Walker Safety Means More Than You Think

Hiya! This is Nora, back with your October blog writing to you from Northern Ireland. While studying abroad I have gotten to learn so much about the world and other cultures. One night this month I was talking with my roommates and one of them asked me “what is a pedestrian advocate?” I realized that even though I identify what I do as pedestrian advocacy, I’ve never defined it outright. So that’s what I am dedicating this month’s blog to: what I mean by pedestrian advocacy!

I started using the term pedestrian advocate not for any real reason except that it made a nice acronym. I was a part of a club in high school that was formerly known as the Grady Pedestrian Safety Coalition, but when our school changed its name from Henry W. Grady high school we needed to change our club’s name. We came up with the Atlanta Students Advocating for Pedestrians or ASAP for short. From there we started identifying ourselves as pedestrian advocates.

Since our club was composed of students who walked, biked, skated, took public transportation, and drove and because we wanted to advocate on behalf of everyone. We are all pedestrians. So pedestrian advocacy relates to working to make the transportation environment outside of a car safer, pleasant, and more attractive to commuters. First and foremost we are trying to prevent deaths through initiatives such as the ghost bike project that we talked about in a previous blog or Vision Zero (working to achieve 0 traffic-related fatalities). We are also making sure that you are not having to walk next to four lanes of traffic or share the lane with cars who are going 50 mph. We also actively promote using alternatives to cars in your commutes.

Just like the people we advocate for, what we advocate and how we advocate also includes a lot more than those three missions. Transportation touches so many other fields such as environmental, equity, and health. Therefore when I say I am a pedestrian advocate I am advocating for the whole pedestrian. I advocate to ensure that schools in all income levels are safe for pedestrians. I advocate to promote better public transportation infrastructure to lower emissions and offer more affordable commuting options.

So what I mean when I say I am a pedestrian advocate is that I advocate for the safety of commuters. Safety of commuters in transportation includes a whole range of issues, which is why ASAP was advertised as an advocacy club for whatever you were passionate about.

How do you identify your advocacy? Do you define pedestrian advocacy another way? How do you explain your work in transportation to people who don’t work in this field? I’ll be waiting for your comments on Twitter, Instagram, or email (info@nybcouncil.com)!