Many of these are just Saudi
plots in preference head.

And I suppose all this.

Yes let me tell you that Saudi found it
head in nights with six of their race and

your surgery that any circumstance
order to prevent her from driving or

that was the main was
the name of just in case.

With this person patient she
will be everything that we are.

Especially.

Because you know the need for increased
investment in sidewalk maintenance and

this time.

Let me also tell you something that.

Was Once I will be here.

Is a very good spread so
sadly if you send an email.

He apologized today he
couldn't make yours but

he gave me some more
information that I think in

there is more character of
America Walks on people.

The streets and the Safe Routes to
School nation all national pharmacies.

You also talk but if you have worked
at least three years in American.

Yeah.

OK if you wasn't already a late
night out and was wrecked by

war there by many to be the major figure
of the twentieth century and deception.

Were not so
very impressive he's got a good memory.

So I'll.

Welcome.

Sally I'm looking forward
to a presentation on.

Yes OK great.

I taught history here for
about three years but

I got to say Georgia Tech students were
not particularly interested in history.

So.

But it gave me great preparation for
what I do now because I

continue to teach engineers about subjects
they're not particularly interested in.

OK I'm going to be talking really
about three subjects today.

One is is the need for
more maintenance but

also we'll be talking about the need for
safer crossings that transit stops and

just what is good sidewalk design because
here in midtown Atlanta I'm seeing a lot

of bad sidewalk design and
especially bad sidewalk design

from the perspective of older pedestrians
will be getting into all of those issues.

This is actually a little outdated we are
now the eleventh most dangerous place for

pedestrians which is not much better but
yesterday there were in the New York Times

front page story about Florida their wide
roads pedestrians are really running for

their life to cross the street Atlanta is
the same problem wide roads with no safe

crossings and very dangerous to cross the
street for everybody not just seniors but

if if young people who are really healthy
who are runners are losing their lives

crossing the street you can imagine how
difficult it will be for older adults

to get across the streets that have no
pedestrian facilities for crossing.

The Atlanta region commission did
research last year really at our request.

We asked.

What percentage of the pedestrian crashes
are are really related to transit or

current close to transit and

we found that twenty five percent
of all the crashes in the region

are happening within one hundred feet
of a bus stop or a transit station.

Forty eight percent are occurring
within three hundred feet of a station

and that's telling us
a lot about an area that.

Needs more work.

There's never been any
follow up in the sense of

what are we going to do
to address this problem.

What money are we investing.

I was very disappointed
with the project list.

That the Atlanta Regional Commission came
up with because there is nothing in it

to address pedestrian safety from
a regional perspective Jane Hayes

the transportation director said to
me while you can use local money for

the transportation there's this
attitude that walking is all local but

if I live in midtown if I need to go out
to Cobb County and cross the street.

I've got two choices walk ten minutes
out of my way to get to a cross walk or

put my life in my hands and
risk being charged with reckless conduct.

If I cross the street.

In a reasonable way and
as you know Lana is hot and so

you don't really want to walk
ten minutes out of your way.

Just across the street.

But you know
the Regional Commission also did.

Great research on who is using transit
it's often low income people who don't

have access to a car or other people like
myself who because of epilepsy cannot

drive a lot of older people
who need to give up driving.

Although they're actually most of them are
not using our fixed route transit system.

Most of the people who are using
transit are walking to transit.

Seventy two percent are walking
some of them are walking other

people are walking part of the way.

And anybody who is walking to

transit is going to have to
cross the street at least once.

To make a round trip.

What's really concern of
concern to me it's only

two percent of the trips are by
people sixty five or older.

I think most of the seniors who
used transit are using paratransit

which is very expensive needs
to be heavily subsidized.

And this is very live.

Added in how often you can go or
or you have to schedule

it in advance but it's a system
that I don't think is sustainable.

If the baby boomers are retiring and

only relying on paratransit I don't think
this region will be able to afford it.

And it was really articles
like this that got us to ask.

The owner Regional Commission to research
the relationship between transit and

pedestrian crashes we are seeing
articles over and over about crashes.

Where people had just gotten off a bus to

far to walk to a cross walk and
then they get killed.

Crossing the street and in Cobb County
it's especially disturbing because not

only are people losing their lives.

But then the mothers are often being
charged either with killer homicide

or manslaughter.

This is what the conventional wisdom
is on pedestrian safety use cross woks.

But the problem is there are no
cross walks within walking distance.

That is reasonable
the speeds are very high so

walking long distances
alongside these roads and

most people are going fifteen miles
over the limit is also very dangerous.

Our infrastructure near transit for
pedestrians is pathetic.

You've got these bus shelters.

No sidewalks no crossing facilities and
you can see in that lower photo

even walking along the dirt
path there would be impossible.

There's so much vegetation there and

people want to get across
the street safely they're not being

reckless they're trying they're making
choices of which is my best way.

I've watched people on Buford Highway are
most dangerous road they are doing their

best to watch out and
find safe gaps in traffic.

But when you don't even
have a median it's.

Very hard to find a safe
gap in both directions.

And this is an a blog that
I wrote recently that was

published on the public broadcasting
stations website about how it's

not the victim fault when
people are getting killed.

It's usually the just sign of our roads.

