A new report from the Alliance for Biking & Walking shows that lack of investment in biking and walking could be contributing to higher traffic fatalities in the U.S.
In New Jersey, 12% of all trips are on foot or by bike, according to the study, putting us on par with California, Pennsylvania and Connecticut and not far behind New York. Yet 23% of all traffic fatalities were pedestrians or bicyclists. Only New York (25%) and Hawaii (24%) fare worse. And only 0.6% of its federal transportation funds go to benefit bicyclists and pedestrians, one of the lowest ratios in the nation.
Nationally, 9% of all trips are made by bicyclists and pedestrians and 13.1% of all traffic fatalities are bicyclists and pedestrians. States on average spend 1.2% of federal transportation funds on bicyclist and pedestrian projects
Walking and bicycling also are great forms of exercise and a way to help fight the country’s growing obesity problem–if we can make it safe.
In West Windsor, the WWBPA is advocating for a safer Princeton-Hightstown Road/Route 571, which has 50% more accidents than similar roads in New Jersey. We also want safer routes to the Princeton Junction train station and more safe routes to schools. We have held a number of events to highlight safety problems across down and conducted an inventory of 193 intersections to assess walkability.