Don’t Blame the Scooters, Blame the Streets.
The sudden appearance of electric scooters in cities internationally led to widespread backlash from elected officials. However, they should act as a wake-up call to our shoddy biking and pedestrian infrastructure.
Amber Ford, Brad Alexander, Eric Amis Jr., and Quinterry McGriff, all died on the Atlanta’s streets after being hit by a vehicle while riding a scooter. In response to these deaths, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms cut off permitting for electric scooters, implemented speed controls, and emphasized the safety hazards of these machines.
However, these deaths are not a product of a “scooter invasion”. Rather, these deaths follow a larger trend — Atlanta drivers are hitting more pedestrians and bikers, from nearly 1700 collisions in 2006 to 2500 in 2015, almost a 50% increase. My dad experienced this increase firsthand when a teenage driver hit him pulling out of a driveway, almost causing serious injury. Similarly, deaths and significant injuries from these incidents rose by 23% in the same time period. Blaming scooters and ignoring such a widespread problem has dangerous consequences — inaction will cost 1,100 Atlantan lives by 2022.
We also know that bike infrastructure works for saving lives. Amsterdam provides a perfect example of the benefits of bike infrastructure. In the 1980s, in the wake of an increase in pedestrian deaths, Amsterdam officials invested billions into building a network of bike only streets, sidewalk bike paths, and bike lanes. Now, Amsterdam is twice as safe as the US in terms of traffic incidents. Amsterdam also features a very dense public transport system, where street level trams carry people when biking conditions prove difficult (inclement weather, injury, etc.) Integrating MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) with biking infrastructure, one key feature of the Beltline, will help transition commuters from cars to biking and riding transit. However, as critics point out, Amsterdam and Atlanta developed with much different urban plans, and Amsterdam’s structure would only work in downtown/midtown and the in-town neighborhoods.
We need not look further than our backyard for an example applicable to the suburbs, though. Peachtree City, with a similar suburban structure to Atlanta — disconnected cul-de-sacs built off main roads — built bike trails to connect its fragmented neighborhoods. In the past decade, Peachtree City invested millions into a 100+ mile bike path network, using shorter distance trails to stitch together dead-end roads for bikers and walkers. Metro Atlanta counties and cities should utilize this tactic — taking bikers and pedestrians from dangerous neighborhood roads to protected bike paths. Most car accidents occur close to home, where drivers feel most comfortable, and therefore do not pay as much attention. By connecting employment centers, schools, and residential neighborhoods in a web of trails rather than single, long trails such as the Stone Mountain trails and Path400, the trails’ utility increases dramatically.
Critics might claim that bike infrastructure simply wastes money. However, Georgia already wastes millions of dollars by not using funds provided by the federal government. Governor Deal’s administration let 4.3 million dollars earmarked for bike infrastructure go to waste, money that could’ve built 430 miles of painted bike lanes, 215 miles of protected bike lanes, or 13 miles of dedicated bike paths (About half the size of the Beltline). Additionally, Atlanta voters support building more sustainable infrastructure. In 2016, Atlantans voted to approve 2 new sales taxes to execute the MoreMARTA and other pedestrian and biking development projects city-wide. Additionally, many suburbs outside the city of Atlanta are investing in bike paths, such as the Big Creek bike path in Roswell, which could eventually link to the Path400.
So, what can Atlanta do to apply these models in our city? First, Atlanta and the surrounding towns and counties must finish current bike path projects — the Beltline, the Path400, the Stone Mountain Trail, and connect the Confluence trail over the North Fork Peachtree Creek. These developments will create networks between Midtown/Downtown and the in-town neighborhoods, reaching the suburbs of Sandy Springs, Stone Mountain, Cartersville, and even Alabama. Secondly, Atlanta neighborhoods should implement the Peachtree City model for connecting fragmented cul-de-sacs. Creating local webs of bike trails will decrease car use for short distance trips within neighborhoods, a large source of pedestrian collisions. Finally, the Atlanta city government should institute a mandate that every repaved road include a bike lane at least 1.5 yards wide where feasible, expanding bike infrastructure in an inexpensive fashion.
Once these developments occur, Atlantans will finally enjoy the pedestrian life promised by the Beltline. City officials from Metro Atlanta must act soon, act swiftly, and act with results in mind. If they don’t, the 1,100 deaths pedestrians and bikers will fall on their hands.
