Cities with better transit have fewer traffic fatalities: study
Vancouver has about one-tenth the traffic fatalities as an automobile-dependent city like Houston, Texas
If you want to reduce your risk of dying in a car accident, then you should live in a city with lots of public transit and high transit ridership.
That’s the conclusion of Todd Litman, an urban planner who specializes in transit and is the executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute. He recently published his findings on transit and safety in the Journal of Public Transportation.
“Vancouver has a much lower fatality rate than most North American cities, and you could essentially say it’s because Vancouver has committed to multi-modal transportation and smart-growth development patterns,” Litman said, referring to planning decisions to boost the number of pedestrian, bike and transit trips and build higher-density residential buildings near transit.
“Vancouver has about a tenth of the traffic fatality rate as in automobile dependent cities.”
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Cities that have increased transit have higher ridership, and also fewer traffic fatalities. Source: A New Transit Safety Narrative by Todd Litman
I’m voting yes. That said, I think “our side” is starting to reach a bit and get sensationalist.
Sure, traffic deaths trend down when people spend less time on the road — it makes sense that would happen. But, using that as a selling point? Now, I’m hearing how “yes” will prevent cancer and dementia, etc. Someone used the word “desparate” sounding. I wouldn’t go that far, but it is getting a bit silly to me. If these stats don’t change after the tax comes in, and if congestion doesn’t get noticeably better, it’ll be a hard sell in the future for any other improvements too.
It’s also dangerous to play the stats game. In Vancouver, sexual assaults on transit are on the rise — it makes sense that would happen. Public transit spreads disease. True. But, if the “no” side started using stuff like this, I’d laugh at them.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/sexual-assaults-harassment-on-the-rise-on-public-transit/article16320726/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/10/24/public-transit-does-spread-diseases-but-ebola-isnt-one-of-them/
yes, if anything, the provided graphs show that the decline in the traffic fatality rate is uncorrelated to the Transit usage.
Not sure, what the author wants to prove.
I agree with Kirk, in a general sense.
This campaign is going off-message. There is only one question: what kind of place do you want Metro Vancouver to be?
The Yes campaign needs to get off the charts and graphs, and onto the big picture. Do we want a city that feels more like Houston or a city that feels more like Vienna?
Exactly. Thanks for articulating it, Agustin.