that several other states received.

Follow me after the jump for details from both reports and many other transportation links, including an update on passenger rail funding in Iowa.

Transportation for America summarized the findings from its report on pedestrian deaths here. Click here to download the full report (pdf). From the summary:

Nationwide, pedestrians account for nearly 12 percent of total traffic deaths. But state departments of transportation have largely ignored pedestrian safety from a budgetary perspective, allocating only about 1.5 percent of available federal funds to projects that retrofit dangerous roads or create safe alternatives.

The roads have gotten somewhat safer, but pedestrian fatalities have fallen at only half the rate of motorist fatalities, dropping by just over 14 percent during the period, compared to 27 percent for motor vehicle fatalities. In many places, including 15 of the country’s largest metro areas, pedestrian fatalities have actually increased, even as overall traffic deaths fell.

Children, older adults, and racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented in this figure, but people of all ages and all walks of life have been struck down in the simple act of walking. These deaths typically are labeled “accidents,” and attributed to error on the part of motorist or pedestrian. In fact, however, the majority of these deaths share a common thread: they occurred along “arterial” roadways that were dangerous by design, streets engineered for speeding traffic with little or no provision for people on foot, in wheelchairs or on bicycles.

There is a growing recognition that Americans must increase physical activity, including walking or bicycling, if we are to nudge the needle on ballooning health care costs, reducing obesity and overweight, cardiovascular and other chronic illnesses linked to a lack of exercise. Over the last decade, a growing number of communities have gotten the message, and begun to retrofit their more dangerous roadways to be safer for people on foot, on bicycles and in cars.

Still, most Americans continue to live in places where walking is risky business for their health and safety, where roads are designed solely to move speeding traffic and where pedestrians are viewed as an obstacle. […]

Why pedestrian safety is in the federal interest

For decades, federal dollars have been invested in thousands of miles of state and local highways. Pedestrian safety is often perceived as a strictly local issue, but 67 percent of all 47,000+ pedestrian fatalities from 2000 to 2009 occurred on federal-aid roadways – major roads eligible to receive federal funding for construction and improvements with federal guidelines or oversight for design.

Taxpayer money that goes to the federal government and is distributed to the states for transportation should be used to build streets, roads and highways that are safe for all users. With millions of Americans walking along and crossing these federally funded roads each day, the billions in federal dollars spent on them each year must result in safer conditions for pedestrians.

The report makes several policy recommendations as members of Congress prepare the next major multi-year transportation bill. For instance, retain dedicated federal funding for “Transportation Enhancements and the Safe Routes to School program, the two largest funding sources for bike and pedestrian facilities. Without these committed funding streams, states will likely reduce spending for safety features like sidewalks, crosswalks and trails.” Transportation for America also calls for a national “complete streets” policy, so that “federally funded road projects take into account the needs of all users of the transportation system, including pedestrians, bicyclists and public transportation users, as well as children, older adults, and individuals with disabilities.”

Some Iowans in Congress are in a position to advance these goals. Democratic Representatives Leonard Boswell (IA-03) and Bruce Braley (IA-01) serve on the House Transportation Committee, although as members of the minority, they won’t be setting the policy agenda.

Representative Tom Latham (IA-04, running in IA-03 in 2012) chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee on transportation. Unfortunately, he criticized Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s commitment to alternative modes of transportation at a Congressional hearing in March 2010:

LaHood, also a Republican, had urged the states to “treat walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes.” He also wrote on his blog this week, “This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized. We think livability means giving folks the flexibility to choose their own mobility.” […]

Ranking Member Tom Latham from Iowa said that one biker is one less person paying into the transportation trust fund and said real transportation needs are being “swept aside.”

I expect federal funding for pedestrian and bicycle-friendly policies will be a tough sell in the Republican-controlled U.S. House, where GOP leaders are insisting on deep cuts in discretionary domestic spending. A huge opportunity was lost by not getting the transportation bill through the last Congress. Not only did Democrats control both chambers, House Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar had a vision to change how the federal government targets transportation funds.

