Monday, January 12, 2015

Strategic Framework for Increasing Walking in California


California Walks is building support for its Strategic Framework for a walkable California. A collaborative effort of the advocates from across the state, the Framework outlines some ambitious goals for California, including:
  • By 2020, every California walks at least 30 minutes each day
  • By 2020, deaths and serious injuries among seniors and children who walk are reduced by half
  • By 2016, California adopts a Vision Zero policy to eliminate traffic fatalities in 10 years
  • By 2020, Active Transportation Program Funding is tripled
With five years or less to achieve this vision, California Walks will need plenty of help. You can help spread the word about the Strategic Framework and volunteer for one of the Action Teams here.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Newest self-driving prototype has built-in crosswalk

Photo courtesy Mercedes-Benz
 
 
Mercedes-Benz is getting a lot of buzz for introducing the "F 015 Luxury in Motion" concept car at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. Debates over the appeal of the vehicles' look aside (Wired describes them as "bars of soap on the outside and sleek, vaguely European conference rooms inside"), the cars--do we still call them cars?--represent yet another step toward what many now see as an inevitable future where computers do all the driving.
 
Is this good for pedestrians?
 
I've long said that the safety benefits of driverless vehicles outweigh any potential costs. Driverless cars don't get drunk or distracted by their cell phones. Not only do they recognize and react to a pedestrian in front of them, the Mercedes model can even project a real-time crosswalk and pleasantly direct the person to cross. Forget safety, imagine the cost savings in crosswalk paint.
 
There is a potential downside, of course. Driverless cars will make driving easier and more appealing, and that could lead to an even more auto-dominated streetscape. Cars provide amazing mobility, but they don't over the health and social benefits that active transportation does. As we move toward a time when cars do their own driving, we need to take care that "car potato" doesn't become the new "couch potato."