Children Deserve Safe Places to Walk and Bike, Starting With the Trip to School

‘They Just Made it Happen’

Durham’s Safe Routes to School program started humbly as an idea that Open Streets volunteers, Mark Dessauer and Jen McDuffie, wanted to see brought to Durham back in 2011. This has grown into an eagerly anticipated program, where Bike Durham staff touch the lives of thousands of elementary school students each year. 

Jen McDuffie, a public health professional, former Durham resident, and former Bike Durham board member, had been intimately involved with the Safe Routes to School Program for ten years until she passed the torch to our organization in 2021. 

John Rives, Mike Fink, Jen McDuffie, Frank Glover, Ellen Beckmann, and Dale McKeel (pictured Left to Right) at the Eastway Elementary Walk, Bike, & Roll to School Day event in 2014

Starting in 2015, McDuffie wrote grants to buy bicycles and pay helpers - Durham Bike Co-op faithfuls Mike Fink, Ralph Griesenbeck, John Rives, Tim Smith, and Gary Tencer - to teach the classes with her.  In addition to the Co-op, she had connections with Durham Congregations, Associations, and Neighborhoods (CAN), the Partnership for a Healthy Durham, the East Durham Children’s Initiative, the Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC), and at Durham Public Schools.  All these partnerships played an instrumental role early on, setting the foundation and tone for Safe Routes to School in Durham.

“When Jen Mcduffie first started, she recruited a bunch of her friends and would put the bikes in the back of their pickup truck to move them around,” said Jennifer Delcourt.  “It was an idea and they just made it happen.”

Coach Nisha Watson taking a selfie with students during the May 2015 Walk, Bike, & Roll to School Day event

Delcourt started working with the Safe Routes to School program as the regional school coordinator in 2014, covering nine counties including Durham. She started working with McDuffie trying to provide as much support as she could to the schools in Durham, such as printing flyers and introducing Safe Routes to Schools to many schools in Durham. 

With one common goal in mind, they all came together to provide these programs and opportunities for students in Durham, despite the limited resources and challenges that they encountered. 

At one of those schools, Eastway Elementary, they found a real partner in Nisha Watson, the P.E. teacher at the school.  She has advocated for the program from the start. Although the idea of facilitating these activities for her students was intimidating, the support built in place made it easier for her to embrace this opportunity. 

“They all put me at ease since the beginning,” Watson said. “Coming in with that partnership has been huge because I don’t think I would have been able to do it on my own.” 

Keeping It Going

In 2019, McDuffie and Dale McKeel, the Bicycle-Pedestrian Coordinator for Durham, wrote a grant that was awarded by the state department of transportation to fund Safe Routes to School programming in Durham. Following delays due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, in early 2021 the City sought proposals for a contractor to lead the Safe Routes to School program.  McDuffie approached Bike Durham executive director John Tallmadge about a partnership, and together they were successful in winning the City contract.  This established Bike Durham as the funded provider of Safe Routes to School programming, including bicycle safety training courses, and support for schools, parents, and students in holding Bike, Walk, & Roll to School day activities each May and October.

McDuffie planned to move from Durham to Vermont in Summer 2021, so Tallmadge knew they needed to keep it going by finding new staff to continue what McDuffie had started.  Through the hiring process, Bike Durham was able to bring on both Jacopo Montobbio, a former bikepacking tour leader in Europe and New England, and Stephen Mullaney, a longtime classroom and outdoor educator working at Merrick-Moore Elementary, in part-time roles to carry on the program.

During that school year, with the fleet of bicycles that McDuffie had acquired in previous years, Montobbio, Mullaney, and volunteers Ruth Browne and Bes Baldwin were able to deliver bike safety classes at six schools.  By May, nineteen schools participated in Bike, Walk, & Roll to School events.  

Picking Up Momentum

The word was getting out to other schools in the Durham Public School system and more P.E. coaches were requesting classes than could be accommodated.  Fortunately, Bike Durham had also been successful in telling the stories of the young students’ lives that were being touched by this program, and additional funding started coming in.

During the Summer of 2022, Bike Durham received gifts from an anonymous donor connected to a former board member and from Crum & Forster, employer of another former board member, enabling the organization to purchase a second fleet of bikes for the third and fourth grade classes, and a fleet of balance bikes to start a kindergarten level class at Merrick-Moore Elementary.

During Fall of 2022, the Pedals to Possibilities fundraiser brought in additional money to pay more educators to teach the classes to more grade levels at more schools.  That school year, more than 1,200 students at twelve schools participated in bike safety classes.  More than 15,000 students participated in Bike, Walk, & Roll to School events. 

Bike Durham also learned in Spring 2023 that funding would continue for at least the next two years through a County-directed federal grant and the next round of Safe Routes to School funding from North Carolina Department of Transportation.

“Once you give seed money, it is up to the people who receive it to keep it going and get it permanently funded,” McDuffie said. “We’ve done that and it’s beautiful.” 

‘They’re Going to Be Advocates One Day’

Students with bikes and scooters celebrating their arrivial at Lakewood Elementary during the 2017 Walk, Bike, & Roll to School event.

Starting with kids getting to and from school is starting with the foundational and basic trip that every individual has taken throughout their childhood and educational career. According to Montobbio, our Education Program Manager, Safe Routes to School is about putting policies, physical infrastructure, and programs in place to enable families to choose to walk and bike to school, as well as other places, safely. 

The education program has been successful because so many kids love the feelings of accomplishment that comes from learning new skills, and they love feeling their bodies move around outside.  Momentum has built as Safe Routes to School becomes more prominent within the schools it works in. Students and parents are now expecting bicycle safety classes and activities year after year. But Safe Routes to School is intended to have a deeper impact than just teaching kids how to ride a bike. It teaches the benefits of having safe and accessible transportation and also teaches students to be advocates for themselves and their community. 

“They're going to be advocates one day like they're advocating now for themselves to have more of these classes,” said Coach Watson of Eastway Elementary. 

Over the years, the Safe Routes to School Program has been a strengthening partnership with the City of Durham, Durham County, and the Durham Public Schools district.  All have shared goals of making it safe and attractive for more families to choose walking, biking, and rolling to school.  Kristen Brookshire, the community transportation planner for DPS, believes that advocating for Safe Routes to School isn't just benefiting the students, but the community in Durham as a whole. 

“If we’re making it better for kids, it’s going to be better for everyone,” said Brookshire. “It’s going to be better for the parent with a stroller. It’s going to be better for the grandfather with a cane. It’s going to be better for the person trying to get to work.”

