Can Boston improve pedestrian safety with redesigned streets, intersections? It’s about to find out.
Smart Cities Dive By Michael Brady
May 24, 2023 Dive Brief:
Boston has launched a citywide street safety campaign, dubbed “Safety Surge,” that aims to make walking, biking and driving safer, according to a news release from Mayor Michelle Wu’s office Monday.
City leaders hope the initiative will reduce speeding and crashes by installing more speed humps, redesigning intersections and establishing and following new guidelines for city traffic signals that “slow down traffic on residential streets and reduce conflicts between drivers, pedestrians, and bike riders,” the news release says.
In a statement, City Council President Ed Flynn said, “Speeding cars are a public health emergency in the City of Boston. It will require traffic calming infrastructure to force cars to slow down in our neighborhoods and protect all neighbors.”
Dive Insight: Lawmakers are increasingly concerned about roadway deaths and injuries, especially fatalities among pedestrians and cyclists, which increased nationwide by 13% and 1.9%, respectively, from 2020 to 2021, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report in April.
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