Street Smart Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Campaign Briefing to the Transportation Planning Board March 19, 2008 Michael Farrell, TPB Staff Item #11

2 The Problem: Pedestrian and Bicyclist Deaths Total: 419 Fatalities

3 The “Street Smart” Campaign Concentrated waves of radio, transit, and Internet advertising Designed to change driver and pedestrian behavior Supported by concurrent law enforcement Evaluation: Before and after survey Funded by federal safety grants with matching contributions from WMATA, TPB member governments Now done twice per year, timed with the changes to and from Daylight Savings Time –Current campaign throughout the month of March

4 Why Have a Media Campaign? Three E’s of Safety: Engineering, Education, and Enforcement “Street Smart” educates through mass media –Drive-time radio reaches drivers while they drive –Transit ads at targeted locations reach pedestrians while they walk –Highly publicized law enforcement –A single campaign for a single media market Other programs address other aspects of Pedestrian Safety –School-Based Education The “Safe Routes to School” Program –Driver Education/Licensing –Design/Build Safe Streets and Communities

5 March 2008 Media Campaign Radio 450 spots $93,000 Transit $117,000 –Transit Shelters22 –Bus Sides115 –Interior Cards400 –Mobile Billboard1 Collateral Materials$21,000 –Posters4,500 –Handouts100,000 Internet 2.4 million impressions$28,000 Newspaper$31,000 Web Site $5,000http://streetsmart.mwcog.org Public Relations $16,000 Campaign Creation/Production$78,000 Total: $389,000

6 Kick-Off Press Event  Held Friday, March 7  Hosted by Supervisor Penny Gross in the Baileys Crossroads area of Fairfax County  Board Members, Regional Officials, and Police Chiefs spoke or were present to show their support  Presence of over two dozen police officers from agencies around the region demonstrated law enforcement commitment  Most press coverage ever  Television  Radio  Washington Post, Examiner, Associated Press

7 Coordination with Law Enforcement Enforcement is key –The press loves to report it –Ads get more attention if there is enforcement –Enforcement gets more attention if there are ads Briefings and coordination with COG Police Chiefs Committee New this year: pedestrian safety enforcement “best practices” training workshop at COG/TPB on February 28, attended by more than 50 police officers Area police agencies report significant enforcement activity in conjunction with the campaign File photo of Arlington County Police speed enforcement in a pedestrian area. Source: ACPD

8 Coordination with Transit, Regional Pedestrian Safety Efforts Participation and funding from WMATA Transit ads focus on pedestrian safety near buses In conjunction with other current WMATA safety efforts Announcement: Regional Pedestrian Safety Workshop Tuesday, April 29, 2008 National Press Club Sponsored by WMATA, COG, TPB, AAA, and Other Agencies

Street Smart Funding Total Budget Covering Both the Spring and Fall Campaigns Committed to Date District of Columbia Department of Transportation*$200,000 Maryland SHA*$130,300 Virginia DMV*$100,000 WMATA$150,000 Local Government Contributions$168,800 Private Contributions and OtherTBD Total$749,100 * Federal pass-through

10 Outlook & Next Steps Fall campaign for November will be a continuation of the same campaign Funding for FY 2009 –Letters requesting voluntary contributions at the agreed level of five cents per capita have been sent to the TPB member governments (as per TPB Resolution R ) –Local funding is critical to provide match for federal grants, and to support the TPB recommendation of a twice-yearly campaign Sustained effort over years is needed to reinforce the campaign messages and ensure long-run impact on safety For more details see