In August, the Village of Arlington Heights and its Bicycle Advisory Commission organized a “car-free day” to encourage residents to leave their cars parked at home and head downtown by foot and bicycle.  The event, part of the Taste of Arlington Heights festival and other downtown events, was designed to fill the streets with people and activities and to raise awareness of Village efforts to make biking and walking easier, safer, and a more popular mode of transportation.  Local businesses, the Chamber of Commerce, the Arlington Heights Bicycle Club, and advocacy groups praised the car-free day as a way to promote walkability and bikeability and to educate cyclists and drivers about safety, rules-of-the-road, and the advantages of increasing non-motorized travel.  The Village offered valet bike parking as part of the event.  Arlington Heights bikeway maps are available online at Bicycle Advisory Commission website.

The City of London and Transport for London (TFL) announced the opening of the first two of twelve planned "cycle superhighways," that radiate out from the city center into London suburbs and designed to serve as major bike commuter routes.  The completed facilities are 7.6 and 8.5 miles in length, consist of two five-foot wide lanes (one in each direction), and are painted bright blue.  You can view a system-wide Cycle Superhighways map and read more about the plan on the Transport for London website.

Creative Commons image, from www.flickr.com/photos/19871340@N00/472668297/

On Monday, August 30, and Tuesday, August 31, residents of the region will have the opportunity to make their voices heard and provide input on : A 21^st Century Agenda for Conservation and Reconnecting Americans with our Great Outdoors.  The planned events are part of series of public listening sessions occurring around the country, organized by the U.S. Departments of the Interior, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

The first public listening session will take place Monday, August 30, at 5:30 p.m. at the Field Museum.  The focus will be on parks, open space, and nature.  This forum is sponsored by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Chicago Wilderness, City of Chicago Department of the Environment, Openlands, and the Field Museum.  For more information, see the Chicago Wilderness announcement.  CMAP’s executive director Randy Blankenhorn will be speaking at this event on the importance of preserving open space and greenways. 

The following day, August 31, two listening sessions will take place at Northwestern University and Prentice Women’s Hospital – a general, adult session and a youth session, respectively.  The focus of these sessions will be health and the outdoors.

All listening sessions are free and open to the public.  If you cannot attend, you can also submit your ideas to the America’s Great Outdoors Ideas at http://www.doi.gov/americasgreatoutdoors/.

WalkScore -- a website that scores the walkability of a location (on a scale of 1 to 100) -- recently made some tweaks to improve accuracy.  Originally, WalkScore ranked locations based upon the proximity of nearby amenities, such as supermarkets, restaurants, dry cleaners, cafes, etc.

However, the website recently made some changes to improve the accuracy of its rankings.  First, the walkability “score” of a particular location is now based upon the measurement of the actual walking distance, as opposed to “as-the-crow-flies” distance.  Secondly, the scoring program now incorporates pedestrian friendliness metrics such as intersection density and block length.  In addition, the website has added a separate Transit Score number as a calculation of transit service quality for more than 40 metropolitan areas, where transit data is available.  The Transit Score number is calculated by assigning a "usefulness" value to nearby transit based on its mode, frequency, and walking distance to nearest stop.  Finally, WalkScore has introduced new, interactive “heat maps” to visualize and “find the most walkable neighborhoods in the top 40 U.S. cities.”  Overall, Chicago ranks fourth, behind San Francisco, New York, and Boston.

                                                                                              Source: www.walkscore.com 

The biannual Pro Walk/Pro Bike conference will be held this year in Chattanooga, TN from September 13 to 16.  The conference theme is “Bringing Livable Communities and Regions to Scale.”  The conference will offer attendees the opportunity to learn about innovative bicycle and pedestrian work underway nationally and internationally, and the chance to be part of the discussion about what the future may – and should – hold for non-motorized Transportation in this country. An updated conference program is available on the National Center for Bicycling and Walking (NCBW), and online registration and reservations for mobile workshops are also available online.

The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) has created an easy-to-use, searchable database of bike maps.  Please note that the maps in the database are users’ maps, not planning maps.  For each state in the U.S. (as well as for other countries), there are three categories: City, County, and Trail. 

The Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) published a Legal Research Digest on the liability aspects of bikeways.  The report should be of interest and use to Transportation planners, engineers, and officials; public and private sector attorneys and risk managers; financial officers, policy makers, and bicycling advocates.

