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Active Transportation Division News From WSDOT and Partners
What you'll find in this issue:
- Recommendations for improving street lighting for people walking, biking and rolling
- Resources for applying to upcoming calls for projects
- Updates on Complete Streets
- Recommendations for things to read/watch/listen to
- Events and trainings to keep on your radar
- Grants and funding opportunities
- Opportunities to present and publish
- Surveys to take
- Plenty of useful resources!
The Mobili-Tea at ATD
Want to improve state routes for people walking, biking and rolling? Plan ahead for upcoming calls for projects.
With a formal launch anticipated early next year, the 2026 Pedestrian/Bicyclist and Safe Routes to School Programs application windows are just around the corner. While that may not light a fire under you just yet, now is the time to start planning for any proposals you might have for projects that involve state rights of way!
These grant programs can fund improvements on all public rights of way, but there's new guidance for proposals involving state routes. We will now require a joint application between WSDOT and a local jurisdiction where the improvements are located. If you are considering a project that includes improvements on state right of way, please contact ATDG...@WSDOT.WA.GOV as soon as possible so we can connect you to the right WSDOT folks in your region to get that ball rolling.
Lighting the way for street lighting improvements
Winter has its perks, but visibility isn’t one of them. While we have a harder time seeing and being seen on the road, shorter days make the importance of street lighting plain to see.
We’ve thought a lot about the relationship between street lighting and safety at WSDOT. Recently, Active Transportation Programs Engineer Briana Weisgerber teamed up with colleagues at the Washington Traffic Safety Commission to coordinate a report to the legislature on street lighting and safety¸ with active transportation users in mind.
In the spirit of illumination, we wanted to clue readers into four essential elements of the report, which involved public surveys as well as research as was funded through the Cooper Jones Active Transportation Safety Council.
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The report responded to a clear and urgent need. The state learned from a 2022 report that nearly half of all serious injuries and fatal crashes involving people walking and biking occurred after dark. In the decade leading up to the study, 70 percent of pedestrian fatalities happened between dusk and dawn.
- After surveying Tribes, local jurisdictions, public utilities and emergency service providers about needs and gaps in available resources related to street lighting, the authors identified four big trends within the responses.
- Local governments have concerns about using new lightning technologies like LEDs, smart lighting and adaptive lighting. They feel like new lighting technologies intended to improve conditions for people walking, biking and rolling are untested for their local context, including weather conditions.
- Local governments don’t know what their lighting needs are, or don’t have plans for long-term lighting updates.
- Local governments don’t have the funding needed to complete and maintain the street lighting networks they want.
- It can be tough to work with utility service providers on lighting needs.
- In addition to researching better ways to fund lighting improvements, the authors focused their research on guidance and technology available to improve lighting for places where people walk, bike and roll.
- The authors learned there aren’t a lot of guidelines on how to install and maintain lighting in every place people walk, bike and roll, which can mean they’re not lighted enough for people to see and be seen, or not lighted at all. While WSDOT’s Design Manual includes guidance for pedestrian lighting, the guidance may not be optimal for local or rural roads.
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The authors made recommendations about how the state and our local partners can make roads safer for people when it’s dark out.
- Recommendations for the state include helping local governments learn how to identify and improve their lighting by offering trainings and accessible guidance that factors in new technologies; supporting local governments in retrofitting recent projects with lighting; identifying ways to fund all of this work; and putting together a working group to explore funding opportunities. The authors also recommend that utilities, state government and local partners formally decide how they’ll coordinate on these matters.
There’s a ton to learn in the report about the state of the art when it comes to lighting, especially lighting focused on active transportation users, as well as funding, needs and guidance considerations. Dig into the details on the WTSC’s website.
For further reading, we recommend exploring WTSC’s new State of the State report on Washington Traffic Fatalities.
Take the Age- and Dementia-Friendly Washington Survey
With the right infrastructure and resources, all of us can travel independently no matter our age or needs. Washington state is in the beginning stages of developing an action plan to help communities support people as they age or develop dementia, which includes addressing their transportation needs.
Leading up to this action plan, the Washington State Department of Health is surveying people about their needs as older adults or those living with dementia or memory loss; or as caretakers of these residents.
The survey, available in nine languages, started earlier this month and runs through December 7th. Take the survey here. If you’re interested in helping more people take the survey, the Washington Health Care Authority has a toolkit available on its website.
How we’re helping Washington state complete its streets
In 2022, the Legislature passed the Complete Streets requirement for state transportation projects. When our agency has a state transportation project that costs over $1 million, we take a Complete Streets approach – which includes specific requirements for people walking, biking, rolling or taking transit. It is an approach to making our transportation system work for all of us, strengthening communities, expanding options for non-drivers and making travel more predictable for everyone.
