Shared streets, which serve both slow-moving motor vehicles and pedestrians, can provide flexible, desirable public spaces. However, they provide a challenge for pedestrians with vision impairments. FHWA’s guide provides a toolbox of design options, as well as planning guidance and case studies, for addressing this issue.
Health
Pedestrians First: Tools for a Walkable City (ITDP, 2018)
The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy recently released Pedestrians First: Tools for a Walkable City. The toolkit, aimed at governments, city planners, NGOs, and developers, notes that “Walkability is the foundation of any type of transportation; all trips require walking at some point.” The toolkit notes factors that influence walkability throughout the city and three scales: citywide, neighborhood, and street level.
Advancing Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety: A Primer for Highway Safety Professionals (NHTSA, 2016)
As communities strive to encourage biking and walking, planners and engineers are focusing on designs and programs that improve safety for these users.This primer summarizes the most promising infrastructure treatments and behavioral programs available for addressing specific safety problems and highlights how these approaches can be combined and implemented.
Bikesharing and Bicycle Safety (Mineta Transportation Institute, 2016)
When bike sharing first began, many commentators and critics expressed concern that shared bicycle systems would lead to high crash and injury rates. Yet the injury and overall crash rate for bike share use has been extremely low. The researchers at the Mineta Transportation Institute examined why this is so.
A People’s History of Recent Urban Transportation Innovation (Transit Center, 2015)
In the past decade, several cities have transformed their streets by adding bus and bike lanes, creating new pedestrian plazas, and emphasizing the movement of people instead of cars. This new report examines six cities’ recent innovations in urban transportation. It looks at what is behind successful change and found common elements. Based on the experience of the cities studied, TransitCenter recommends actions for transit advocates, policymakers, foundations, and anyone interested in transportation change.
Cities Safer By Design (World Resources Institute, 2015)
A new report examines cities around the world to discover why some have safer streets than others. The authors provide real-world examples and evidence-based techniques to improve safety through neighborhood and street design that emphasizes pedestrians, bicycling, and mass transport, and reduces speeds and unnecessary use of vehicles.
Impact of Safe Routes to School Programs on Walking and Biking (Active Living Research, 2015)
This research review highlights findings from studies conducted in several states and cities that have examined walking or biking rates, safety, and economic issues associated with Safe Routes to School.
Revising the Vermont State Standards; M2D2: Multimodal Development and Delivery (Vermont Agency of Transportation and Smart Growth America, 2015)
This new report identifies specific modifications to the Vermont State Standards, recommends changes to other related VTrans guidelines and policies, and presents an implementation plan and schedule for conducting the revisions. The Vermont State Standards provide VTrans staff and other partners with direction in designing roadway transportation projects.
Safer Streets, Stronger Economies (SGA, 2015)
Smart Growth America’s recently released report provides a strong evidence-based arguement for complete streets projects, supported by the analyses of transportation and economic data from before and after the implementation of 37 complete streets projects across the nation.
Analysis of Public Policies that Unintentionally Encourage and Subsidize Sprawl (Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, 2015)
Urban sprawl costs the American economy more than $1 trillion annually. These costs include greater spending on infrastructure, public service delivery and transportation. This report details planning and market distortions that foster sprawl, and smart growth policies that can help correct these distortions.