During a Senate Environment Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) asked Safe Routes Partnership Managing Director Marisa Jones about road safety for schoolchildren.
00:00expired. We're going to, since we have the time, and Senator Markey has now joined us,
00:03so we'll be calling on him in a little bit. In fact, if you're ready, I'll call on you
00:08right now. Otherwise, okay, well, then with that, recognize Senator Markey for his questions.
00:14Thank you, Mr. Chairman. For decades, the Safe Roots to School programs has made it
00:21to bike to school by redesigning road infrastructure near schools and raising awareness about road
00:30safety in communities. Now, I know it's important because when I was five years old, I was hit by
00:35a car, turned into a projectile, and my fingers never did quite come back together again after
00:42landing because you're trying to protect your head in that incredible concussion which you're
00:46going to get. So it really hurts, by the way, when you get hit by a car, honest to goodness.
00:51Does that hurt? That's something you'll never forget. And so I became a big, obviously,
00:57I became a big auto safety guy, big street safety guy. I was chasing Charlie Cadero and
01:02Bobby Olson. They were nine. I was five. I grew up in a deregulated childhood, okay, if you know
01:08what I'm saying. I'm three streets away from my house, and I'm five. And although states have significant
01:13flexibility in how they fund this program, they often don't have a statewide coordinator to help
01:19facilitate projects, particularly in rural areas where communities may have fewer resources
01:24to carry out this program. In Massachusetts, we have had a statewide safe routes coordinator
01:30for over 20 years, shaping a statewide vision for the program and providing rural and urban communities
01:36alike with guidance to implement these life-saving programs. Ms. Jones, do you agree that the Massachusetts
01:42approach to the Safe Routes to School program helps keep students safe when traveling to
01:48and from school? Thank you so much, Senator Markey, and thanks for your leadership on the Safe
01:55Routes Improvement Act. Absolutely, we view the Massachusetts program as an exemplar in the nation.
02:01For 20 years, it has had that robust statewide coordination that helps communities all across the
02:07Commonwealth benefit from this life-saving program. And you spoke to Massachusetts' focus on rural
02:15communities. I want to speak to specifically why the Safe Routes to School coordinator position
02:20is so helpful at getting more rural communities involved in Safe Routes to School. Oftentimes,
02:26if there's a lesson learned, like here's how we do, sorry, I'm not, if there's a lesson learned,
02:32that if there's not a coordinator, it just stays with that community by themselves.
02:35In Massachusetts, the statewide Safe Routes to School coordinator created a series of rural case
02:41studies for Safe Routes to School programs so that they can be shared out and other rural communities
02:47don't have to reinvent the wheel learning how to access this program, learning how to deliver
02:52life-saving projects for their constituents. And Senator Kramer and I, we agree with you.
02:58We believe that a vision without a coordinator is a hallucination. So you need a coordinator. So that's
03:04why I'm proud to partner with Senator Kramer on the Safe Routes Improvement Act. Our legislation takes
03:09a lesson from both Massachusetts and North Dakota by requiring state departments of transportation
03:16to have a full-time coordinator for Safe Routes for School programming. Whether you're a child in
03:22North Dakota or in Massachusetts, you shouldn't have to worry about getting to school safety. And Mr. Orn,
03:29let's turn to another transportation issue related to North Dakota. North Dakota ranks second in the
03:34nation for the high-quality condition of its roads. Your state has achieved this impressive
03:39performance in part because it prioritizes maintaining its roads in a state of good repair,
03:45such as ensuring existing roads are smooth and pothole-free. Well-maintained roads allow travelers
03:51to avoid expensive and dangerous incidents such as flat tires, broken axles, and that makes roads safer
03:57for all road users and saves travelers money. So Mr. Orn, do you agree that prioritizing
04:05maintenance has led to a more affordable and efficient transportation system for North Dakota residents?
04:14Senator Markey, first I want to also echo your leadership on the Safe Routes Improvement Act.
04:20Appreciate that. In North Dakota, we have just over 1,000 employees, and over a third of them
04:29are dedicated to the maintenance of the roads. So we do have a, and they try to get out and maintain
04:33at least a third of the roads every year. So we do put a lot of effort into maintaining our roads,
04:39and then we try to program the projects at the right time. If you get the improvement down on the right
04:45time, then it's less improvements you have to make so you can go more with the maintenance project.
04:49that you talked about. But we also throw in some flair of some other major projects we need to do,
04:57shoulder widening, reconstructions, and all that type of stuff. But I believe I'm very proud of what
05:02North Dakota brings, as you mentioned, with the second in the nation, with our quality of our roads.
05:07And I invite everybody out to North Dakota, a great rural state.
05:11Yeah, and again, I'm looking forward to working with you. I think you have the right frame.
05:14North Dakota spends 94% of its highway dollars on maintenance, you know, just to make sure that
05:20they're there. And if I may just finish up my story. So now I'm out in the middle of the street.
05:25And I'm five years old. And again, a thousand pounds of steel, when it hits you, really hurts. So I'm there.
05:36I'm hurting. And all of a sudden, somebody picks me up, puts me in the backseat of the car, and they're driving 100 miles an hour up to the emergency room of the Malden Hospital.
05:44And there's two things your mother always tells you when you're a kid.
05:49Number one, if you're ever hit by a car, your phone number is MA40815. You're five years old.
05:56Number two, change your underpants every day, because if you're ever in an accident, I'm going to be so embarrassed
06:01if you are wearing dirty underpants.
06:04Okay. So now the doctor says, what's your phone number? MA40815. So now I can hear her. Mrs. Markey, we have your boy here.
06:12Eddie, if you give us permission to operate. But the nurse is just starting to unbuckle my pants.
06:18And I know I haven't changed my underpants in five days. I'm five years old.
06:21And so I'm trying with my fingers to hold on. And my last memory is just this chloroform coming on my face.
06:29And I'm out. And I'm out. Anyway, I'm 25 years old. I'm running for state representative.
06:36I'm in my third year at Boston College Law School. And it's five minutes of eight.
06:41And I'm on the other side of town from where I live.
06:45And this guy comes up to me and says, we hit by a car when you were five years old.
06:48I said, yeah. Did somebody pick you up, put you in the backseat of the car, drive you over to the university?
06:52I said, yeah. Did you ever wonder who that guy was? I said, yes.
06:55He says, well, I was a fireman. I was sitting on my porch. So I just did that.
07:00And you know what? My wife and I, we were talking.
07:03It sounds like you've turned out okay. So I'm going to go in and be your last vote tonight.
07:07You know what Trump's in election? Getting hit by a car.
07:10So the only thing I'm thinking about, I'm in the Wayback Machine right now.
07:13You know, thinking about that kid who got hit, right?
07:16And how fortunate I was now just to be there.
07:19And that's why I thank all of you for all the work you're doing to try to make roads safer, especially for kids in school.
