This Week on Foot

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Photo courtesy of the Vancouver Sun

This week is full of high-tech solutions to pedestrian problems, as in Canada Victoria, Vancouver turn to cameras to monitor pedestrian movement, Toyota Making Car That Can Automatically Steer Away From Pedestrians, and in Japan the Transport ministry joins automakers to standardize pedestrian safety technology. But there are some concerns about some pedestrian technology, like the pedestrian countdown signals that some people say make Pedestrians race against clock.

Meanwhile, it's more low-tech crossings that are getting attention in other towns, like in Texas where a there's a Pedestrian crosswalk across Bagdad finally open, or the South Surrey crossings to get pedestrian-controlled traffic lights. Still, Pedestrian safety remains a concern despite push for crosswalk blinkers--and speaking of crossings, can you believe that the Lankershim Boulevard pedestrian bridge price tag tops $27 million? 

And while we're on the subject of unbelievable, some Parents angry as pedestrian access to school is closed, and a Pedestrian dies in La Habra collision (thought sadly, that probably is pretty believable). On a more positive note, this week LA mayor Garcetti Launches “Great Streets Initiative”, Arlington Strikes Walking Gold in a River of Highways and Pentagon Sprawl, Street Parties, Walkability Threaten To Make ATL 'Cool', and according to one Study: Decatur's Walkability is Linked to Economic Success. In fact, according to Jeff Speck: America Has So Many Problems. Walkability Solves Most of Them.. Is there anything walkability can't do?

Finally this week, in the view of the NAACP: A Walkable Built Environment Is a “Premier Civil Rights Issue”.

Oh, and one more thing: What Do Pedestrian Traffic Icons Say About Your Culture?

The Greatest Places in the Country

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Photo courtesy of grandparkla.org

Or at least, some of the greatest. The American Planning Association has released its 2013 list of Great Places in America, a mix of streets, neighborhoods, and public spaces that (in their words), "...offer better choices for where and how people work and live. They are enjoyable, safe, and desirable. They are places where people want to be — not only to visit, but to live and work every day." 

Grand Park (pictured above) is the only place in Southern California that made the cut this year, although there have been local designees in past years (the Hillcrest neighborhood in San Diego, Santa Monica Beach). 

You can take a look at the criteria for becoming an officially Great Place on the website. A brief glance at the guidelines for neighborhoods gives a you a sense of the just how much needs to come together to create a truly amazing space, from road design to runoff management to retailers--in other words, all those same little details that create walkability. (It also gives you a sense of how much us planners love our jargon, but that's another story.)

Not surprisingly for an award selected by an association of planners, the list of previously-nominated great places highlights the role that urban planning plays in creating, or more often preserving, beloved urban spaces. Turns out it takes an astonishing number of laws, guidelines, and crafty funding mechanisms to nurture the country's best places--few of which would be in place without the activists (pedestrian or otherwise) who agitate for those rules to be created...something to keep in mind the next time someone asks you to participate on a committee or send a letter to your senator.

October 12 is Regional Walk Day!

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Our family will be walking through the woods this weekend, but if yours in town check out one of these neighborhood walks sponsored by WalkSanDiego:

Chula Vista: 9:30 a.m., Meet at Rice Elementary School, SE corner of L Street 4th Avenue
El Cajon: 9:30 a.m., Meet at Lexington Elementary School, 533 S 1st Street
Encinitas: 3:00 p.m., Meet at San Dieguito Academy, back parking lot, at intersection of Nardo and Melba Escondido: 9:30 a.m., Meet at Maple Street Plaza
La Mesa: 9:00 a.m., Meet at Starbucks, 8138 La Mesa Blvd
Lemon Grove: 9:00 a.m., Meet at Firemen's Park, intersection of Central Avenue and School Lane
San Diego: Grant Hill neighborhood, 9:00 a.m., Meet at Market Street & 25th Street
San Diego: Mission Hills neighborhood, 9:30 a.m. Meet at Gelato Vero Caffe, 3753 India Street
San Diego: City Heights and Mid-City neighborhoods, 2:00 p.m., Meet at Park De La Cruz, 3901 Landis Street, in front of the restrooms
Vista: 9:30 a.m., Meet at the Avo Playhouse in Vista Village, 303 Main Street

Sign up and get more info here. 

Today is International Walk to School Day

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Check out this site for info about nearly 500 events at California schools. Don't see your school listed? There's information about how to start a program at your school on the website as well. 

San Diego Mayoral Candidate Speaker Series

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It's back to square one in the search for a San Diego mayor, but hopefully not for pedestrians in our city. If you'd like to learn more about what some of the leading candidates have to say about walking, biking, and livable neighborhoods, check out one of these upcoming mayoral forums, many of them conveniently held at local breweries. Register here. 

Cool Ped Stuff #27: Walk [Your City]

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You might remember last year's story about the graduate student in Raleigh who tried to promote walkability in his city by posting his own wayfinding signs in strategic locations. The City balked at the idea at first, arguing it violated sign regulations, but eventually recognized the importance of the idea and adopted the sign program as its own.

