Why is the city responding to the "pedestrian problem" with force?

Do policymakers really think police citing jaywalkers is going to lessen the dangers for pedestrians?

The "carrot and stick" approach simply does not work for this problem.

The one thing policymakers are not doing is the obvious — they do not design for pedestrian traffic. It is as though moving vehicles is their mission; moving people is just an afterthought.

Crosswalks are seldom put where people need to cross, but rather where they will be the least bothersome to vehicular traffic. Police rarely, if ever, stop a vehicle that rolls into an intersection when a pedestrian is in the crosswalk. And the law allowing right turns on red lights — designed only to maintain vehicular traffic flow — is probably the prime example of a design that is extremely prejudicial against pedestrians.

Why do vehicles always have precedence over pedestrians? This mindset is the root of the real problem. It is our car-centered mindset.

What would a different, human-centered mindset plan and design be for our city?

First, these designers and planners would walk.

Changing a mindset is not easy. If our officials and policymakers are not walking on our streets, riding the bus and crossing through dangerous crosswalks themselves, how can they even know the dangers and concerns of pedestrians?

I would challenge all transportation planners (elected or appointed) to give up their vehicles for a week and experience the life of the majority of people here.

Another initiative would be to require a pedestrian representative be assigned to participate on every transportation committee, team, office, organization or decision-making process statewide.

There are some very simple changes we could make.

First, we need to acknowledge that mixing pedestrian traffic with vehicular traffic is an outdated and deadly policy.

All crosswalks at intersections should be "Waikiki-ized" — i.e., all vehicular traffic must be stopped from all directions (not even allowed to turn) so that pedestrians can cross in any direction (even diagonally) with no vehicular threat.

Secondly, more mid-block crosswalks need to be approved.

It is absolutely inarguable that they protect pedestrians better than crosswalks at intersections (where cars are turning from all directions and pedestrian crossings often take more time than the lights allow).

The third change is the hardest: Sidewalks need to be given the same level of consideration as roads.

Moving pedestrians has to be considered a transportation issue. One look at Honolulu's sidewalks would reveal problems far worse than potholes. People rarely have space to even pass another person comfortably; there are cracks, gaps and obstacles that trip the elderly and block wheelchairs; cars are often allowed to block sidewalks by parking on them; many crosswalks and driveways are made even more dangerous by illegally parked vehicles.

Even schoolchildren are forced to walk in the street to avoid messes. Why no sidewalks? The city dictates that landowners should create and maintain sidewalks. Wouldn't that be an odd way to build and maintain roads?

I have to confess, I wrote about almost all of these concerns (and more) more than 25 years ago in a commentary for The Advertiser.

Of all of my suggestions at that time, only one was enacted — we now have (some) "zebra striping" on our crosswalks.

I also wrote — more than 25 years ago — about the problem of "mindset." At that time I was told by city planners that we couldn't enact any changes because we followed California's examples of pedestrian planning. The idea boggled my mind.

We are not California; we do not have 'unlimited' land to continue paving over for vehicles.

Now is the time for ALL of Hawai'i's leaders — from the top down — to commit to serving our real needs, the time to commit to changing mindsets.

Pedestrian safety is just one problem related to our vehicle-oriented culture. Aside from facing the rising cost of gas and the looming shortages, we are also seeing the devastating cost to the environment.

We have turned our back on the 'aina — but we can change that. We can commit to solving these problems now; we do not need to leave a mess for our children and grandchildren.

It is time for everyone in Hawai'i to re-examine our love of — and addiction to — these vehicles we drive. We are creative people. We can design a better future. Our mindset need not be imprisoned in 20th-century mistakes. We can be the change.

Sus Shawhan lives in Waimanalo, teaches environmental science at Heald College Honolulu and uses TheBus as her main mode of transportation. She wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.