Speed with makes a huge difference.

Once you get up to four lanes.

The risk of a pedestrian crash with
a vehicle just rises exponentially.

Other things that matter our speed if
you get hit at twenty miles an hour.

It's only a five percent chance of
death for the pedestrian if you get hit

thirty it's a forty five percent chance
of death and if you get hit at forty.

It's an eighty five
percent chance of death.

I think here at Tech people
know that impact matters.

And so our roads are too fast for
having multi-modal traffic.

And they're designed like airport.

We're in ways and
if you drive Zinah road like that.

That's how people are going to drive
lighting matters a lot of the pedestrian

crashes are happening at night.

And it's it is hard.

To see people as a driver.

I have driven during certain periods in
my life I have been able to drive and

I do know before the highway.

It is hard to see people enough
time to be able to avoid them.

And so there again it's not necessarily
the driver that's to blame then it

is the lack of lighting on these roads.

The US The O.T. is saying that pedestrians
have a right to cross safely and

our engineers have a responsibility to
plan and design for us but we don't see

that happening when after Raquel Nelson's
trial brought a lot of attention very

negative attention to our region she was
the mother who was charged with vehicular.

Homicide actually convicted.

Last month brought a lot of attention and
there was a petition with over one hundred

fifty thousand signatures asking
the Cobb County to put in a cross walk.

Well this was the state road and
they've already gone on T.V.

In an interview and said no we will not.

And I've written back to them to
say well obviously you don't put

in just a cross walk but there
are plenty of things you can do here.

But they have a very closed
mind about crossings.

Last year the U.S. Secretary of
Transportation has charge the state

with treating pedestrians and
cyclists as equal with other modes.

We don't see that happening.

Having the safe crossing
facilities matter a lot.

This is a guidebook for
the Federal Highway Administration on

the safety effects of marked
versus unmarked crossings.

It's had a huge impact on
how the Georgia D.O.T.

have treated pedestrians but
in a very negative way.

What it said is that on a multi-lane road
with four lanes or more and traffic going.

I think thirty five or higher.

It's actually more dangerous
to have a marked cross

walk on its own than to have nothing.

So let's take a road like Ponce de Leon or
even West Peachtree at four street that

marked cross walk at four Street in West
Peachtree is more dangerous than nothing

but that doesn't mean do nothing but
that is how the Georgia D.O.T.

has interpreted this book when
they are resurfacing streets they

remove all the cross walks at locations
that don't have signals your question.

The theory is that one
protest one driver will

stop and then it creates a visual
shield and the pedestrian is

expecting since they're in a cross
walk that they've got the right.

Way and probably they're keeping going
other drivers are going too fast and

not paying attention and they can't see
and the pedestrian can't see beyond that

car drivers here are stopping way
too close to the cross walk also but

what this book was saying is do more put
in the lighting put in signage put in

other signals put in medians there
are plenty of things that can be done.

But the D.O.T. just took this black and

white attitude if it's controlled
by a stop sign or a signal.

OK we'll put in a cross walk if it's not
controlled by a signal or a stop sign.

We're going to do nothing and we have been
fighting that since two thousand and six

and it was interesting that the O.T.
organize a training workshop for

transportation professionals
their own people and people with.

City of Atlanta and other jurisdictions

about Ponce de Leon this is right near
a high rise that serves older people and

a lot of people had been
killed in this cross walk.

We all agreed that the thing to do was to
convert one of the lanes on pumps to a two

way center turn lane and put in refuge
islands and an engineer with the O.T.

who didn't attend the workshop women
a month remove the cross walk and

put up a sign that says
use the cross walk.

As you can see people don't respect signs
like that they're actually violating

the Americans With Disabilities Act
because somebody who is visually impaired

would have no idea that that
cross walk is removed that

the transportation engineers are required
to make a cane detectable barrier.

If they put in a sign like that but
it is not happening.

And here's what the spokesperson for the
O.T. says the real issue is about getting

the pedestrians to cross at a safe
location that's controlled.

We don't think that's really true because
there are no traffic signals within

a walking dead.

Stance and the reality is traffic
signals they have guidelines are what

they call warrants where you would have
to have ninety three pedestrians an hour

to warrant a signal they know that they're
not going to be putting in signals and so

what they are telling people is totally.

Just basically it's something you

can tell the media but they know they're
not going to be putting that stuff and

they know that there are areas where
there's a ball mile between signals but

there's a lot of other
things that can be done.

You can.
There are road to other traffic calming

that slows things down some of the things
I just mentioned about that race Iowans

are lighting and there are new kinds
of beacons that are very promising.

Just the median which
is the cheapest thing.

One of the cheapest things you can do
makes a huge difference if you have

a minute mark cross-walk it will reduce
the risk of crashes by forty six

percent because you're dealing with one
direction of traffic at a time probably

the most dangerous lane for a pedestrian
to be anice as they're approaching that

double yellow line and they're having
to watch the traffic in their direction

on their half of the road and
also pay attention on that second half but

if you have a place to wait where
you're protected by the raised Island.

It becomes a lot safer or

that also helps seniors a lot
because if they're slower than let's

say there is a signal there and they can
see especially the countdown signal.

There's only three seconds left.