The report reviews federal, state, and local laws and policies relating to bikeways and examines the legal risks incurred by public entities in providing or designating bikeways.  It examines claims against public entities for cycling accidents, defenses to such accidents under tort claims acts and state recreational use statutes, and the courts’ decisions.  The report concludes that “although there have been some tort claims against public entities for bikeway accidents, the defendant public entities prevailed in nearly all cases.”

Part 3 (of 8) in the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) webinar series, “Designing for Pedestrian Safety,” will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, August 17 at 1:00 p.m. CDT.  The webinar is entitled “Treatments at Unsignalized Pedestrian Crossings” and will be presented by Charlie Zegeer, PBIC Director.  The webinar will provide an in-depth look at pedestrian safety considerations at unsignalized crossing locations and an overview of effective countermeasures to use when planning and designing for pedestrians at such locations.

The webinar is free and online registration is available.  For more information, email webinars@hsrc.unc.edu.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration released a summary report, “Factors Contributing to Pedestrian and Bicycle Crashes on Rural Roads,” that examines the differences between pedestrian and bicycle crashes in urban and rural settings in North Carolina. The report also examines problem areas, such as specific crash types and crash locations, on rural highways that are of potentially high priority for safety treatment or treatment development.

The Active Transportation Alliance has launched a crash support group and hotline to help people who have been involved in a bicycle or pedestrian crash and who need information or support.  The crash support group meetings are facilitated by a trained professional and are free and confidential.  The hotline is available 24 hours a day and will help crash victims answer questions like “What do I do next?,” “How do I find a lawyer?,” and “What are my rights?”  The hotline number is 312-869-HELP (4357).  This number should not replace calling 9-1-1 when you are involved in a crash, or sustain injuries in a crash that require medical attention.

The National Center for Bicycling and Walking (NCBW) recently published a new fact sheet as part of its Active Living Resource Center (ALRC) entitled “Active Facts: Ramps and channels to link bikes and trains.”  The fact sheet offers information on infrastructure designed to overcome one of the most common barriers to use of bicycles at transit stations: stairs.  It provides details on designs and materials used for channels and ramps alongside stairs, which allow bicyclists to safely and easily roll their bikes up or down stairways.  In addition to transit stations, channels and ramps can be useful in any situation where stairs are present that bicyclists may need to use.

The Association of Bicycle and Pedestrian Professionals (APBP) will host a webinar on “road diets” on August 18, 2010 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. CDT.  A road diet narrows or eliminates travel lanes on a roadway in order to make more room for pedestrians and bicyclists, manage speed, and/or improve overall traffic flow.  Increasingly, cities and Transportation agencies around the country are implementing road diets to improve road conditions for all users and to enhance the opportunity for social and economic exchange in urban commercial and mixed use areas.  Presenters include Chicago’s own Mark de la Vergne, of Sam Schwartz Engineering.

The cost is $50 per site for APBP members and $75 per site for non-APBP members.  Register online.  For more information, contact Debra Goeks (262-228-7025 or deb@apbp.org).

One tool that planners and engineers use to improve the safety and functioning of roads for all users – especially pedestrians and bicyclists – is the “road diet.”  A road diet narrows or eliminates travel lanes on a roadway in order to make more room for pedestrians and bicyclists, manage speed, and/or improve overall traffic flow.  General information on road diets can be found at on the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) website and in “Lesson 15: Bicycle Lanes” in the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) University Course on Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation.

FHWA’s Highway Safety Information System (HSIS) recently released a summary report evaluating the effects of “road diet” treatments on crashes and injuries.   This report updates and replaces an earlier report (FHWA-HRT-04-082) on the same topic.  The treatment studied was the reduction from four lanes to three.  The report concludes that such road diets can result in a 19 to 47 percent reduction in crashes, depending on context and site characteristics.

Chicago now has its own small-scale bike sharing program.  The program is owned and operated by Bike and Roll Chicago, a bike rental and tour company, and currently consists of 100 bicycles stocked at six stations at various locations in or near downtown Chicago.  The Chicago B-cycle program uses bikes and (parking) stations provided by B-cycle, a joint venture of Trek Bikes, Humana Health Care, and the advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky.  The system allows residents and visitors to rent bikes by the hour for errands or recreation using either a credit card or a B-cycle membership card.   While the 100 bikes in phase one of the Chicago B-cycle program may pale in comparison to Paris’ Velib program’s 20,000 bicycles, the goal, according to news reports, is to expand coverage over time.  For more information on bike-sharing programs, see MetroBike, LLC’s bike-sharing Blog.

