My crash map for San Antonio is now updated with TxDOT’s latest October 2023 data and it was not a good month for pedestrians and bicyclists.
44 people (pedestrians and cyclists) were involved in some sort of vehicular incident in October. Unfortunately, 4 pedestrians and 1 bicyclists were killed last month and another 6 pedestrians were seriously injured, making October San Antonio’s second deadliest month this year (5 pedestrians were killed in January 2023).
According to TxDOT’s data for San Antonio, 23 pedestrians have been killed so far in 2023. That’s 5 fewer than 2022 and 2 fewer than in 2021. There has been a very slight decrease in pedestrian deaths the last 5 years, but it doesn’t appear that the trend is due to any sort of increase in pedestrian safety measures by the City of San Antonio.
They city’s Transportation Department site shows that the last Vision Zero project was completed in 2019. At least 5 more are planned or in the beginning stages of planning. The projects that have been completed don’t look very effective, either. Placing a few flashing lights over a 6 lane road (35-45mph speed limit) with a pedestrian island in the middle doesn’t make me confident that I’ll make it to the other side unscathed.
In fact, a new study found that more Americans are walking less but pedestrian deaths are increasing. It’s worth a read-through, but remote work has played a large role in the trend in addition to other factors like dangerous street design and lack of adequate pedestrian facilities (aka sidewalks) that decrease access to destinations.
San Antonio has a long way to go, but if you’re interested in seeing what’s in the works and how you can help check ActivateSA and the Complete Streets Coalition. This coalition is working to re-make San Antonio’s transportation system so that it accommodates all users – drivers, walkers, cyclists, and public transit fans. It’s a great group doing very important work for the city.
A minor house-keeping note
I’ve never done this before, but I set up a Buy Me a Coffee account. This is mainly to help offset some of the server costs associated with running my crash dashboard. If you enjoy the dashboard and want to show some support, consider pitching in a buck or two. I’m excited about the reception the dashboard has gotten so far and I have a fairly extensive backlog of improvements I’ll be adding in over the next couple of weeks to make it even better!
Check out the data here.
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