They can wait there and
use the next cycle and

even in a place that doesn't have
a cross walk putting in these islands

will make a big difference because
even on a high speed road.

Like preferred highway dealing with three
lanes at a time instead of all seven and

not having to worry about the cars turning
into the two way center turn lane is going

to make it a lot safer
other states Florida.

Or again that was one of the first things
they did on their suburban arterials

as they went in and put mediums or
media and islands everywhere.

And just basic.

You know break it up.

Here's an example of a cop County.

Put in an island.

It's going to be a lot safer.

Yeah.

Well what what I would do is
put a cut through on that

you could definitely do that.

I think it's going to be harder to
convince the D.O.T. to do that.

Because they're going to say we don't want
to give people this ansatz across and.

Or.

Right.

Now I think a cut through
on that would definitely.

Yeah definitely.

We do and one of the ones I showed earlier
that was by the Freedom Park trail

it had to cut through and
I definitely would recommend that.

We just weren't that skilled
with doing Photoshop.

And it's easy to figure out what we've
noticed on Buford Highway is that

some people don't go all the way to
the hawk signals that have been put in but

they're taking advantage of the safety
effect of of that median island.

It's very simple to figure out.

This is the Hawks signal this is
actually Buford Highway I never thought

a crossing people crossing Buford Highway
would look as peaceful as Abby and

Abbey Road but
every minute is me of that and

you can see they're not running
it is a much safer crossing.

The hawk signal is interesting.

It's.
Blacked out.

For motorists except when
people have pushed the button

when people push the button.

To cross it will go to a flashing yellow
and then a solid yellow then a solid

red and then those two red lights
are going to flash back and forth.

Once it's doing that the driver can go
if the pedestrian is out of the road

most drivers haven't figured that out but

I figure better to stop a little longer
than not to have them stop at all and

the main reason they came up with that is
to get around the warrants in the manner

of uniform traffic control devices that
was invented out in Tucson Arizona.

And it requires just twenty
pedestrians per peak hour and

you're much more likely to meet that.

Than you are to get ninety
three pedestrians or

I think the other thing you can have is
if you have five pedestrian deaths in

one year which hopefully we will
never have either in any transit.

But this this is going to be.

I think the way our region is going
on a lot of these high speed roads.

Because people understand
that red means stop.

This is another one that's less expensive.

Because they look like police strobe
lights people are stopping for them.

They've been used in a test
pilot project in Florida and

I think the compliance rate went from
twenty percent to eighty percent

the city or the state and the city of
Atlanta have both sought and received

permission from the Federal Highway
Administration to start using these.

They've led a project for

right by the Midtown MARTA station
I think by the civic center.

MARTA station so
we expect to start seeing the.

I think there will work on roads
with speed limits thirty five or

less I'm a little wary about whether they
would work on roads with forty or higher.

You can also do a lot of stuff.

You don't have the the idea and that
Federal Highway Administration research

publication was if one thing is
in the nothe keep adding on until

you've made it work that people
have a safe crossing and

this is actually the location where
Raquel Nelson son was killed.

Exit seeing a left turn lane
had been added to the street.

I don't know if it went in
originally was the original design.

But if the area where that.

The lines are you can see that there
is a left turn lane the bus stop is

located near that where
the median because of the left

turn lane the median is
just three feet wide.

There's a mother standing with three
children and other transit users on

a three foot wide median next to traffic
that's going sixty miles an hour.

They crossed the child was hit.

That's a little bit off they were it was
actually hit in the final lane closest

to the cross walk but just moving the bust
up back one hundred forty feet and

they would have had a sixteen foot wide
median to stand on and there would have

been just two lanes in the final half
of the crossing instead of three and

my opinion that's one of the biggest
factors in why that child was killed is

the mother called out to a child stop
on a sixteen foot wide median he

probably would have after she yelled that
she realized that could make things worse.

And she went running after him and he was
killed in the final lane which by that

time he would have been on the sidewalk
the distance he would have traveled.

So what did he do after the crash.

Within about a month.

They had put up a poster telling people
they use crosswalks Well the problem is

the crosswalk is three tenths of a mile
away walking with three young children

three tenths of a mile ledge a since
a sixty mile an hour traffic is not safe

crossing in a signalized
intersection with three children.

Many of whom they're
going to face motorists.

Who are turning left.

That's not so safe either.

And so one of the questions I have for
everybody is what's the best means of

getting the O.T.
to agree to put in crossings.

I'm thinking talking to Doug Stoner
who represents that area in the state

legislature and getting him and maybe
somebody from the Transportation Board.

Out there and actually making them
cross the street would help now.

Their idea is to write to the U.S.
Secretary of Transportation and

the Federal Highway Administration Office
of Civil Rights.

And see if they will intervene
telling that the O.T.

they're not treating
pedestrians as equals.

Or just getting seniors out
there with picket signs.

Maybe people with walkers and

showing getting the media out there
showing how hard it would be for somebody

with a walker or just an hour or with
a cane to walk three tenths of a mile.

Or maybe blindfold a D.O.T.
engineer and make them try it.

Yes or think.

I'm doing this wrong.

This is why.

Or

one reason would be fear of a lawsuit
that it would be almost an admission

that they were partly to blame.

