The Program

Street Smart is an annual public education, awareness and behavioral change campaign in the Washington, DC, suburban Maryland and northern Virginia area. Since its beginning in 2002, the campaign has used radio, newspaper, and transit advertising, public awareness efforts, and added law enforcement, to respond to the challenges of pedestrian and bicyclist safety.

The Street Smart program emphasizes education of motorists and pedestrians through mass media. It is meant to complement, not replace, the efforts of state and local governments and agencies to build safer streets and sidewalks, enforce laws, and train better drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.

The program is coordinated by the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB), and is supported by federal funds made available through state governments, and funding from some TPB member jurisdictions.

The Spring 2010 Street Smart campaign will run from March 15 to April 15. The kick-off press event will take place on Tuesday, March 23rd at 11 a.m. near the intersection of Sligo Avenue and Chicago Avenue in Silver Spring, Maryland. The event will feature a speed and stopping distance demonstration

Enforcement

Supporting the mass media and public awareness campaign is a region-wide enforcement initiative. The DC Metropolitan Police Department and the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board have stepped up efforts to share information on best practices in pedestrian enforcement with line officers. A standardized enforcement reporting form has improved our knowledge of the number and types of citations being issued.

• In Spring 2009 38,961 citations and 4,803 warnings were issued to motorists, pedestrians and cyclists in Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax County, Montgomery County and the District of Columbia. In Fall 2009 3,820 citations and 1,271 warnings were issued in Arlington County, in the Cities of Rockville, Greenbelt, Fairfax, and Manassas, and around the Pentagon.
• Numerous law enforcement agencies have pledged to carry out enforcement in Spring 2010.
• Law enforcement efforts are voluntary; there is no additional or supplemental funding in the program for police overtime.

Evaluation

In order to validate the campaign and judge effectiveness of the efforts, surveys of area motorists are conducted both before and after each campaign. Telephone survey results from Spring and Fall 2009 show that people are hearing and remembering the Street Smart messages.

Due to declining use of home phones, since Fall 2009 the survey has been conducted by internet instead of telephone.

Goals

The goals of the campaign are to change motorist and pedestrian behavior, and reduce pedestrian and bicyclist deaths and injuries, by:

• Increasing awareness of the consequences of pedestrian and bicycle crashes
• Recommending actions to reduce risks, such as:
  • Use Crosswalks
  • Obey Signals
  • Look Left-Right-Left
  • Slow Down
  • Stop for Pedestrians
• Increasing awareness of law enforcement action against unsafe and illegal behavior

Members

Funding Organizations:

• Arlington County, Virginia
• City of Alexandria, Virginia
• City of Takoma Park, Maryland
• District of Columbia, District Department of Transportation
• Fairfax County, Virginia
• Montgomery County, Maryland
• Maryland Department of Transportation's State Highway Administration, Highway Safety Office
• Virginia Highway Safety Office
• Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board gratefully acknowledges technical support and comments of staff from the following organizations: Arlington County, Department of Environmental Services, Arlington County Police Department; City of Alexandria; Commonwealth of Virginia, Department of Motor Vehicles; District of Columbia, District Department of Transportation; District of Columbia, Metropolitan Police Department, Fairfax County, Department of Transportation; Maryland Department of Transportation's State Highway Administration, Highway Safety Office; Montgomery County, Maryland; Virginia Department of Transportation, Northern Virginia, and the Washington Area Metropolitan Transit Authority.