National Walk Summit October 29, 2015 Cooperative Approaches to Pedestrian Safety: Massachusetts

– Krystian Boreyko Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security – Highway Safety Division – Stacey Beuttell WalkBoston, Program Director Panelists

National average for pedestrian fatalities as percentage of total roadway fatalities is 14% Massachusetts has an average of 21% MA had 68 pedestrian fatalities in 2013 Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) - Pedestrian Safety in Massachusetts

Pedestrian Fatalities as a Percentage of Total Traffic Fatalities

Overtime enforcement grant Awarded to municipal Police Departments – all communities are eligible for funding contingent upon availability 70 communities currently utilizing funds to enforce bicycle and pedestrian safety laws Funds also used to purchase safety equipment Drivers can be unaccustomed to sharing the road – grant helps promote safety practices Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety – Highway Safety Office

Grant awards range from $3,000 - $7,500 Diversity of participating communities – 14 new ones for cities and towns witness 51% of MA pedestrian fatalities 15 of them participate in the program Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety – Highway Safety Office

Officers deployed to areas of cycling and walking activity Monitor conditions to ensure motorists yield to pedestrians, don’t occupy bike lanes, etc. Pedestrian decoy strategy: plainclothes officer tests to see if vehicles yield at crosswalks Grant is used by rural, suburban, and urban communities Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety – Highway Safety Office

Participating Communities

Paid and Earned Media Be Seen Be Safe: In collaboration with Quincy Police Department Distributed to communities participating in the enforcement grant that year 2015 – Common Sense Saves Lives: Four 15 second ads Played 244 times, garnered 602,254 impressions Targeted demographic Networks: Food, ESPN, HGTV, Lifetime, TLC, and MSNBC Also distributed to all Police Departments for usage on social media

Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Awareness and Enforcement Program Description: 12 communities in pilot program, six in second year More data-driven than Highway Safety grant program Program Goals: Reduce the number of crashes involving bicyclists and pedestrians Determine if there is a built environment reason for crashes and/or road user behavior, and invest in improved infrastructure

Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Awareness and Enforcement Program Program Goals cont’d: Build capacity at the municipal level around improving the bicycle and pedestrian environment Raise awareness Educate on needs Study Tours Road Safety Audits

Selection Criteria Communities selected based on: High rates of bicyclist and pedestrian crashes High rates of bicyclist and pedestrian activity Participation in the MDPH Mass in Motion Program Ratio of non-motorist to all crashes Number of EMS calls

Year 1 Brockton Cambridge Fall River Haverhill Lynn New Bedford Newton Salem Pittsfield Quincy Somerville Watertown Year 2 Brookline Dennis Holyoke Northampton Waltham Worcester Participating Communities

Awareness and EnforcementEducation and Assessment Regional Planning Agencies Program Framework

Awareness and Enforcement

Police data Reasons for “not following the rules” Pedestrians Crosswalks are too far away Crosswalks are faded Didn’t want to wait to cross; WALK takes too long to come on “Didn’t know I had to use crosswalk all the time” “Just being lazy” Running for the bus Motorists Didn’t know required to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks Didn’t see pedestrian - distracted Saw person in the crosswalk, but it was too late to stop Unaware that stopping in a crosswalk was not allowed

Use of crash data HSIP crash clusters within top 5% of all clusters in the region used as starting point to determine assessment locations

Walk Assessments

Lessons so far... Communities fall into three categories: Municipal staff may have the will, but not the support of elected officials Elected officials may have the will, but not the support of the municipal staff Communities may have the will (staff + elected), but not the capacity

Overlap: – 13 communities participate in both programs – Both grants fund enforcement Opportunities for collaboration: – Highway Safety has wide reach – Feedback from local Police Departments on areas of concern helps develop a statewide map of hot spots – MassDOT has more targeted approach Turning Overlap Into Coordination

Stacey Beuttell WalkBoston Krystian Boreyko mass.gov/highwaysafety Contact Information

Thank you!