The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) issued an updated edition of its publication, Bicycle Parking Guidelines. Bicycle parking is a critical strategy for promoting bicycling for both Transportation and recreation. Convenient, easily used, and secure bicycle parking encourages people to replace some of their car trips with bicycle trips and helps advertise and legitimize cycling as a Transportation mode. The growing popularity of bicycling, particularly in urban areas, has spurred many innovations in the field of bicycle parking. This new guide addresses the varied parking needs of both commuter and recreational cyclists with expanded guidance on long-term and sheltered parking, as well as event parking, in-street bicycle parking, and bicycle transit centers.  Read the executive summary here.

The guide is available for purchase on the APBP website.  The price is $20 for APBP members and $45 for non-members

The Regional Transportation Authority’s (RTA) online Transportation decision support tool, www.Goroo.com, has been updated to include a bicycle trip planner.  The bike trip planner is part of Goroo’s Multi-Modal Trip Planner System (MMTPS).  The traveler can now choose to plan their trips by biking the entire trip, taking their bikes on CTA, Metra, and/or Pace (buses and trains), or leaving their bicycles at CTA and Metra train stations.  The bike planner option is in addition to the site’s driving, drive to transit, transit, and walking trip planning options.

The bike planner was developed in cooperation with the Active Transportation Alliance and accounts for the current bike-on-train limitations for CTA and Metra trains.

A new mile-long, multi-use paved path was opened this month in Cary, IL.  The path runs along the west side of Cary-Algonquin Road, from Fox Trails Drive to West Main Street.  The $750,000 project was funded by Meyer Material Company, who agreed to pay for the trail and related improvements several years ago in exchange for permission to mine property west of the subdivision.  The path is eight feet wide and will host bikers, runners, and walkers.  The facility completes a segment of CMAP’s Northeastern Illinois Regional Greenways and Trails Plan.  The project provides a good example of leveraging private funding at the local level to achieve regional objectives.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new report, “Recommendations for Improving Health through Transportation Policy.”  This report gives specific recommendations for including the consideration of public health within Transportation issues.  The key, high-level recommendation areas are:

• Reduce injuries associated with motor vehicle crashes
• Improve air quality
• Expand public Transportation
• Promote active Transportation
• Encourage healthy community design
• Design to minimize adverse health and safety consequences
• Require research and surveillance
• Support professional development and job creation

 Under the heading “Promote active Transportation,” the report specifies the provision of bicycling and walking facilities, Complete Streets, connections to transit, and Safe Routes to School.

Schools in northeastern Illinois (Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kane, Kendall, and McHenry Counties) are invited to apply for a Walk and Roll to School Day mini-grant to help them plan and execute high quality Walk and Roll to School Day festivities, and to promote walking and biking to school throughout the year. 

Grants include $500 in cash, promotional items (banners, signs, and mile markers), Clif^® bars and a $100 credit toward training and equipment for AAA's School Safety Patrol Program. The mini-grant program is sponsored by the Active Transportation Alliance along with other partner organizations.

Visit http://www.activetrans.org/walkandroll to learn more and to download a copy of the grant application.  Applications are due by July 2, 2010.  For questions, contact Heather Schady, Active Trans Safe Routes to School manager, (312) 427-3325 x236, heather@activetrans.org.

Active Transportation Alliance’s (Active Trans) annual fundraising ride, Bike the Drive, will take place Sunday, May 30, 2010, Memorial Day.  The ride begins at Jackson Street and Columbus Avenue in Grant Park at 5:30 a.m.  Car traffic on Lake Shore Drive will resume at 10:30 a.m.  The post-ride festival and all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast for all registered riders is from 8 a.m. to noon in Grant Park.

Registration is $45 ($40 for Active Trans members).  For more information and to register, go to the Active Trans’ Bike the Drive website.

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) announced a new Safe Routes to School (SRTS) application cycle.  The 2010 program will expend both FY 2010 SRTS funds and (an estimation of) FY 2011 SRTS funds.  The total amount of available funds will be approximately $15 million.  The exact amount of FY 2011 funds may be affected by changes in federal guidelines and actual funding levels.

To participate, interested parties are required to submit a current School Travel Plan for approval (either an updated plan based on a previously approved plan or a new plan).  In addition, new applications need to be submitted following approval of the School Travel Plan.  Access to IDOT’s online School Travel Plan builder is available at all times, so communities may begin or access and edit their plans any time.

