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For Immediate Release

Regional Pedestrian Safety Summit Scheduled

Input sought for creation of a Bay Area-wide program to make streets safer for pedestrians

CONTACT:

Jeff Georgevich
510.464.7820

Réka Goode
510.464.7706

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 8, 2001...Crossing the street should not qualify as a death-defying feat, but too often in the Bay Area, pedestrians take their life in their hands when they step off a curb. In a move aimed at reducing the number of pedestrian injuries and fatalities caused by vehicles, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is sponsoring a "Regional Pedestrian Safety Summit" on Tuesday, Oct. 9, from 10 a.m. to noon, in Training Room 1 on the second floor of the Elihu Harris State Building, 1515 Clay Street, Oakland.

Co-chairs of the summit are two MTC commissioners: James T. Beall Jr., chair of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and co-chair of that county's Traffic Safe Communities Network; and Tom Ammiano, president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

"We believe that a regional approach to improving pedestrian safety will allow us to coordinate and assist local community efforts," Beall said. Ammiano concurred, adding, "San Francisco's ‘Livable Streets Program' is an example of a very proactive take on pedestrian safety, and we feel that many of these ideas can be adopted on a larger scale around the region."

The summit is organized around the three E's – enforcement, education and engineering – as well as community involvement, and will provide participants an opportunity for discussion and setting of priorities.

A Regional Pedestrian Safety Task Force, formed late last year by MTC, has developed recommendations regarding the scope and make-up of a regional pedestrian safety program, and will present the recommendations at the summit. Task Force members represent planning organizations, traffic and public health departments, law enforcement agencies, and community advocacy groups.

MTC has budgeted $100,000 in the current fiscal year for implementing a regional pedestrian safety program, and is committed to seeking additional state and federal funds as needed. One possible outcome of the summit could be the establishment of a technical assistance program in which MTC would provide experts to local agencies to help analyze and solve safety issues.

MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

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