SBCTA Signs on to SCAG’s Safety Pledge

November 9, 2020

At their November meeting, the SBCTA Board of Directors committed to signing on to the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Safety Pledge. The pledge is a commitment to the general principle of promoting safety, particularly for cyclists and pedestrians and advancing connected communities.

In 2015, SCAG launched their Go Human campaign to heighten awareness of the region’s transportation safety challenges and opportunities, and to reduce collisions resulting in serious injuries or fatalities. The program was brought about in response to rising traffic-related fatalities and injuries in the region between 2012 and 2016. SCAG found that bicyclists and pedestrians were disproportionately impacted. Although bicyclists and pedestrians represent only 12 percent of daily trips, they represented 27 percent of those involved in traffic-related fatalities.

The Go Human program is funded through annual grants from the California Office of Traffic Safety. During the past grant year, Go Human received $1 million in funding and implemented a variety of strategies to improve the safety of residents walking and biking across the region.

The SCAG Safety Pledge calls on local governments to commit to improving safety by adopting programs such as a Vision Zero plan, hosting pop-up safety demonstrations or implementing a safety outreach campaign, among other actions. More information about SCAG’s Go Human program is available at gohumansocal.org.