Last Friday, I spent some time driving around the sprawling Atlanta, Georgia metroplex photographing some well-known trouble spots for pedestrian safety. Though some improvements have been made in places, there are still so many unsafe streets, corridors and intersections for pedestrians, finding streets that are “dangerous by design” is about as easy as blindly putting your finger down on a map.

The Atlanta Regional Commission has helped address some of these problems through their popular and oversubscribed Livable Centers Initiative that gives metro communities small grants to help make a dangerous street safer, improve MARTA access, add new crosswalks or streetscaping, or other small improvements to the built environment that help improve quality of life for residents. And T4 America partner PEDS has had their boots on the ground for years now, working hard to make metro Atlanta more walkable. But we need far more of these kinds of efforts — and similar efforts from others in cities across the country — to make the kinds of improvements we need to save lives and end the 4,000-plus deaths that happen to people walking each year.

Many of these deaths occur simply because the design of a road just hasn’t adapted to the changing needs of all the people who use it.

Consider: at one point, Old National Highway in South Fulton County was probably a sleepy state highway through a relatively unpopulated area on one’s way south out of Atlanta. Now, it’s teeming with retail on both sides of the street just south of Interstate 85. Add in the fact that it’s a relatively low-income area (read: people more likely to walk or take transit) with apartment complexes on both sides of the main highway and you’ve got a street that no longer meets the needs of everyone who uses it, and certainly not for the people who live there.

Though the first few miles away from Interstate 85 have sidewalks and there are a handful of signalized intersections with crosswalks, sidewalks soon end completely and there are many stretches where there are no safe places to cross for hundreds or thousands of feet — all in an area with MARTA bus stops on both sides of the highway. The sidewalks may end, but the walking doesn’t, as the “desire paths” through the grass indicate.

Of course, the most well-known road in Atlanta that’s dangerous for walking and biking is certainly Buford Highway. This stretch near Clairmont Road is a whopping 7 lanes across, with crosswalks often so far apart as to be merely dots on the horizon.

This corridor is lined with more affordable apartments and has also been a popular landing place for Latino and Asian immigrants for years, and many portions of the street are filled with small ethnic shops catering to the local clientele — many of whom are likely to be walking. According to the data in our map, in just the few miles from I-285 south down to 400, 20 pedestrians were killed from 1999-2009. There are stretches with no sidewalks on either side of the street and no safe crosswalks almost as far as the eye can see.

In this picture alone, not only are there no sidewalks but there are nine separate curb cuts where this man could be easily struck by a right-turning car before reaching the next safe crosswalk at the intersection.

Some key improvements have been made on Buford Highway in recent years, though, which have helped to increase safety. Thanks to recent efforts by Dekalb County and the Georgia Department of Transportation, a busy stretch of Buford Highway south of Doraville with high density of retail on both sides of the street received several new signalized intersections as well as new pedestrian-only mid-block crossings that use a special light called a HAWK signal. This is a light that stays dark until a pedestrian pushes a button, activating a light that flashes before turning red for cars. These crossings also include a refuge to shorten crossing distances and give people a safe place to wait while crossing.

And then there’s southern Cobb County, the northern Atlanta suburb where Raquel Nelson was walking when her son was killed and she found herself prosecuted after the fact. Some busy corridors have sidewalks and some don’t — though walking isn’t very pleasant next to seven lanes of traffic — and crosswalks can be interminably far apart.

This photo below bears some similarities to the conditions on the street where Raquel Nelson’s son A.J. was killed, which isn’t too far from here.

Note the bus stop on the other side of the street with a Cobb County bus approaching. See a marked crosswalk anywhere? Perhaps this man is trying to catch the bus? What happens when the bus drops you off and you need to reach a destination across the street? Should we really expect people to walk half a mile out of the frame to find a safer place to cross, and then walk half a mile back?

And some streets around here just have zero accommodation for pedestrians, including a busy street that serves two major universities and the county’s biggest employer (Dobbins AFB/Lockheed) right in the center of the county.

Keep in mind that these pictures represent just one busy American metropolis — there are hundreds more cities and thousands of places with similar conditions that need urgent attention. We have a long way to go to retrofit these streets to help make them safer for everyone that needs to use them. The complete streets provision in the Senate’s MAP-21 bill would be a step in the right direction, as would be the flexible funding that local governments can use to help address some of these dangerous areas under the Senate bill.

With 67 percent of all pedestrian fatalities happening on federal-aid roads — many of which that were designed in this unsafe way because of federal design guidelines and standards — there’s a clear role for the federal government to play in improving them.

So what would happen in our communities if we started by looking at our map of pedestrian fatalities to see where the worst trouble areas are and devoted a small slice of transportation money into small, tangible improvements like new sidewalks, new crosswalks, and new signals for making walking safer and more convenient? What if we made it a clear priority to make every day National Safe Walking Day?

Wouldn’t we be saving lives immediately? And for a small price?

Watch the full slideshow here, or click to watch full-size in a new window.

Policy may get made here in Washington, but transportation, mobility and safety are truly local issues. The kinds of transportation investments that we’re pushing for aren’t luxuries — they’re essential necessities that enable Americans to get where they need to go, safely and affordably.

It’s high time that we made sure we invested in a transportation system that is safe and accessible for everyone.