Transportation engineers are always
talking about liability and

if they've done something
that contributed to a crash.

They could be sued and I think.

They were might be willing to move it
after the statute of limitations has gone.

I mean that sounds pretty cynical about
government but after working on this for

fifteen years to get
that way a little bit.

Yeah.

Well this is actually
Cobb community transit.

And.

And so the most dangerous roads
are in our inner suburbs after a lot

of the housing projects are as housing
projects in the city were torn down

a lot of lower income people
moved out to the suburbs.

And there.

And so there are partment buildings on
roads that were designed for cars only.

And but there are roads in city of
Atlanta also Roswell Road there's an area

there where there's there is a full mile
stretch with no pedestrian crossings.

What what one of the things we're planning
to do is to get a task team together

with representatives of all the transit
agency and the Georgia D.O.T. and

local transportation departments and come
up with guidelines on bus stop location.

What we see in Kabul especially is that
the bus stop seem to be randomly located.

Me.

Yes.

Well it would be.

I think if if.

I thought in terms of the threat
of being found liable I think

if they were to be sued.

It would be like saying Yeah we
agree that was a bad location.

And some people have said that
the reason they even prosecuted.

Or kill Nelson was a way.

To make it harder for

her to suit she had no intent to sue but
that is what some people have said because

the biggest question about that trial
is why did they even go after her.

That it's up to the prosecutor to decide
which cases to take and which not to.

And in that case you know
she's been punished so

badly already by losing her child and
you know they're

delusional if they think it's going to
deter other people from crossing there.

And so
some people do think that their reason for

going after her dose make it harder.

Yeah.

Well.

Yeah.

I'm not

going WAY WAY that.

She.

And.

Me.

Like we have found trying to
get MARTA to move these things.

This is difficult.

There's one and
you'll see it in a picture.

Well later.

On Peachtree near seventeenth that
takes up most of the sidewalk it's not

the furniture zone and it also creates
problems with sight distance for

turning drivers and we've tried to get
them to move it and it's very difficult.

They they have private companies
putting in these shelters they tend

to put them in where.

The most drivers will
see their advertising.

It's not necessarily where
they're most needed.

I don't know if they're the ones who
decide where to put the bus stops in but

they're certainly the ones who decide.

Which ones get shelters.

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

yeah yeah.

Her.

OK.

You are I.

When I think also that they will be
concerned about the alternative which

would be increasing paratransit costs and
that will motivate them to do more.

And what.

Right.

No.

I think what you're talking about is
marked cross walk because that the state

code actually defines a cross walk as
the lateral lines between the side.

Walks on either side of the street.

So even if they're not marked If it's
a four way intersection where there

are sidewalks on both sides or at least
a public right of way on both sides.

There is a cross walk there.

At a T. shaped intersection and
in Georgia.

They don't interpret it as have
an unmarked areas having a cross walk but

I think of one row probably all of them
all the intersections are marked with

cross walks or but but that's a street
where you need more than a cross

walk I think the rapid flash beacons
would be the best solution on one row.

Yeah.

Right.

Right.

Right.

Or.

Well

I think there are two reasons one.

In the post world war that
the developments that were created post

World War two You're much like less
likely to have a grid a street grid.

And you're much more likely to
have cul de sac neighborhoods with

out where you have a T.
shaped intersection.

That goes into an arterial street
those that don't have the city's

not willing to mark a cross walk in last
it is already a four way intersection.

There also.

Well least with the previous.

And he was in charge of transportation.

They were very resistant to
doing a thing that cost money.

They're still pretty bad about that
because the city doesn't have a capital

budget so they were using all kinds of
excuses like if it doesn't already have.

If it's not already
eighty eight compliant.

Then we're not going to
mark a cross walk or

put in an industry cross walks on the
other reason I think is that the people

in Northeast Atlanta tend to be much more
politically active that's where most of

peds members are and they they
know how to ask for these things.

Fortunately we have a tool or
we have a tool on our website that enables

people to ask for things like cross
walks or in street cross walk signs and

there's a link to it on the city
of Atlantis website under the how

to section and that has really
democratized these asks a lot we're

seeing from the grammar and spelling that
these are a lot of people that probably

don't live in Northeast Atlanta that
are asking for improvements asking for

sidewalk repairs things like that but
I think a lot of it is.

The Virginia Highlands Grant Park.

You have a much more politically
active people asking.

Me.

You know.

Yeah.

Yeah but definitely the the the parts
of the city that were designed and

built prior to World War two
are much more walkable much much

higher frequency intersections and
that's one of the things that

people look at to see how walkable you
are as is the frequency of intersections.

Going back through this the.

And I want to talk about
the characteristics of good sidewalk

this on and.

And then I'm not real canine to some of
the stuff that's been done in midtown.

But these are the basics of what you want
you want to clear bops the coals That's

especially important for
people with wheelchairs

smooth surfaces really matter of
level surfaces having it wide enough.

A buffer from the traffic here
on street parking really helps.

And basically going where you want this is
something that your case really see and

you wonder you know was this guy drunk.

What is the point of having
a meandering sidewalk like that.

Unless maybe you're on a wooded trail but
people like sidewalks

to take them where they want to go
with this few steps as possible.

