Snowy sidewalks: Another reason to be happy about living in California

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©Dan Wasserman, The Boston Globe

We're lucky here in Southern California not to have to deal with the issue of snow-plowing--or rather, lack of snow-plowing--on pedestrian walkways, but it's a big problem in other cities, where roads are typically cleared of snow and ice far before sidewalks.

However, in some parts of the world cities are starting to re-think how they address plowing, as this recent story from the Atlantic Cities blog describes. In Sweden, a few cities are revamping their snow clearance policies to prioritize roads near schools and transit stops, as well as those with bike lanes. The idea is that it is these roads, rather than the major ones to city centers, that serve the more vulnerable populations (women, families) who have more challenges dealing with snow. Plowing them first thus becomes an issue of gender equality, not just mobility. Given that those with lower incomes are more likely to walk or use transit, perhaps we need to apply similar thinking here in the US?

How a School in Virginia Got Full Participation in a Walking School Bus

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Photo courtesy of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership

This recent story from the Safe Routes to School National Partnership highlights how infrastructure improvements combined with strong leadership and outreach can have a big impact on how kids get to school.

Several years ago Keister Elementary in Harrisonburg, Virginia, received a federal Safe Routes to School grant to provide sidewalks, traffic calming, crosswalks, bike lanes and new signage around the school. With the new infrastructure in place, school leaders were eager to find ways to further encourage students to walk and bike to school. They started with a Walking Friday program where kids walked on a track for 20-30 minutes before school once a week, and then created a walking school bus to serve a nearby housing complex. Initially parents at the complex were concerned about the safety of the walking school bus, so school staff visited each family at home to explain the program and encourage parents to get involved. 

Today the walking school bus has 100 percent participation, and the school is looking into even more ways to incorporate walking and biking into students' daily lives. 

Walking Safe: Child Pedestrian Safety

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Courtesy of the Children's Safety Network

The Impact of Neighborhood Walkability on Walking Behavior

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Photo courtesy of www.pedbikeimages.org / Dan Burden 

Planners love to point out that people who live in walkable neighborhoods tend to walk more, but they're quick to admit that we don't entirely understand that relationship. A new paper from America Wallks seeks to address that by using survey data to answer some burning questions, namely things like:

• How much more do people who live in pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods walk than people who live in neighborhoods that are not as conducive for walking? 
• What about people who happen to live in walkable neighborhoods for whom “walkability” was not a decisive factor in choosing where to live? 
• Do these people also walk more than others who live in less walkable neighborhoods?

To answer these questions, the survey queried respondents about both the type of walking they did in a typical week, including "utilitarian" (to get some place) and "health/relaxation" (exercise, walking a dog) walking. They were also asked several different types of questions intended to gauge the walkability of their neighborhoods. As the following table shows, people who live in neighborhoods they consider "walkable" are far more likely to walk more than 10 minutes per day than people who live in less walkable places.

This Year's Pedestrian-Friendly Confereces

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Courtesy of the ever-helpful John Z. Wetmore, a list of conferences that may interest you this year: 

January

7-10  International Disaster Conference / National Evacuation Conference;  New Orleans, LA
12-16  Transportation Research Board (TRB);  Washington, DC
16-17  Transforming Transportation (EMBARQ);  Washington, DC
17-18  Oklahoma Bike Summit;  Tulsa, OK
20-24  World Of Concrete;  Las Vegas, NV
22-24  Conference of Mayors;  Washington, DC
22-25  National Sheriffs Association Winter Conference; Washington, DC
24  Iowa Bicycle Summit; Des Moines, IA
27-28  ASTM F13 Pedestrian/Walkway Safety and Footwear; Houston, TX
28-30  Nat'l Conf on Science, Policy and the Environment: Building Climate Solutions; Washington, DC

February

4-7  Winter Road Congress;  Andorra
6-7  Media That Matters; Washington, DC
8  New Jersey Bike & Walk Summit; New Brunswick, NJ
9-11  National Conference of Regions; Washington, DC
10-11  Good Jobs, Green Jobs;  Washington, DC
10-11  Colorado Bike Summit; Denver, CO
11  Maryland Bike Symposium; Annapolis, MD
12-13  International Winter Cycling Conference;  Winnipeg, Canada
13-15  New Partners For Smart Growth;  Denver, CO
16-19  Conference on Play; Clemson, SC
16-24  Safer Roads by Design: Across Six Continents;  Orlando, FL
21-25  ATSSA - American Traffic Safety Services Assn. Convention and Traffic Expo; San Antonio, TX
22  Alumni Day; Princeton, NJ
23-27  Partners for Public Lands; Albuquerque, NM

March

1-5  NACO - National Association of Counties Legislative Conference; Washington, DC
3-4  Transportation/ Land Use Planning and Air Quality (TLUPAQ) Conference; Charlotte, NC
3-4  Smart and Sustainable Campuses; Baltimore, MD
3-5  National Bike Summit;  Washington, DC
8-12  Congressional City Conference; Washington, DC
9-11  American Public Transportation Assn. Legislative Conference (APTA); Washington, DC
9-12  Active Living Research;  San Diego, CA
9-12  Institute Of Transportation Engineers (ITE);  Miami, FL
11-15  Aging in America;  San Diego, CA
14-16  North American Handmade Bicycle Show;  Charlotte, NC
19-21  Design-Build in Transportation;  San Jose, CA
19-22  Urban Affairs Association;  San Antonio, TX
21  Delaware Walk & Bike Summit; Newark, DE
25-26  National Recreation and Parks Association Legislative Forum;  Washington, DC
26-28  Texas Trails and Active Transportation Conference; Fort Worth, TX
27-29  MT Bike Walk Summit; Billings, MT
30-4/5  Sustainable Trails Conference; Stonewall, WV