The Bike Advocacy Toolkit is here! A free resource for volunteer advocates (just $20 for nonprofits) to help you organize, build people-power, and win safer streets for everyone who bikes, walks, and rolls. Learn more + register for the Oct. 14th launch webinar: bikeleague.org/introducing-...

So excited to have this new Bike Advocacy Toolkit available and congratulations to @tangythai.bsky.social @nondriver.bsky.social @mckelleykc.bsky.social Max Hepp-Buchanan and others who made it possible! You can learn more on a Tuesday, October 14, from 3:00–3:30 PM ET webinar or order it today

Weird data quirk of the day Somehow NHTSA reports that 3 out of 4 drivers who had a travel speed of 40 mph in a 25 mph speed limit zone were not speeding when they crashed into a bicyclist and killed them Credit, I guess, that all drivers going over 47 mph in a 25 zone were reported as speeding

No war zone here. A beautiful bike bus with some great kiddos headed to school this morning in NE Portland.

"parents, your kid should be on a bicycle" - ok But, the rest of this column ignores the 3-class system for e-bikes and the existence of class 1 e-bikes that require pedaling and max out at 20 mph E-motos are an issue, the solution needs to include regulation from the CPSC and NHTSA on their sale

When we say months of political games, we’re talking even yesterday, where after we already had a bunch of volunteers lined up for Friday morning the Chair of the Transportation committee ripped the rug out from under us once again. If you can join at City Hall at 1pm on Friday, please do!

"To help prevent more tragedies, TxDOT will be putting vital safety messages in front of drivers and pedestrians alike this month" TxDOT should provide more lighting to prevent more tragedies Since 2015, 572 pedestrians have been killed on unlit roads owned by TxDOT www.txdot.gov/about/newsro...

We cannot thank Lime enough for helping us with #WeekWithoutDriving Save 50% on Lime rides this #WeekWithoutDriving (Sept 29–Oct 5) with code AMERICAWALKS! #LimeInstead Post your ride, tag us, and join the movement!

In most states, the majority of urban pedestrian deaths occur on the National Highway System and a disproportionate percent of urban bicyclist deaths occur on the National Highway System There is a federal responsibility for a safety on the National Highway System www.datawrapper.de/_/XB4cn/

"[Deputy Transportation Secretary Steven] Bradbury said DOT is not opposed to bike lanes, but called them 'more of a local interest' except in cases where there is a 'strong safety need.'" www.politico.com/news/2025/09... Congress create grant programs Communities chose to pursue bike lanes

“These vehicles are designed to get hit so people don’t have to” - Kay Kelly, CDOT’s chief of innovative mobility “The [lead vehicle] does the work, while the driverless vehicle mirrors its path" to protect the worker(s) in the lead vehicle www.coloradopolitics.com/2025/09/30/s... Cool tech

This graph about bikeshare systems make it seem like Covid had a big impact on the number of systems - or some other event in 2020 causes a major drop in systems www.bts.gov/newsroom/doc...

Idea: Send letters to neighbors of high-risk drivers detailing the types of citations given in the neighborhood and/or to people in the neighborhood and use those letters to promote street design changes that address those behaviors Positively make the case to lower-risk people for safer streets

"pedestrian safety best practices" The video make it seem like the students will get a version of the recent @npr.org story that got a bunch of pushback for victim blaming It'd be amazing if they did school-led safety projects to show that streets can be made safer, eg www.mass.gov/doc/pop-up-p...

Week Without Driving is here. Transportation should be a right, not a privilege! Many people don't have a license and struggle with daily travel challenges as nondrivers. This week we are joining @americawalks.bsky.social to raise awareness about the barriers and gaps in our transportation system.

"A staggering 96% of drivers admit to engaging in aggressive driving behaviors over the past year" A "self-fulfilling cycle of aggressive driving and road rage is fueling a culture where impatience and hostility are becoming the norm behind the wheel" newsroom.aaa.com/2025/09/stud...

"States can transfer up to half of the National Highway Performance Program dollars into other funds, including the Surface Transportation Block Grant, Congestion Mitigation Air Quality, and Transportation Alternatives programs" under 23 U.S. Code § 126 without federal agency intervention

🚔🚸🚔🚸🚔 🌟Proven results: The Montgomery County Department of Police's speed camera📸 program successfully reduces driver speeds and injuries according to independent studies. 🌟Safer speeds=Safer communities for everyone. @montgomerycountymd.bsky.social @mcgexec.bsky.social @mococouncilmd.bsky.social

"A two-way protected bike lane and other calming measures on Van Buren Street cut speeding from 20% to 3%." “'Van Buren is a great example of how a street designed for walking and biking is safer for everyone,' said [City Engineer Kevin] Muhs" Safer Streets benefit everyone #SafetyOverSpeed

"in the aviation sector, it's called the 'out-of-the-loop performance problem,' where pilots... fail to adequately monitor for malfunctions due to complacency... This lack of active engagement... can lead to a reduced ability to understand and regain control of a malfunctioning automated system"

Study of 77 state-owned pedestrian bridges – including 55 structures in Detroit: 21 are rated in “good” condition; 42 are “fair,” nine are “poor,” and five were closed because they failed inspection or had damage from truck strikes aashtojournal.transportation.org/michigan-dot...

NHTSA is such a mess

The US is delaying safety tests - not regulations - TESTS that Europe introduced in 2016 Every US automaker has Automatic Emergency Braking on their vehicles, if they sell in Europe they've been tested for pedestrian safety for a decade Is this innovation? 🙃

"Department officials said the investment will enhance safety by eliminating off-ramp lines of vehicles backing up onto the interstate" This feels like safety-washing an interstate expansion project in a state that recently limited options for safer road designs boisedev.com/news/2025/04...