Senator Tom Harkin has long championed efforts to make roads safer for non-motorized travelers (a natural fit with his advocacy for Americans with disabilities). Yesterday, he cited Transportation for America’s “Dangerous by Design” study when introducing a “Complete Streets” bill for the third time. Excerpt from the May 24 press release:

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today introduced legislation aimed at improving roadways to make them safer and to encourage Americans to walk or bike to their destinations.  The Complete Streets Act of 2011 would promote the design of streets that are safe for all who use them – including motorists, bus riders, pedestrians, bicyclists, and people with disabilities.  The bill encourages federal, state, and regional agencies that receive federal transportation funding to fully consider incorporating pedestrian and bicycle safety measures when roads are built or modernized.  Harkin has introduced similar legislation in 2009 and 2007.

“In many places across the country, there is a complete lack of sidewalks and bike lanes.  This not only makes our roadways more dangerous for pedestrians, it discourages people from being more active by walking or riding a bike,” said Harkin.  “The legislation I am introducing today aims to address this issue by making streets safer for everyone and promoting healthier living.  It is truly a double win for our communities.” […]

The Complete Streets Act of 2011 has been endorsed by several organizations including: AARP, Alliance for Biking and Walking, America Bikes, America Walks, American Association for Health Education, American Planning Association, American Public Health Association, American Public Transportation Association, Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Defeat Diabetes Foundation, League of American Bicyclists, NARP, National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, National Association of Realtors, National Center for Walking and Biking, National Complete Streets Coalition, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, Safe Routes to School National Partnership, Sierra Club, Smart Growth America, Transportation Choices Coalition, Transportation for America, Trust for America’s Health and YMCA of the USA.

So far no Senate Republicans are co-sponsoring Harkin’s “complete streets” bill.

Getting back to the new report on pedestrian deaths, facts and figures by state are available via this interactive map. Data for all 99 Iowa counties and nine metro areas can be found here. I noticed that among the metro areas, Iowa City had the lowest pedestrian fatality rate per 100,000 persons. Iowa City has also had a “complete streets” policy in effect for several years.

Transportation for America’s full report on pedestrian deaths in Iowa is here (14-page pdf). Excerpt:

219 pedestrians were killed in Iowa between 2000 and 2009. […]

African-Americans and Hispanics are killed in disproportionate numbers. In Iowa between 2000 and 2007, the average pedestrian death rate for Hispanics was 2.0 per 100,000 people, a rate 169 percent higher than the 0.7 rate for non-Hispanic whites. The average pedestrian death rate for African- Americans was 1.0 per 100,000 persons, a rate almost 30 percent higher than for non-Hispanic whites.

Nationwide, older Americans are nearly twice as likely to be killed while walking than those under 65 years of age. A total of 8,458 pedestrians 65 and over were killed between 2000 and 2007. 37 of those killed were in Iowa. Older pedestrians died at a rate of 1.1 per 100,000 residents in Iowa, compared to 0.8 per 100,000 for residents under age 65, ranking 50th nationally for fatality rate for pedestrians over the age of 65.

Pedestrian injury is the third leading cause of death by unintentional injury for children 15 and younger, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mortality data. Nationwide, 3,880 pedestrians 15 years and younger were killed between 2000 and 2007. 24 of those killed were in Iowa.

Iowa’s overall Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) of 19.0 ranks 47th nationally, though assessing risk locally at the metro or county level with the data that follows in this report can provide a much fuller picture of the danger to pedestrians.  […]

The money saved by preventing pedestrian injuries and fatalities more than offsets the costs of improving our streets and roads. The National Safety Council estimates the comprehensive cost – including both economic costs and diminished quality of life – for each traffic death at $4.3 million.15 Multiplying that figure by the 47,740 pedestrians killed nationwide from 2000 to 2009 equates to a cost of $180 billion. Multiplying that figure by the 219 pedestrians killed in Iowa from 2000 to 2009 equates to a cost of $941.7 million over that period. Reducing fatalities by just 10 percent would save the state $94.17 million.

Although Iowa’s rate of pedestrian fatalities is below the national average, our state could be doing much more to make streets safer for people who can’t drive or choose not to drive. Ethnic minorities, low-income residents, seniors and children become victims of vehicle/pedestrian accidents in disproportionate numbers. Transportation for America posted other transportation-related facts about Iowa here.