The issue of where it really depends on

where you are how crowded
it's going to be.

In a neighborhood where you're rarely
going to have more than two people

the time five feet may be enough but in a
commercial area you're going to need more.

This is an example of one of
the newer midtown sidewalks.

They seem to be more interested in making
it look good to the drivers who are going

by at thirty five miles an hour than
actually making it walkable that they have

maintained a five foot buffer everywhere
even if it means the walking space is just

four feet wide and you can't walk side
by side or have people comfortably

walk in both directions but they're
basically keeping it to be a minimum.

The this is an area that's part of
the Midtown mile where they're expecting

lots and lots of pedestrians but

as you can see people are being
squeezed off the sidewalk already.

Equal sides this one's not in midtown but
having just the landscaping.

Also takes up a lot of the sidewalk.

Whereas if you put a great over it.

It really helps.

This is that.

Shelter that I can stay.

Right across the street from where I work
because you've got a furniture zone but

the shelter is in the part where.

You're supposed to be walking for
somebody in a wheelchair.

It's just an obstacle course.

This is down in Marietta Street.

Why they put that clock where they did
as opposed to in the furniture zone or

back by the building.

I don't know if you see a lot
of that that's all difficult for

older people and
the body with disabilities.

Paving materials are another problem in
Atlanta we have spent way too much money

on fancy pavers downtown
by the Olympics but

we've got stuff like that it's much more
likely to fail in a short period of time.

Than it was to in the bottom or

right near the Atlanta Regional Commission
than just the plain concrete.

Sidewalk the what these are in midtown and

they put the papers on aggregate which is
a mixture of sand and other materials and

they're collapsing already you
know within a year or two.

And unfortunately we've got drivers who
will and I think that's a city vehicle or

disuse the handicapped ramps as
though they're driveways and

go right over the sidewalk.

Downtown at the park.

They had a problem that there's no
matching papers anymore with what

they put in it it would drift park so
that doesn't look that great.

So why spend all that money
on granite sidewalks.

Here's a case where downtown on
Peachtree the property owner is not

willing to do it.

It is this responsibility to pay for
it but

finding all those different pavers and
coming up with the money is difficult.

It's especially important on curb ramps.

Fortunately we were able to get
midtown alliance to change or

Midtown to change those zoning but they
had actually written into the zoning for

their special public or S.P.I. district
that you had to use that kind of forget

that kind of granite at the bottom
Bodo is called On The Right but.

That's not very good when you're in
a wheelchair to have to go over that

at the bottom of your curb ramp.

Plain concrete is definitely
easier to maintain

there's a company out in California.

I think that and
they may be moving to Texas but

that makes rubber sidewalks I think about
eighty cities have experimented with that.

Now their issue is
the cross-walk visibility.

The longer markings that
was one of our first big

achievements was getting the state to
change the guidelines for cross walk

markings from two parallel lines to ones
that look more like a ladder like this.

Except with the two parallel lines on
it much more visible to the driver.

Pedestrian can see that.

But the driver can't.

The staggered ladder that we have here.

Really reduces maintenance costs and

that's how we were able to convince
the engineers that they ought to switch

is that we said you'll have
to replace it less often.

This is a problem that we're starting to

see mid-town also also Decatur I think
is making big mistakes investing

in textured cross walks in theory they're
really visible what you like and.

I really.

Yeah.

Now I hate these personally.

You can see here the difference just even
the two parallel lines in front are so

much more visible than that next
intersection that has the brick colored

cross walk and what happens is the
landscape architects will show pictures

like this to the business community and
say I want this be purty.

But that's not what it's really
going to look like on the ground.

That's what a pedestrian sees so

they can see it's a cross walk
the drivers are saying this.

The ones on Lindbergh.

And are about the worst.

You cannot see them until
you're on top of them.

And so you can see that we have really
lost a lot in areas where we're putting

these in if there is a traffic
signal it's not so bad but

at a place that doesn't have
a signal I would always oppose the.

In the rain it's even
worse it was terrible.

After we have the snow and
all that sand was going on and.

At least putting white stripes
can help the ones out at

Emory have the White Stripes.

OK I'll talk to them.

So this is the Cater one that before
they put in the colored ones.

That's what you can see before
this is what you've got now and

there is a real issue of visibility
that was when they were brand new.

They're also prone to failure much more
than striping this is midtown where

they use stamped asphalt and
there chunks of them are coming out.

Yeah.

Why.

That is a good question and
I think that I think it's

a one of the biggest problems we
have in transportation funding for

pedestrians in my opinion is that
the only people who have or the only.

Agencies that seem to have the twenty
percent matching funds that is required

to get federal funds are the Community
Improvement District which is basically

the business community they care more
about making it look purty than they do

about making it functional and so all
those papers that we are seeing in midtown

midtown Alliance pays twenty percent South
taxing of the businesses they pay twenty

percent and then they grab the eighty
percent of federal money that this area

is eligible for because the city of
Atlanta doesn't have a capital fund that

basically it's a community improvement
district so they are more interested.

Did in making it look Purdy.

They're even planning now to make
the downtown connector pretty for

the people driving through to Florida.

Those are that's what
they're investing in.

And it's a big complaint for us.

