Call for Nominations: Golden Shoe Awards
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To encourage a better balance between people and cars, PEDS honors outstanding projects, places and people who have contributed significantly toward making metro  Atlanta safer and more accessible for pedestrians.
We need your help identifying potential award winners. Projects for consideration must be completed or almost completed during the past 12 months or be part of an ongoing program. Nomination forms are available online as Word or PDF files. Nominations must be received in PEDS' office by Friday, September 24.
Awardees will be recognized during the fall at PEDS' 11th annual
Golden Shoe Awards Celebration. The date and location will be announced soon.
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Liz Coyle Joins PEDS as Pedestrian Safety Program Manager
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 PEDS has hired a new Pedestrian Safety Program Manager, Liz Coyle. Liz is a long-time neighborhood leader and public school advocate. She also helped found the BeltLine Network, a diverse alliance of groups interested in the planning, development, and maintenance of the Beltline, and served as the citizen representative on the board of directors of Atlanta Beltline Inc. Liz also has tremendous experience as a communications consultant.
Liz takes over responsibilities managed during the past five years by Michael Orta. Beginning next week, Michael will join the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity. As a contract consultant, he'll provide training and technical assistance to states that received federal stimulus funding to help prevent chronic disease. We're pleased that Michael's new position will enable him to  promote pedestrian-friendly policy changes throughout the country.
Thank you, Michael for leaving a terrific legacy, including PEDS' online hazard reporting tool and interactive website. He also played a critical role in improving pedestrian-related content in the Georgia Drivers Manual, promoting pedestrian-friendly traffic enforcement and convincing DeKalb County to install HAWK signals on Buford Highway.
Liz's communications skills, advocacy experience and enthusiasm for creating walkable communities make us confident she can pick up the ball and run with it.
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PBS Video Spotlights Buford Highway
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A recent national TV feature called Blueprint America, a PBS initiative exploring the state of the nation's infrastructure, spotlighted Buford Highway, Georgia's deadliest road for pedestrians. Watch the 8-minute video here.
Michael Orta, PEDS' Director of Community Education connected reporters with government officials and people walking on Buford Highway, provided crash data and background information and gave outstanding interviews.
T he video focused attention on what PBS reporter Jon Larson called a "Great American Mismatch": suburban roads and the people who live along them. Contrary to stereotypes about inner city poverty, 85 percent of metro Atlanta's lower income residents live in the suburbs. Buford Highway was built for cars. "Problem is," Larson said, "many people here can't afford them."
The video also addresses the grim prospects facing aging adults who hope to continue living in Atlanta's suburbs. "Millions of older Americans living in car-dependent communities," Larson said, "could be left isolated, unable to get even to the grocery store."
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