Car crashed into interstate wall with firefighters and people pointing.

Walkable City 3: The Safe Walk (A)

Pedestrian deaths are up 78% since 2009. While car use and size are long-term issues, safer street design — like narrower lanes and two-way roads — can reduce speeding now.

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Course Info

  • Duration 8 video lessons (78 Mins)
  • Published Published
    2025
  • 5.00
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Browse Course Chapters

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    1.
    Introduction
    Chapter Duration 5 mins
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    2.
    The Traffic Violence Epidemic
    Chapter Duration 12 mins
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    3.
    The Focus on Speed
    Chapter Duration 7 mins
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    4.
    Block Size
    Chapter Duration 2 mins
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    5.
    Lane Count & Induced Demand
    Chapter Duration 17 mins
  • Chapter Locked
    6.
    OKC Project 180
    Chapter Duration 8 mins
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    7.
    The Classic Road Diet
    Chapter Duration 5 mins
  • Chapter Locked
    8.
    The One-Way Plague
    Chapter Duration 17 mins

What You Will Learn

  • Learn about the causes of the traffic violence epidemic.
  • Learn how a Vision Zero approach to limiting speeding differs from standard American practice.
  • Learn how block size impacts road safety.
  • Learn strategies for reducing lane count.
  • Learn the best arguments surrounding induced demand.
  • Learn the story of how Oklahoma City removed one third of its downtown traffic lanes.
  • Learn how 4-to-3 road diets do not reduce road capacity.
  • Learn how restoration of two-way travel to multi lane one-ways improves safety and vitality.

Course Description

There is an epidemic of traffic violence in the US, one that killed 78% more pedestrians in 2023 than in 2009. While its principal causes are increased driving and car bloat, those trends are slow to fix, so we need to focus on what we can control: the design of our streets. A proper Vision Zero approach to street design focuses on limiting vehicle speeding, which is the outcome of many factors covered in this course and the next, The Safe Walk (B). This first segment covers factors including block size, lane number and width, and one-way vs. two-way travel, and shows multiple success stories such as Project 180, which transformed 40 blocks of downtown Oklahoma City.

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Learn these skills

  • Land Use
  • Pedestrian Planning
  • Plan Making
  • Transportation
  • Urban Design
  • Walkability

Meet Your Instructor

Jeff Speck

Jeff Speck

Jeff Speck is a city planner who advocates internationally for more walkable cities.

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