Enables safe access to public roads for all users

Summary of specific provisions

This legislation requires bicycle and pedestrian ways be included in the planning and development of state, county, and local transportation facilities, plans, and programs as appropriate. All transportation improvements shall improve safety, access, and mobility for all travelers in New York, regardless of age or ability, and shall recognize bicycle, pedestrian, and transit modes as integral to the transportation system.

In addition, bicycle and pedestrian ways shall be established in conjunction with the construction, reconstruction, or other changes of applicable state, county, or local transportation facility. Accommodations will include, but not be limited to, bicycle lanes, lane striping, paved shoulders suitable for use by bicyclists, share the road signage, crosswalks, pedestrian control signals, curb cuts and ramps.

The legislation also requires a best practice report to be published by the Department of Transportation no later than two years after the bill becomes law showing how transportation agencies have evaluated and changed their procedures to routinely design safe, effective multi-modal facilities for travelers of all ages and abilities.

Justification

The streets of our cities and towns are an important part of the livability of our communities. Our streets should be designed for everyone, whether young or old, motorist or bicyclist, walker or wheelchair user, or bus rider. Complete streets are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users. Complete streets policies direct transportation planners and engineers to consistently design with all users in mind.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2007, a pedestrian was hit by a motorist and killed every 113 minutes (about every two hours) - a total of 4,654 fatalities nationwide. Forty percent of these fatalities were people 50 years of age and older. In addition, NHTSA found that a pedestrian is injured by motorists every 8 minutes with over 70,000 pedestrians injured in 2007.

A new poll released by AARP in 2008 found that while many people age 50 plus are trying to move away from car transportation as a result of high gas prices, almost half (47%) of poll responders say they cannot cross the main roads safely.

A Federal Highways Administration safety review found that streets designed with sidewalks, raised medians, better bus stop placement, traffic-calming measures, and treatments for disabled travelers improve pedestrian safety, Some features, such as medians, improve safety for all Users, they enable pedestrians to cross busy roads in two stages, reduce left-turning motorist crashes to zero, and improve bicycle safety. The National Institutes of Medicine recommends fighting childhood obesity by establishing ordinances to encourage construction of sidewalks, bikeways, and other places for physical activity. One study found that 43, of people with safe places to walk within 10 minutes of home met recommended activity levels; among individuals without safe place to walk, just 27% were active enough.

The potential to reduce carbon emissions by shifting trips to lower-carbon modes is undeniable. The 2001 National Household Transportation Survey found 50% of all trips in metropolitan areas are three miles or less and 28% of all metropolitan trips are one mile or less - distances easy to walk, bike, or hop a bus or train. Yet 65% of the shortest trips are now made by automobile, in part because of incomplete streets that make it dangerous or unpleasant for other modes of travel. Complete streets would help Convert many of these short automobile trips to multi-modal travel. Simply increasing bicycling from 1% to 1.5% of all trips in the U.S. would save 462 million gallons of gasoline each year.

Legislative history

2009-10 - S.5711B/A.8587B - Passed Senate

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect 180 days after it shall have become a law.