*According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Safe Routes to School is an approach that promotes walking and biking through infrastructure improvements, safety education, incentives, and many more methods to work towards the overall goal.

Timeline of Bike Durham’s History

Prehistory

2006

The Durham Bike Co-op is founded in the Old Five Points neighborhood. The City of Durham unveils the city’s first bicycle and pedestrian plans, and issues bonds in 2006 and 2008 to partially fund them. 

Durham Bicycle Coalition

2009–2010

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Copy of poster distributed advertising the organizing meeting for the Durham Bicycle Coalition, precursor to Bike Durham.

Longtime Durhamite Adam Haile is chatting with Rachel Raney, a recent transplant from the San Francisco area, outside the preschool their kids attend, when they see a police officer scold a parent for bringing a child to school in a bicycle trailer. Haile and Raney team with Mark Dessauer, Lisa Miller, and Jack Warman to launch an advocacy group called the Durham Bicycle Coalition. They set up a website, post notices on the Bike-Ped listserv (managed by the City), and leave flyers at the Bike Co-op. Momentum builds when the joint City-County Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) organizes Bike Month activities with help from the Co-op, which moves to new quarters near the old Durham Athletic Park (the Durham Bulls’ original home) on Morris Street.

2011

The inaugural Tour de Fat bike festival is brought to Durham by New Belgium Brewery (occurs annually through 2016).

2012

Around 70 people attend initial discussions in the Trotter Building on Geer Street to found a new membership-based group, the Durham Bicycle Coalition. Omisade Burney-Scott facilitates. The interim board includes Casey Collins, Adam Haile, Cameron Heath, Branson Kimball, Kevin Magill, Lisa Miller, Rusty Miller, Chris Russo, Carl Sundstrom, Jack Warman, and Debra Campbell West, with Haile and Miller as co-chairs. The East Coast Greenway Alliance acts as fiscal sponsor.

Bike Durham

2013

The name is changed from Durham Bicycle Coalition to Bike Durham. Its mission, bylaws (borrowed from another organization), and 501(c)(3) status are established, and Facebook and Twitter accounts set up. Branson Kimball’s friend Morris Young designs a logo. We join BPAC in planning Bike Month events and we bring bike parking to the Eno River Festival, using BPAC’s bike racks, and bike valet parking to Centerfest. We organize a ride to the movies to see PeeWee’s Big Adventure.  A “kidical mass” ride begins Bike Durham’s engagement with children, which will continue with Walk, Bike & Roll to School activities, and, later, Safe Routes to Schools. Seth Vidal, a prominent local bicyclist, is killed while riding on Hillandale Road, galvanizing the community. The nascent organization has 17 members, including 11 founding members. 

Original Bike Durham logo in teal and brown designed by Morris Young.

2014

The first working board includes Ryan Asher, Carlo Diy, Kosta Harlan, Bethany Kell, Christin Lampkowski, Harry Mendez Jr., Chris Russo, Rachel Waltz, and Jack Warman. Warman is elected board chair. Bike Durham buys coffee & donuts for City Council, for whom sidewalks become a priority. Investments are made in changes to West Club Boulevard, without consideration for cyclists. Warman presents to Durham Area Transit Authority bus drivers about how to interact with bikes. Bike Durham hosts a bicycle film festival at the Durham Arts Council, a major expense (at the time). The first Bike-a-Bull City event (named by Russo) is held at Bull McCabe’s.

2014–2015

In a six-month span, four Durham cyclists—Pamela Lane, Isidro Razo, Tony Morris Turner, and Kent Winberry—are killed in crashes. 

2015

Ride of Silence Banner with event logo and words “Silently honoring bicyclists killed and injured on our streets

In light of recent cyclist deaths, a community meeting draws over 100 people. Bike Durham begins leading the annual “Ride of Silence,” an event that takes place in May throughout the U.S. to mourn killed bicyclists. It gains a lot of volunteers and more of an advocacy focus, and wins an Indy Week “Citizen Award.”  NCDOT entertains a potential Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard road diet, while the City Council is fine with the status quo. Bike Durham reaches out to neighborhood groups, local businesses, and City Council members, gathering more than 1,000 signatures on a petition supporting the road diet. In June, Board Chair Christin Lampkowski live-tweets the City Council meeting where they vote 7-0 in support of the road diet. Bike Durham conducts its first City Council candidate questionnaire. Bike-a-Bull City is held at Ciderworks. 

2016

Bike Durham pushes board member Bryan Poole’s hire as a bicycle-oriented planner in Durham’s Transportation Department. He wins the job and steps off the Bike Durham board. Bike-a-Bull City is held at Ponysaurus Brewing. The Durham Bike Co-op moves to Duke Park, where it remains today.

2017

Membership exceeds 60 for the first time. The logo is updated to its current, more colorful design. Former board member Poole, now working for the City, managed the Bike+Walk Implementation Plan, bringing it to City Council adoption in 2017- these are the improvements that the City is still working to complete in 2023. Bike-a-Bull City is held at Durty Bull. Bike Durham begins participating in Durham’s December holiday parade. James Nishimuta is board chair. 

2018

Photo and poster design by Toro Town Storyworks.

Membership exceeds 100. Bike Durham pushes for protected bike lanes when Broad Street is resurfaced, but the new design features only painted lanes. The Advocacy Committee devises plans for a citywide Low-Stress Network of connected, protected bike infrastructure. Bike Month Kick-off is held in partnership with Durham’s Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) at Ponysaurus Brewing. Landis Masnor is board chair. 

2019

Membership exceeds 200. Board starts the year adopting a broader mission statement and a commitment to center racial equity.  Bryan Poole leaves the Department of Transportation. Bike Durham rents space at the Re:City co-working space for meetings. Masnor leaves Durham, but not before urging board members to hire an executive director to raise capacity to a higher level. Bike-a-Bull City is held at the Scrap Exchange.

2020

Membership rises to 300. Bike Durham hires former GoTriangle leader John Tallmadge as its first executive director, and he goes to work fundraising for an organization that has never had more than a $10,000 bank balance. The COVID-19 pandemic causes an upsurge in bicycling and neighborhood walking, and a drop in transit ridership. Buses go fare-free and introduce rear-door entry to protect drivers; Bike Durham distributes masks at Durham Station. Tallmadge and Erik Landfried launch the Transit Equity Campaign in partnership with the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, People’s Alliance, Durham Congregations in Action, and the Coalition for Affordable Housing & Transit.  Allison Shauger is board chair.