The following key dates and deadlines for the 2010 cycle so be noted

• May 31: School Travel Plan online builder and submittal module becomes available.
• October 1: Call for project applications begins.  (An approved School Travel Plan is necessary to access the online application module.)
• November 1, 5:00 p.m.: Deadline to submit School Travel Plan for review and comment by IDOT SRTS staff.  All School Travel Plans received after this deadline will either be approved or denied, and there will not be an opportunity to resubmit.
• November 12, 5:00 p.m.: Deadline to submit School Travel Plan for 2010 SRTS funding.
• December 15, 5:00 p.m.: Call for project applications closes.  No late applications will be accepted.
• January 2011: Application review and scoring begins.
• Mid-Late 2011: Funded Projects announced.

If you have any questions, contact Megan Holt-Swanson at DOT.SafeRoutes@illinois.gov.

A new study in the May issue of Transportation Policy indicates that new immigrants — legal or not — are twice as likely to travel by bicycle as native-born Americans. Low-income immigrants living in dense urban areas are the most likely to bike.  The author, UCLA doctoral candidate, Michael Smart, concludes that Transportation planning agencies should reach out to and include immigrant cyclists and communities to get their input on bike-related issues when planning bicycle networks and facilities.

Law enforcement is an essential part of making communities more walkable and bicycle- friendly.  Experience here in the U.S. and lessons learned from overseas show that integrating engineering, education, and enforcement helps to improve bicyclist and pedestrian safety. The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) is offering a webinar on this topic Wednesday, May 19, 2010, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. CDT.  The webinar will focus on a combined enforcement and education effort in Burlington, Vermont that included significant involvement by local law enforcement.  Participants in the webinar will learn how they can effectively engage and work with law enforcement to achieve greater and safer levels of walking and bicycling.

Cost for the webinar is $50 per site for APBP members, $75 per site for non-APBP members. Each site license includes one phone connection, one internet connection, one set of handouts for unlimited attendees in the same location, and access to a recording of the webinar.  For more information, contact Debra Goeks (262-228-7025 or info@apbp.org).

From May 18 to 20, 2010, Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA) will present a free three-day Online Conference on Pedestrian Access, as part of ESPA's series of ‘Promising Practices and Solutions in Accessible Transportation.’  Each day will include one, 90-minute session from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. CDT. The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) is co-hosting the online conference with ESPA and the National Center on Senior Transportation. The deadline for registration is Tuesday, May 11, 2010.  

Session 1: Tuesday, May 18
Policy, Design and Importance of Accessible Pedestrian Environments for Livable Communities
  Jana Lynott, AARP’s Public Policy Institute
  Scott Windley, U.S. Access Board

Session 2: Wednesday, May 19
Making Streets Accessible to All
  Michael Ronkin, Consultant

Session 3: Thursday, May 20
The Power of 25
  Peter Lagerwey, Toole Design Group

Check out this video (a mix of live action and animation) about "cycle tracks." Cycle tracks are dedicated, protected bike lanes located between sidewalks and parked cars.  They are a species of buffered bike lanes.  In this video, Catherine Ciarlo, Transportation policy director in the Office of Mayor of Portland, Oregon’s office, explains how cycle tracks and buffered bike lanes work, and how they help create streets that are more efficient and safer for cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers.

On the Right Track from Mayor Sam Adams on Vimeo.

For more on cycle tracks, see the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) website on protected bikeways/cycle tracks and other emerging bikeway designs.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced a round of competition for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants.  DOT is authorized to award $600 million under this program.  Funds for the TIGER II program are to be awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant impact on the nation, a metropolitan area or a region.

As with the first round, multimodal projects are highly encouraged. DOT has partnered with the Department of Housing and Urban Development for this second round of grants—which means there will be funding available for Transportation and land use planning.

Pre-applications are due on July 16, 2010, at 5:00 p.m. EST. Final applications must be submitted through www.grants.gov by August 23 at 5:00 p.m. EST.  Pursuant to the FY 2010 Appropriations Act, DOT will evaluate all applications and announce the projects that have been selected to receive TIGER II Discretionary Grants no sooner than September 15, 2010.

A new amendment to the Illinois Vehicle Code, HB 43, clarifies driver responsibility and makes police enforcement of the law easier.  Prior to enactment, the vehicle code provides that the driver of a vehicle “shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield,” to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when no traffic control signals are present.  The ‘yield’ requirement – as well as the new ‘stop’ requirement – applied when the pedestrian was in the motorist’s half of the roadway, or was approaching from the opposite half of the roadway and was in imminent danger.  HB 43, when enacted, will provide that the driver of a vehicle “shall stop and yield the right-of-way” in such circumstances.

