Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced that she has introduced the Stopping Threats on Pedestrians (STOP) Act in the U.S. Senate. The STOP Act would create a new grant program at the U.S. Department of Transportation to fund the installation of traffic barriers, including bollards, jersey barriers, and planters, that are designed to keep vehicles away from bicycle paths, sidewalks, pedestrian plazas, and walkways. This bill will provide local governments with more funding to be better prepared to prevent acts of terror on pedestrians and bicyclists like the New York City attack and others around the world. This bill is a companion to the bipartisan House bill, H.R. 4051, which was introduced earlier this month by Representatives Adriano Espaillat (D-NY-13) and Rep. Daniel Donovan (R-NY-11).
“New Yorkers have proven over and over again that they are resilient and will not let a cowardly act of terror change who we are. But we have to remain vigilant and learn the lessons from this attack to strengthen our infrastructure for the future,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Providing adequate funding to install traffic barriers throughout cities across the country is a commonsense bipartisan measure that would help protect pedestrians and bicyclists from these kinds of hateful acts. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to support this legislation that will keep our cities safer.”
The Stopping Threats on Pedestrians (STOP) Act does the following:
- Creates a new U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) grant program to provide grants to states and local governments for installing traffic barriers, including bollards, jersey barriers, and planters.
- Authorizes $50 million annually over the next 10 years to fund the grant program.
- Helps cities like New York cover the high cost of projects that prevent terrorist attacks involving vehicles being used to harm pedestrians and bicyclists.
Full text of the bill can be found here.