Also on May 24, the League of American Bicyclists released the latest report in its Bicycle Friendly America program. Iowa ranked sixth out of the 50 states overall, but received far worse grades in some categories than others:

Legislation: D

Policies & Programs: C

Infrastructure: C

Education & Encouragement: A

Evaluation & Planning: F

Enforcement: A

This page explains what each of those six categories covers. Questions in the legislation category “include whether cyclists can legally use the shoulder, signal turns with either hand or leave the right-hand portion of the road when their safety requires it. This section also covers motorist responsibilities like passing at a minimum of three feet and making sure traffic is clear before opening automobile doors.” The evaluation and planning section “surveys how bicycling is incorporated into each state’s yearly planning. Questions include how bicycling is included in the highway safety plan, outdoor recreation plan or a bicycle transportation plan. This section also measures results of the state’s crash and bike commuting rates.” I’m not surprised Iowa scored poorly in both of those areas. That’s unfortunate, because making existing roads more bicycle friendly (through bike lanes, traffic calming measures or safety rules) is much cheaper than constructing a new bike trail.

Click here for the list of all 50 states and here for each state’s grades in each category (pdf). The League of American Bicyclists has also given three Iowa communities a “bronze” rating for bicycle friendliness. Cedar Falls and Iowa City earned that rating for “engineering,” and Des Moines did for “encouragement.” (Des Moines doesn’t score very well in terms of the number of bike commuters.) I noticed that no Iowa schools made the League of American Bicyclists’ list of bicycle friendly universities, though.

These charts (pdf) show the League of American Bicyclists’ rankings for the past three years. Iowa ranked 20th in 2008, eighth in 2009 and seventh in 2010. Iowa Bicycle Coalition Executive Director Mark Wyatt talked to Radio Iowa about how our state could improve on its current rank:

“We’re fast becoming known for being the world capitol of trails,” Wyatt says. “We’ve got about 1,600 miles of trails throughout the state. In addition, Iowa has 90,000 miles of paved country roads and that’s just been a great opportunity for bicyclists to connect from one area to another.”

Wyatt says Iowa’s national ranking would go higher if the state would approve legislation providing more protection for cyclists. Wisconsin has had a law since 1973 requiring drivers to give bicycles at least three feet of space when passing.

He says people might think being a rural, agricultural state is a disadvantage but he says having so many miles of paved county roads makes cycling easy.

“It really gives us the opportunity to be able to travel about wherever we want,” Wyatt says. “We get frequent inquires from people who want to ride across the state looking for a particular route. We’ve got dozens of routes that they can get from point A to point B.” […]

The Iowa Bicycle Coalition has asked the University of Northern Iowa to do a study on the economic impact cycling has on the state.

I look forward to reading that study. The new High Trestle Trail connecting Ankeny to Madrid through Sheldahl, Slater and Woodward has already boosted some businesses along the route. Not all elected officials believe in the economic benefits of bike trails, though. In March, the Guthrie County supervisors voted to reject an already-signed federal grant to secure a 17-mile trail corridor between Herndon and Coon Rapids. Fortunately, the Coon Rapids City Council unanimously voted this month to accept the grant and ownership of the trail corridor, which will allow the project to proceed.

Any comments about alternative transportation in Iowa are welcome in this thread.

P.S.–Prospects for new passenger rail links in Iowa are not looking good. Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen says Republicans are still dead-set against allocating state funds to match to a large federal grant to extend rail from Chicago to Iowa City. Representative Braley has urged state legislators not to pass up the chance “to stimulate Iowa’s economy and create jobs by funding the high-speed passenger rail line.” This week Democratic State Senator Matt McCoy urged Governor Terry Branstad to get involved and advocate for the passenger rail funds. But Branstad has been saying for months that he opposes state “subsidies” for rail. (Never mind that roads receive far larger subsidies than train travel.)  Speaking to EasternIowaGovernment.com last week, Branstad said he was “letting them sort that [rail funding] out between the House and Senate.”