In Transit newsletter: Signs of hope for pedestrian safety

After spending more than a year reporting on several distressing road safety trends as part of our Dangerous Roads series, there's some encouraging new data about crashes.

Pedestrian deaths in New York fell from 303 in 2024 to 220 last year, according to figures recently released by the Governors Highway Safety Association. Only California saw a bigger drop in the total number of pedestrian deaths, although, as a percentage, New York’s 27% reduction was larger than California’s 22%.

New York’s numbers are part of a broader, and encouraging, trend across the United States. Nationally, pedestrian fatalities fell for a third straight year. More than half of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., saw statistically significant reductions in pedestrian deaths.

In addition to frequently cited reasons for the decline in pedestrian deaths in our state — including road safety initiatives like New York City’s Vision Zero and Manhattan's congestion pricing program — the GHSA report also cited lesser-known measures that may be making a difference, like New York’s efforts to translate road safety materials into other languages to reach non-English-speaking pedestrians and drivers.

Unfortunately, not all the data in the GHSA report was good news, especially when looking at longer trend lines. The 6,732 pedestrians killed in crashes last year is still 5% higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

What’s more, the proportion of all pedestrian crashes in the U.S. involving a fatality more than doubled from 4% in 2015 to 10% in 2024, the most recent year for which that data was available. Pedestrian deaths involving distractions also climbed significantly between 2019 and 2024, as did pedestrian deaths involving speeding.

"While a continued decline in pedestrian deaths nationwide is promising, vehicles still strike and kill 18 people across the country every day," said Robert Sinclair Jr., of AAA Northeast. "Communities must continue to emphasize education, enforcement and infrastructure improvements to create a safer space for pedestrians and all road users."

Transportation news:

• Next stop: Trump Station? U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently made clear the White House’s intention to rename Penn Station as part of an $8 billion redevelopment effort of the Manhattan transit hub used by tens of thousands of Long Island commuters daily. But Sen. Chuck Schumer says, "It ain't happening." 
• A tractor trailer driver who flipped his truck on the Long Island Expressway shared his side of the "crazy" Sunday morning incident.
• Going once. Going twice. Sold! JetBlue wins an auction to take over Spirit Airlines' former departure and arrival time slots at LaGuardia Airport.

Travel watch:

• Massive weekend service disruptions on the LIRR’s Ronkonkoma, Huntington, Port Jefferson, Hempstead and Oyster Bay lines return Friday night, and most weekends for the rest of the summer as the railroad upgrades switches and signals near Elmont. More information is at mta.info/lirr and on the TrainTime app.
• Two lanes of the westbound LIE will be closed between Exits 68 and 67 in Yaphank from 10 p.m. Tuesday until 5 a.m. Wednesday for bridge maintenance.
• The Port Authority warns drivers of several projects that will cause lane closures this week at Kennedy Airport, the George Washington Bridge, and the Holland and Lincoln tunnels. More information is available here.

Readers speak up

Following our reporting on Gov. Kathy Hochul announcing $58 million in new repaving projects on Long Island, this reader pointed out one project that didn’t make the list.

The state is ignoring Sunrise Highway in Patchogue. They stopped short in repairing it. Maybe Hochul can drive through the war-torn road between Route 112 and Nichols Road in both directions. Another election-year gimmick to get votes.

Raymond McNamara, Mastic Beach

Did you know?

Whether you want to make sure you get on an LIRR train car with a bathroom, or you want to make sure you don’t, there’s an easy way to tell before boarding. Cars marked with odd numbers have bathrooms. Cars with even numbers do not.

Send your questions, comments and suggestions for newsletter topics to transit@newsday.com.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.