This fall, WSDOT published its first-ever Complete Streets Implementation Report. The report explores how we’ve managed to develop and integrate the guidance and processes needed to help every region and division carry out the requirement, among other accomplishments. It also discusses some of the limiting factors to making streets complete, as well as how WSDOT is meeting these challenges.
Report highlights
We’ve made tremendous progress advancing Complete Streets in our state to make every journey safer and more comfortable for every traveler.
- WSDOT teams in each region, as well as the Ferries and Rail Divisions, have Complete Streets projects in various stages of delivery.
- WSDOT has worked collaboratively with communities across the state to develop updated street designs that work better for everyone who needs to travel there – from Chewelah to Bellingham, Tonasket to Bingen, and many more.
- The first Complete Streets projects went into construction this year.
It takes many WSDOT and partner staff to make these successes happen. The next time you’re out walking, biking or rolling on or along a state highway, consider how Complete Streets improve (or might improve) your experience there.
Register for the 2026 Bike Walk Roll Summit
Many of us share hopes for what transportation in Washington state could be like in the future. But how do we make those multimodal visions reality?
That's the question at the center of the next Bike Walk Roll Summit, hosted by Cascade Bicycle Club and Washington Bikes with support from WSDOT. This year's theme for the largest annual gathering of people working on, advocating for and using active transportation in Washington state will be held in-person from April 1-3, 2025, in Wenatchee, WA.
The biannual gathering, this year themed “Designing the Future We Want,” brings together advocates, city, county, state and tribal government engineers and planners, and others to turn best practices in safe streets design into reality. Join us to gain new insights from keynote speakers, dive into learning through hands-on mobile workshops, participate in interactive panels and make meaningful peer connections.
Registration price goes up February 1, 2026, so register now to get the best rates.
5+ Things to Read/Watch/Hear
Trainings, Conferences, Webinars
We add new trainings as we find them, so the list changes with every issue. Some of these offer continuing education credits. All times are shown in Pacific Standard Time.
All items are webinars unless a location is noted.
December
- Dec. 3, 12 noon: Prioritizing People at Signalized Intersections (NACTO) For staff at NACTO member agencies only. Follow-Up workshops are also available, and the link here goes to a series of trainings.
- Dec. 3, 12:30 p.m.: 2025 U.S. Federal Policy Webinar - 4th quarter (Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP))
- Dec. 4 and Dec. 11, 12 noon: Working Together to Make Meaningful Change: A Two-Part Community Engagement Workshop for Safe Routes to School (Safe Routes Partnership)
- Dec. 9, 11 a.m.: Introducing Street Scanner for traffic safety: A new dashboard helping small cities & counties act fast (StreetLight)
- Dec. 10, 11 a.m.: Road Safey Champion Program: Pursuing Transportation and Positive Health Outcomes for Everyone (NCRRS)
- Dec. 10, 11 a.m.: Designing Safe Streets: The Latest (America Walks)
- Dec. 11, 9 a.m.: Workshop: Safe Streets and Roads for All (Local Infrastructure Hub – The United State Conference of Mayors, National League of Cities and other partners)
- Dec. 11, 10 a.m.: Moab Trail Ambassador Program: Education and Promotion of Responsible Recreation (American Trails - donations appreciated)
- Dec. 16, 11 a.m.: Road Safety Champion Program: Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool (NCRRS)
- Dec. 17, 12 noon: Building Capacity and Engagement Through Community Transportation Academies (APBP - Fee)
January
Save the Date (The following events typically require registration, fees, etc.)
- Mar. 24 - 26: National Bike Summit (Washington, DC, League of American Bicyclists)
- Apr. 1 - 3: Bike, Walk, Roll Summit (Wenatchee, WA, Cascade Bicycle Club and partners). Early bird deadline: January 31.
- Apr.14 - 16: 2026 Sustainable Trails Conference (Boise, ID, Professional TrailBuilders Association)
- Apr.19 - 21: 2026 Lifesavers Conference on Roadway Safety (Baltimore, MD, Lifesavers Conference, Inc.)
- May 11 - 14: 2026 National Outdoor Recreation Conference (Duluth, MN, Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals)
Grant and funding opportunities
Present, publish and participate
Calls for papers/presentations/abstracts:
Calls for applications/expressions of interest/nominations:
Research and resources
We share new papers, established databases, thoughtful essays, and even older research that was ahead of its time. If these are helpful to your existing work or spark a new project: Email WSDOT...@wsdot.wa.gov to let us know!
If you read this far, thank you! You're finding something of value here and you know someone else who should receive this kind of news. Forward WSDOT Walk and Roll to others and share the subscription link on social media (tag it #WSDOTactive).
Hannah Weinberger
Communication Lead, WSDOT Active Transportation Division
hannah.w...@wsdot.wa.gov
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