Safety Stories: new feature on CATSIP for sharing active transportation successes

June 3, 2019

Bicyclists on trail

Original blog post appeared on the California Active Transportation Safety Information Pages (CATSIP) on May 30, 2019. 

UC Berkeley SafeTREC is thrilled to pilot Safety Stories, a new storytelling feature on the California Active Transportation Safety Information Pages (CATSIP) website. Safety Stories provides an avenue for planners, designers, engineers and safe active transportation advocates to share their experiences, lessons learned and best practices for improving active transportation safety among California’s diverse communities. Active transportation refers to travel powered by walking, biking, scooting, skateboarding, and the use of assisted mobility devices, such as wheelchairs or motorized scooters.

Safety Stories includes two main sections: Stories from the Field and Stories from You. Stories from the Field showcases interviews and guest blog posts with active transportation practitioners and Stories from You features perspectives from planners, designers, advocates, and community residents across the State.

Why Stories Matter

SafeTREC created Safety Stories to engage in conversations about roadway safety and active transportation in a manner that goes beyond statistics and crash data. Highlighting stories is a way to share information, resources, and tools and build opportunities to collaborate across sectors and disciplines. It is an opportunity for agencies and community stakeholders to creatively solve problems by learning from triumphs elsewhere.

Some of the underlying questions SafeTREC is investigating include: What has worked well in developing or implementing an active transportation roadway safety project or program? What are the key characteristics of a successful active transportation project? How are agencies prioritizing safety for all roadway users? How are communities improving safety for walking and biking?

Explore how safe, active travel is being promoted in Oakland and Napa County

We’re excited to share our first Safety Stories with you! First up, we have Noel’s Safety Story, an interview with Noel Pond-Danchik, Pedestrian Program Coordinator with the Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT). Next, we have Diana’s Safety Story, an interview with Diana Meehan, Senior Program Planner + Active Transportation Coordinator with the Napa Valley Transportation Authority (NVTA).

Stay tuned for more Stories from the Field, as we gather stories of success from counties throughout the state and along the rural, suburban, and urban spectrum.

Share Your Safety Story

Do you have a story of how you’re making walking, biking, and rolling safer in your community? If so, we want to hear from you! Please email safetrec@berkeley.edu with “Safety Story” in the subject line. SafeTREC is actively seeking stories in the form of written testimonial, compelling visual images, or video, so please feel encouraged to share yours!