2021

Membership approaches 400. We partner with former board member Jen McDuffie submitting a winning proposal to be the program manager for the City’s Safe Routes to School program.  Following Jen’s planned departure for Vermont, Jacopo Montobbio and Stephen Mullaney are hired part-time to lead the Safe Routes to School program.  We contract with Nikola Milenkovic to work with the Burch Avenue neighborhood and Durham’s Transportation Department on traffic calming. We win adoption of a 2050 long-range transportation plan that removes highway expansion projects toward meeting goals of zero carbon emissions, zero deaths or serious injuries, and zero racial disparity of access. Bike Durham also supports Council adoption of one-half penny property tax dedication to equitable and green infrastructure projects. Move-a-Bull City (rebranded from Bike-a-Bull City to include a pedestrian/transit focus) is held at the Scrap Exchange. Marc Maximov is board chair.

2022

Comparison of traditional approach to traffic safety and the safe systems Vision Zero approach

Bike Durham is named “Advocacy Organization of the Year” by the League of American Bicyclists. An anonymous donor makes a three-year gift that greatly increases the organization’s financial capacity, enabling the Board to hire Tallmadge on a full-time basis, and to create full-time positions for director of development and communications (Nancy Cox) and manager of education programs (Jacopo Montobbio). We contract with Ali Shoenfelt and Nikola Milenkovic to work with Old West Durham and Watts Hospital-Hillandale neighborhoods on traffic calming plans. Matt Simpson, husband and father of two young children, is killed bicycling across Guess Road with his family. In response, we organize a memorial ride and a volunteer Safe Streets Research Team. Post-COVID, monthly community rides and meetings return. Move-a-Bull City is held at Golden Belt.  In November, we hold our first event marking the World Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims, calling on the City to fund a Vision Zero Coordinator and to adopt a Vision Zero Action Plan within a year. Marc Maximov continues as chair.

2023

We are nearing 500 members/donors. Bike Durham hires Surrayyah Chestnut as Advocacy Campaign Organizer, and two new half-time lead educators (Ashley Scott and Desiree Squire) for the Safe Routes to School program. We organize a successful campaign urging City Council to fund #VisionZeroDurham - including the Vision Zero Coordinator position and $40 million of sidewalk, safe crossings, bicycle facilities, and traffic calming. 10th anniversary activities kicked off at the Museum of Durham History during Bike Month. Shaun King is board chair. 

Our Safe Routes to School Program Continues to Thrive

The 2022-2023 school year has been the most successful year to date for our Education and Safe Routes To School program.  We’ve taught more students (over 900!) at more schools (12) than ever before!  We’ve supported more schools in holding off-campus bike, walk, and roll to school events and have begun building conversations with parents at several schools about starting ongoing walking school buses or bicycle trains.

We’ve set the bar high for the next school year and we received great news this Spring that will enable us to keep the momentum going. First, Durham County awarded Bike Durham with a $175,000 grant of federal funds to expand our programming over the next two years. Then, Durham Public Schools was awarded federal grant funds through State’s Safe Routes To School program. The combination of these resources puts us in a position to hire more staff to deepen our relationships with individual schools and with DPS administration.  We expect to make great strides in educating students in biking and walking safety that more and more will be able to practice on their way to school. 

2022-2023 Recap

We had ambitious plans at the beginning of the school year: offer our 4-weeks-long program to students at 12 DPS Elementary and to have 6 end-of-class celebrations throughout the year.  The response from Physical Education (PE) coaches and principals was tremendous, and we held classes at the following elementary schools: Merrick Moore, E.K. Powe, W.G Pearson, Pearsontown, Eastway, Fayetteville, Lakewood, Y.E. Smith, Glenn, C.C. Spaulding, Burton, and Eno Valley.

​​Due to our consistently lousy weekend weather conditions, we were only able to hold four end-of-class celebrations. These events are celebrations of bike safety activities, where all students at the schools, and their families are invited to participate on a Saturday.  We always love seeing those that just attended the bike safety class program take the lead in showing others what they’ve learned: peer-to-peer instruction at its finest!

All of the PE coaches have been super to work with, however there are two standouts - Coach Watson at Eastway and Coach Wilson at Merrick-Moore - who we showered with love and praise at our first ever PE teacher's recognition event.  Durham Public Schools, the City of Durham, and the Bike Durham staff celebrated the efforts made by our community school leaders to bring bike safety classes to their classrooms, gyms, and playgrounds.

This school year was also good in terms of Bike, Walk & Roll events, as in October 2022, 19 Elementary schools held events, celebrating the benefits of biking and walking to school, and the importance of safe access to the school infrastructure. These events also help to establish and strengthen social connections between families, schools, and local businesses, reminding us of the crucial and central role of a school in a safe, healthy, and vibrant community.

We feel safe to say that what we are doing in Durham is groundbreaking. We are pushing to expand our programs to as many schools as possible; to expose as many students, teachers, and families to more than just bike safety. We are looking to engage Durham residents of all ages and empower them to walk, bike, and ride transit more often. 

Great things happen when riding bikes and our students can certainly prove it. Nothing feels as cheerful and hopeful as seeing a young student progress through our course, go from hesitancy and uncertainty with balancing on a bike to being able to ride with confidence and to show their friends how far they have gone in such a short period. 

Finally, we are so grateful to the City of Durham for selecting us to manage this program over the past two years, to Jen McDuffie (former board member and volunteer extraordinaire) for having done this work for years and for having the foresight to assist the City in submitting a grant application, and to donors to last year’s Pedals to Possibilities campaign that made our program expansion possible this Spring.

Vision Zero Durham

Remembering John Allore

As I was preparing to write this post last Thursday about our Vision Zero Durham rally and comments at the City Council public hearing on March 20, I heard the tragic news that John Allore, Durham’s budget director, had been killed while riding his bike in western Orange County.  I had known John from my years working at GoTriangle and more recently through Bike Durham’s advocacy on City budget priorities.  My impression of John was always that he was genuine, caring, and good at his work for the City.  I was also always interested to hear about his acting, too.  He was an avid bike rider, both for recreation, and as a commuter (bike-bus-bike from Carrboro to Durham).

I have been in touch with some of his family, as well as his colleagues at the City, about whether there is support we can offer to honor John’s memory.  We are also coordinating with advocates in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, where John lived.  As a reminder to all, we will host the annual Ride of Silence on Wednesday, May 17 at 6pm, starting downtown at CCB Plaza.  

