Join a troop of other Angeleno walkers this Saturday at the Shrine Auditorium on Jefferson for a 13-mile trek through the streets of LA. The walk begins at 8:30 am and all the details can be found here on the Great Los Angeles Walk blog.
Unfortunately I'll miss out on this year's trip, as I'll be trekking through the Andes in Ecuador that day. Look for posts and pics of South American walking when I return in two weeks!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
This week on foot
Complete Streets is Topic A in Meeting with Secretary LaHood, where he pledges to work with pedestrian advocacy groups to address pedestrian safety in the U.S.
At least LaHood won't have to worry about iPods, as we learned in a study released this week showing Cell phone use – but not music – reduces pedestrian safety
So what does that mean for the Roadmate App introduced for IPhone, which features a "pedestrian mode" to help users navigate on foot?
Perhaps the new book Walk this Way, featuring the latest research on models of pedestrian behavior, can help us figure it out.
Unfortunately, this research is unlikely to answer the question Why do South Africans Hate Pedestrians? (The author's theory--and my new favorite pedestrian term-- is "carpartheid")
Nor will it resolve the brewing conflict between bicyclists and pedestrians in Philadelphia, where Phila. bike coalition says harsher penalties, license plates not the answer to pedestrian deaths.
At least LaHood won't have to worry about iPods, as we learned in a study released this week showing Cell phone use – but not music – reduces pedestrian safety
So what does that mean for the Roadmate App introduced for IPhone, which features a "pedestrian mode" to help users navigate on foot?
Perhaps the new book Walk this Way, featuring the latest research on models of pedestrian behavior, can help us figure it out.
Unfortunately, this research is unlikely to answer the question Why do South Africans Hate Pedestrians? (The author's theory--and my new favorite pedestrian term-- is "carpartheid")
Nor will it resolve the brewing conflict between bicyclists and pedestrians in Philadelphia, where Phila. bike coalition says harsher penalties, license plates not the answer to pedestrian deaths.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
This week on foot
In a clear case of adding insult to (literal) injury: Pedestrian cited after being hit by car on North Side in La Crosse.
Irritated by the poor street design and pedestrian un-friendly laws that help create situations like the one in La Crosse, Portland activists Protest for Pedestrian Rights.
In response, Portland's Mayor insists City of Portland "committed" to Pedestrian Safety.
Elsewhere, the battle over competing uses on public sidewalks rages on. In Iowa City a Group wants city to revisit panhandling--and Also would like smoke-free ped mall during the day. Wouldn't we all?
Irritated by the poor street design and pedestrian un-friendly laws that help create situations like the one in La Crosse, Portland activists Protest for Pedestrian Rights.
In response, Portland's Mayor insists City of Portland "committed" to Pedestrian Safety.
Elsewhere, the battle over competing uses on public sidewalks rages on. In Iowa City a Group wants city to revisit panhandling--and Also would like smoke-free ped mall during the day. Wouldn't we all?
Monday, November 9, 2009
Newsflash: Walking is still dangerous
In the newly released study Dangerous by Design, Transportation for America ranks metropolitan areas across the US by its "Pedestrian Danger Index" (calculated by dividing the annual pedestrian fatalities in each area by the percentage of people who commute to work on foot). Just for kicks, they also throw in rankings for pedestrian and bicycle spending.
At this point you probably expect the obligatory rant about LA's low spot on the spending list, or at least an astonished exclamation about how the top 10 most dangerous cities are all in the south.
Sorry, but I've got other things to complain about today.
Consider:
1. Census data undercounts pedestrian trips. This is because the census only allows respondents to check one box next to the "how did you get to work today" question. It's a silly system since at least part of every trip is made on foot--even if it's just a walk through a parking lot. (Unless, of course, you're carried to work in a litter. And if you are, please let me know how I can get a job there too).
2. Census data only includes commute trips. At last count, those made up just over 15 percent of total travel in the US. So, we're in the dark about 85 percent of the trips Americans take, many of which could be walking trips.
3. Biking and walking are not the same. I'll save my polemics on the inevitable, illogical grouping of these two barely-related modes for another day. But I would like to point out that funding data nearly always combines the two, so we rarely know how much money is spent on pedestrians alone.
With so many data problems, rankings like Transportation for America's don't tell us much about the state of the pedestrian world. But they should remind us that if we're going improve walkability, we need a far better understanding of what's going on out there. If we can do it for freeways (and for the record, Caltrans does), we can do it for sidewalks.
At this point you probably expect the obligatory rant about LA's low spot on the spending list, or at least an astonished exclamation about how the top 10 most dangerous cities are all in the south.
Sorry, but I've got other things to complain about today.
Consider:
1. Census data undercounts pedestrian trips. This is because the census only allows respondents to check one box next to the "how did you get to work today" question. It's a silly system since at least part of every trip is made on foot--even if it's just a walk through a parking lot. (Unless, of course, you're carried to work in a litter. And if you are, please let me know how I can get a job there too).
2. Census data only includes commute trips. At last count, those made up just over 15 percent of total travel in the US. So, we're in the dark about 85 percent of the trips Americans take, many of which could be walking trips.
3. Biking and walking are not the same. I'll save my polemics on the inevitable, illogical grouping of these two barely-related modes for another day. But I would like to point out that funding data nearly always combines the two, so we rarely know how much money is spent on pedestrians alone.
With so many data problems, rankings like Transportation for America's don't tell us much about the state of the pedestrian world. But they should remind us that if we're going improve walkability, we need a far better understanding of what's going on out there. If we can do it for freeways (and for the record, Caltrans does), we can do it for sidewalks.
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