Low-Stress Bicycling and Network Connectivity (Mineta Transportation Institute, 2012)

For a bicycling network to attract the widest possible segment of the population, its most fundamental attribute should be low-stress connectivity, that is, providing routes between people’s origins and destinations that do not require cyclists to use links that exceed their tolerance for traffic stress, and that do not involve an undue level of detour. The objective of this study is to develop measures of low-stress connectivity that can be used to evaluate and guide bicycle network planning.

New NACTO guide pushes U.S. innovation in bike facility design

Many U.S. cities are including bicycle and pedestrian facilities in their transportation planning. However, these same cities often find existing design guides do not provide the set of options they need for non-motorized infrastructure, complicating project implementation and reducing the effectiveness of the end product. This gap began to be filled in 2011, when the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) released the first edition of its Urban Bikeway Design Guide. The group updated the guide this month.

Highway congestion highest on Friday afternoon

Car commuters in most large metro areas face the highest level of highway congestion on Friday afternoon, according to Inrix data provided to Governing magazine. However many metro areas have relatively minor changes in commuting times. And one quarter of commuters in metro areas with the highest Friday congestion times opt out of traffic by walking, biking, using transit, or working at home.

New Chicago plan aims for zero traffic deaths in ten years

In a new transportation plan Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and DOT Commissioner Gabe Klein laid out their vision of no traffic fatalities within ten years. While the safety goals received much of the recent press, abitious performance measures for sustainability, transportation choice, customer service, and economic development are also part of the plan.