UWM’s Academic Adventurers Talk — Pedestrian Safety at Night: Illuminating the Problem and Strategies for Safer Streets

Presented by Robert J. Schneider, Ph.D., Professor and Co-Chair, Department of Urban Planning, UWM.

US pedestrian fatalities increased by 51% between 2010 and 2020 (4,302 to 6,516 fatalities per year), and nearly all of the additional pedestrian fatalities that occurred were at night. This trend has continued into the 2020s, and now more than three-quarters of US pedestrian fatalities are at night.

This presentation by Robert Schneider will draw on research conducted by UWM as a part of a National Cooperative Highway Research Program team to understand how the geographic layout and design of our roadway system has evolved over time to contribute to this uniquely American problem. The outcomes of this research look beyond individualistic strategies (such as having pedestrians wear reflective clothing) toward systemic solutions to the problem (such as redesigning streets with fewer lanes and enhanced pedestrian crossings, improving roadway lighting, and reducing nighttime speed limits).

UWM’s Academic Adventurers is a continuing series of informal Friday afternoon programs held in the American Geographical Society Library, that give members of the UWM community the opportunity to hear of their colleagues’ adventures abroad and afield.