The Ohio Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) Office of Research and Development, in partnership with Ohio Safe Routes to School and the Federal Highway Administration, has published “Developing a Methodology for School Travel Plan Development for Large School Districts.”  The report outlines a process to allow large school districts (defined by ODOT as those with more than 15 kindergarten through 8th grade schools) to develop comprehensive, district-wide School Travel Plans (STP).

In order to develop this process, a pilot district (Cincinnati Public Schools) was chosen in order to test and refine methodologies. Methodologies were developed around three key areas identified by ODOT: mapping, infrastructure project identification and prioritization, and non-infrastructure project identification and prioritization.

The report includes “Lessons Learned” and “Recommendations” that may be generalized to assist other large school districts to develop STPs that incorporate both infrastructure and non-infrastructure items.

The New York City Department of Transportation has released a report that proposes new metrics for measuring the overall success of streets, discusses key approaches to street design projects and how these approaches can meet safety goals, serve all users, create great public spaces, and maintain traffic flow.

Reconnecting America has released the report, “Are We There Yet? Creating Complete Communities for 21st Century America.”  The report tracks progress in regions across the country in implementing complete streets policies and programs.

The report identifies a series of metrics and ranking criteria to measure regions’ progress toward creating more "complete communities."

A new report by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP, Synthesis Report 436), “Local Policies and Practices That Support Safe Pedestrian Environments,” documents various tools and strategies used by municipalities to improve the safety, convenience, and accessibility of the pedestrian experience.

The research approach involved a review of literature and telephone as well as in-person interviews with key staff in local agencies that have implemented policies and practices to support pedestrian-friendly environments. The report includes an overview of recent and current practices undertaken throughout the country in various settings, along with four detailed case studies (New York City, New York; Charlotte, North Carolina; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Olympia, Washington).

The practices are categorized by:

1. Public right-of-way engineering and design guidelines.
2. Architectural and urban design guidelines.
3. Planning and land development regulations.
4. Financing mechanisms.
5. Operations, maintenance, and enforcement measures.

The American Public Health Association (APHA) and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership have collaborated to produce “Promoting Active Transportation: An Opportunity for Public Health.”  The guide is intended to give an overview of why and how health should be considered in transportation planning and decision-making and the role that active transportation can play in helping reduce rates of obesity and physical inactivity.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), has released its first planning tool, the Walkability Workbook, through its Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program.   This free set of documents and slide presentations, developed by the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, guides communities through the process of conducting a walkability audit to assess the pedestrian environment and form a vision for short- and long-term improvements to sidewalks and streets.  Additional tools, including one to help communities plan bikeshare programs, will be launched in 2013.

America Walks, in collaboration with Sam Schwartz Engineering, has released a guide to creating walkable communities, “Steps to a Walkable Community: A Guide for Citizens, Planners, and Engineers.”  The guide is a compendium of innovative and multidisciplinary tools, ideas, and tactics that have been used to improve conditions for and to encourage more walking in communities around the country.  The guide is available as a PDF download for free, although providing contact information is required.

In August 2012, the National Complete Streets Coalition released the report “Complete Streets Policy Analysis 2011: Inclusive, Diverse, Accountable.”  The report offers a “year-in-review” for Complete Streets policies nationwide, documenting the rate at which policies were adopted at all levels of government, detailing specifics of certain policies and indicating the best policies and policy practices across the country. These policies are designed to ensure that future transportation infrastructure investments provide safe options for all roadway users.  The report rates the strength of extent written policies and highlights policies that do a particularly good job covering individual policy elements.

A new report issued by the National Center for Transit Research at the Univeristy of South Florida gives an overview of designs, policies, and operational characteristics of shared bicycle/bus lanes in municipalities in the United States and other countries. The study examines and presents as case studies shared bicycle/bus lanes from four U.S. cities: Ocean City, MD; Minneapolis, MN; Philadelphia, PA; and Washington DC. Through its investigation, the study identifies and discusses contextual factors, design variables, and tools for planning and implementing shared bicycle/bus lanes, and provides recommendations for further research.