The one that has like their logo in it.

Yes.

It's better than the if it's got more
white in it and I'm going to show

you a couple better if you're going
to do something with the bricks.

Another day old before I get there.

Just this is hard on wheelchair
users every brick is a bump.

And that's one reason not to do it.

We did convince the Cater we didn't know
until the week they were going to put

these in this is I don't know if
this is the cater or just one I got

from someone else that probably somebody
else but we learned about it and

got them to spend an additional nine
thousand dollars to change their plans and

leave a smooth area we pointed out
that a lot of the disability agencies

are in downtown Decatur and

that you need to leave at least three
feet smooth in the center of the.

That helps.

Concrete is awful.

The perimeter of the Id put concrete.

Crossings in.

And then they learn their lesson
they realize they're invisible.

Again putting in the white lines but

that brings us back to where we were in
the ninety's with just the two parallel

lines that are so
much less visible from a distance.

Here's an example of where you can make it
visible where where you've got a mixture

of white pavers and red pavers but that it
is a lot of money and the question is and

the question is is that given our
transportation needs that we have so

many broken sidewalks so
many areas without safe crossings.

Why are we spending money just on looks.

Other issues are the texture.

When you put in a raised cross
walk you definitely need texture

to let people know if
they're visually impaired

that they're entering an area of
danger if they're entering the street.

This is down in Saron Bay which is
somewhat of a retirement community.

They made they use cobblestones for their
cross walks which is just ridiculous.

The place to use texture is
before you get to a cross walk.

So people might hear the bomb away you'd
have to do it someone far enough back that

people would notice but you never want
to cobble stones on a cross walk.

And one of the arguments that I've
made to Central in a progress and

others is that people are much less
interested in looking at their feet.

What the pavement is under their feet and
looking at pretty things that I level.

And so where we do like the tile
stuff that they put in and

Woodruff Park but in other cities there's
a lot more artwork on the walls and

we're trying to get them
to spend less money on

the pavers because it's not even
a pleasant walking experience.

Another big issue is that the the people
that work for the city don't know how to

design or
they're not doing site specific design and

they're building a lot of stuff that is
worthless like the bottom left image.

I put that tool that I have
there is a smart level that

gives me a digital readout but
I put it there.

Mainly because it was
twenty four inches wide and

a wheelchair is thirty inches wide.

At least.

And so
they created a ramp that is worthless and

they did it that way because there's.

A great over there and rather than
do the site specific design that

would enable them to come up with
a something that actually works.

They just squeezed it down to make it look
like there was a ramp the one at the top.

Wheelchair will turn over.

Basically turn the whole
sidewalk into a ramp and

the one on the upper right
you've got a lip at the bottom.

That's about an inch and a half wide.

I can't really see what the slope is that
the one on the bottom but I know most of

the newer amps that have gone in and
midtown do not have excessive slopes.

There's one right by the MARTA station
downtown big three Center station with

a fourteen percent slope when the maximum
allowed is eight point three.

Nobody is going to be able to get
up that ramp in a wheelchair.

Unless it's motorized.

And then the final part of what I want
to talk about is just the whole need

for maintenance.

This is another area where
the Atlanta Regional Commission was very

discriminatory in the in its plan twenty
forty the I think that's recently

adopted that adopted Carolyn plan for
the next twenty five years they required.

Projects for motorists to consider
include the cost of maintenance they did

not do that or pedestrian projects they're
not willing to invest in maintenance.

We have in the city of Atlanta sidewalks
that are in terrible condition.

And there's also there have been

an increasing number of huge
settlements in Sacramento.

For the next twenty years
after that settlement or

MIT I mean this next thirty years I think
twenty percent of all the transportation

money had to go into putting in
curb ramps and repairing sidewalks.

A university in the southwest
Georgia was sued and now this

guy who had been looking for work just
repairing sidewalks finally got some work.

That the university lost because
they had no proactive program.

Something similar happened
in Atlanta a woman sued.

The city her her heel got caught
in pavement she sued the same.

And it was over a million
dollar settlement.

I learned from a friend that there is and

they're doing another lawsuit a friend
who's an attorney that suing the city.

Woman who's visually impaired
right near the city MARTA station

she fell on bad pavement.

She's now paralyzed and is suing the city.

And if somebody but
the person who says he'll got caught.

For what the attorney told me one of
the reasons that was such a high.

Jury decision or a jury award were million
of it was pain and suffering as they

were trying to send the city a message
because when the attorney asked the city.

How much you budget each year for sidewalk
and road maintenance the answer was four

hundred or three hundred thousand dollars
and the jurors just gasped that for

a city like Atlanta to spend only
three hundred thousand dollars

a year on maintenance of roads and
sidewalks.

And so and all and she said she can't
wear heels anymore that's her pain and

suffering and she's had a number of.

And she's had a number of of ankle
surgery but the woman is paralyzed if

I would imagine she's going to
get a lot more than a million and

the city really needs to learn that
taxpayers would much rather have a spend

money repairing the sidewalks than giving
out awards to people who have been.

Received major injuries.

When

was that decision that
was a long time ago.

OK.

That that the sound really relevant
I'm not real mountable about it.

This is what a lot of cities are doing
now city of Atlanta has created it.

