|
Partnership for a Walkable America |  |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Think about it. It happens when you walk to the bus stop or subway to go to work. It happens when your child walks to school or to catch the school bus. It happens when your co-workers “run out for a quick bite” at lunch. How many times a day are you, a family member, co-worker, or friend a pedestrian? The answer is surprising! Yet, pedestrians’ standards of living are often reduced because the very design of many urban centers and suburban communities makes it difficult or dangerous for anyone who wants to walk. Our nation has simply become “unwalkable” despite the fact that everyone is a pedestrian! Even more alarming is the fact that pedestrians represent 15 percent of all the people injured and killed in traffic crashes in 1995. More pedestrians are killed in a year than all the deaths annually from air, sea, and rail crashes. In fact, a pedestrian is killed or injured every six minutes in the United States, and there are enough pedestrians killed every two weeks to fill a 200-seat commercial plane. The Partnership for a Walkable America is committed to reducing the numbers of crash-related pedestrian injuries and fatalities and to “getting America back on its feet.” The Partnership is an alliance of organizations, agencies, businesses, and individuals that have joined together to promote the changes needed to make America a better place for walking, so that society can reap the associated benefits of personal and environmental health, security, and community. The Partnership has three objectives: to make walking in America safer by reducing motor vehicle-related deaths and injuries; to provide information about how to achieve walkable communities; and to encourage walking as one of the easiest ways for Americans to improve their health and lower health care costs. You can define your own level of participation! You might want to limit your focus to your co-workers and employees, or to broaden your focus to include other agencies, businesses, or organizations. You can help recruit additional “Partners,” or provide administrative support, or decide and define initiatives and programs. Joining the Partnership for a Walkable America will give you direct access to a variety of Partnership-derived information about walking for health and making your community more walkable. You and your agency, association, or organization will also reap the benefits that come with being associated with this positive, national effort that encourages safety, health, the environment, and community. Remember -- the Partnership represents the safety, health, and recreation interests of all populations including children and senior citizens. You can help identify the safety, environmental, and policy changes that are needed to make America more walkable, promote pedestrian safety and accessibility, and encourage walking as an important transportation option. Working together, you can educate the public and policy makers about the importance of a walkable community, and that’s the first step to “getting America back on its feet.” For more information, contact:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
