Pasadena Transportation Department Gets $150,000 Grant for Bicyclist, Pedestrian Safety Program

The Pasadena Transportation Department has been awarded a $150,000 state grant for a program to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists citywide, officials announced Tuesday.

The grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety will be used to help fund “a year-long bicyclist safety outreach program aimed at reducing severe injuries and fatalities to pedestrians and bicyclists resulting from crashes,” city officials said in a written statement.

“Specifically, this program will provide safety equipment and education materials to bicyclists and upgrade the City’s traffic camera database to capture and collect pedestrian and bicycle counts for more effective interpretation,” the statement added.

Based on data collected between 2010 and 2019, while bicyclists were involved in about 5 percent of total collisions, they accounted for 15 percent of all severe injuries and deaths, officials said.

“Combined with pedestrian collisions, 40 percent of all severe injuries and fatalities resulting from collisions in Pasadena during this ten-year period happen to pedestrians and bicyclists while only being involved in 9 percent of all collisions,” according to the city statement.

“This grant funding provides an opportunity for the city to potentially reduce the percentage of collisions involving pedestrians and bicyclists and reduce the number of fatalities and severe injuries by providing educational resources and improvements to the city collision database,” the statement said.