John’s death is yet another tragic reminder that the time is past due for the local, regional, and state governments to change our approach to transportation to Vision Zero. 

Calling for Vision Zero Durham at City Hall

On Monday, March 20th, nearly fifty people gathered at the intersection of W. Main, Morgan, and Watts Streets to rally for safer streets and to protect one another as we rode to City Hall for the public hearing on the budget.  BIke Durham Advocacy Committee Co-Chair Erik Landfried remembered Tysiea Gurley and Mike Possley who had both been killed recently while crossing Durham streets.  He also spoke about the serious injuries suffered by Noah Goyette when the bike lanes on West Main Street were blocked by idling cars and he hit a pothole when swerving to avoid the cars.  On behalf of Bike Durham, Erik called for the City to invest in a Vision Zero Durham agenda:

• Fund a full-time, dedicated Vision Zero Coordinator. The person in this position will lead an interdepartmental, interdisciplinary team in identifying, prioritizing, and implementing measures to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries. It’s important to hire this position now as a Vision Zero Action plan will be developed later this year.

• Fund the repair of existing sidewalks, bring curb ramps up to ADA standards and convert all existing bike lanes into protected bike lanes.

• Provide annual funding commitments for traffic calming and the completion of safe city-wide sidewalk and protected bike lane networks.  

Residents, many with their bikes, gathered to rally for safer streets.

Brian Hawkins spoke on behalf of the Durham Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC), stating, “...what we are asking for is the city to prioritize the usability and safety of the infrastructure in which we have already invested. Bike lanes are a welcome addition to our cityscape, but it is clear that simply painting a stripe on the road is not sufficient. In fact, we would argue that a bike lane that is suddenly and unpredictably unavailable creates a more dangerous situation than no bike lane at all, which we saw right here last month.

We call on the City Council to prioritize the following to address this issue: 

1. The addition of physical barriers to existing bike lanes

2. More consistent enforcement of parking restrictions 

3. A program and policy whereby the City conducts public visits to sites of serious and/or deadly crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists, and produces crash memos that describe how similar tragedies can be avoided in the future”

Following the media event, we created a cyclist-protected bike lane to start our ride to City Hall for the public hearing.  Seven of us signed up to speak to Council in support of the Vision Zero Durham agenda.  I highly encourage you to watch the remarks made at this link.  In addition to powerful comments in support of the Vision Zero approach to traffic safety, there were others advocating for expansion of the community safety department, known as the HEART program.

We received excellent media coverage, including CBS17, WRAL, News & Observer, IndyWeek, and 9th Street Journal.  

Why Do We Advocate for Vision Zero?

Bike Durham was incorporated ten years ago as a voice for residents who wanted streets safe for people on bicycles.  We have since broadened our vision to a transportation system that is safe, affordable, and sustainable for everyone, regardless of who they are or where they live.  One key approach to achieving this vision is known as Vision Zero.

According to the Vision Zero Network, Vision Zero is a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. First implemented in Sweden in the 1990s, Vision Zero has proven successful in communities across Europe — and is now gaining momentum in American cities and states.

Vision Zero is not just a catchy slogan.  It is a fundamentally different approach to thinking about our transportation system.  

Again according to Vision Zero Network, Vision Zero is a significant departure from the status quo in two major ways:

1. This approach recognizes that people will sometimes make mistakes, so the road system and related policies should be designed to ensure those inevitable mistakes do not result in severe injuries or fatalities. This means that system designers and policymakers at the city, state, and federal levels are expected to improve the roadway environment, policies (such as speed management), and other related systems to lessen the severity of crashes.

2.  This approach is multidisciplinary, bringing together diverse and necessary stakeholders to address this complex problem. In the past, meaningful, cross-disciplinary collaboration among local and state traffic planners and engineers, policymakers, and public health professionals has not been the norm. Vision Zero acknowledges that many factors contribute to safe mobility — including roadway design, speeds, behaviors, technology, and policies — and sets clear goals to achieve the shared goal of zero fatalities and severe injuries.

More is described in Vision Zero Network’s document Core Elements for Vision Zero Communities and their recorded webinar Vision Zero 101.

Here in Durham, the City Council adopted a Vision Zero resolution back in 2017, following the adoption of a Vision Zero program at the state level in 2015.  Our regional transportation organization also adopted a goal of zero deaths and serious injuries by 2050.  The goals have been set, but the paradigm shift has not occurred.  In recent meetings with NCDOT engineers, it is clear that safety is not yet prioritized ahead of minimizing traffic delay.  We still hear City staff putting too much emphasis on the behaviors of people driving, walking, biking, or rolling, and accepting enough responsibility for the changes that they could make to our streets to encourage slow speeds and safe spaces for everyone to use our streets.

We need our City leaders to recommit to Vision Zero through this year’s budget by approving:

• Funds for a full-time, dedicated Vision Zero Coordinator. The person in this position will lead an interdepartmental, interdisciplinary team in identifying, prioritizing, and implementing measures to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries. It’s important to hire this position now as a Vision Zero Action plan will be developed later this year.

• Funds for the repair of existing sidewalks, bring curb ramps up to ADA standards and convert all existing bike lanes into protected bike lanes.

• Annual funding commitments for traffic calming and the completion of safe city-wide sidewalk and protected bike lane networks.  

You can sign our petition in support of the Vision Zero Agenda and share it with your friends.  Our goal is 500 signatures by April 30.

Teaching and Learning Perseverance through Safe Routes to School

Students and families participating in Walk and Bike to School Day in October 2021

We have a little story about perseverance we want to share with you.  On a cheerful sunny morning this past December at Eastway Elementary, we ended a bike riding safety class and Jacopo asked the 3rd grade students what they were proud of that day. One 8-year old girl, who we'll call Jasmine, raised her hand and said, “At last week’s class, I wasn’t good with balancing, but today I started to get it.”  Jasmine’s classmates started to clap and her smile grew and grew.  That feeling of balancing between two wheels: for children, that’s magic!  The reality, though, is that it’s the result of taking a risk, falling, getting back up, and persevering by trying something a little different, building on what feels like it’s working, until suddenly…you get it and it feels incredible. 

Perseverance is one of the lessons we teach students through our bike riding safety classes, and it’s a lesson we’re learning ourselves as we develop our Safe Routes to School program.  Our goal is for more and more families to walk, bike, or roll to school every day.  There are so many benefits for students, their families, and our communities, but there are significant obstacles. From siting schools on roads without sidewalks and protected bike lanes, to designing streets for high speeds without safe crossings, to the disconnections between many schools and their surrounding neighborhoods - both physically and culturally.

