Please join Washington Evaluators for its second Field Trip!
Have you ever crossed a street, by foot, bike or car and felt the intersection was dangerous? Have you ever wondered how transportation experts make decisions to increase traffic safety?
In WE's second field trip, attendees learn about evaluation and evidence-based policymaking from experts at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and the District Department of Transportation. Attendees will go out into DC to see site-specific interventions and designs intended to increase pedestrian and bike safety and reduce crash-related injuries and fatalities. Attendees will learn about how transportation officials evaluate the impact of the interventions. The evaluation methods are particularly interesting because crash events are extremely rare (and therefore difficult to study) and there are factors that are difficult to control (e.g., human behavior, weather events, etc.) that make the study of pedestrian safety very complex. Further, evidence-based decision making can be a challenge in the area of pedestrian safety. Transportation officials consider many factors in decision making, including social inequality, the public's interests (including residents and visitors), local politics, and availability of resources.
Attendees will meet to discuss evaluation, then will walk approximately 10 blocks to one or two sites. The Field Trip will be followed by dinner at a local restaurant, TBD.The field trip is free; attendees are responsible for dinner.