The U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report addressing the recent increase in deaths and injuries among pedestrians and bicycle users. The report outlined the causes, responses from transportation agencies, and remaining challenges to address the disparity in crash trends between car drivers and those using non-motorized transportation. The report also acknowledges historical road design practices as a major contributor to current safety trends.
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Tennessee DOT to cover 95 percent of costs for local multimodal access projects
Tennessee DOT recently announced the creation of a $30 million Multimodal Access Fund to support local projects that improve pedestrian, bicycle, and transit access to state routes and transit hubs. A handful of states have implemented new mechanisms for funding multimodal projects in light of insufficient federal funds, but Tennessee’s dedication of existing revenues shows a unique commitment to providing transportation choices in the state.
Costs for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Infrastructure Improvements: A Resource for Researchers, Engineers, Planners, and the General Public (Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center, 2013)
This report provides infrastructure cost estimates for pedestrian and bicycle treatments, infrastructure, and amenities from across the country. Costs vary widely, but the report includes high, low, and median costs from a variety of sources.
SSTI seeks input on bike-ped performance measures
Many states and MPOs may have criteria for evaluating bicycle-pedestrian proposals for funding, but those criteria often don’t take into account system-level benefits and costs. And compared with highway measures, metrics for tracking ongoing performance are scarce. Pedestrian and bicycle traffic counts are being done in some cases, but these do not equal performance measures.
At a crossroads: Complete streets and functional classification
As the demand for more complete, multimodal streets increases, so does the push to alter the functional classification system to allow for greater local flexibility in roadway design. The functional classification system often restricts communities seeking flexibility in roadway design and can effectively hobble transit planners attempting to advance livability initiatives.
Public supports system preservation, why not politicians?
More evidence that the public strongly supports system preservation comes from a survey performed for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. When asked to rank the importance of a variety of potential priorities for WisDOT, preservation came out on top by a wide margin with 47.3 percent of respondents citing it as “extremely important.” A year earlier, a survey for Washington DOT found a similar result in that state.
Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities: Traveler Response to Transportation System Changes (TRB, 2012)
This report is an update to a series from TRB examining how travelers respond to different types of transportation infrastructure, facilities, and policies. This chapter examines pedestrian and bicyclist behavior and travel demand outcomes in a relatively broad sense. It focuses on the travel behavior and public health implications of facilities such as sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and on-transit accommodation of bicycles, street-crossing treatments, bicycle parking, and showers. Discussion of the implications of pedestrian and bicycle “friendly” neighborhoods, policies, programs, and promotion is also incorporated.
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.
Safety-based Prioritization of Schools for Safe Routes to School Infrastructure Projects: A Process for Transportation Professionals (National Center for Safe Routes to School, 2012)
This guide describes a straightforward way to identify the schools and specific locations that have the greatest need for pedestrian infrastructure improvements around schools.
Did previous TIGER grants allocate too much to bike-ped projects?
Some alternative transportation advocates believe legislative language could effectively ban bike and pedestrian projects from the 2012 TIGER Program. Along with the possibility that Transportation Enhancements, Recreational Trail, and Safe Routes to School dedicated funding …