The National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has devoted the August edition of its Vitalsigns™ report and associated Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) to walking and the health benefits walking can provide.  The CDC Vitalsigns™ webpage calls attention to the lack of physical activity among many adults in the United States, the need for more, the role of walking in helping to meet this need, and finally the ways in which governments, organizations, and individuals may help increase walking.

The MMWR examines data gathered in National Health Interview Surveys from 2005 and 2010 in order to assess changes in the prevalence of walking among groups with different demographic, health, and geographic characteristics.  Overall, the report finds an increase in the prevalence of walking.  The report concludes that to sustain increases, communities should “implement evidence-based strategies such as creating or enhancing access to places for physical activity, or using design and land use policies and practices that emphasize mixed-use communities and pedestrian-friendly streets.”  The report argues that  walking for transportation and recreation can help improve the health of U.S. residents.

Peter Tuckel of Hunter College Department of Sociology, and William Milczarski of Hunter College Department of Urban Affairs & Planning, have published an article for Amerca Walks on the implications of demographic shifts for walking as a mode of travel.

The authors argue that major population shifts in the United States are at the root of changing attitudes and behaviors in regards to walking. These shifts are the aging of the baby boomers, the different transportation priorities of young people, and the decline of the suburbs the population growth in suburbs relative to cities.  The authors believe that these shifts are likely to result in a substantial increase in both recreational and utilitarian walking.

A new report summarizes results of an evaluation of the Sound Transit Remote Infrared Audible Sign (RIAS) system in guiding persons with disabilities in multi-modal public transportation environments. The RIAS Model Accessibility Program (RIAS MAP) is an ongoing program funded by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to evaluate the effectiveness of remote infrared audible sign systems in enabling persons with visual mobility and cognitive disabilities to travel safely on their own.

The report presents test results on the effectiveness of the Sound Transit RIAS system for persons with visual or cognitive disabilities and cost-benefit analysis on future expansion of the RIAS system versus other wayfinding systems.

For a report summary, visit the FTA website.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued a report providing implementation guidance on strategies and methods to prevent pedestrian incidents, injuries, and fatalities at or near passenger rail stations.  The report recommends that passenger rail operators use risk-based hazard analysis methods to identify methods and treatments to improve pedestrian safety at rail crossings.  The report provides illustrations of many of these treatments.  See our earlier post on the draft document.

A new report by the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) reviews the ways in which transportation systems can impact people with disabilities and argues for equity and the consideration of all individuals, including the disabled, when developing transportation policy, infrastructure, and operations.  The reports recommendations fall under four categories: funding, programs, livability provisions, and enforcement.

In 2005, theSafe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) established the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP).  A new report represents the culmination of the initial implementation and analytical effort, provides an overview of the four pilot communities (Columbia, MO; Marin County, CA; Minneapolis, MN; and Sheboygan County, WI), program investments, evaluation results, and key outcomes and lessons learned.

Over four years, the NTPP provided approximately $25 million annually in contract authority allocated equally among four pilot communities “to construct … networks of non-motorized transportation infrastructure facilities, including sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and pedestrian and bicycle trails, that connect directly with transit stations, schools, residences, businesses, recreation areas, and other community activity centers.”  The NTPP was designed as a demonstration program to gather statistical information on transportation mode share shifts before and after the implementation of non-motorized transportation infrastructure and educational or promotional programs. The program was intended to “demonstrate the extent to which bicycling and walking can carry a significant part of the transportation load, and represent a major portion of the transportation solution, within selected communities.”

The journal “Transportation,” has published an article examining the extent to which work-related factors influence, (1) whether an individual decides to cycle to work, and (2) whether an individual cycles to work every day.

The authors hypothesize that office culture and colleagues’ and employers’ attitudes – manifest in the provision of cycling facilities and financial compensation schemes – would significantly influence both decisions.  The authors then conducted a survey in four Dutch cities with over 4,000 respondents. The results suggest that the following factors increase the likelihood of being a commuter cyclist:

• A positive attitude towards cycling
• Colleagues’ expectations that an individual will cycle to work
• The presence of interior bicycle storage
• Access to clothes-changing facilities
• The need for a bicycle during office hours

 The presence of facilities for other transportation modes, an increase in the commute distance, and the need to transport goods, in turn, reduce the chance that an individual will cycle to work.