Following its success at home, WalkRaleigh used Kickstarter to fund Walk [Your City], a website that allows anyone to create wayfinding signs for their own neighborhood. I tried it out myself and created the sign above--the whole process was super easy and took me about five minutes to complete. Once you've made your signs, you can order them through the site for for about $25 each (including shipping, materials for mounting the sign, and associated web-based directions). 

This Week on Foot

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Photo courtesy of Atlantic Cities

(Maybe that should be "This Last Four Months on Foot, but bear with me here).

Fall hasn't hit us here in Southern California so much, but nonetheless Fall weather is walking season, making October 'Pedestrian Safety Month--and just in time, as a Pedestrian fatally struck in Torrance is identified. Pedestrian Safety Efforts Should Be Aimed at Drivers

Meanwhile, we're wondering if it's The Beginning of the End for Level of Service? And while we're asking questions, Can Victoria wait 243 years for more bike lanes and pedestrian paths? And, How does Perth rate in the walkability stakes? One place that doesn't rate so high is Pakistan, where Extortion prevents Saddar from turning into pedestrian zone. And we think we have it bad here in the US...

Actually, there's a lot of positive new around the country this week. There's a Pedestrian & Bike Trail Proposed Linking Little Rock And Hot Springs, in Texas Dallas’ long-in-the-works Complete Streets manual is, at last, complete, and the City Of Dickinson Looks To Fix Pedestrian Problems. We've also learned How One Person Sparked a Complete Streets Movement in Cranford, and that 400 Missouri State Students To Help Assess Walkability Throughout Springfield.

Of course, the week wouldn't be complete without some more sobering news, like how a Walking tour of East Innes, Long streets reveals problems for pedestrians, or Montgomery County still a ways from ‘walkable,’ pedestrian safety data shows--but overall Americans are recognizing the importance of walkability, like in New York where Two-Thirds of New York City Voters Say They Want Better Bike and Pedestrian Infrastructure.

On the other hand, Americans View Walking as Good for Health But Many Aren't Walking Enough to Realize Health Benefits, and 40 percent of Americans believe their neighborhoods are not walkable. Fortunately, there's A New Walking Movement to Get America Back on Its Feet, A new way to think about ‘walkability’ in the Valley, and we're even Learning from Las Vegas.

And on a final, lighter, note: this week we found out it's not just American people who love to walk--it's popular in the animal kingdom too, like with this Pedestrian pig hogs the spotlight.

Cool Ped Stuff #26 - Superheroes

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Photo courtesy of Peatonito

If you've ever had to dash out into the street to get around a car parked across the sidewalk, you've probably wished for Superman strength so you could just pick that car up and toss it out of the way. If you lived in Mexico City, you might just get your wish. As reported in Atlantic Cities and elsewhere, Jorge Cáñez (aka Peatónito, or "Little Pedestrian" in Spanish) and his buddies regularly hit the streets in Lucha Libre attire, blocking cars, painting crosswalks, and generally fighting the dark forces that impinge on the city's walkability.

If you'd like to hear more about Peatónito and his exploits, you can check out his Facebook page here. 

Curb Ramp Guidance from the Feds

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Photo courtesy of the City of San Francisco

All cities know that their sidewalks need to comply with the the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but often they are less clear about how to address retrofits of existing sidewalks. Most existing sidewalks were built prior to adoption of ADA standards, and lack necessities like curb ramps. This new guidance from the FHWA clarifies when curb ramps should be installed as part of roadway repair projects. Here are some key excerpts:

Where must curb ramps be provided?Generally, curb ramps are needed wherever a sidewalk or other pedestrian walkway crosses a curb. Curb ramps must be located to ensure a person with a mobility disability can travel from a sidewalk on one side of the street, over or through any curbs or traffic islands, to the sidewalk on the other side of the street. However, the ADA does not require installation of ramps or curb ramps in the absence of a pedestrian walkway with a prepared surface for pedestrian use. Nor are curb ramps required in the absence of a curb, elevation, or other barrier between the street and the walkway.

When is resurfacing considered to be an alteration?Resurfacing is an alteration that triggers the requirement to add curb ramps if it involves work on a street or roadway spanning from one intersection to another, and includes overlays of additional material to the road surface, with or without milling. Examples include, but are not limited to the following treatments or their equivalents: addition of a new layer of asphalt, reconstruction, concrete pavement rehabilitation and reconstruction, open-graded surface course, micro-surfacing and thin lift overlays, cape seals, and in-place asphalt recycling.

The Benefits of Landscaped Medians

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Photo courtesy of www.landscapeonline.com

Medians--especially medians with trees--enhance the pedestrian environment by providing beauty, shade, and a refuge for people crossing busy streets. Yet car-oriented roadway design standards can sometimes conflict with pedestrian-friendly design goals, sacrificing pedestrian amenities in the name of "safety." This was the case in Washington state, where cities that wanted to create landscaped medians featuring trees were thwarted by Department of Transportation standards that forbid any fixed objects (like trees) in a roadway's "clear zone."