We think the system that
we have created for

reporting hazards works better
be primarily because in Atlanta.

You often have to follow up and
follow up and

follow up and we send when people
report the pedestrian hazards they get

a message back about who it's going to and
how to follow up.

And then people can also come back to
our website and indicate whether or not.

Things have been resolved.

Not that many people are doing that and so

we we had hoped to be able to compare the
different jurisdictions in the region in

terms of how well they're following up but
we are we are actually just

noticing on the things that aren't aren't
getting addressed like sidewalk repairs.

We've met with the city of Atlanta
staff members to say well what

happens when somebody reports a broken
sidewalk What do you do what we learned is

that they will send a notice to
the property owner that it's their

responsibility to pay for repairs.

You know if you send us a check.

We'll fix it.

But if nobody sends a check.

Nothing else happens and we met recently
with the Public Works commissioner and

learned that one of the big
problems is also is that if you do

send them a tech it goes
into the general fund.

It's not going to public works and so

they're not expanding their budget
even if the property owner does pay.

And this was something by Donald he
thinks maybe it's because the sidewalks

are failing gradually that they're being
neglected I don't think that true.

I just think it's the system of
the property owner pays is so on

acceptable to property owners especially
in a city with a high poverty rate and

where this was a survey of a lot of
cities that the property owner in about.

Thirty percent pays the full cost
which is what it is in Atlanta

more cities do it where it's like half and
half or

at least the city pays a fourth
to give you an incentive.

An increasing number of cities are now
paying the full cost because they realize

that where you've got systems
like we have in Atlanta.

Basically everything gets in the elected.

Head thinks that it's really unfair
to delegate it to the property owner.

It's a it's a trading sidewalk so
second class.

That we don't pay for the street
repairs except through our taxes.

This is actually a sidewalk
adjacent to my house I

don't feel to go about fixing my sidewalk.

If I know that Georgia Power and
others can continue to park on it.

Here's some other city vehicles
all city or Marta all of them.

Enjoy the power but we have seen so
many city vehicles parked on the side.

Even brand new ones.

But the main point they will that
it's unfair to is the pedestrians

that I would fix mine if I felt
that my neighbors would fix their.

So that we could have a system where you
can actually walk on the sidewalks but

fixing one sidewalk if the others
are just as bad isn't going to get

the runners back on this or the people
pushing strollers back on the sidewalks.

It needs to be done in
a more systematic way.

It's also greatly increasing
the costs if every

person is bringing in
their own cement truck.

It's much more expensive and.

This company.

It's called Safe sidewalks of Georgia or
Georgia safe sidewalks they won't do that

kind of thing on a piecemeal
basis with property owners.

If you're a property owner you
basically replace your sidewalk.

If the city hired somebody like that
to deal with the stripping hazards and

it was just something like
that that got that woman.

By the MARTA station to Paul and and.

Now paralyzed.

It was just a one inch tripping hazard and

those are the kind of things that probably
for fifty bucks a city could repair and

instead it's probably going to have
a multimillion dollar jury decision.

In two thousand and seven.

That said he thought there
was twenty five percent and

it needed to be replaced or repaired.

Estimated the cost at eighty million but

they admitted you know we really don't
know how big the problem is that only

surveys commercial areas where
they're not nearly as bad.

But you know they have no surveys
more recently they have basically

doubled the estimate they're now saying
it's one hundred fifty two million backlog

on the sidewalks and the twenty six
million dollars backlog on the curb ramps.

So we have incredibly old infrastructure.

And that this whole system of
the property owner pays the collected two

hundred thousand dollars and four years.

That's a three thousand year backlog.

And again this guy's just saying
this is the basic problem.

The cities aren't budgeting for
sidewalk maintenance

the Atlanta Regional Commission wasn't
insisting that they budget for it.

And they're allowing groups
like the Midtown alliance to

put in sidewalks that are going to
need maintenance very very soon.

So this is that what I want to end honest
basically to start a discussion on this.

How can we make the the safe.

Convenient.

But extreme facilities a higher
priority for our region.

So I think those of you at our See
might be the best ones to tell us.

I think I think we need to
get the aging division really

more engaged in the decision making
in the transportation division

they have talked about incorporating
it but I don't really see it happening.

We are.

Just gathering all the data and
was this volunteers that were gathering.

Because it was interesting.

We recommended to the city of Atlanta
that we engage volunteers in all

the communities all the neighborhoods
to gather that data and

they said well we wouldn't give
it any credibility because people

are going to exaggerate how bad things
are in their own neighborhood and so

it's probably just the attitude of
the city government and now you know we

the the Deputy Commissioner of Public
Works who was in charge of transportation.

She got fired last year.

So maybe it won't be as
bad anymore she was so

bad that when we would recommend things
like the in street cross walk signs or

the speed radar signs that say
how fast people are going.

She would say things like well what if it
works and everybody's going to want one.

And so she her her main.

How main goal was to limit the work
that her department had to do.

Now that she's gone.

We might have a better chance and

I know that the transportation planner
with the city he has asked for help.

Really in terms of.

How can we inventory.