Our approach is to combine teaching students bike riding and walking safety skills, promoting and encouraging families to try walking and biking to school, and organizing to call for building sidewalks and protected bike lanes between schools and neighborhoods.  We testing these strategies to learn what works, and we start at Eastway Elementary where we’ve had great support from PE Coach Nisha Watson and Principal Dr. Jackaline Teel. 

Starting with Eastway Elementary 

Thanks to a relationship that former Bike Durham board member Jen McDuffie already had through past Safe Routes to School activities with Eastway Elementary, we reached out to Coach Nisha Watson in September 2021 to implement programming and test new strategies in order to expose more students and families to walking and biking activities.

The first partnership activity with Eastway was the October 2021 National Walk to School Day. The whole school met on a sunny morning just before Halloween at the Save A Lot store across Alston Avenue to walk together to school: buses were rerouted to safely drop students in the parking lot and car drivers did the same.  Nearly 400 students and parents, many in costume, walked along the streets around the school campus, finishing with a big welcome from the Principal and PE teacher.  They gave powerful speeches about the importance and the benefits of walking and biking as transportation, both for personal and community health.

Building on the momentum from that event, we started our bike safety classes program in December 2021, following a model we had used at Merrick-Moore and Spring Valley elementary schools.  The program at Eastway was such a success that we decided to organize a last-minute “end-of-class celebration” on a Saturday morning on the school campus: parents, teachers, and students joined our 2-hour session of bike safety instructions, where we transformed the whole car parking lot into multiple biking courses: the students that participated to the Bike Safety Classes program were able to show their skills to Eastway students of all grades and their families.  Thanks to the generosity of Ari Birenbaum of Ninth Street Bakery, everyone also celebrated with delicious cookies. 

Eastway Elementary students celebrating at the end of the bicycling celebration on a Saturday in December 2021.

The event was intended to be one-of-a-kind: for the first time we decided to organize a bike-themed event outside of the school week.  It was so well received, though, that we have started incorporating such celebrations in our bike safety classes program: for the current school year, we are planning on having six of these events throughout the school year.

Now that we feel pretty confident with the bike riding safety classes, we have started a conversation with DPS transportation, PE Teacher Coach Watson and Eastway Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) to establish a regular series of walking and biking activities to school.  We want to engage families in establishing a walking bus activity that aims to help families that walk their children to school and to encourage more to do so.

In February we joined the Eastway PTA meeting where we presented the concept to the principal, the teachers, and some parents: hopefully, in the spring we will have the first Walk To School bus at Eastway Elementary!

The progress of activities at Eastway will not only be beneficial for that school community.  We will learn from our work there to spread successes to other school communities.  During the 2022-2023 school year we will be present in 12 DPS Elementary schools with Bike Safety Classes and what we did at Eastway will shape our programming to help us be successful in all of those schools.

As we gain experience with promoting regular walking and biking activities, we also look forward to taking another step toward our goals next year.  Thanks to our supporters, we’re adding an Advocacy Organizer who will work with parents, schools, and DPS to build on family interest in identifying infrastructure needs and advocating for their implementation with the City and NCDOT. 

Again, we plan to start at Eastway, learn what works, and persevere until we succeed at giving every family the opportunity to choose for their students to walk, bike, or roll to school.

Today is Transit Equity Day

Today, February 4th is Transit Equity Day in the U.S., named in memory of Rosa Parks on her birthday.  When Rosa Parks refused to yield her seat in the Whites Only section of a Montgomery bus in 1958, she sparked a 381-day boycott of the bus system, demanding equal treatment.  Today, public transit is an essential service in a transportation system that is still inequitable.  Access to reliable transportation is closely linked to educational and economic opportunity, and in regions like the Triangle, that means access to a private automobile.

In order to achieve a transportation system that provides equitable access for everyone, while also eliminating carbon emissions and traffic deaths or serious injuries, we are going to have to make the public transit system work better for today’s customers.  We have been advocating for this through the Durham County Transit Plan since 2020.  This is the plan that establishes how $1.1 billion will be spent on public transit in Durham over the next 17 years (until 2040).  The final draft plan was released in December and the County, the regional planning organization (DCHC MPO), and GoTriangle are soliciting comments on the plan now.  This will be the topic of our next Community Meeting on February 27.

Through the Transit Equity Campaign, we have been successful at getting the public agencies to invest in authentic community engagement, and to put the needs of current transit riders at the front of the plan.  More than $800 million (74%) of the recommended investments accomplish those goals. These investments include increasing bus service frequency, running service later on weekends, and new crosstown routes that will shorten travel times.  It will speed up the construction of bus stop shelters and safe access to those stops, invest in improvements to the speed and reliability of bus services, and study the possibility of bringing Bus Rapid Transit to Durham.  The Plan also funds a study of the needs of the paratransit service for those whose disability keeps them from using the bus; the costs of paying increased wages to operate and maintain a growing transit system; and provides staff resources to increase the accountability for whether these dollars are being spent effectively.

This is Not Enough

This is an important start on transforming our public transit system to one that creates more opportunities for riders as we make a transition to a clean, safe transportation system for everyone.  However, it is not enough.  For all the investments recommended in improving our bus systems, other improvements are left out:

• The plan leaves many critical bus routes unfunded (listed on page 107 of recommended plan), meaning that travel times will remain too long and services will remain too infrequent for too many people.  

• The plan doesn’t show a commitment to electrifying the entire bus fleet.  

• The plan does not make a commitment to keep zero fares.  

• The plan does not show how sidewalk connections, or the Better Bus Project recommendations on Holloway and Fayetteville Streets and other locations throughout the city, will be fully funded.  

• Finally, the plan does not show a viable option for how riders will experience fast, reliable, and frequent regional transit service between Durham and opportunities in RTP, Cary, and Raleigh, or Chapel Hill.