In order to allow a deviation from DOT standards in certain contexts, a series of studies were conducted to evaluate the impact of adding small trees to a road's median. The results, the entirety of which you can read in this report, show the adding small trees to a median doesn't significantly increase crash rates, crash severity, or injury crash rates.

From the study:

It appears that adding small trees to landscaped medians does not have a detrimental effect on safety. Installation of medians and access control as part of a more general increase in access control generally result in a decrease in midblock crashes, but an increase in crashes occurring at intersections where turning movements are allowed, in large part because turns are concentrated at those locations. These increases are a fraction of the midblock gains, resulting in improved safety overall. 

In other words, adding small trees to a median doesn't have an effect on roadway safety, but the median itself increases overall safety on the roadway--good news for both pedestrians and drivers. 

This Week on Foot

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Photo courtesy of www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com

This week we're excited about the possibility of Legislation Would Mandate Complete Streets Nationwide, but until then cities across the country are working on implementing complete streets on their own, like in Alexandria where Complete Streets program targets needs of walkers, drivers, in Ann Arbor where Planning Group Highlights Pedestrian Issues, a new Comprehensive Pedestrian Plan Aims to Develop “Walkable City” in Raleighor, or in the Complete Streets column: Bike, walkability of Nekoosa an advantage for future economic growth. Just remember, when it comes to Complete Streets: Burden of Proof on Opponents.

Speaking of burdens, this Tulsa Sidewalk Stories video series focuses on the city's poor walkability. Hopefully it will tell us more about Protecting the pedestrian without have to resort to Rare Pedestrian Bridge Considered In West Boca Where Girl Was Killed. And while some may say Distracted Walking Sending Pedestrians To The ER, we know it's actually cars that are sending them there. Looking for more about Solving pedestrian problems in a car culture? Check out this story about 'Accident' Or 'Collision': Why Don't Drivers Get Jailed For Killing Pedestrians?

New York is one place doing a lot to address its car culture, as we see from these Eyes on the Street: New Pedestrian Spaces Pop in Financial District. And if you're Lost? New York Pedestrian Maps Are Coming.

Finally this week, in a Housing Market Study: Idahoans Demanding Walkable Urbanism, and 8 – 80 Cities' Gil Penalosa promotes 'walkability' as key to successful public transit. And it's not just public transit that could benefit. According to Jeff Speck to City Leaders: Walkability May Save Us From Just About Everything.

Congratulations, George!

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In 2010 we hosted George Throop for a night as he completed the west coast portion of his (walking) journey from Washington State to Washington, D.C. After nearly three years and thousands of miles on foot, George made it to his destination last weekend! Along the way he inspired hundreds of people to think about physical activity and walk a little more in their daily lives. You can read more about his amazing accomplishment on his website Enjoy the Walk.

Will Pedestrian Countdown Signals Suffer the Same Fate as Marked Crosswalks?

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A recent study from University of Toronto PhD student Sacha Kapoor and Arvind Magesan evaluated the impact of installing pedestrian countdown timers at various intersections throughout Toronto over a four-year period. After much parsing of data, the study concluded that installing countdown signals resulted in a five-percent increase in crashes versus intersections without the special signals. But there are nuances to that conclusion:

"The data reveals starkly different effects for collisions involving pedestrians and those involving automobiles only. Although they reduce the number of pedestrians struck by automobiles, countdowns increased the number of collisions between automobiles. We show that countdowns cause fewer minor injuries among pedestrians for every pedestrian on the road and more rear ends among cars for every car on the road."

Further, while the the countdown signals increase crashes overall, at the most dangerous intersections the installation of countdown signals reduced crashes and made the intersections safer.

Unfortunately, nuances don't fit nicely into a soundbite. If you scroll through headlines of recent stories covering this study, you'll see two themes emerge:

1. Pedestrian countdown timers cause more crashes
2. Pedestrian countdown timers safer for pedestrians, hurt drivers

Neither of these statements is false, but they also don't tell the whole story about the effects of the signals. More importantly, if you're a policymaker faced with a decision about whether or not to install countdown signals, they could easily lead you to the wrong conclusion. 

This Week on Foot

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We start out the week with the tepid announcement that Bike and pedestrian enhancements don’t necessarily hurt business--which is great, since so many cities are working on them this year, from Chicago, where a in the New Chicago Plan: Pedestrians Come First to Canada where the City of Montreal launches pedestrian safety campaign, while in Phoenix's Walkability Gamble Might Actually Pay Off, San Francisco rolling out plan to improve pedestrian safety, and a new Plan would make West Shore more pedestrian friendly. In other words Sidewalks -- now there's a vision.

At least, in some places...they're still Running Out of Sidewalk Near Lake Murrary, and Sherman Oaks Ranks Average in the Walkability Ratings. For that matter, Austin Ranks Low in Walkability Survey. At least Bellingham Stands Out On Walkability.

Other places, not so much--like in Encinitas, where a Pedestrian struck on Hwy 101 in Encinitas. Fortunately, across the country Police step up efforts to quell pedestrian- and cycling-related crashes, like in DELAWARE: Group formed to study rising pedestrian fatalities--and even in India, where
HC notice to State on plea to ensure pedestrian safety.

