This week on foot

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The week has been surprisingly positive here on the pedestrian front. First, our friends at Streetsblog introduced us to  A New "Cultural Tourist Agency" Teaches Angelenos How to Walk in the City, while further south in San Diego the new Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge opens and in Sacramento Citrus Heights improves pedestrian safety on Greenback Lane.

And it doesn't end there. In Alexandria there's Help in sight for walkers, bicyclists in area now that funding for some new bike and ped projects is on its way, and St. Louis Gets $550,000 in Aid for Bike and Pedestrian Trails.

Meanwhile, folks everywhere are taking a fresh look at what walkability and pedestrian improvements can do for them. There's Support for turning Auckland's Queen St into a pedestrian mall and pressure from Googlites, who say: Trying to Lure Google? Better Have Mixed-Use, Walkable Development . Even in places not known for walkability, they're starting to ask questions.  Would a pedestrian zone work for Dallas? , Is Long Island Ready for Walkable Suburbs? How can we Save our pedestrian bridge?


And some of those places really need it. Consider how officials in Texas are Sapping Street Life in Dallas, Ordinance by Ordinance , or how, in this ranking of The 32 Most and Least Sustainable March Madness Contenders a college town like Durham is number 32. Even outside the US there are problems, like in Costa Rica where Traffic Fines To Pedestrians On The Increase. And we can never forget that no matter where you live, there's always danger from people who are Driving While Human.


And also from people who are unicycling while human-- and insist that their single wheel exempts them from bike prohibitions on city sidewalks. Fortunately, in New York at least, the City Lawyer Scoffs At $3 Million Unicycle Lawsuit.

Cool Ped Stuff #13: Humor

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For anyone else having a tough time getting moving on the first Monday after daylight savings time began, some pedestrian-oriented hilarity to kick-start your morning. First from the folks at Neatorama:

And if that doesn't get you going, try this from the always satirical Colbert Report.

WalkSanDiego Events This Week

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FREE Webinar:'Understanding the Highway Safety Manual'
Offered by the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals

740 13th Street Suite 502, San Diego, CA 92101 US

Date: Wednesday, March 16th
Time: 12:00-1:00 p.m. Pacific Time

Registration required, email here.

Luncheon Series: “Health Equity by Design: Reducing community health disparities through healthy design policies and projects, a case study in City Heights”

Kathleen Ferrier, WalkSanDiego
Sakara Tear, City Heights CDC
Norali Martinez, Proyecto de Casas Saludables

Date: March 18, 2011
Time: 12:00-1:00 P.M.

Location: 193 Horton Plaza,
1st level, (Next to Victoria’s Secret)

Suggested Lunch Donation: $5.00 if RSVP is by March 15th, $7.00 at the door
Please RSVP: Cynthia Offenhauer

This Week on Foot

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This week the city of Glendale here in the LA region has been making a lot of effort to improve safety for pedestrians. Not only did Police crack down on drivers who refuse to stop for pedestrians, there was a Crack-down hits distracted drivers. And Glendale wasn't the only place working on the distracted driving issue. Here in Ventura the CHP warns of dangers of inattentive driving. Let's hope other cities in the area follow their example (the cracking down, that is, not the distracted driving).

But some cities prefer to focus their attention on the pedestrians, not the drivers, who cause safety problems. While I understand the motivation, I don't like enforcement efforts that imply the roadway is only a place for vehicles. One other reason these sorts of enforcement efforts aren't a good idea? A new study shows that Preventing jaywalking costly for cities.
But it isn't vehicles that are causing all the problems this week. In New York, 6 Out of 6 Local Pedestrians Agree: The PPW Bike Lane Stinks, while across the world in Australia Pedestrians call for cycle ban . While they're often grouped together, it's important to remember that pedestrians and bikes have very different safety and infrastructure needs.

Of course, so do pedestrians and vehicles--and sometimes improving things for one of those modes can have some scary effects for the other, as in the State DOT “Improvements” Imperil Pedestrians in Florida. Happily, here in California we're spending our money on more pedestrian-oriented improvements, like the Money coming to Imperial Beach aimed at more walkable streets, or the San Francisco Task Force Begins Meeting to Develop Pedestrian Action Plan.

And it's a good thing, too, because the week continues to bring pedestrian deaths far and wide. Here in the Southern California region there was a Person struck, killed by Amtrak train near Union Station, and
CHP officials arrest woman for fatal hit and run . Deaths like these are tragic, and continue to haunt surviving family members for years, like this LA Man seeks justice for twin brother killed by car in 1959.
Meanwhile, new studies continue to improve our understanding of the dangers that pedestrians face. One, out of Israel, shows that Elderly drivers more hazardous for pedestrians. In Canada, however, they're more worried about those pedestrian countdown timers encouraging drivers to speed through almost-red lights, and suggest that Pedestrian Timers Not Suitable for Red Light Camera Intersections. You know it's tough out there when even supposed pedestrian safety improvements have unintended consequences on pedestrian safety...

A Smorgasbord of Technical Studies

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For all the transpo geeks out there (admit it, statistics make you drool), a rundown of the latest in pedestrian design and research:

Accessible Pedestrian Signals: A Guide to Best Practices
A 300-page tome that outlines everything you ever wanted to know about designing pedestrian signals for folks who are blind or have low vision. This guide clearly describes the many different types of accessible signals (e.g. tonal signals, messages, vibrotactile), explains design considerations, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each, and (this I find especially helpful) explains how a blind or sight-impaired person would actually use the accessible signal in their everyday travel.

Best Practices in Traffic Operations and Safety: Phase II: Zig-zag Pavement Markings
After touring the world in search of effective safety measures not found in the US, highway officials came back with a dozen or so promising ideas to test out. One of these, installing "zig-zag" pavement markings on roadways with significant bicycle and pedestrian traffic, is intended to raise motorist awareness of vulnerable users, reduce roadway speeds, and decrease pedestrian and bicycle crashes. This study tests out the technology at two Virginia locations where the multi-use Washington and Old Dominion trail crosses a major roadway. The study showed that the markings were associated with lower driver speeds and a higher tendencies for drivers to yield to other users, although the unfamiliar markings did cause some confusion among roadway users, who weren't entirely sure of their intent.