The Federal Highway Administration has removed bicycle lanes, speed safety cameras and three other measures from its list of “Proven Safety Countermeasures,” cutting the roster from 28 to 23 items. Safety advocates and former officials criticized the move, arguing it sidelines strategies the agency previously promoted as effective at reducing crashes.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said the revisions were intended to align the safety list with the administration’s policies and priorities, and characterized some of the prior approaches as changes that reduced lane capacity and increased congestion. (kpbs.org)
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has referred to the targeted cycling infrastructure as “DEI bike lanes” in a social media post, language that has drawn criticism from some transportation advocates. (kpbs.org)
The FHWA did not issue a standalone public announcement detailing the changes, according to reporting by public media outlets that said safety advocates noticed the list had been shortened late last week. (kpbs.org)
Former FHWA acting administrator Stephanie Pollack, who led the 2021 update that expanded the initiative to 28 countermeasures, said safety decisions should be driven by evidence. (kpbs.org)
The list, while not a direct funding mandate, is widely used by state and local transportation agencies as guidance in planning and safety work. (kpbs.org)
FHWA materials published during the 2021 expansion promoted both bicycle lanes and speed safety cameras as proven strategies in certain settings. For example, a 2021 FHWA booklet said adding a bike lane could reduce crashes on a two-lane road by as much as 30%, and it also included speed safety cameras among its proven countermeasures. (kpbs.org)