Speaking of efforts to improve pedestrian safety: Police Stings for Drivers Who Don't Yield in Crosswalks: Does It Really Work? And while we're on the topic, here's some Survey Results: Are San Diego Adults Driving Distracted? (I think that was a rhetorical question).

Finally, this week you can get a Sneak peek at the making of the island pedestrian walkway, or peruse ChoiceMaps: A New Way to Measure Neighborhoods from our friends at WalkScore.

courtesy of www.walkscore.com

 

Stay Sober, or Get in a Car

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Photo courtesy of Angela Denning-Barnes, KYUK

Alaska might be different from the rest of the country in a lot of ways, but when it comes to blaming problems with pedestrian safety on pedestrian behavior, it's just the same as everywhere else. Last week the small city of Bethel, AK made headlines for its proposal to amend its public decency ordinance to prohibit walking on public streets while intoxicated.

According to one city council member, "Public streets and roads, ice roads or highways, are very dangerous areas. They have a lot of fast-moving, big vehicles. A lot of foot traffic as well. To have an intoxicated person in those particular areas makes for an exponentially greater risk of harm not only to the person who’s intoxicated, but anyone who’s traveling on those roadways..."

We've heard this argument before, perhaps most memorably from the guys at Freakonomics, who raised a lot of eyebrows by suggesting, 

"Truly, if you're faced exactly with two choices, walking drunk or driving drunk, you absolutely should drive drunk."

Statistically, that's true (if you only care about your own safety, that is)--but that doesn't make it good policy. As I've explained, there are external costs associated with encouraging driving at the expense of walking. If walking while intoxicated is dangerous, it's probably also dangerous while sober. Making a law to forbid walking drunk might seem like the easy solution, but it neglects the true problems that pedestrians face. 

Cool Ped Stuff #26: The Stumblr

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This week's Golden Footprint awards highlighted a ton of inspiring projects, from the Mike Gotch Memorial Bike and Pedestrian Bridge in my neighborhood, to the City of La Mesa's Safe Routes to School program that uses an often-overlooked resource (older adults) to help ensure student safety on the way to and from school.

Photo courtesy of The Stumblr

But as a blogger I had special appreciation for the electronic activism, and clever title, of The Stumblr, which received special recognition for providing a platform to "showcase" San Diego's worst sidewalks (and for generating some national buzz about the sad state of our most important piece of pedestrian infrastructure). Brainchild of Voice of San Diego writer Liam Dillon, the site allows anyone to submit a photo of their favorite pedestrian debacle, which Dillon will then display prominently on the page. Judging by the dismay of the city councilmembers present at the awards ceremony, it might just be enough to generate some sidewalk improvements.

I wonder if it would work on the LA City Council?

Yes, there really is a sidewalk under this creative landscaping in Woodland Hills. 

This Week on Foot

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This week we learn that while Good health can be a walk in the park --not to mention The Link Between Kids Who Walk or Bike to School and Concentration--we still face The disturbing and sometimes tragic challenge of walking in America . Fortunately, all over the country people are working to address that challenge. In New Jersey Metuchen Announces New Program for Pedestrian Safety , while Pedestrian safety projects, funds in SF to shift to major streets . There's A pedestrian mall for The Triangle , a Pedestrian Wayfinding Initiative in Chinatown , and an Elaborate pedestrian tube proposed for Coronado Bay Bridge . In Florida Orlando to fund new pedestrian bridge at Universal , while in Santa Barbara COAST to Lead Eastside Walk of New Pedestrian Improvements on Milpas Street . Further south Complete Streets comes back to Texas Senate , and PB planners formulate aggressive project list for community’s future .

Still, there's plenty of danger out there. This week we consider what happens When cycling and pedestrian worlds collide . In Washington, DC the DDOT Releases Study of Bike and Pedestrian Crash Locations, and in Canada we find that Most vehicle-pedestrian collisions happen at intersections. Perhaps that's why a new Bill would ban pedestrian texting while crossing roads .

But eliminating distracted walking won't solve all pedestrian safety issues. We need to focus on the broader concept of walkability--which can be difficult because 'Walkability' factors of a city cover wide span . Still, Vibrant, Walkable Downtown Areas Make a Positive Difference in the Chicago Real Estate Market, Reports RE/MAX, so we need to keep trying. Towards that end, here's What We Can Learn About Walkability From Looking at Pictures .

Of course, walkability has it's naysayers: Living the walkability life is driving me crazy says one Canadian columnist. And elsewhere Eateries face $1m insurance for outdoor dining (which improves walkability), while AAA fights to keep unnecessary parking rules (which hurt walkability). Let's hope these folks are in the minority.

Have we lost all sense of "reason"?

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 Photo courtesy of the San Diego Historical Society

Here in San Diego there's been much moaning and groaning over a recent court decision that effectively quashed plans to remove vehicles from the Plaza de Panama in the heart of Balboa Park. As you can see from the picture above, the Plaza de Panama was once an unobstructed square surrounded by exhibits and green space. The square is still in place today, but it's not quite the pedestrian haven it once was.

