Latanya Byrd-Attaway, education administrator and cofounder of Families for Safe Streets Greater Philadelphia, has died at 58
“How many times and how many people have to die before we all come together to do something?” she told The Inquirer in 2018.
Latanya Byrd-Attaway, 58, of Philadelphia, cofounder of the Greater Philadelphia chapter of Families for Safe Streets, board member of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, longtime director of student financial services at Orleans Technical College, mentor, and volunteer, died Tuesday, June 17, of complications from a head condition at Jefferson Abington Hospital.
A graduate of Murrell Dobbins High School and Peirce College, Mrs. Byrd-Attaway was born and reared in North Philadelphia. She met her future husband, Kenneth Attaway, on Gratz Street when she was 11, got her first job at McDonald’s at 14, and worked for the last 25 years helping students navigate the financial aid administration at Orleans Technical College on Red Lion Road.
In 2013, her niece and three grandnephews were killed by a speeding driver as they crossed Roosevelt Boulevard, and she was motivated to cofound the Philadelphia chapter of Families for Safe Streets. Since then, FSS, the Bicycle Coalition, and other groups have prompted city, state, and federal officials to significantly improve on-street infrastructure and traffic enforcement.
“How many times and how many people have to die before we all come together to do something?” she told The Inquirer in 2018.
In 2023, she said: “There was nothing I could do to bring them back. But there was something I could do to make sure that they did not die in vain.”
Colleagues at Families for Safe Streets said in a tribute: “Latanya turned unimaginable grief into tireless advocacy.”
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She became an expert on red light and speed camera enforcement, parking-protected bike lanes, pedestrian safety, transit funding, and other transportation issues. She gained more than $200 million in funding for improvements on miles of city streets and spoke on a panel about road safety and equity at the White House in 2024.
Her signature achievement is the camera-based Automatic Speed Enforcement program on Roosevelt Boulevard, Broad Street, and other high-speed roads. The project started in 2018, and a report by The Inquirer found that accidents on Roosevelt Boulevard decreased 36% between 2019 and 2021.
She joined the board of the Bicycle Coalition in 2024, and colleagues there called her a “remarkable advocate and mentor” in a tribute. They said: “Her tireless work to permanently reduce motor vehicle speeding leaves a tremendous legacy of saved lives.”
She was quoted often in The Inquirer, Daily News, and other outlets, and wrote opinion pieces on traffic safety. “I never encountered someone with the courage and strength of Latanya Byrd,” former State Rep. John Taylor said in a tribute.
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She was hired at Orleans in 2000 and said on LinkedIn that her professional strengths were “budgeting, strategic planning, analytical skills, and coaching.”
She was certified by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and earned a quality improvement award from JEVS Human Services in 2009. “I truly believe in the model of making hope happen,” she said in a JEVS video.
In a LinkedIn recommendation, a colleague said: “Her upbeat personality and engaging personal style enable her to interact effectively with staff, students and clients.”
Her son Kenneth said: “My mom was the first soul I ever encountered and the most beautiful one I ever will.”
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Latanya Annis Byrd was born Feb. 5, 1967, in Philadelphia. She grew up with four sisters, attended Drexel University for a time, and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from Peirce in 2013.
She married Kenneth Attaway in 1988, and they had a daughter, Shanice, and sons Kenneth and Caleb. They lived in West Philadelphia, Olney, and Lawncrest most recently.
Mrs. Byrd-Attaway was creative and artistic. She drew, wrote poetry, and listened to music by Teena Marie and Andra Day.
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She liked to talk and gave good advice, her daughter said. She cooked for anybody and everybody. Her specialty was macaroni and cheese.
Often, she stopped to help people stranded on roads. In 2014, the city designated a new elevated crosswalk at Second Street and Roosevelt Boulevard as “Banks Way” in honor of her niece, Samara Banks, and three grandnephews.
“Her loss is immeasurable, but her legacy is enduring,” colleagues at the Bicycle Coalition said in a tribute. Her daughter said: “She was the light through a dark tunnel. She wasn’t just the calm within the storm. She was the bird that sang after the storm.”
In addition to her husband and children, Mrs. Byrd-Attaway is survived by her mother, Janice, five grandchildren, four sisters, one brother, and other relatives. A sister died earlier.
A celebration of her life was held July 3.
Donations in her name may be made to Families for Safe Streets and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, 1500 Walnut St., Suite 1107, Philadelphia, Pa. 19102.