The publication ITE Journal: A Community of Transportation Professionals has recognized TxDOT’s Waco District and its BE SAFE BE SEEN pedestrian safety campaign. The September 2020 issue of the journal focuses on small community and rural transportation and identifies the campaign as “noteworthy” and “unique.”
ITE Journal is the flagship publication of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) with a circulation of 12,000 print and 15,000 online subscribers. Established in 1930, ITE includes an international membership of transportation professionals dedicated to improving mobility and safety for everyone who relies on our transportation system. It encourages professional development, technology transfer, and education and awareness dedicated to that proposition.
“It’s great to see TxDOT’s BE SAFE BE SEEN pedestrian safety campaign featured in the ITE Journal,” says Jake Smith, public information officer for TxDOT’s Waco District. “ITE’s audience of transportation professionals can get a glimpse at how much thought and effort is put in to the safety of the Waco community and its pedestrians.”
As noted in last quarter’s My35 Central Texas News, the campaign is raising awareness and sharing safety resources to prevent and reduce pedestrian and bicyclist injuries and fatalities. Between the trend during the COVID-19 pandemic of folks walking and biking more frequently to get out of the house and the changing travel options along I-35 resulting from the reconstruction project, expectations of where and when to walk and bike along the corridor are changing. That’s why it’s all the more important these days to get people thinking proactively about their shared responsibility in keeping everyone safe, on and off the roadway. As implemented in the Waco District, BE SAFE BE SEEN — an international campaign for promoting safety education messages and awareness to communities around the world — has brought various public agencies/organizations and private companies together under the shared banner of protecting the traveling public, especially walkers and cyclists. (For more information about the campaign as implemented in the Waco District, see the story published the last issue of this newsletter.
“To be acknowledged by one's peers in ITE is truly an honor,’” says Senior Research Scientist Tina Geiselbrecht, who leads the BE SAFE BE SEEN initiative for TTI. “TxDOT has made traffic safety a strategic priority, and you see that across the I-35 Reconstruction Project. In fact, this campaign is the Waco District’s biggest pedestrian outreach initiative to date.”
Jake Smith
I-35 Public Information Officer
254-867-2705
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