South Whitehall Township, PA

What is Active Transportation? 

Active transportation involves any form of nonmotorized transportation such as walking, biking, and the use of self-propelled or mobility-assisted devices (wheelchair, scooter, etc.). These methods of personal mobility represent fundamental modes of transportation for people whether by necessity or choice to go about their daily business. While the use of public transit (buses) may be considered motorized transportation, access to transit is a critical component of active transportation planning.

Why is it important?

Active transportation is a way to connect the community while providing the benefits of improved public/environmental health and contributing to a greater quality of life and sense of place.

What is a Safety Action Plan?

A comprehensive safety action plan is the first step to improving safety on our roadways. Action plans look at all factors contributing to unsafe conditions utilizing the Safe System Approach. This approach has been embraced by the transportation community as an effective way to help mitigate the risk of our complex transportation system. It incorporates six principles:

1. Death and Serious Injuries are Unacceptable
2. Humans Make Mistakes
3. Humans are Vulnerable
4. Responsibility is Shared
5. Safety is Proactive
6. Redundancy is Crucial

This approach is then centered around five core objectives:

• Safer People
• Safer Roads
• Safer Vehicles
• Safer Speeds
• Post-Crash Care

These objectives are beyond the capacity of just a municipality or Department of Transportation and must involve a multitude of organizations and stakeholders. Safety Action Plans are often the building block to a Vision Zero Strategy.

What is Vision Zero?

Vision Zero is a national strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. This strategy was first implemented in Sweden in the 1990s, but has been adopted in cities and counties all over the United States: Vision Zero Communities

Vision Zero embodies two major philosophies:

1. People will make mistakes. A common misconception with Vision Zero strategies is that it intends to create a perfect system without any accidents. This is unrealistic. A more achievable goal is to prevent accidents resulting in death or serious injuries. Crashes will happen, but the severity of crashes can be mitigated.

2. It takes all of us to be successful. It takes a multidisciplinary approach to solve a complex problem. Vision Zero recognizes that many factors contribute to safe mobility - including roadway design, speeds, driver/pedestrian behavior, technology, and policies. A successful Vison Zero strategy should examine all of these components and set clear goals to minimize deaths and serious injuries.