DEPARTMENT OF TRANSFORMATION: MOBILIZING CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT IN SAFER STREETS Chris Riley
The streets of American cities have seen major changes in recent years, with new infrastructure drawing out growing numbers of pedestrians and bicyclists. However, cars remain markedly dominant, and safety campaigns have thus far fallen short of ending traffic deaths. Even in the cities that have made the most progress in infrastructure improvements, a serious gap has become apparent. The bicycle- and pedestrianfriendly places these cities aspire to be do not match their current, deadly reality. To help bridge that gap, activists in several cities have been taking infrastructure improvements into their own hands. There have been many instances of guerrilla movements toward increased street safety in the past, but these more recent efforts represent a new, distinct model that utilizes social media to support ongoing, anonymous campaigns aimed at transforming street conditions. This paper examines whether these recent efforts suggest a viable, scalable model for accelerating movement toward safer streets through citizen involvement. In exploring that question, the paper also considers the conditions that appear to support this model and the challenges that cities may face in responding to these guerilla efforts.
