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Safety and livability emerge as top priorities as funding gaps widen
Summary
Community livability and safety subgroup leaders told the working group that Oregon's traffic deaths per VMT have risen and that targeted, relatively low‑cost safety investments (safe routes to school, rumble strips, roundabouts, behavior programs) save lives but are underfunded.
Thomas Baker and other safety subgroup members emphasized that safety must be a top priority for any investment plan. Baker said Oregon ranks 43rd in traffic deaths per vehicle‑miles traveled and that crash trends have worsened since the pandemic. “Safety is the biggest theme,” he said, and argued that investments in walking, biking and life‑saving programs must be protected from cuts.
Baker and colleagues recommended data‑driven prioritization of cost‑effective interventions (e.g., rumble strips on high‑speed rural roads, automated enforcement cameras, teen driver education). The subgroup calculated that targeted spending can yield measurable reductions in fatalities and serious injuries: “Every $1,000,000 in [safety] funding saves five fatalities or serious injuries,” Baker said.
Members urged the working group to prioritize programs that protect vulnerable road users, to layer investments so short projects produce near‑term benefits, and to avoid diverting limited safety funding into less directly life‑saving capital projects. The group asked staff to prepare measures and examples that show the safety returns on different investment mixes.
