Active Transportation Alliance has a website devoted to sharing information on Lakefront Trail conditions.  The website offers regular updates on the trail, including trail conditions, lakefront events and activities that impact the trail, detours, and trail-related news. The information comes from Active Trans staff, partners, and everyday trail users.  You can also follow updates to the webpage via Twitter: @activetransLFT, or on your phone by texting “follow activetransLFT” to 40404.

Ray LaHood, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, delivered the keynote address at this year’s Bike Summit in Washington D.C.  His main message was simple: “We have work to do” – in order to raise awareness among elected officials and all citizens of the economic, transportation, health, and environmental benefits of cycling and pedestrian investments. You can read his post about the Summit on his blog, Fastlane.dot.com.

In March, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) released its Urban Bikeway Design Guide at the National Bike Summit in Washington D.C.  The guide is part of the Cities for Cycling Initiative. The guide’s stated purpose is to provide cities with state-of-the-practice cycling solutions to create complete streets that are safe and enjoyable for bicyclists.

The guide is divided into five major sections, presenting innovative treatments and designs for bike lanes, cycle tracks, intersections, signals, and signs and marking.  There are also sections containing case studies from NACTO member cities, a matrix of all the treatments that the guide presents, and a list of the design guide project team members in each of the NACTO member cities.  The Bikes Belong coalition and the SRAM Cycling Fund sponsored the guide.

Most of the treatments in the guide are not directly referenced in the current versions of the AASHTO Guide to Bikeway Facilities or the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), although many of the elements are found within these documents. The Federal Highway Administration recently posted information regarding approval status of various bicycle related treatments not covered in the MUTCD, including many of the treatments provided in the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide. All of the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide treatments are in use internationally and in many cities around the U.S.

Active Transportation Alliance is holding a photo contest.  They are seeking photos of the best -- and the worst -- places to bike and walk in our region.  Photos submitted may be used in Active Trans publications to “help showcase the highlights (and ‘lowlights’) of biking and walking opportunities around Chicagoland.”

The contest will result in winners in the following geographic categories:

• City of Chicago
• Northwest Indiana
• North suburban Chicagoland
• West suburban Chicagoland
• South suburban Chicagoland

The winner in each category will receive complimentary registration to the MB Financial Bank Bike the Drive (5/29/11), Four Star Bike Tour (8/28/11) and a one-year membership to Active Transportation Alliance.  In addition, the person who uploads the most correctly tagged photos will win $250 and a complimentary registration to the MB Financial Bank Bike the Drive on Sunday, May 29, 2011.

The City of Chicago released the results of bike counts conducted at 26 locations around the city in the summer and fall of 2009.  The counts were made with automated pneumatic tube counters designed specifically to count bicycles but not motorized vehicles.  Counts were taken for 24 hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays in warmer-weather conditions.  All but two of the count locations have on-street bikeway markings (bike lane, marked shared lane, or bus/bike lane).

Comparing the bike counts to 2006 vehicle counts shows that in some locations bicycles constitute a significant percent of roadway traffic (i.e. bicycles in relation to motor vehicles) – as high as 21.9 percent (at 640 N. Milwaukee Ave. in September).

Seventeen of the 26 count locations recorded more than 200 daily cyclists, with the highest count (again, at 640 N. Milwaukee Ave.) being 3,121 cyclists.

On January 4, 2011, President Obama signed the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act.  This law requires the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to ensure that electric and hybrid car manufacturers add noises that alert the blind and other pedestrians of their approach.  As the U.S. Secretary of Transportation wrote on his blog, Fastlane.com, “Because these cars operate so quietly, particularly at low speeds, they are involved in more accidents with pedestrians and cyclists, who can't hear the vehicle coming.”

According to a new report by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, planning and building bicycle and pedestrian projects creates more job per million dollars spent than road repairs and road resurfacing.  The study finds that in the City of Baltimore pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure projects create 11 to14 jobs per $1 million of spending, while road infrastructure projects create approximately 7 jobs per $1 million of expenditures.