Photo courtesy of www.voicefosandiego.org

After years of dodging cars to cross from one end of the park to the other, the civic-minded (and wealthy) founder of Qualcomm, Irwin Jacobs, decided enough was enough. He proposed a plan to remove vehicles from the Plaza, redirecting them to a parking lot on the park's periphery--and committed to funding it. While the project had the support of San Diego's mayor and city council, the historic preservationist group Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) was concerned that construction of a bypass route to the new parking lot would cause irrevocable damage to the historic Cabrillo Bridge. (Lest SOHO's claims sound too outlandish, consider the damage that previous forward-thinking planners did to the park when they replaced this bucolic pond beneath the bridge with a freeway.) They sued to stop the project, and earlier this month a judge ruled in SOHO's favor. Rather than continue the legal battle Jacobs admitted defeat and withdrew funding.

There's much to be said here about big money vs. small advocacy groups, effective community outreach, true "public interest," and winning the battle but losing the war--but what grates on me is the legal technicality that lost this lawsuit. You can geek out and read the whole ruling here. In summary, the City was unable to convince the judge that there would be "no reasonable beneficial use absent the alteration" to the park. Instead, the judge found that a roadway and parking lot, while perhaps not the most reasonable and beneficial use of park space, is not entirely unreasonable.

That's where I disagree with the ruling. I believe it is entirely unreasonable to sacrifice the safety, aesthetic, and connectivity of a civic institution for the convenience of park users who choose to drive there. I believe there isn't the slightest benefit to prioritizing (free!) parking over open space in a park that has ample parking elsewhere.  I believe that 100 years ago when this park was built, San Diegans would have thought it crazy to use the Plaza de Panama the way we do today. There was a time when we didn't find it reasonable to place the so-called "needs" of the automobile above all our other values. It's long past time for that sort of thinking to return to San Diego. 

2013 Conferences

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No matter where you are in the world, there's a conference you can attend this year to learn more about the issues surrounding walkability. Here's a full list, with thanks to John Wetmore. And--if you're interested in speaking at one of these conferences, a few opportunities are currently available:

The American Public Health Association 141st Annual Meeting and Exposition

The meeting will be held Nov. 2-6, 2013 in Boston. The theme is Think Global, Act Local with a focus on best practices around the world. Find out more about the 2013 APHA Annual Meeting and submit abstracts here. The deadlines for submission of abstracts range from Feb. 4-8.

Safe Routes to School National Conference 

The conference, Building on Success—Projects, Programs, People, will be held August 13-15, 2013, in Sacramento. The Call for Session Proposals is open from January 7 through February 15. Submit proposals here. 

Photo courtesy of www.infostw.org

January
9-11  National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (NCUTCD); Alexandria, VA.
13-17  Transportation Research Board; Washington, DC
15-17  Nat'l Conf on Science, Policy and the Environment: Environmental Disasters; Washington, DC
17-18  EMBARQ -- Transforming Transportation; Washington, DC
17-19  U.S. Conference of Mayors, Winter Meeting; Washington, DC
21-22  Australian Cycling Conference; Adelaide, Australia
25-26  Iowa Bike Summit; Des Moines, IA
27-29  ASTM F13 Pedestrian/Walkway Safety and Footwear; Jacksonville, FL
28-2/2  National Sheriffs Association Winter Conference; Washington, DC

February

4-8  World of Concrete; Las Vegas, NV
5-6  ACORE - American Council On Renewable Energy; Washington, DC
6  Intermodes; Brussels, Belgium
7-9  New Partners For Smart Growth; Kansas City, KS
10-12  National Conference of Regions; Washington, DC
11-12  Colorado Bike Summit; Denver, CO
12-14  Professional Trail Builders Association; Albuquerque, NM
13-15  Sustainable Communities Conference; Windsor Essex, ON, Canada
15  Media That Matters, AU; Washington, DC
17-20  Conference on the Value of Play; Clemson, SC
20-23  American College of Preventive Medicine; Phoenix, AZ
21-23  AASA - American Assn. of School Administrators, National Conference on Education; Los Angeles, CA
22-24 North American Handmade Bicycle Show; Denver, CO
22-26  ATSSA - American Traffic Safety Services Assn. Convention and Traffic Expo; San Diego, CA
23  Alumni Day; Princeton, NJ
26-28  Active Living Research Conference; San Diego, CA
27-3/1  AASHTO Washington Briefing; Washington, DC

Upcoming Webinars

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January 22
Walk Talk: The SRTS Call-In Show Webinar 

Presenters:
Cheryl Wagner, Coordinator, School-Community Partnership Program, Clark County School District, Las Vegas, Nevada
Cynthia Bell, Active Trans Community Liaison, Active Transportation Alliance, Chicago, Illinois
Melissa Kraemer Badtke, Safe Routes to School Coordinator, Associate Planner, East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, Menasha, Wisconsin

Think talk radio is just for radio? Think again. From Mr. Anthony in the 1930s to Click and Clack, Joe and Terry, Rush, and Diane Rehm today, people love the call-in format. We ask questions, we get answers. Simple. People who work on SRTS programs are no different. We like answers to our questions, too. And now we have our own call-in show, sort of, offering expert advice to overcome the challenges we face in achieving our most ardent SRTS dreams. Walk Talk (and bike, of course): The SRTS Call-in Show Webinar, features three experts who each coordinate SRTS programs at multiple schools and who represent a mix of urban, suburban and rural SRTS programs. Between them, they've confronted and overcome all manner of obstacles and barriers. And for one hour they will devote themselves to answering your thorniest SRTS questions.

