Maryland, with a pedestrian death rate that is significantly higher than the national average, ranks second from the bottom nationally in its spending of federal transportation funds on resources for walkers and bicyclists, according to a study released Monday.
The national study, "Dangerous by Design," concludes that a disregard for the safety of people on foot in highway engineering is an important contributing factor in the thousands of pedestrian deaths on U.S. roads.
Produced by a coalition of groups led by the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership and Transportation for America, the report calls for significant investments in projects to make roads safer for walking. It calls on Congress, which is expected to vote on a new six-year transportation bill next year, to hold states accountable for failing to use federal funds to promote walking and ensure safety.
One of the worst states in that regard, according to the report, is Maryland, which the study ranks 49th among the 50 states in per capita spending of federal transportation funds on bicycling and walking projects. The study puts Maryland's per capita spending on such projects at 45 cents - compared with a national average of $1.46 and a high of $9.47 in Alaska. Only Virginia, with per capita spending of 22 cents, was ranked as more stingy toward walkers.
Douglas H. Simmons, deputy state highway administrator, said the report might be understating Maryland's commitment to such projects because the state has traditionally funded some pedestrian programs entirely out of its own Transportation Trust Fund.
But Dan Pontious, executive director of the Citizens Planning and Housing Association, said that in spite of some progress, transportation agencies cling to their old priorities.
"In the big picture, we're still really focused on moving cars, and there's much more progress to make to create vibrant, walkable communities," he said.
In the report, Maryland also ranked poorly in terms of the risk of being killed by a vehicle while walking. The study computed a pedestrian danger index - based on the number of fatalities per 100,000 population and the percentage of commuters walking to work - with a national average of 52. Maryland's score was 83. Pedestrians made up 19.4 percent of those killed on roads in Maryland, compared with a national average of 11.8 percent.