U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) secretary Ray LaHood in his blog Fastlane.com stated that this study, when combined with a new survey released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that indicates widespread public support -- 67 percent -- in America's cities for street designs that increase physical activity, “creates a powerful argument for continuing U.S. DOT's support for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure projects.”

The Navy Pier Flyover, which received substantial funding under the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program, recently moved one step closer to becoming a reality.  Late last month, the City of Chicago Plan Commission approved the project.  You can see a presentation regarding the Flyover on the City of Chicago’s website.  The Plan Commission hearing and its decision was widely reported in local media, including the Chicago Tribune, Sun Times, Chicago Reader, and NBC Chicago.

The Flyover will create safer conditions by reducing conflicts between cyclists, pedestrians, and automobiles.  The Flyover will also provide congestion relief for cyclists, pedestrians and other Lakefront trail users near Navy Pier.

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has instituted a proceeding to clarify, update, and seek public comments on proposed changes to its existing regulations and procedures regarding the use of railroad rights-of-way for railbanking and interim trail use under the  National Trails System Act (Trails Act).

Comments are due by April 12, 2011; replies are due by May 12, 2011.

For more information and instructions on how to comment, see the Federal Register notice (February 16, 2011, Volume 76, Number 32).

The U.S. DOT Federal Railroad Administration Office of Railroad Safety issued draft guidance to railroads concerning pedestrian safety.  The document includes strategies and methods to prevent pedestrian accidents, incidents, injuries, and fatalities at or near passenger rail stations.  The report uses hazard analysis methods to evaluate the risk associated with the movement of pedestrians at or near passenger stations in light of the history of crashes that have resulted in serious pedestrian injuries and fatalities.  The report considers:

• Train-borne audible and visual warnings.
• Station-sited audible and visual warnings.
• Swing gates.
• ADA accessibility.

[Photo "Fast Trains" by Eric Alixx Rogers on Flickr.]

Walk Score created an enhanced version of its walkability ranking tool, which uses walking distances rather than “as the crow flies” distances, as well as intersection density and average block length.  The new version is called Street Smart Walk Score.  In addition, Walk Score revised the weights it assigns to various “amenities” or business types.  The Street Smart Walk Score search results show users exactly how many points each amenity contributed to their score.

A white paper providing a detailed explanation of how the Street Smart Walk Score algorithm works, as well as a rationale for choices made when designing the algorithm, can be found on Walk Score’s website.

According to its publisher, Cadence Press, Joyride: Pedaling Toward a Healthier Planet, tells the story of “Mia Birk’s 20-year crusade to integrate bicycling into daily life.”  As bicycle program manager in Portland, OR, Ms. Birk helped transform that city into one of the most bicycling-friendly cities in the United States.  She works today at Alta Planning + Design and teaches at Portland State University, where she co-founded the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation.

Through the generosity of Ms. Birk and her colleague at Alta Planning, Craig Williams (who is based here in Chicago), CMAP has two signed copies of Joyride to give away through a drawing.  To enter the drawing, email joneal@cmap.illinois.gov by March 8, 2011.   Indicate “book drawing” on the subject line of your email. If you are the winner, we will reply asking for your mailing address.  (Note that copies can only be mailed within the United States.)

The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) will present a webinar in its Livable Communities Webinar Series entitled, “FHWA Resources for Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals,” on Tuesday, March 1, 2011, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. CST.  The webinar will provide an overview of tools and resources available to communities to enhance walking and bicycling in their local area.

Presenters include:

• Dan Nabors, Senior Transportation Engineer at Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.,
• Charlie Zegeer, Director, Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center
• Libby Thomas, Research Associate, UNC Highway Safety Research Center
• Tamara Redmon, Pedestrian/Bike Safety Team Leader, FHWA

Bridges are critical parts of most communities’ transportation networks, and making sure they safely accommodate people on foot or on bike allows for expanded mobility and transportation choice, as well as increased safety.  A new report from the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) shows how to successfully advocate for “complete” bridges, including lessons learned from several campaigns.