Here's how it works. You register for the Webinar in advance. You submit a question about your most formidable SRTS obstacles and barriers through the registration page, or by email. You attend the Webinar and listen as the experts grapple with the unique problems facing your SRTS program and others around the country. You ask questions, you get answers. Simple.

Register here.

January 25
Sustainability Series Webinar - New York City's Active Design Guidelines: Process and Best Practices 

Featured Speaker Ernest Hutton, FAICP, Assoc. AIA Principal, Hutton Associates, Inc.

Can transformations in the built environment inspire people to be more physically active, and make our communities healthier? According to a growing body of research, the answer is yes. The 'Active Design Guidelines' developed for New York City translate this knowledge into concrete strategies for a healthier, more sustainable future. Designers, planners, developers, and operations managers can adapt the Guidelines to their own projects to promote physical activity and help counteract the most pressing health epidemics of our time - poor physical fitness and obesity and their relationship to chronic diseases such as diabetes.

'New York City's Active Design Guidelines' is a 1-hour presentation and discussion session that will:
• explore the relationship between health and the built environment;
• provide an overview of the Guidelines and its list of urban design and building design strategies;
• examine synergies between Active Design, environmental sustainability, and universal design;
• share details on the LEED Innovation Credit for Physical Activity; and
• highlight best practices and current planning and policy initiatives.

1 AICP Credit typically available per webinar. Visit www.planning.org to add the webinar to your CM log. Register here.

January 31
Making the Most of MAP-21

A new transportation bill passed by Congress last summer, MAP-21, is changing the way transportation projects will be chosen and funded. T4 will be hosting a free online session with experts, local leaders and advocates about how to use the transportation law to the fullest in your community. Transportation for America released a new, easy-to-follow handbook last month to help communities understand the ins and outs of the new federal transportation law. And on January 31st, T4 staff and representatives from metropolitan planning organizations will host an online presentation reviewing the new law and detailing new policies and funding opportunities.

Under MAP-21 more decision-making has shifted to the state and local level, offering critical new ways for you to engage. This online presentation will explain ways you can help shape your community, including new federal grant programs and other ways to fund projects in your community, including bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements, transit projects, and bridge and road repair. This presentation will offer great instruction for local elected officials—feel free to share this information with your allies.

Register here.

A New Year, A New Walk Score

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And we're back....to San Diego, that is. Moving might have its tribulations, but on the up side we've taken our already-respectable WalkScore from 78 to a stellar 94 in our (albeit temporary) new neighborhood. What do those extra 16 points mean? They mean we walk for nearly all our daily errands, from buying milk to mailing packages. They mean we've added at least 20 minutes of physical activity into our typical routine without really thinking about it. They mean our transportation costs (particularly on gas) have dropped tremendously.

But.

They don't mean we've given up driving to work. Or to visit friends. Or even to the park a mile up the road. Even in this so-called "walker's paradise" there are still many times when a car is just an easier choice. I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing. We often talk about how much more walkable cities that developed before the car are, but even in those pre-driving cities people still needed the horse and cart occasionally. The problem comes when we have to use our cars for every single trip, even ones that should be easier on foot. That doesn't mean everyone needs to live in a high-rise apartment building, but it does mean that we should be working to create cities with a density and diversity of uses that make walking the simpler choice for a variety of trips.

This Week on Foot

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Photo courtesy southwest riverside news network

With the holiday season comes the traditional Santa Claus crosswalk sting, this week in Moreno Valley where Crosswalk offenders busted by Santa Claus decoy in Moreno Valley . But they really should have been doing it in British Columbia, where Caution urged after 17 pedestrians hit in 7 days-- or maybe Maryland, where Protecting pedestrians proves an elusive goal . Milbrae is another good candidate, where Caltrans slow to boost pedestrian safety on hairy Millbrae road --and they might not celebrate Christmas in all of India, but a similar exercise would surely be helpful in Bangalore, because Bangalore is a no-walking zone.

Fortunately, they're Reducing pedestrian perils  in Tampa and Rallying for pedestrian safety in Canada, while Raleigh looks to make overpasses more pedestrian friendly  and in Boston Quincy councilors focus on pedestrian safety with renewed vigor. Elsewhere in the country This Pedestrian Bridge Will Soon Connect Brooklyn Heights To Brooklyn Bridge Park , and College Street project a pedestrian 'show stopper' , while Program studies ‘walkability, bikeability’ of schools in Iowa City and the City Maps Out Sidewalk Plan in New Haven.

