Go Human’s Traffic Safety Peer Exchange Summer Series is in Full Swing!

SCAG is halfway through our twelve-part Go Human Traffic Safety Peer Exchange series. These virtual sessions bring together partners and practitioners from public agencies, non-profit organizations, and the community to share their experiences and insight on addressing some of our region’s most pressing traffic safety issues.

We have a full line-up of incredible speakers for this virtual summer series on traffic safety. Upcoming sessions will focus on safety issues across the six-county SCAG region, from rural and agricultural communities to suburban and urban communities.

These regionally focused topics create space for a deeper dive into the traffic safety issues facing specific communities. Upcoming events include speakers from organizations like AARP, The Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, The Central Coast Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, and LA Metro’s Office of Equity and Race. These events also feature city staff and elected officials from Los Angeles, Ventura, Riverside, Redlands, Long Beach, and more.

Also, do not miss out on the Reimagining Community Safety event on July 23. In partnership with APA California, this event will focus on discussing how communities are reconsidering the traditional role of the police in traffic enforcement.

Register today for future sessions!

In June, we held five sessions that covered topics such as high-injury networks, safety funding, and community engagement. Curious about those sessions? Here’s a recap!

Using Data to Craft a Safety Narrative: High Injury Networks (HIN)

During the series kick off, Eric Dunlap from Los Angeles County Public Works explained how the County developed a comprehensive HIN as part of their Vision Zero campaign, Jesse Mintz-Roth from the City of San Jose highlighted how the City used an HIN to prioritize safety investments, Katherine Chen of UC Berkeley’s SafeTREC gave a comprehensive overview of the free crash data tools available in California, and Kevin Shin of Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC) discussed the importance of understanding how crash data is created and the importance of telling the safety story that is often left out of this imperfect data.

Making Traffic Safety a Reality: Funding Strategies

During the session on traffic safety funding, Robert Peterson of Caltrans provided an in-depth look at statewide funding programs while Jonathan Matz, from Safe Routes Partnership, and Hannah Keyes, from SCAG, added local and regional perspectives to the conversation.

More than a Checkbox: Better Community Engagement

John Yi of Los Angeles Walks discussed building trust and capacity building and Monique López of Pueblo Planning introduced participants to the four “Rs” of meaningful public engagement: relationships, repair, respect, and reciprocity.  Ata Kahn shared the perspective of the City of Pomona and Jill Cooper spoke about UC Berkeley’s SafeTREC’s Community-Based Participatory Research program, and how it can help you create more complete data.

Traffic Safety is a Public Health Issue: Collaborating to Save Lives

Alexis Lantz offered an insightful look into how Los Angeles County Public Health and Public Works departments started collaborating and sharing data and resources to prioritize investment for vulnerable road users. Miguel Vazquez, with Riverside University Health System discussed how Riverside County is addressing systemic racism, public health and safety holistically. Dr. Susie López Guerra from Santa Ana Unified School District spoke on the importance of using partnerships and family engagement to meet student safety needs.

Repairing and Investing: Addressing Equity in the Built Environment

Naomi Doerner of Nelson/Nygaard centered the importance of race, space and place to take a racial equity approach to traffic safety projects. Josie Ahrens from the Oakland Department of Transportation explained how the City used an equity analysis to prioritize pavement projects, and corresponding complete streets improvements in areas that have experienced historic disinvestment.

Finally, Lauren Ballard from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation discussed the Department’s use of equity indicators to develop their priority corridor safety projects, and spotlighted safety corridor projects on Avalon Boulevard and Broadway in South Los Angeles.

Human-Centered Traffic Safety in Rural Areas (Imperial, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties)

In the first regional-specific session, Rosa and Angela Loera from Muscoy Sidewalks for Safety shared their experience advocating with their community for sidewalks and securing $1.88M in funding. Jacob Alvarez from the City of Coachella provided an overview of challenges facing rural city staff and how Coachella overcame them to secure funding for traffic safety projects while setting transparent and realistic expectations with the public. Then Marina Ramirez of California Walks spotlighted how community based-organizations can navigate and acknowledge power dynamics to build bridges for communities to share their lived experiences.

Traffic Safety in Suburbia: Serving all Ages (Los Angeles and Ventura Counties)

Mark Friis from San Bernardino County Department of Public Health focused on behavioral change, experiencing the emotional impact of traffic deaths, and connecting with the community you serve on a personal level. Nathan Mustafa from the City of Riverside reinforced the importance of being a part of your community and showcased the city’s traffic safety engineering efforts. Then California Transportation Commissioner Michele Martinez ended the session with a message for government employees at all levels to center the work on people and keep improving the way transportation systems are legislated to save people’s lives.

Catch up on all past events and sign up for future events here!

The Traffic Safety Peer Exchanges are supported by funding from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.