Double Action Alert: MUTCD and Transportation Alternatives
Action One:
In the United States, a technical document called the Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) is used to create “uniformity” in the look of our road signs and symbols, including traffic lights, crosswalks and all kinds of street markings.
Unfortunately, while it’s presented as a neutral and scientific document, it is full of assumptions and value judgements that privilege driver’s convenience over pedestrians’ safety.
However, we need a MUTCD that puts the safety of people walking and moving over the convenience of people in cars.
We need:
- Safe, convenient, protected crosswalks.
- Speed limits based on safety.
- Proper signal infrastructure at every urbanized intersection.
- A local street manual that can rise to the challenge of skyrocketing pedestrian deaths.
- Baseline standards that make our communities safer and more accessible.
Use the convenient letter/comment template from America Walks to tell Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to rewrite the MUTCD in a way that puts safety and equity first. Click the TAKE ACTION button below to get started – it’ll take all but 5 minutes of your time.
Action Two:
Since it was established in 2012, the Transportation Alternatives program has funded billions of dollars’ worth of local community transportation improvements like bikeways, sidewalks, recreational trails, and safe routes to school projects.
But barriers in the application process and obstacles in distributing funding have impeded the implementation of many more projects or left projects altogether unfunded. The Transportation Alternatives Enhancement Act aims to build more biking and walking infrastructure by spending tax dollars more efficiently.
Learn more about the Enhancement Act to the Transportation Alternatives program, and contact your elected officials to co-sponsor it. The League of American Bicyclists makes it fast and easy via a webform linked below. Please invest a few minutes that could make a long-term positive impact on projects both locally and nationwide.