Finally this week we learn of 10 Techniques for Making Cities More Walkable, and A “Movement For Movement” Puts Walking Front and Center. Oh, and with all the talk of holiday spending out there these days, it's worth noting that Cyclists and Pedestrians Can End Up Spending More Each Month Than Drivers. 

One Step at a Time - CouchSurfing Across the U.S.

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If you've been following me for a while, you'll remember how two years ago I hosted advocate and walker extraordinaire George Throop on the first leg of his journey across the US on foot to promote daily physical activity (like walking!).

Since then he's made it to North Carolina, and has only a few short states to go until meeting his goal of walking from Washington (state) to Washington (DC). Here's a short video with the latest on his journey, but you can get the full story of his travels (including an awesome map of his route) on his website Enjoy the Walk. Keeping enjoying it, George!

This Week on Foot

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An easy way to keep cars out of pedestrian space? Build narrow streets like this one in Peru.

It's been a busy week for pedestrians outside the US. In India, advocates continue to fight for pedestrians rights, as the Plight of suffering pedestrians comes to the fore, and they point out that the landmark Tank bund continuous to be unsafe for pedestrians. There's also a Call to give pedestrians right of way  in New Zealand, and the First pedestrian subway in Salalah , while in Canada, a Pedestrian-only street pitched for Fredericton. The only dark note is the Pedestrian tunnel 'too expensive' for crash junction in the UK.

Closer to home, things aren't as rosy. San Pedro's Huge Ponte Vista Project is Now More Suburban. Then there's a Search underway for driver who killed pedestrian in Gardena, while the Pedestrian killed in Newport Beach identified. Fortunately, efforts are underway in parts of the country to prevent deaths like these. A Pilot program aims to improve pedestrian safety in Utah, Tufts looks to improve pedestrian safety, and there are Smart growth proposals along Route 9 in Boston. The Balt. Co. Council approval keeps path for cyclists and pedestrians clear and a Ceremony officially opens Oak Cliff’s Bishop Avenue ‘complete street’ in Texas.

Meanwhile, we wonder: is a Huge Pedestrian Bridge Coming to Indiana Dunes? And would it improve walkability? Because as we're reminded this week, Walkability increasingly drives developers and real estate market. If you want to know how to create that walkable environment, check out Jeff Speck’s Walkable City, Digested --or, if you Want a better city? Tear out the freeways, tear up the asphalt, says speaker . And they do want it in Georgia, where Residents want safety, walkability addressed in master plan for 15th Street corridor

Finally this week, we learn about the  The Best U.S. Cities For Public Transit: Portland, Chicago Outrank New York City. One key factor for good transit? Walkability...

The Latest and Greatest Pedestrian Research

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Jacquelyn Martin / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Analysis of police collision files for pedestrian fatalities in London, 2006-10
This study analysed 197 police fatal files where a pedestrian was killed in London in the period 2006–2010, with the overall aim of providing a better understanding of how fatal pedestrian collisions in London could be prevented. The files were broadly representative of fatal pedestrian collisions in London over the period. The fatal files were coded into a database based on Haddon’s Matrix, which included items related to the environment, the pedestrian, vehicle(s) and their driver(s)/rider(s) in terms of pre-event, event and post-event. The project identified the factors or primary interventions, which if they had been in place may have prevented the collision occurring (primary prevention). Further, the project considered the causes of the injuries and where practical identified the secondary interventions, which if they had been in place may have reduced their severity. Several groups of fatalities were identified as being of special interest because of particular characteristics of the collisions. These groups generally accounted for a substantial proportion of the fatalities. In each case, the collisions within each group were analysed in terms of who was involved, the contributory factors, injuries and possible countermeasures.

Investigation of Pedestrian/Bicyclist Risk in Minnesota Roundabout Crossings
Many cities in the United States are installing roundabouts instead of traditional intersections, due to evidence that roundabouts dramatically reduce fatal and severe injury crashes compared to traditional signalized intersections. However, the impact on pedestrian safety is not clear. This project was developed to investigate pedestrian accessibility in Minnesota urban roundabouts, addressing complaints from pedestrians regarding difficulties in crossing and safety. The methodology followed in this ongoing research is typical of other observational studies. A sufficiently large number of observations on the interactions between pedestrians or bicycles (peds/bikes) and vehicles at two modern urban roundabouts in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota were collected and reduced. These observations have supported a two phased analysis. Phase 1 involved the extraction of general information describing the crossing event, such as who yielded, the location of the crossing, or the number of subjects involved. Phase 2 looked deeper into these factors by considering the conditions inside the roundabout before the vehicle proceeds to the crossing and meets with the ped/bike. The results presented, although containing no surprises, do highlight and categorize the existence of friction between pedestrians and drivers at roundabout crossings. Also the identification of factors affecting driver yield behavior and pedestrian wait time do offer good background for modeling such interactions.


