Can art improve roadway safety? A report released in March by Sam Schwartz Consulting in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies examined the impact of art in the streetscape by comparing historical crash rates and real-time behavior of motorists and pedestrians at 22 “asphalt art” sites before and after the projects were installed, with illuminating results.

The Asphalt Art Safety Study is the latest addition to Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Asphalt Art Initiative, which began in 2019 with a how-to guide for communities to install artwork in streetscapes, sidewalks, and crosswalks. The safety study aimed to research the safety impact of public art installed in streets. Examples of asphalt art include intersection murals, crosswalk art, painted plazas, and sidewalk extensions.

Some of the study’s major findings include:

• 50% drop in traffic crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists
• 37% drop in crashes leading to injuries
• 27% increase in drivers yielding to pedestrians with the right-of-way
• 25% drop in potentially dangerous conflicts between drivers and pedestrians

Though there has been considerable public feedback, anecdotal evidence, and analyses of individual locations indicating that asphalt art can have these traffic-calming benefits and encourage safer behavior, the Asphalt Art Safety Study aimed to provide in-depth research to broadly highlight how the arts can be used to provide safer transportation passageways. 

To download a copy of the study or learn more about the Asphalt Art Initiative, visit asphaltart.bloomberg.org.

Pictured: “14 Movements: A Symphony in Color and Words” by lead artist Mat Tomezsko, commissioned by Mural Arts Philadelphia. Photo by Steve Weinik.