The Commuter Rail is Not Viable in Durham Today

Bike Durham is strongly supportive of fast, reliable, and frequent regional transit services between Durham and opportunities in RTP, Cary, and Raleigh.  And we understand the desire to bring rail service to the Triangle.  However, the Commuter Rail project that has been studied would not be reliable or frequent because it would only offer two trips in the middle of the day, two trips at night, and no service on weekends.  This would not be useful for people who work jobs other than 9-to-5'ers, nor for getting to cultural or entertainment opportunities.  We are disappointed that options for frequent all-day, all-week service have not been studied to this point in tim

GoTriangle has only been studying rail service in the existing rail corridor, and that is limited to what the North Carolina Railroad and Norfolk-Southern Railway will allow.  At this point in time, these entities have not even agreed to participate in an evaluation of the feasibility of frequent, all-day service in the corridor.  This is why GoTriangle has only been evaluating Commuter Rail service levels (eight trips in the morning, two in the middle of the day, eight in the afternoon, and two at night - weekdays only).  They have recently presented the results of their Commuter Rail Feasibility Study and are also soliciting public comments right now.

The project is estimated to cost $3.2 billion and carry about 12,000 daily person trips by 2040.  At this cost and this level of ridership, GoTriangle has determined that the project is unlikely to be eligible for the Federal funding source that often pays about 50% of major project costs.  The Durham segment of the corridor between RTP and West Durham is estimated to cost about $1.6 billion due to the need for an additional set of tracks and complicated designs for the east Durham railyard and several street crossings.  The draft final Durham County Transit Plan recommends reserving 26% of the revenues through 2040 for a regional connection, or about $290 million.  That leaves a BIG gap - upwards of $1.3 billion - to build a project that doesn’t even have the service levels that we need.  Until Durham and Wake have new robust local transit tax options available to build the full project and operate frequent service, this rail project in Durham is not viable.

Wake County has a stronger tax base and could afford to build either the leg from Garner to downtown Raleigh, or from downtown Raleigh to RTP without Federal funding.  If Wake County is inclined to commit money to the central segment, Durham leaders should not be seduced into spending any transit tax revenues to extend the service beyond RTP until we can fully fund a frequent connection all the way to West Durham.

Here’s why:

• It would not provide any new access benefits for current riders or those using transit to access the opportunities east of RTP.  For the foreseeable future, an Ellis Road station would be predominantly a park-and-ride location, not a walk-to-transit location. Current riders going to opportunities east of RTP would still make bus connections at an RTP station since GoTriangle would not relocate their regional transit center to Ellis Road.

• It would consume most, if not all, of the $290 million recommended to be reserved for regional transit connections in the draft final Durham County Transit Plan.  We still would need to raise more than $1.3 billion in order to build out a fast, frequent, and reliable regional transit connection from east Durham, downtown Durham, and west Durham.

• GoTriangle’s evaluation is that there is a significant level of risk that the project might ever get completed.  In order to build and operate the studied service, GoTriangle would need agreement from North Carolina Railroad, Norfolk Southern Railway, CSX Railway, and Amtrak.  These negotiations usually take years, are unpredictable, and sometimes fail.  Charlotte thought they had an agreement with Norfolk Southern to purchase a corridor for the proposed Red Line project, when Norfolk Southern changed their mind.  That was in 2013.

• There are other, feasible opportunities to provide fast, frequent, and reliable transit service to key regional destinations that can be accessed from more parts of Durham.

Graphic rendering of a Bus Rapid Transit station.

Another Path to Regional Transit Connections

Though a rail connection is not viable for Durham at this point in time, we must still find solutions to improve regional transit connections between Durham, RTP, Cary, and Raleigh, or Chapel Hill.  As housing prices rise in Durham, demand is growing for connections to other communities like Butner, or Graham, or even Oxford.  Bus connections should be pursued now that increase the frequency of express service to downtown Raleigh and to Chapel Hill.  We should be studying investments that make it possible for these buses to bypass traffic with wider freeway shoulders, priority at traffic signals, and bus only ramps for easy on-off at key stops.  We should also be studying high quality bus rapid transit services where buses have dedicated lanes and stops that are similar to rail stations.  This can be a progression of steps over time that starts now and improves as our communities are ready and can afford them. 

Our local leaders throughout the region should also begin working with their counterparts throughout the state on building support for greater funding options for transit.  We can only achieve our vision for excellent transit with more local and state revenues.

Our recommendations

For Durham’s elected leadership:

• Durham leaders should support Wake County in their decision about whether to pursue one of the two eastern segments with Wake County funds, but they should not support spending Durham transit tax revenues on this project.

• Durham staff should pursue state and federal funding for projects that would make at-grade crossings and rail bridges safer for everyone in Durham and make it less expensive to pursue a regional rail project in the future. 

• Durham, and the region, should evaluate transit service and infrastructure improvements that can be made in the next few years with bus service to provide more frequent access between Durham, RTP, Cary, and Raleigh, or Chapel Hill.  This includes evaluating bus rapid transit as an alternative to rail service.

• Our local elected officials need to begin working with colleagues across the state to educate NC legislators about the need for additional investment in transit infrastructure and operations.

For you.

You can support transit equity in the Triangle by taking these three steps:

• Submit comments on the Commuter Rail Feasibility Study by February 19 urging that the project not be pursued west of RTP at this time.

• Send an email to Durham elected officials on the final draft of the Durham County Transit Plan supporting the investments in improvements to our local and regional bus networks and urging study of alternative regional connections that would be fast, frequent, and reliable.

• Sign up for Bike Durham’s email list to get updates on transit and safe, affordable, and sustainable transportation in Durham.

World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims

Attendees standing vigil for the 22 victims of traffic violence in Durham during 2022. Luminaries were placed in the outside lanes of Guess Road at the trail crossing as a symbol of the type of measure that we would like considered to make this crossing, where Matt Simpson was killed while on his bicycle, safer for everyone.

On the Sunday, November 20, about 50 of us gathered at Westover Park for Bike Durham’s first observance of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.  It was a simple, yet powerful event.  We called for the City to complete a Vision Zero Action Plan by next November showing the roadmap for getting to zero deaths or serious injuries from traffic violence.  We also called for the City Council to fund a full-time, dedicated Vision Zero Coordinator to lead this work. 

Tyler Dewey, representing the Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee, said that for those who are walking, biking, or rolling on Durham’s streets, “The dangers are clear to us, but they don’t define us…Our vulnerability is not inherent to our bodies. It is imposed on us by systems and institutions that value speed over human life.” He continued, “There is a way forward…We must build for a people-centered future, rather than our car-dependent present.”

City transportation director Sean Egan confirmed the City’s commitment to Vision Zero and said that the city has applied, together with the regional transportation planning organization, for a federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant to develop a regional Vision Zero Action Plan.

Council member Javiera Caballero also spoke, challenging Durham residents to tackle transportation safety challenges the same way that we have tackled affordable housing. She said, “We need to be the…leader in the state. I know we can do it. When we put a bond, which is coming, in front of you all, we need you to resoundingly vote yes.”