Alderman Brendan Reilly of the 42nd Ward and the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) recently presented plans for the Lakefront Path flyover near Navy Pier.  The proposed project will make it easier and safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other users traveling along the Lakefront Path in an area that now has many traffic conflicts.  The flyover would run from the Chicago River north to the Ohio Street Beach.  Readers can view a presentation given recently by CDOT staff on the 42nd Ward website.

The proposed $40 million project would be financed largely with federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funds programmed by CMAP.  The flyover would provide a dedicated path for bicyclists and pedestrians where the sidewalk route currently conflicts both motor vehicles and pedestrians.

The second webinar in the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) series, Designing for Pedestrian Safety, will take place on Tuesday, August 3 at 1:00 p.m. CDT.  The webinar, “Sidewalk Design,” will cover pedestrian safety and design issues related to sidewalks and walkways, ADA requirements, and treatments to reduce pedestrian crashes, improve pedestrian mobility, and increase pedestrian activity.  The webinar is free.  More information and registration is available at the PBIC website.

According to a Northwest Herald article from July 7, 2010, McHenry County Board voted to retain a 10-foot-wide, multi-use path as part of the ongoing Walkup Road project.  In addition, the County will pay one half of the required local match for the construction of a pedestrian-bicycle bridge over Rakow Road at Pyott Road, along the McHenry County Prairie Trail, which was funded in large part by a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grant.

Walkup Road plans include a multi-use path running from Route 176 north to Pleasant Hill Road, which will provide access to Veteran Acres Park and the Prairie Rides Conservation Area. The County is again using CMAQ funding ($11.8M) for both the sidepath and the $23 million road project.  The cost associated with maintenance of the path will be the responsibility of the Crystal Lake Park District.

The pedestrian and bicycle bridge over Rakow Road is estimated to cost $856,000.  The bridge will be constructed as part of a project to widen Rakow Road – one of McHenry County’s most congested.  The bridge lies along the McHenry County Prairie Trail, which runs for twenty-six miles from Kane County (in the Village of Algonquin) to the Wisconsin border.

The County Board will pay half the required twenty percent local match – $85,600 – for the bridge.  The McHenry County Conservation District, who maintains the Prairie Trail, will pay the other half and the remainder will come from CMAQ funds.

The Walkup Road project is expected to be completed next year.  The $32 million Rakow Road project is expected to begin late this year or early next year and is planned to last for two years.

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) has issued a request for consultant letters of interest in conducting a synthesis to document the regulatory, financial, and administrative tools used by communities to create vibrant pedestrian networks. Letters of interest are due August 13, 2010, and must be submitted using the Synthesis Consultant Letters of Interest web portal. Additional information on the submittal process is available online.

Easter Seals Project ACTION, in partnership with the Transportation Research Board (TRB), is offering a free online conference entitled “Promising Practices and Solutions in Accessible Transportation.”

The conference will take place from August 2 to August 5, 2010, with one session on each of the four consecutive days.  Sessions begin at 1:00 p.m. CDT and last approximately an hour and a half.  The deadline to RSVP is July 28.  The four sessions are as follows:

Session 1: Monday, August 2, 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. CDT
Accessible Taxis Getting the Cabs into Service on the Street

Session 2: Tuesday, August 3, 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. CDT
Technology in Transit: Innovation and Evaluation

Session 3: Wednesday, August 4, 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. CDT
Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines for Roundabouts and Intersections

Session 4: Thursday, August 5, 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. CDT
The Role of Transit-Oriented Development: Livable and Sustainable Communities

Presenters will include representatives from metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), transit agencies, academics, and advocates.  For more information, visit the Easter Seals website.  Register online.

AASHTO report Unlocking Gridlock

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) issued the first in a series of reports on the need to increase our nation’s Transportation system capacity.  The series is entitled, “Transportation Reboot: Restarting America's Most Essential Operating System.”  The first report is called “Unlocking Gridlock.”  The report outlines a four-pronged approach to “rebooting” our Transportation system to increase mobility.  One of the four prongs is to substantially increase travel by modes other than private automobile.  According to AASHTO, the actions needed to accomplish this mode shift are:

1. Increase public transit and transit ridership
2. Increase bicycle and walking trips
3. Shift freight from trucks to rail
4. Shift trips to intercity passenger rail

Increasing public transit ridership and increasing bicycle and walking trips will require investment in pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure to facilitate those trips, and such investment is supported by AASHTO: “AASHTO supports the continuation of the Transportation Enhancement Program, which supports new bike and pedestrian facilities.”  AASHTO notes in their report that the increased Transportation system funding they propose ($375 billion) would provide between $500 million and $1 billion each year for Transportation Enhancement bicycle and pedestrian projects.