Last week was Central Arkansas’ very first Vulnerable Road User Summit. This is an incredible step to taking serious the safety of people who can’t or choose not to drive cars. This population includes children and teenagers, aging adults with slower response time and degenerating vision, people with disabilities or medical conditions, people who want to walk and bike for a more active lifestyle and better health, and individuals and families whose income level doesn’t support the investment in an average of $12-13k per year that car ownership demands.
This full day event brought together about 150 professionals from a wide-range of sectors, including planners, civil engineers, transportation planners, public works employees, law enforcement, emergency response workers, community advocates, and active transportation consultants.
John Landosky, BikePed Coordinator for the City of Little Rock, and yours truly spoke on a panel and facilitated breakout groups to highlight the role of equity and education as part of the Arkansas’ Department of Transportation safe systems approach.
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