Bike Durham executive director John Tallmadge and Bridget Bell lighting a candle for the vigil

Then Bridget Bell read a statement prepared by her friend Allison Simpson - widow of Matt Simpson who was killed while riding his bike across Guess Road, just steps from where we gathered.  This emotional moment was followed by lighting hand-held candles and reading the names of the twenty-two road traffic victims who had died this year in Durham, as well as 14-year old Riverside student Aliyah Thornhill who was killed while walking on a dark road in Oak Ridge, NC on Halloween.

We finished the vigil by placing luminaries in the outside lanes of Guess Road to narrow it from four lanes to two at the crossing where Matt Simpson was killed.  Twenty-two of the luminaries had the names of the victims and/or the dates of their crash. We all stood for twenty-two minutes to honor their memories and watched drivers slowly pass using the two center lanes of Guess Road.  We were grateful to the Durham Police Department for keeping us safe while we placed the luminaries in the street and retrieved them, and for producing this video summary of the event.

Asst. Chief David Anthony & other members of DPD participated in a vigil held by @BikeDurham at Westover Park for the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. Luminaires were placed on Guess Rd to remember the 22 victims who have died in road crashes in Durham this year pic.twitter.com/oXRz76eEg4

— DurhamPoliceNC (@TheDurhamPolice) November 21, 2022

The following day at the city council meeting, council member Monique Holsey-Hyman (who also attended Sunday’s vigil) read a Mayor’s proclamation recognizing November 20th, 2022 as the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims in Durham. Allison Simpson was able to make brief remarks virtually on Zoom in accepting the proclamation. You can watch the reading and Allison’s remarks here.

Our local event, covered by CBS 17 and ABC 11, was part of a larger, growing movement for Vision Zero across the country and world.  More than sixty communities in the U.S. and hundreds across the world held Day of Remembrance events on November 20th (recap here) with the theme of “Remember. Support. Act”.  

Importantly, US Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sat down for an interview recognizing the Day of Remembrance (you can read remarks from the Secretary and watch a recording of his comments here). This was an important reminder that this year the federal government has set a direction to eliminate deaths and serious injuries.  NCDOT adopted a Vision Zero policy in 2015, the City of Durham adopted a Vision Zero resolution in 2017, and our regional transportation planning organization adopted a goal of zero deaths or serious injuries due to traffic violence by 2050.  

The direction has been set and is aligned from the federal to the state to the regional to the local level.  But resolutions and policy statements won’t save lives. This past Sunday, The NY Times ran a story about how the number of roadway deaths in the U.S. began increasing in recent years while it has continued to fall in countries across the world.

Now it is past time for our leaders and government agencies to act on their commitments.  Bike Durham will be working with partners and supporters to move our local, regional, and state governments to action in Durham, starting with our calls for a Vision Zero Action Plan to be completed by the 2023 Day of Remembrance and for funding a full-time, dedicated Vision Zero Coordinator.

Let's Celebrate our Victories on Erwin Road

Last week, the City painted the green bike boxes on Erwin Road at the intersection with Anderson Street. This is the most visible example so far of the safety improvements that we were able to gain through our advocacy with the City this summer. While many of the improvements that we asked for to improve safety for people walking, biking, and using transit on Erwin Road were not approved, we should celebrate the improvements that have been made. Without the voices of advocates calling for an Erwin Road that works for all users, it’s unlikely that NCDOT would have made any changes at all.

Green painted bike boxes on Erwin Road at the intersection with Anderson Street

The Improvements to Look for on Erwin Road

The City of Durham was able to convince NCDOT to approve the following safety improvements for people walking, biking, and using transit on Erwin Road:

“The changes to Erwin Road now advancing will improve safety for pedestrians with high-visibility crosswalks, additional crossing time, including a green “walk” signal for pedestrians ahead of the green for vehicular traffic (Leading Pedestrian Interval or LPI). To address cyclist safety, the project adds a new buffered bike lane between Flowers Drive and Anderson St. and adds a 2.5’ buffer to the existing bike lanes between Anderson St. and the NC 147 overpass, along with green pavement markings at intersections to draw attention to the bicycle facilities.” (excerpted from letter by Durham Transportation Director Sean Egan to Bike Durham Advocacy Chair Erik Landfried dated August 19, 2022)

Our understanding from the City staff is that the City also intends to install flex-post delineators to the buffered bike lanes mentioned above in order to further separate people on bikes from the traffic lanes.

What’s a Bike Box and How do I Use It?

At the intersection of Erwin Road and Anderson Street, the City has painted green bike boxes, providing a refuge for people on bikes who are making left turns from Erwin onto Anderson. If you are approaching the intersection on your bike while the light is red, or turning red, you can continue in the bike lane (also green near the intersection) until reaching the large green box at the intersection. Here, you can move to the left to be in front of the first car waiting to turn left. (Drivers must wait behind the bike box while waiting for the light to change.). Then when the light turns green, you are at the front of the line of vehicles to turn left. This makes you more visible in the intersection, and provides strong visual cues for drivers about where to look for people riding bikes. Here is a link to a video clip about how to use a bike box - from Iowa City, Iowa.

Our volunteer leaders on the Erwin Road advocacy, David Bradway and Erik Landfried, joined me on Wednesday morning to educate people biking through the intersection about how to use the new bike boxes. We were also able to make sure that they had lights and a bagel!

Getting the Other Changes We Need

There is a lot of work left to be done to get the changes that people walking, biking, and using transit along Erwin Road need to stay safe, and to make Erwin Road a great street for everyone. We continue pushing the City, NCDOT, and Duke University to commit funds to develop a plan to make Erwin Road a safe and great road for all. The first opportunity for that may be through a bus rapid transit (BRT) study that is expected to be included in the final Durham County Transit Plan this winter.

Through David Bradway’s leadership, we are also continuing to engage with Duke staff and students to encourage their active participation in identifying ways to connect through campus as an alternative to biking and walking directly on Erwin Road.

Finally, we have a team of volunteers we call the Safe Streets Research Team who are gathering insights from other communities about how to effectively advocate for changes with NCDOT. We’re also coordinating with the City’s Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) to advocate for safety improvements on streets scheduled for repaving by NCDOT and the City in 2023 (see letter from BPAC Chair Susanne Schmal to City and County staff).