Layer Object Recognition System for Pedestrian Sensing
There is a significant need to develop innovative technologies to detect pedestrians or other vulnerable road users at designated crossing locations and midblock/unexpected areas and to determine potential collisions with pedestrians. An in-vehicle pedestrian sensing system was developed to address this specific problem. The research team used stereo vision cameras and developed three key innovations, namely, the detection and recognition of multiple roadway objects; the use of multiple cues (depth, motion, shape, and appearance) to detect, track, and classify pedestrians; and the use of contextual information to reject a majority of the typical false positives that plague vision-based pedestrian detection systems. This report describes the approach and tabulates representative results of experiments conducted on multiple video sequences captured over the course of the project. The conclusion derived from these results is that the developed system is state of the art when compared to the best approaches published in literature. The false positive rates are still higher than desired for the system to be ready for commercialization. This report also provides steps that can be taken to improve the performance in this regard. A real-time system was developed and demonstrated in a test vehicle.

Planning for Active Traffic Management in Virginia: International Best Practices and Implementation Strategies

Active Traffic Management (ATM) applications, such as variable speed limits, queue warning systems, and dynamic ramp metering, have been shown to offer mobility and safety benefits. Yet because they differ from conventional capacity investments in terms of cost, service life, and operating requirements, how to incorporate them into the planning process is not clear. To facilitate such incorporation, this study developed guidelines for considering ATM deployments. The guidelines consist of four sets. The first set identifies required infrastructure and operational conditions, such as sensor placement and queuing behavior, to apply a particular ATM technique at a given site. The second set presents sketch planning analysis methods to estimate the operational and safety benefits of applying the particular technique at the site; these may be refined with the third set concerning a more detailed (and accurate) simulation analysis. The fourth set concerns continued monitoring of an ATM deployment at a given site. Also provided is a framework for incorporating ATM concepts into the regional planning process. The framework is illustrated with a hypothetical case study of variable speed limits implemented on I-66 in Virginia. Although Virginia metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and the Virginia Department of Transportation already consider operational initiatives to some degree within the planning process, a key finding of this study is that there are several ways to strengthen the inclusion of operational initiatives. These include (1) using the guidelines developed in this study; (2) linking ATM initiatives to the MPO’s Congestion Management Process; (3) facilitating the computation of operational-related performance measures such as total vehicle- hours of delay; and (4) emphasizing, when applicable, the safety and environmental aspects of ATM. The rationale for such aspects is not to promote ATM as being more effective than other types of investments but rather to compare ATM objectively with these other types of investments. For example, Appendix A illustrates how to compute a benefit-cost ratio where costs include capital and operations expenditures for the ATM and where benefits include monetized values of vehicle-hours of delay plus crash costs. In this manner, the benefit-cost ratio for an ATM project may be compared to the benefit-cost ratio for other operational or capacity projects.

 
Plus, three short briefings:
Impact of the Walking School Bus Program on Children’s Pedestrian Safety Behaviors
States Vary in Safe Routes to School Spending
Impact of State Laws on Walking and Bicycling to School

Upcoming Webinars

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Photo courtesy of Complete Streets

 

November 20

Road Diets and Pedestrian Safety

11:00 AM to 12:30 PM PST

 

Road diets, or the reallocation of road space through reduction in the number of regular traffic lanes, are of interest to communities that may be seeking to reduce traffic speeds, reduce crashes, improve accessibility for pedestrians and bicyclists, or achieve a number of other benefits. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has included road diets as one of the nine proven countermeasures it is promoting nationally (http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/provencountermeasures/pc_memo.htm). This webinar will present information about the safety benefits of road diets, particularly to pedestrians, and highlight examples of road diet implementation in the United States.

 

Register here.

 

 

November 29

Bold New Steps: Data and Resources to Propel Local Walking Programs and Solutions

11:00 AM to 12:30 PM PST

Presenters:
Tom Schmid-Senior Evaluation Specialist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Physical Activity and Health Branch
Laura MacNeil, Planner II, Sam Schwartz Engineering
Scott Bricker, Executive Director, America Walks

The panel presentations will include:
• Overview by the CDC on the trends of walking and why walking is a critical intervention to good public health
• Overview of the new Steps to a Walkable Community guide and on-line technical resources to support citizens, planners and engineers in improving walking
• Overview of technical and support services provided by America Walks to further advance this work.

Register here.

December 4

Fresh Ideas from the 2012 Oberstar SRTS Award Program — Surprising Partners and Program Approaches

10:00-11:00 AM PST

 

Presenters:
Kathryn Garvey, President, Safe Routes Chagrin, Chagrin Falls, OH
Nancy Pullen-Seufert, Associate Director, National Center for Safe Routes to School

As the importance of drawing upon community assets to sustain SRTS programs continues to grow, thinking beyond the "usual suspects" as partners is more important than ever. In this sixty minute program, we will highlight partner ideas from four outstanding programs that provide wonderful examples of building strong ties with other community organizations.

2012 Oberstar SRTS Award recipient program leader Kathryn Garvey with the Chagrin Falls SRTS Program will provide specific examples of unique local partners that have been pivotal to their achievements, including a local historical society and a community theater. Nancy Pullen-Seufert with the National Center for Safe Routes to School will offer additional innovative ideas from three SRTS programs that received special recognition as part of this year's Oberstar Award selection process.

Register here.