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Could a historic Sacramento corridor hold the key to solving the region's housing crisis?

Ryan Lillis

July 27, 2023 |

Sacramento Bee |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Sacramento, California

After decades of planning and development, Sacramento’s R Street corridor went from an area full of abandoned warehouses to a flourishing, walkable neighborhood. The city planners’ prioritization of building high-density housing, bringing in new businesses, ensuring access to a light rail transit line, and safe, pedestrian-friendly streets helped this project succeed.

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How Jersey City Got to Zero Traffic Deaths on Its Streets

John Surico

December 28, 2022 |

Bloomberg |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Jersey City, New Jersey

Vision Zero is a traffic safety framework that works to eliminate traffic fatalities. Since adopting the program, Jersey City has gone a full year without a single traffic fatality. City officials have also been engaging residents to participate in viewing demonstrations of new, safe road developments and sharing their thoughts on what the city’s roads need to be safe and efficient as local leaders continue to make improvements to encompass more of the surrounding area.

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Cars Are Vanishing from Paris

Peter Yeung

September 23, 2022 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: France, Paris

Cars are Europe’s second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and the leading killer of children. In recent years, Paris has implemented an array of measures to prioritize pedestrians, cyclists, and transit while reducing car use. As a result, car use has dropped about 45% since 1990, the use of public transit has risen by 30% and the share of cyclists has increased tenfold.

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How Japan Won its ‘Traffic War'

David Zipper

September 06, 2022 |

Bloomberg |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Japan, Tokyo

Fewer than 3,000 people died in Japanese car crashes in 2021, compared to almost 43,000 in the United States. This is due to introducing initiatives like the Shinkansen, the world’s first bullet train, which is safer, quicker, and oftentimes more accessible than traditional cars, thus eliminating the need for residents to drive themselves.

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How a city eliminated pedestrian deaths

Matt Pearl

September 01, 2022 |

WXYZ-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Hoboken, New Jersey

A few critical changes have led to an elimination of pedestrian deaths for the past five years. When studies showed that most deaths in Hoboken occurred in intersections and involved either walkers or bikers, the city took action to look for solutions. Bike racks and planters were added to street corners so walkers didn’t have to peer around cars. Red lights for both sides have also been extended so walkers can safely cross.

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A New Jersey city achieved 0 traffic deaths in 4 years with quick, high impact ideas

Megan Lim

August 25, 2022 |

NPR |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Hoboken, New Jersey

By implementing quick, high-impact solutions like improving sight lines at intersections and allowing pedestrians more time to cross the street at crosswalks, Hoboken hasn't seen a single traffic death in four years.

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The city that pioneered Europe's car-free future

Aitor Hernandez-Morales

July 27, 2022 |

Politico |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Spain, Pontevedra

A European city banned cars from most of the city in 1999 and has not had a single road-related death in over a decade and approximately 15,000 people have moved to the area. And, in response to the growing climate crisis, air pollution has decreased by 67% and neighboring cities and countries are looking to adopt the practice, too.

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Preventing road deaths through safe system design

Gary Humphreys

November 01, 2021 |

Bulletin of the World Health Organization |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Colombia, Bogotá

Safe System design is a public health framework for preventing traffic accidents and death. The system adapts and transforms roads as part of a broader system of reforms. In Bogotá, in addition to a city-wide speed limit, high-risk corridors were identified using geo-referenced collision data and modeling. Multiple locations were transformed into pedestrian friendly streets that encourage lower traffic speeds by using speed bumps, bicycle lanes, wide sidewalks, benches, and planters. Officials note that the change has led to a decline in fatalities.

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The Car Crashes That Go Undetected

Laura Bliss

July 15, 2021 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

The Vision Zero program many cities use to reduce traffic deaths depends on data to inform where to target safety measures like redesigned streets and speed limits. But, when significant numbers of crashes, particularly involving pedestrians and bicycles, go missing in the data, the interventions miss the problems. Racial disparities in unreported crashes or unresponsive police mean that the problems are compounded in under-served areas. Data improvements in D.C., San Francisco, and other cities aim to fill the gaps so that the benefits of Vision Zero can extend to places where they're needed most.

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How HAWK beacons save pedestrians' lives

Melissa Blasius

July 09, 2021 |

KNXV-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Phoenix, Arizona

Pedestrian-activated traffic signals that flash red to allow people to cross busy streets midblock have saved lives in one of the nation's most dangerous cities for pedestrians. On one stretch of Phoenix highway where three people were killed within one month, there have been no deaths in the three years since a HAWK beacon was installed. The city has installed 66 of the lights, supplemented by pedestrian education and traffic enforcement. Since 2018, pedestrian fatalities – which make up half of Phoenix's fatal accidents – have fallen by one-third.

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