A new study released Monday shows that although the New York metro area is the third safest in the country for pedestrians, about one-third of people killed in traffic accidents were walking.

According to the report by the Transportation for America advocacy group, for every one million New York metropolitan area residents, about 33 died while on foot from 2007 to 2008.

While the pedestrian death rate is almost three times higher than the national average, the study acknowledges that with so many people walking to work, the overall danger to pedestrians in the city is relatively low.

The local advocacy group says the state only could save more lives if it spent more money on pedestrian safety.

Only one percent of federal transportation funds is devoted to pedestrians.

A spokesman for the State Department of Transportation says the state is pursuing pedestrian projects despite a difficult financial situation.

According to the study, the only cities safer than New York are Boston and Minneapolis.

City DOT officials say the city reported dramatic improvements in safety in 2008.

Meanwhile, more New Yorkers are riding their bikes to work.

The number of bicycle commuters is up by 26 percent over last year.

The increase comes after the city nearly doubled the number of bike lanes in the last three years to more than 425 miles.

In their annual effort to highlight safe riding, transportation officials yesterday handed out free bike lights to cyclists on their evening commutes as they left the Williamsburg and Queensboro Bridges.