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 2009 Street Smart transit advertising campaign ran from March 23 to April 19. The press event took place on Wednesday, March 25 at 10:30 a.m. at the Reeves Center, which is located at 14th & U Streets NW in Washington, DC.

The Fall 2009 campaign will run from November 1st to November 21st.  The theme of the Fall 2009 press event was “Don’t Be a Zombie, Walk and Drive Alive”.  It took place two days before Halloween, on Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 2 p.m. at K Street NW and Wisconsin Avenue NW in Georgetown, D.C.

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. 
• Over thirty law enforcement officers from around the region attended a half-day pedestrian enforcement seminar on March 10 in the COG Board Room. 
• Numerous law enforcement agencies have pledged to carry out enforcement
• 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 the campaign.  Telephone survey results from Spring 2009 show that people are hearing and remembering the Street Smart messages.

Due to declining use of home phones, in Fall 2010 the survey will be 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.