A couple of years ago, we profiled Dr. Scott Crawford, a wheelchair user and resident of Jackson, Mississippi who has long fought for accessible buses with wheelchair lifts, curb ramps and better sidewalks. As Dr. Crawford’s story reminds us, there is still a lot of work to do, but he’s had a powerful legal tool in his fight to make streets and transit services equitable and accessible for all users: The Americans with Disabilities Act, which turned 20 years old just this week.

Do yourself a favor and check out this short video from PBS’ Blueprint America series that aired in just the last few days. The overall package is about “disappearmarks” — earmarks totaling millions in the last federal transportation bill that have never been allocated or spent, according to the Sunlight Foundation. But this from Atlanta focuses much more specifically on how unsafe, incomplete streets and outdated transportation planning has resulted in a major road in Atlanta (and countless others) where pedestrians take their lives into their own hands each and every day, just to get to work, school, or the closest bus stop.

Obesity is on the rise in 28 states and one of the biggest public health challenges facing America, but boosting walking and biking could help turn the tide. That is the conclusion of “F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2010.”

While certainly not the lone culprit for the tragic Gulf oil spill itself, our demand for oil is one reason we have thousands of holes poked in the earth’s crust in delicate places like the Gulf of Mexico. As we’ve pointed out here before, 70 percent of the oil we consume goes into our transportation system to get us and our goods from A to B each day. One thing is certain: if we’re ever going to prevent disasters like this in the future and rid ourselves of our dependence on oil, we’re going to have to use less of the stuff. But how can we do such a thing?

In an Associated Press story on April 15, Ohio Congressman Steve LaTourette was quoted decrying the apparently “radical” idea that the safety and comfort of people on foot or bicycle deserve as much consideration as those in cars. To his credit, LaTourette has fully recanted the statement and apologized for any misunderstanding, a result due in part to significant pushback from the bicycling community in his 14th Congressional District and throughout the country

Photo courtesy of the California Department of Transportation In the last couple of weeks, we suggested First Lady Michelle Obama’s Task Force on Child Obesity consider transportation and the built environment. Another important component is enhancing infrastructure for walking and bicycling. Infrastructure to support walking and biking includes bike lanes, shared-use paths, and routes on [...]

Sec. LaHood issued a new directive yesterday that officially shows DOT’s support for improving safety for walking and bicycling — treating them as equal modes of transportation. Last fall we released a report chronicling the 76,000 preventable pedestrian deaths over the last 15 years on streets unsafe for walkers or bikers. Today, DOT made some progress on the issue.

Maybe some people just need a little visual aid to help grasp the devastating toll that our roads have on those who walk them everyday. 400 people are killed in America every single month, just crossing the street, walking from A to B, or riding their bike through town. That’s like two busloads of Americans being killed… every single week.

This week’s issue of TIME Magazine topped off three weeks of nationwide coverage of Transportation for America’s Dangerous by Design report ranking communities according to the risk for pedestrians. The excellent TIME piece opens with the tragic story of Ashley Nicole Valdes, “a smart, pretty 11-year-old girl” who was killed while crossing the street in Miami earlier this year and became “a heart-wrenching symbol of South Florida’s notoriously reckless car culture.”

It is always gratifying to see change happen, especially when change happens fast. This week, within a day of the release of the Dangerous by Design report which showed the four most dangerous cities for pedestrians were in Florida, a key region in Florida had adopted one of the report’s recommendations and the campaign’s key platforms.