“Enhanced bike and pedestrian infrastructure can reduce traffic congestion, improve public health, and decrease personal transportation costs, as well as positively affect property values, tourism, and business growth” - Vermont’s Agency of Transportation 🚴 www.mychamplainvalley.com/news/local-n...

"It’s not clear what Latta and Dingell have in mind for safety framework legislation" "It’s not clear whether the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which has jurisdiction over NHTSA, is working on AV policy" Hard reporting, lots of legislators talked, but proposals are unclear

“What we are hoping is that sanity will prevail again some time in the future" - National Academy of Sciences President Dr. Marcia McNutt "shrinking of the research enterprise will undoubtedly slow research output and knowledge generation" - @alexkarner.bsky.social and co-authors

tapped sign courtesy of @tomflood.bsky.social

Two thoughts: 1. Safety tips for people biking and walking can improve personal safety, but 2. It is frustrating to shame people for listening to music while walking when cars and trucks have multimillion dollar campaigns about their music systems and noise isolation from the outside world

Congress must fight back. Ask your senators to stand up for safety projects for everyone whether they bike, walk, roll, take transit or drive. You can find a form to compose a letter to your Senators here: bikeleague.org/take-action/... @bikeleague.org

Auto industry lobby: "NHTSA...can help strengthen the industry’s global competitiveness by speeding the deployment of life-saving automotive technology, by informing and educating consumers, and by supporting the cutting-edge innovation" but ... www.repairerdrivennews.com/2025/09/22/n...

Do you like it when State Departments of Transportation build meaningful tools to improve the safety of people biking and walking? If you do, you can show your support for those efforts by voting to give an award to the Kansas Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment www.ksdot.gov/Home/Compone...

"A key advantage of bicycles is their incredible space-efficiency. Even if all the bike infrastructure space in the city were to double, the proportion of roadway given to cars would not fall below 90% in any borough." theconversation.com/montreals-bi...

Great lunch panel at Stanbaugh Auditorium on the @youngstownstate.bsky.social campus Despite some rain we've already had a successful bike audit It's been great to see the interest in improving biking and walking from all the folks in attendance

"The President’s proposed FY 2026 budget for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) amounts to a 53% reduction in funding...and then restores about 26%of the lost funding to two newly proposed HHS divisions: the Administration for a Healthy America and the Office of Strategy"

"Parents at the school told NBC Chicago they have been requesting crossing guards in the area and warned of repeated instances of dangerous drivers" www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/9... All too common that traffic deaths occur where people are clamoring for safer streets without being heard

Participants in this study "judge AV firms as more liable than both firms that make human-driven vehicles and human drivers for damages when not at fault." They used the pedestrian crash scenario that led to Cruise shutting down as part of the study

Early voting voting begins today in Virginia Nice and easy to vote at the registrar's office in Roanoke, VA today

"According to a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, we are seeing a trend in recent state laws allowing for lower speed limits." But to really make a change and save lives, it's going to take more than changing the number on a speed limit sign. www.ksdk.com/article/traf...

Every time a city prioritizes non-car travel, pedestrianizes thoroughfares, expands transit, improves bike networks, implements congestion pricing or creates new public spaces, that city becomes better. It’s not a war on cars. It’s an effort to make cities better & more livable.

“I am just a boy who wanted to give his mother a bicycle... And things got way out of control in the most beautiful way.” We need more of this energy

"In 2000, a traffic signal was installed. While the signal reduced overall crashes, deadly and serious injury crashes went up. Finally in 2014, a roundabout was installed. In the 11 years since, there has not been a single fatal crash" Roundabouts FTW www.transportation.ohio.gov/about-us/new...

Would have been nice if they had a picture of a school with a crosswalk, but hey, nice to see Montana promoting Walk to School Day this October 8th mdtnews.mt.gov/news/news-fo...

"The World Cup has the potential to shift attitudes in the region around DART but could also be an embarrassment for Dallas...'I think, if it’s a success, it proves transit is good. If it’s a failure, and people are like, ‘Wow, it was a mess getting around,’ it proves we need more transit'"

It would be great to see more traffic safety marketing like this It's supportive of traffic safety improvements and says why people like safer streets Way too much traffic safety marketing is unrelated to street safety improvements and reliant on scare tactics, e.g. www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov

With American Community Survey (ACS) commute to work data out, I'm working through data on biking, walking, & taking transit to work One problem with the ACS is how limited it is. Davis, CA is the longtime leader in biking to work, but had no estimate this year datawrapper.dwcdn.net/3Kgyl/1/

It was great to talk to this reporter about the importance of reducing speed limits In some states, home rule allows cities to lower speed limits even when it's not specified in state law and that's my understanding in St. Louis #SafetyOverSpeed www.ksdk.com/article/traf...

Every one of these grants was awarded through a competitive process where communities chose their priorities and put hours, even years, of effort into meeting the needs of their residents Cancelling these grants is a top-down imposition, in spite of community needs

Only four states have 20 mph speed limits as the default in urban or residential areas The success of this policy in Wales should inspire more states to make 20 mph the default Every community that wants safer streets should have the ability to have 20 mph streets www.datawrapper.de/_/GpwYF/?v=4

It's worth noting the only complaint is from a driving instructor who said that people still go too fast. Which is a good reminder that while lowering speed limits is important, designing roads that force people to slow down is even better.