According to a Chicago Tribune article (written by Jon Hilkevitch on January 9, 2011), Chicago is considering additional “road diets,” which reduce the number of through travel lanes to make room for turning lanes and accommodations for walkers and cyclists. The article describes a potential project now being studied on Lawrence Avenue in the Lincoln Square neighborhood and presents the viewpoints of the local Chamber of Commerce and the Alderman, as well as traffic concerns that the City of Chicago Department of Transportation will need to address in its project studies.

Seville, Spain was chosen as the location of the 2011 Velo-City conference. The choice rewards the city for its success in very rapidly creating the infrastructure, programs, and “attitudes” needed to get large numbers of residents and visitors to use bicycles for daily trips around city.

In just three years, the City of Seville – having adopted the Master Plan for the Promotion of Bicycle Transportation (2007-2010) – created a fully segregated system of cycle tracks 75 miles in length and increased daily cycle usage ten-fold, from 6,000 to 60,000 trips a day.  This amounts to nearly 7 percent of all trips.  Thirty percent of these cycling trips replaced trips previously made with an automobile.  Many of these trips were made on one of the 2,500 public bicycles, which make up Seville’s bike-sharing program, developed by the same company that runs Paris’ program, JCDecaux.

The second in a series of webinars sponsored by the American Public Health Association (APHA) on the ways in which transportation systems impact public health will take place February 15, 2011, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. CST.  The webinar is entitled “The Health Benefits from Active Transportation.”   It is free, but registration is required. 

Two more webinars – one in March and one April – will complete the series:

1. Health Impact Assessments (HIAS) in Transportation (Tuesday, March 15, 1:00 to 2:00p.m. CDT)
2. Preventing Roadway Fatalities and Injuries (Tuesday, April 5, 1:00 to 2:00p.m. CDT)

CMAP will present the upcoming Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) webinar entitled “Complete Streets: State of the Practice” on Wednesday, February 16, 2011, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.

The webinar is free.  However, we have limited seating and will limit participation to the first 24 persons who RSVP in response to this post.  If you are interested in attending, please email John O’Neal at joneal@cmap.illinois.gov to reserve your spot.  If space is still available, then he will respond with instructions on attending. 

The webinar will examine the current state of the practice for complete streets. Topics will include:

• How support for complete streets is strengthened as collaboration with public health, transit, and other partners increases.
• A comparison of existing policies and how they match up to guidelines from the National Complete Streets Coalition.
• Examples of best practice at the local and state level.

The webinar will include a presentation on Charlotte, N.C.’s award-winning Urban Streets Design Guidelines and will look at how the city is implementing requirements for developers, which complement the use of public funds in building complete streets.

A new study published in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life uses a case-study approach to examine walkability and social capital as indicators of quality of life at the municipal and neighborhood levels.  Residents living in neighborhoods that vary in terms of built forms and levels of walkability in three communities in New Hampshire were surveyed about their levels of social capital and travel behaviors. Comparisons between the more walkable and less walkable neighborhoods suggest that levels of social capital are higher in more walkable neighborhoods.

The article is available online for $34.

FHWA has published a TechBrief, summarizing a study whose purpose was to evaluate the impact of several uses of shared-lane pavement markings – specifically the “sharrow” design – on operational and safety measures for bicyclists and motorists.  Experiments were conducted in Cambridge, MA; Chapel Hill, NC; and Seattle, WA.  The study concludes that, “sharrows can be used in a variety of situations, and increased use should enhance motorist awareness of bicyclists or the possibility of bicyclists in the traffic stream. Results indicate that sharrows increased operating space for bicyclists.  Sharrows have reduced sidewalk riding not only in the current study but also in a previous study in Gainesville, FL.”