The Illinois Vehicle Code will continue to require that pedestrians not leave the curb or other place of refuge and move into the path of a moving vehicle, so as to constitute an immediate hazard.

A new bill (SB 2804) amends the Illinois Vehicle Code to increase the maximum spacing between buildings for “residence districts” from 300 feet apart to 500 feet apart, increasing the areas in Illinois where local governments may establish speed limits of 25 miles per hour.  Such lower speed limits are safer for pedestrians and other vehicles.  The Illinois Compiled Statutes provide that, upon the basis of an engineering or traffic investigation, local governments may establish lower speed limits in urban and residence districts than in other areas.  In urban districts, unless a different speed limit is established and excluding alleys, the maximum speed is 30 mph.  Local governments may establish speed limits from 20 mph to 55 mph in urban districts.  Outside of urban districts, unless a different speed limit is established, the maximum speed limit for local jurisdiction roads is 55 mph.  In these areas, local governments can establish different speed limits in residence districts from 25 mph to 55 mph, or from 35 mph to 55 mph outside of residence districts.

Registration has begun for Active Transportation Alliance’s Bike to Work Week contest, which will run from June 12 to 18, 2010. Companies, non-profit organizations, and other groups can sign up to compete against each other to see who can get the highest percentage of bike riders during Bike to Work Week.  Companies are categorized by size and compete only against others in the same category.  Prizes for winning companies in past years have included gift certificates provided by area bike shops. This is the perfect time to promote two-wheeled commuting at your organization!

Active Transportation Alliance has posted details about the competition and to enter.

Both the Illinois House and Senate have passed Bill 2951, which now requires signature by the Governor in order to become law. This bill amends the Illinois Vehicle Code to make it a Class A misdemeanor for a driver to steer unnecessarily close to, toward, or near a bicyclist, pedestrian, or person riding a horse, meaning the infraction is punishable by up to a year in jail and/or a $2,500 fine. If crowding or threatening any such person "results in great bodily harm or permanent disability or disfigurement," the driver shall be guilty of a Class 3 felony. It is already illegal in Illinois for a driver to pass a cyclist with less than three feet clearance space between the motor vehicle and the bicyclist.

Americans support broader access to public Transportation and to infrastructure that makes walking and bicycling safe, according to a new national poll conducted for Transportation for America. The survey was highlighted on Secretary LaHood’s blog, Fastlane. The survey results indicate that 59 percent of Americans would choose to reduce road congestion by improving public Transportation and making it easier to walk and bike to work.  Four out of five people support the idea of a more multi-modal Transportation system, “the kind of system,” as Secretary LaHood puts it, “that allows people to use their cars if they want to, but also allows easier use of other ways to get from place to place”.

The poll results also indicate that, while a majority of respondents would like to spend less time in their cars, 73 percent state they had no other choice but to drive.

The Active Transportation Alliance and the Consulate General of the Netherlands are organizing a local "" ride along the lakefront as a means to promote  cycling both for recreational purposes and as a daily mode of Transportation.  The ride will take place in Chicago from Montrose Avenue Harbor to the John Hancock Center on Saturday, May 8, 2010, from 9:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Registration costs $15, which includes a T-shirt and chance to win a Dutch bike.  On-site registration will be available, or you can register in advance online. Proceeds benefit the Active Transportation Alliance.

The Netherlands offer many lessons in promoting and accommodating bicycling in the Transportation system.  Bicycling is an important part of Dutch culture. It is nice to see the Consulate General is helping to share that enthusiasm here in the Chicago region.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced the launch of a new web-based resource for law enforcement officials. The Safe Routes to School for Law Enforcement website provides tips, tools, and other materials to help law enforcement officers get involved in Safe Routes to School (SRTS).

The website is designed to aid officers and law enforcement agencies in local SRTS efforts and programs. It includes a wide variety of tools, such as:

• Tips on walking and bicycling safety.

• Take home materials for students, parents, school staff, and others.

• Talking points on bicycle and pedestrian safety.

• Tips on addressing parental concerns.

• Links to related sites for resource materials.

• Activities for children.

For more information or questions, contact Paula Bawer (202-366-2692 or Paula.Bawer@dot.gov), the Bicycle and SRTS program manager at NHTSA.

The Chicago International Poster Biennial is holding its first student poster competition with the theme of "Transportation: Crucial Issues." The contest is intended to explore why it's great to bike, walk, and take transit. Please spread the word and encourage any art and design students you know to enter. The deadline for entry is May 22, 2010.