UPDATE: SCAG Has a Long Way to Go Before Streets Are Safe for Pedestrians

Back before my holiday break, I did a post on SCAG’s 2008 “Regional Transportation Plan” and its goals for increasing safety for cyclists and pedestrians. (See: SCAG’s Top Goal for Bike/Ped: Reduce Fatalities by 25%). SCAG listed, as its top goal, to reduce pedestrian fatalities to 25% below those in year 2000. In 2000 there were 412 bike and pedestrian fatalities in the six-country region that makes up SCAG. To reach its goal, regional bike/ped fatalities would have to fall to 309 by 2027, the plan’s horizon year.

Maybe SCAG should have picked a different year to set their baseline. Between 2000 and 2006 bike/ped fatalities have grown to 452. For those keeping track at home that’s a 10% increase in fatalities.

However, there is a silver lining for SCAG. Los Angeles, responsible for over half the fatalities in 2000 and 2006 actually saw a decrease in annual fatalities during those six years. In 2000, 242 people perished because they were walking or biking in LA and were hit by a car/truck/bus/light rail. In 2006, that number was down around 5% to 229.

A breakdown of bike/ped fatalities per county in the SCAG region:

Imperial 7 5

LA 242 229

Orange County 47 66

Riverside 51 63

San Bernadino 50 67

Ventura 15 22

(editor’s note: All statistics from the FHWA. Statistics for 2007 are not yet available. Special thanks to Michelle Ernst for teaching me the easiest way to look this stuff up. Tomorrow we’ll look at the bike/ped trends in just Los Angeles and Orange Counties.)