LaHood throws a challenge to the E Traffic industry

He wants pedestrian and bike safety:

“Today I want to announce a sea change,” he wrote on his blog last week. “This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of nonmotorized.”

The new policy, which was introduced a few days after Mr. LaHood gave a well-received speech from atop a table at the National Bike Summit, is said to reflect the Transportation Department’s support for the development of fully integrated transportation networks.

It calls on state and local governments to go beyond minimum planning and maintenance requirements to provide convenient and safe amenities for bikers and walkers. “Walking and biking should not be an afterthought in roadway design,” the policy states.

Transportation agencies are urged to take action on a number of fronts, including the creation of pathways for bike riders and pedestrians on bridges, and providing children with safe biking and walking routes to schools.

They are also encouraged to find ways to make such improvements in concert with road maintenance projects and to protect sidewalks and bike lanes in the same manner as roads (by clearing them of snow, for example).

Safety mechanisms in autos can detect pedestrians with ease at low cost, ultimately paid for with insurance savings. Small, low cost digital beepers on bikes will alert autos with Black Boxes about nearby bikers.

These solutions kill two birds, they move us toward much more energy efficient transportation and solve the LaHood problem without concrete and steel.