What's the best way to
even do an inventory

because you saw in a couple of slides they
don't know how many miles of sidewalk they

have they really don't know the condition
the fact that the sampling they did was

just in commercial areas makes
their sampling so unreliable

because it's in the neighborhoods that
they're particularly bad you know.

And that right.

Yeah yeah yeah and I heard you know that

it's you know I mean there
are you know right now.

Whatever.

You know that well

I don't know all that well right.

I know that with

your route that.

Why are you why

you're at that ranch or

you're still that you know my
that every time there was right

here that when I got it right.

That's right.

I mean I guess that's

why I you know I hate that I'm

out here.

Well that's something that you have here

do you have any documentation of that
because that's the kind of thing that

needs to be really publicising because
most people thought they cut those lines

because they're basically trying to get
low income people out of their county but

that you know that's right.

Right.

Or if

it was run really

hard right now and that's the kind of
information that can really help us.

This is being able to make
that you know because that's

the kind of thing we can share with
Ariel heart reporter with A.J.

see who would not be aware of that and
I think that is powerful.

And that's why I was thinking that in
terms of the whole issue of safe crossings

getting some people with disabilities
older people who can't walk very far out

there and showing how they can't walk to
the next bus stop and getting an estimate

of what that would add to C C T's costs
if they were to remove these bust ups.

Because I do think it would add more
costs than putting in across a.

Well.

Yeah I read that.

Yeah I heard

you and I K Y.

OK And

my my

my and I away.

You know I'm here.

Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

yeah I'm really

good good that

you know that and that's where I would
put it would be a top priority for

me for where I would put Trans that
I think having a trail like that for

recreational uses and also for
connecting some areas is great.

I would much rather have transit on
streets like Ponce and Tenth Street.

They are now they have changed
changed the plan some so

that the circle will also have east
west connecting streets which I think

will make it much more likely that it will
be used but the city is really under.

Parked and that's an important thing.

It's.

I was involved on some of the committees
I've been involved on the technical

advisory committee and
also on the accessibility

committee because one of the big
issues with that trail is.

Is that it's you know way above
the grade or way below the grade.

Of.

Of regular streets and so you're going to
need huge ramps to enable people to get

onto it and so with limited funding at
the beginning there's not going to be very

many access points and so I think about
one is a good project I'm sorry to see so

much of the city's resources going
into such a small amount of space and

I also think by putting saying that
they're putting transit on it it really

inflated land values which it pretty much
forces developers to have much higher

density than is probably appropriate in
those areas that the best places to put

density is on streets that are adjacent
to the north south or east west.

Transit lines where you're getting
a direct route where you're trying to go

instead of going in a circle
having been a transit user.

You know most of my life my adult life.

Anyway I know that transfers are the
biggest thing to discourage you from using

transit that I'm not I'm close
to the Art Center station and

so when I mainly have to go downtown or
Buckhead and it's very easy.

I had a staff member who worked in Decatur
and when our office was downtown and

took transit every day when
we moved to midtown and

he had to transfer he
started driving to work.

And so I do know that with.

The Beltline people having
to transfer get off changed

possibly to the east west line and
then change to the north south.

They're going to be driving.

So I do worry about that.

You know we're supportive.

I would have spread out
the resources more in the city.

Yeah.

Well.

That was.

Her.

Error at all.

Well I think that's really the big issue
of the project for public places is

a fantastic group there this week came out
with an article just talking about it.

It's the obsession with mobility and
we've had plans I think they are see

mobility twenty thirty
was one of them are and

keep Georgia mobile or
keep Georgia moving it's this idea that

it's a mistaken idea that the goal of
Transportation is to increase mobility.

The goal of Transportation is to
enable people to get to destinations.

But what this project for
public places article talked about is that

this obsession with Basque movement
has made our destinations places

you don't even want to go to and that you
even moving through them is unpleasant and

that's where I bring up again what
midtown Alliance and Central and

progress are talking about doing is
let's decorate the downtown connecter so

that it's a more pleasant experience for

the people moving through to me that is a
really misguided use of our resources but.

The goal of all the really
the whole purpose to create

a city is to minimize the need for

movement to get your destinations closer
to where you live to really maximize

your ability to meet with people to do
things without having to move much.

And so this obsession with movement and
R.C. is really at fault for this one is

that they are favoring long distance
travel over short distance travel that for

example they have said with this regional
thoroughfare program they started.

In the past year is that the roads that
people use for at least twenty miles

are going to be the ones that are favored
for our transportation money.

That is sick because we should be favoring
the areas where and especially the people

who choose to put less strain on our
resources less damage to the environment

that promote public health by making it
possible to live in a lifelong community

of people who can get you know get their
groceries do their shopping go home.

What you know walk to work
whatever they should be the ones

who are really being favored.

Or.

Here or here are all that great.

And that's great.

And I think I think I think what we
really need to do is help a.r.c and

the Georgia D.O.T. understand that the
goal of Transportation is accessibility

that it's to get people to destinations
movement is one way of doing it but

creating these form base
codes grid street grids

that make it easy to access
your destinations places that

are pleasant where people
would want to live in a small.

City or wherever.

Whether it's the mix of uses
that transportation is one me or

movement is one means to X.
access your goods but short distance

movement like being able to cross the
street is also very important but that is

really being ignored in how the state and
the region are spending our federal money.