Cycling to work every day, on the other hand, was shown to be negatively affected by an increase in commute distance, provision of a free public transportation pass, and provision of automobile parking by the employer.

Readers should be aware that model parameters used to analyze survey data are based on Dutch cities.  These parameters would need to be re-estimated for the Chicago region.

The Active Transportation Alliance has launched a new website, Active Transportation Policy.  The website, which was made possible through a Department of Health and Human Services Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) grant, provides a clearinghouse of information on the advancement of municipal and school policies that promote active travel in our region and beyond.  Information is categorized by target audience, target barrier, subject matter, title, author, associated agencies, and by a list of general tags in our library.

Included on the website is Active Transportation Alliance’s recently published Complete Streets, Complete Networks: A Manual for the Design of Active Transportation.  The manual, which was created for the Cook County Highway Department through the CPPW grant, provides information and tools intended to support and assist in the design of Complete Streets, which allow for and encourage safe and convenient travel by all modes and can help create or enhance a sense of place and attractive public spaces.

The manual has five chapters: Basis, Typologies, Geometrics, Amenities, and Processes. The individual chapters can be downloaded separately and are organized to facilitate the design process by allowing the reader to access relevant information at any of the various stages in the development of Complete Streets.

In addition, municipal active transportation plans, bikeway plans, Complete Streets policies and ordinances, school travel plans, and other resources are available in the website’s library.

According to a report published by the Frontier Group and U.S. PIRG Education Fund, the downturn in vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) since 2004 has been led by young people.  The study reports that, from 2001 to 2009, the average annual number of vehicle-miles traveled by 16- to 34-year-olds decreased from 10,300 miles to 7,900 miles per capita – a drop of 23 percent.  The report attributes this trend to a number of ongoing reasons, including higher gas prices, new licensing laws, improvements in technology that support alternative transportation, and changes in Generation Y’s values and preferences.  In addition to the decrease in VMT among 16 to 34 year olds, other highlights from the study include:

• In 2009, 16 to 34-year-olds took 24 percent more bike trips than they did in 2001 (despite the age group shrinking in size by 2 percent).
• In 2009, 16 to 34-year-olds walked to destinations 16 percent more frequently than they did in 2001.
• From 2001 to 2009, the number of passenger-miles traveled by 16 to 34-year-olds on public transit increased by 40 percent.
• According to Federal Highway Administration, from 2000 to 2010, the share of 14 to 34-year-olds without a driver’s license increased from 21 percent to 26 percent.

Richard Florida, in the Atlantic Cities, has also written on this phenomenon.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has released the fourth edition of its Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities, last published in 1999.

According to AASHTO, the guide “provides information on how to accommodate bicycle travel and operations in most riding environments. It is intended to present sound guidelines that result in facilities that meet the needs of bicyclists and other highway users. Sufficient flexibility is permitted to encourage designs that are sensitive to local context and incorporate the needs of bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorists.”

The guide is currently available for pre-order through AASHTO and is expected to ship in early June. The new edition of guide will also be available as a download. 

The Mineta Transportation Institute has released a report examining practices and program characteristics associated with high levels of non-motorized travel.  The study features case studies from three California cities – Davis, Palo Alto, and San Luis Obispo. These case studies are intended to illustrate how urban communities can better integrate non-motorized transportation modes into the existing physical infrastructure, as well as reach out to and educate community residents and employees on the benefits of walking and cycling.

The study recognizes that, while many manuals, handbooks, and guides on planning and designing bicycle and pedestrian facilities already exist, there is little indication about which of the varied treatments in these guides work well for users. While some cities are highly acclaimed for deploying bicycle-friendly and walking facilities, mostlag behind and lack the resources to assess what is needed to integrate these facilities with other means of travel. This study attempts to bridge that gap.