So why is access to transportation choices and safe, complete streets so important?

Just a couple of months ago, Dr. Scott Crawford sent us this sobering story about a friend of his in a wheelchair who was struck and killed by the driver of an SUV while in the shoulder of a main highway in Jackson, Mississippi. With no options for a safer way to travel — broken lifts on buses and a lack of sidewalks on main streets — 66 year-old James Smith was riding in his motorized wheelchair in the shoulder of Medgar Evers Boulevard in Jackson.

A collision in the middle of the road resulted in the SUV rolling into the shoulder, where he was crushed underneath the vehicle. (No one was charged.) Dr. Crawford told WAPT that it was only a matter of time due to the conditions of the streets in Jackson.

“I feel very sad for his family. It breaks my heart to see older adults riding in the streets in wheelchairs because they have no alternative.”

Dr. Crawford has been a tireless advocate for complete streets in Jackson, as well as more funding and accessibility compliance for the transit agency there. You may remember his story about the broken bus wheelchair lifts, inadequate transit facilities, and how unsafe and inaccessible most of the thoroughfares are for the handicapped or disabled in Jackson, Mississippi.

He told us in late 2008 that “they recently cut the budget for our transit system by 1.5 million dollars, and they are being sued by a consortium of people with disabilities for violations of civil rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (me being one of the plaintiffs).”

image004 Originally uploaded by Transportation for America

These are the 5 new paratransit buses that JATRAN ordered, in part due to Dr. Crawford’s efforts. (Please credit photos to Dr. Scott Crawford.

But after several discouraging updates from Dr. Crawford, he sent us this development last week:

I figure you’re ready for some *GOOD* news from Jackson! The class action lawsuit I filed in Federal Court has started to result in some changes for the better: the city just bought 5 new paratransit buses for the JATRAN system, and they should be on the road this week. I’ve enclosed pictures if you are interested in posting them.

The suit is also pressuring the city to buy three new lift vans as “back-up” transportation should people like me be stranded by non-working lifts (but they have yet to arrive). The city also tells me (not yet in writing) that they will buy 13 new fixed route buses by November. It’s a start!

As he told us, “a small group of committed individuals can and often do make a difference.” So things are looking up in Jackson, right? They’ve got 5 new paratransit buses ready to hit the road and serve the estimated 16,000 citizens of Jackson who are physically disabled. Well, almost.

The new buses, while great, are yet to be put on the road due to insurance delays and inefficient paperwork.

Jackson is not alone, and it’s certainly not all their fault.

This is the current state of transit agencies in many of our smaller communities like Jackson. They are chronically underfunded and neglected by city or county governments. And more often than not, woefully ignored by State Departments of Transportation mostly concerned with using their federal transportation dollars to pour new asphalt and open new highways.

Public transportation and safe, complete streets are not just something for big, urban cities. And for people like James Smith and Dr. Scott Crawford in communities big and small, it’s a basic question of equity.

Tell Congress that you’re ready for them to step in to help the more than 11 million people who are facing transit service cuts, fare increases, or job losses in almost 100 communities across the country.

Do you have a story like Dr. Crawford’s you’d like to share? Send it to transitcuts@t4america.org

But we especially wanted to share this story and photos we received yesterday from Dr. Scott Crawford in Jackson, MS. Hit the jump to continue.

I know you asked for pro-transit photos at your Transportation for America site, and believe me, I’m as supportive as I can be.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of positive photos for you, because Jackson Mississippi isn’t exactly a pro-transit city.  They recently cut the budget for our transit system by 1.5 million dollars, and they are being sued by a consortium of people with disabilities for violations of civil rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (me being one of the plaintiffs).

The first and last photos are of one of the *BETTER* bus stops in Jackson, but as you can see, it is not accessible to people in wheelchairs.  The second picture is of me being told, yet again, that I can’t ride the bus because the lifts don’t work.  The third picture is of a friend of mine trying to cross a busy street in traffic because there are no accessible sidewalks or crosswalks in a busy shopping area.

You can certainly understand the importance of sidewalks, curb ramps, accessible buses, and accessible bus stops to people like me. Now, if we can just convince our leaders that they are good for everybody else too!

This is the state of transit in many of our smaller communities like Jackson. Underfunded and neglected by city or county governments, and more often than not, woefully ignored by State Departments of Transportation mostly concerned with pouring new asphalt and opening new highways.

Transit is not just something for big cities like New York or Chicago or Los Angeles. For residents like Dr. Crawford (and millions of others) in communities big and small, who either can’t drive or choose not to drive, it’s a basic question of equity.

Jackson did submit their “wish list” to the U.S. Conference of Mayors for potential economic stimulus money. Their $560 million request does include $6.1 million for 18 fixed route buses, and $720,000 for 12 demand response buses, but it also covers $188 million for street and road work. I wonder if the $800,000 for “JATRAN Shelter Improvements” includes making those terribly-designed curbs compatible for the disabled or elderly?

If you haven’t already, go and weigh in with your elected leaders and tell them that you want economic stimulus money for transportation invested in the smartest way. If you’re from the second or third district of Mississippi, you might want to tell your representatives to complete Jackson’s streets, making them safe for all users, and help upgrade Jackson’s buses to serve those who need them most.

What’s the view in your community? Send photos and/or your story to photos AT t4america DOT org