COLUMBUS — A new plan says boosting walking and biking opportunities for Ohioans could save billions of dollars.
The Walk.Bike.Ohio plan was developed over the past two years by the state Department of Transportation.
The plan found that existing trips by foot or bike can save Ohioans $12.7 billion in transportation and environmental costs over 20 years and even more if such trips increase by just 1%.
The plan outlines what Ohio has to do to improve walking and biking as a transportation option, Caitlin Harley, the agency’s active transportation manager, said.
The plan also says active transportation can help reduce Ohio’s obesity rate.
The plan grew out of a need to address the changing transportation habits of Americans.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, the number of 16-year-olds with driver’s licenses fell from about 46 percent in 1983 to just over 24 percent in 2014 and, in Ohio, the number of 16- and 17-year old drivers fell 17% between 2016 and 2020.
Pandemic changed driving patterns
While the number of vehicles on roadways plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the auto club AAA found the number of traffic fatalities increased to their highest levels in more than a decade.
“It’s counter-intuitive to see the rate of traffic deaths spike when so many people we redriving less often,” said Kimberly Schwind, AAA Ohio senior public affairs manager.
While ODOT says passenger car traffic fell by 48% in April 2020 and averaged 17% below 2019 levels through the second half of the year, traffic fatalities rose 6.4%
Weekday traffic counts in the state are still about 5% below 2019 levels, Schwind said.