Francis Reilly is unique for an Austinite: He doesn’t have a car. He often rides his bike, but these days he mostly depends on the bus. To explain why, he met me at the intersection of Wallis and Rollingwood drives in Austin’s Rollingwood neighborhood west of MoPac. “This is where I was hit by a […]
Vision Zero
Posted inTransportation
Why driver distraction is a persistent problem that defies easy solutions
On Jan. 13, 2015, at about 9:30 p.m., 23-year-old James Robison was driving his motorcycle on Riverside Drive toward downtown. On the other side of the road, the driver of a Ford Focus had just gotten to Austin from Killeen. He and his passenger had come down to help a friend shoot a music video. […]
Posted inTransportation
In Austin, traffic safety improvements come to those who ask
Traffic fatalities are down nationwide, but new research shows those declines are mostly among highly educated people. For those who have less than a high school diploma, the rate of death in a car crash has actually increased. That doesn’t mean you’re a better driver if you have a college degree, but rather that the […]
Posted inTransportation
The decades-old theory behind speed limits might make it harder to change them
High speeds are one of the biggest killers on our roadways. As city officials tackle an uptick in traffic fatalities here in Austin, speed limits come up a lot. But it’s unlikely that city and state officials will be able to make significant changes to speed limits once everything is said and done. And there’s […]
Posted inTransportation
Vision Zero Plan passes through Mobility Committee, heads to City Council for final approval
Austin’s Vision Zero plan is heading to the full City Council for final approval next week with the blessing of the city’s Mobility Committee, which approved the plan Monday. At Monday’s meeting, Francis Reilly, who works in the Planning and Zoning Department told the Mobility Committee that traffic deaths are a public health problem, like […]
Posted inTransportation
To reduce traffic deaths, Austin envisions ending homelessness
Robert Lormond is standing on the corner of Ben White and Manchaca watching his friend Jerry. Two police officers have stopped him. “I called him across the street. I didn’t see a police officer and he jaywalked,” Lormond says. There are crosswalks on three of the four sides of this intersection, but Jerry cut across […]
Posted inTransportation
What exactly is a Vision Zero plan? And why does Austin need one?
One hundred and two people died on Austin’s roads in 2015 – the most ever recorded. More than 20 have met a similar fate so far this year. Nearly every death involved a car. Yet, in a city where 93 percent of households own a car, Francis Reilly does not. Reilly works in the city’s […]