We have one last victory to report at Secretary Foxx’s US Department of Transportation. USDOT has significantly rewritten their proposed system performance measures after receiving significant pressure from advocates like you. We owe a big thank you to everyone who weighed in and to USDOT for listening. 

Back in May, we asked you to take action against the US Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) proposed “system performance measures” that would have measured the speed of cars and trucks in seven different ways, while devoting no measures at all to people walking, bicycling, and taking transit. 

The Safe Routes Partnership submitted our official comments for the record on May 16. Read our comments here.

What the US Department of Transportation chooses to measure has an impact on which transportation projects get built in your state and community—and on your ability to feel safe while walking and bicycling to school and in your neighborhood.

At a recent grantmaking conference, one of the speakers emphasized the role of evaluation by saying that if you can’t measure something, it doesn’t matter.  Thanks to a new rule from the US Department of Transportation, all states will now be required to measure and be held accountable for bicycle and pedestrian safety.   

There were two significant developments this month in Washington D.C for Safe Routes to School.  First, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) released its proposed rule addressing safety on our roads.