We’d like you to volunteer with us to make Erwin Road and all of Durham’s streets safe for everyone. Contact Erik Landfried at erik@bikedurham.org to plug into our advocacy work - our Advocacy Committee meets monthly on the third Thursday at 7pm.

Walk and Roll to School Day is almost here!

As the community transportation planner for Durham Public Schools, I spend my days observing, planning, and coordinating ways to improve multi-modal school travel, this day is as close as we come to a holiday in my line of work (in addition to Bike and Roll to School Day, Bus Driver Appreciation Day, and Crossing Guard Appreciation Day).

Walk, Bike, and Roll to School events promote physical activity, sustainable travel, and strengthen social connections between families, schools, and the broader community. These events celebrate active travel to school and can also help build awareness for the need to prioritize the safety of young people walking and bicycling. 

Walk to School event at Merrick-Moore Elementary in Spring 2022

I sometimes feel conflicted when a walking and biking to school event requires detailed coordination, permission slips, and law enforcement support to close streets or to escort families along a route. I don’t dispute that these precautions are often necessary, but I also think it makes these events look like an extraordinary undertaking, when really, walking or rolling to school should be an easy, everyday occurrence—a choice that is safe, comfortable, and familiar for every family that lives close to the school their student attends. The ability to walk, bike, or roll to school can also foster independence and ensure that students observe and experience their world at a human-scale, not just through the passenger window of a vehicle. 

I see two key domains when it comes to increasing the number of families whose students can walk, bike, ride the school bus, or take transit—our built environment (i.e., land use, street design) and our social context (i.e., social norms, policies). We need to turn the tide on both fronts while also considering how these domains influence each other. 

A safer, more inviting environment for multi-modal school travel could look like streets with lower driver speeds and vehicle volumes; more dedicated space for walking and biking; conspicuous and accessible crossing locations; and a robust network of transit options. Ultimately, streets that work for our youth will work better for everyone. I recognize that the location and design of school sites also affects transportation outcomes for our students. While Durham Public Schools (DPS) can pursue initiatives that improve the safety and efficiency of internal site circulation and access onto campuses, we value our positive working relationships with the City of Durham, North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), Durham County, and the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO) to keep school travel in mind when identifying and prioritizing local and regional transportation projects.  

Walk, Bike, and Roll to School Day activity for Pearsontown Elementary School in May 2022

Safer streets are game changers for encouraging active travel, but we still need the next generation of Durham residents to be able and excited to ride bikes and to choose walking or riding transit when those modes are reasonable options for a trip. We also want the next generation to know what is possible when it comes to the design of our cities and how we get around so they can continue advocating for improvements. Bike Durham’s Safe Routes to School program, supported through a contract with the City, provides education and encouragement for walking, biking, and rolling to school.  Teaching Bike Riding and Walking Safety skills during physical education classes and coordinating Walk, Bike, and Roll to school events are important steps for shifting our transportation culture. Bicycle riding and walking safety education involves the development of skills, not solely the acquisition of knowledge, so it’s significant that these weeks-long classes provide the time and space for students to practice. The classes also have a multiplying effect since they empower physical education teachers to teach the curriculum in the future and as a conclusion to the classes, Bike Durham plans a bike festival at the school so that families can observe and celebrate their student’s improved bicycling skills. 

My children are four and a half and one and a half. My older child has been to a few Walk, Bike, and Roll events for my own version of “bring your daughter to work day.” When we are going somewhere new, she usually asks me if it will be a walk or drive. I’m dreading the day when she stops asking because she realizes that so many of our trips are drives. 

Kristen Brookshire with her young daughter

I’m glad we have Walk, Bike, and Roll events at least twice a year for the smiles they bring to the faces of thousands of students and for the visual reminder to grown-ups to stop and think about what it would take to see kids walking and biking more often. These events have taken place around the country for over 25 years and there is a good reason—they can inspire change. These changes could range from improving a single pedestrian crossing or PTA-led monthly events or walk audits, to a city-wide school traffic safety committee or a new school district policy codifying the importance of active school travel. 

I hope you’ll be out walking on Wednesday, October 12 or cheering along the kids walking and rolling in your neighborhood!

Kristen Brookshire

Community Transportation Planner

School Planning, Transportation, and Nutrition

Durham Public Schools

Another Hit-and-Run Driver Sends a Friend, who was Riding his Bike, to the Hospital

On the evening of Friday, September 9th, a Bike Durham member and frequent volunteer was struck by the driver of a truck while cycling through the Five Points intersection in downtown Durham. The crash was a hit-and-run, though we understand that the driver and vehicle have been located thanks to several eyewitness accounts. Two off-duty paramedics immediately assisted the crash victim until an ambulance could arrive at the scene.

Photo of damaged bike on ground at Five Points on September 9

The crash victim suffered a fractured pelvis and broken hand and is currently recovering in the hospital following three surgeries. Despite this, he is in good spirits and plans to continue biking and advocating for safer streets in Durham once he recovers from his injuries. Bike Durham wishes him a speedy and complete recovery.

Unfortunately, these types of crashes are all too common in Durham. On average every 16 days someone is killed or seriously injured while walking or biking in Durham. Just two months ago, Matt Simpson was killed crossing Guess Road on his bike with his family. These tragedies will continue to occur in Durham as long as motor vehicle speed and delay at intersections continue to be the number one priority for how our streets are designed.    

The formula for safer streets is simple:

1. Reduce motor vehicle speed on all streets. Speed kills.

2. Create fully protected places for people walking, biking, and using transit on larger streets. 

3. Shift funding away from projects that make it easier to drive to projects that make it easier to walk, bike, or use transit.

Cities that have implemented a human-centered transportation system instead of a vehicle-centered one have achieved remarkable success. Oslo, Norway, a city twice the size of Durham, recorded zero pedestrian or cyclist fatalities in 2019 and only a single vehicle fatality. This is not some type of Scandinavian exceptionalism - Oslo had 41 traffic fatalities as recently as 1975. By prioritizing people instead of cars, Oslo made the streets safer for everyone, not just those walking or biking.

The City of Durham must do more to implement the Vision Zero program adopted in 2017. Vision Zero is a framework to eliminate traffic fatalities. There needs to be dedicated funding for the Vision Zero program in the City’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget, beginning with the hiring of a Vision Zero coordinator staff position.

The City should also begin conducting more holistic crash investigations that include people from the City, State (if it is on a State-maintained road), and transportation safety advocates. They should also produce follow-up reports available to the public following each crash that leads to a fatality or serious injury, similar to those done in Washington, DC.