Read the following passage about safer streets and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 23 to 30.
Walking is a great way to get around. For short trips, for exercise, or just for fun, walking can be better than driving or riding. But in many cities, walking can also be hazardous. Cars, trucks, and motorcycles are a danger to pedestrians, and sometimes there are accidents.
David Engwicht, an urban thinker from Brisbane, Australia, wants to do something about this. His book, Reclaiming Our Cities and Towns, has a simple message: We need to take back our streets and make them better places for walking.
In the past, Engwicht says, streets belonged to everybody. Children played there, and people walked freely to work or to stores. But today, most city engineers design streets for vehicles. People stay inside buildings to get away from the crowded sidewalks, the noisy streets, and the dangerous traffic. Unfortunately, this gives them less contact with their neighbors.
Many cities are working to make their streets safer for pedestrians. There are new crosswalks on the streets and more traffic lights and bicycle lanes. The city of Florence, Italy, only allows cars and buses with special permits to drive on its historic city streets. In Boston, US, the Slow Streets Program gives some neighborhoods more stop signs and a 20 mph (32 kph) speed limit.
Engwicht travels the world, helping people think differently about pedestrians, streets, and neighborhoods. Whether we live in a small town or a city with a population in the millions, he says we should think of streets as our “outdoor living room”. Changing the traffic is just the beginning.
If cities continue these efforts, the future may bring pedestrian-friendly streets where walking will be an even better form of transportation than it is now.