The U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released a report which examines the safety effectiveness of the High Intensity Activated Crosswalk (HAWK) pedestrian beacon through the use of a before-after empirical (Bayesian) evaluation approach.

The report’s conclusions include:

• 29 percent reduction in total crashes, which is statistically significant at the 95 percent confidence level.
• 69 percent reduction in pedestrian crashes, which is statistically significant at the 95 percent confidence level.
• 15 percent reduction in severe crashes, which is not statistically significant at the 95 percent confidence level.

A summary Tech Brief on the report is available, as is the full report.

A new study published in the American Journal of Public Health looks at the magnitude, direction, and statistical significance of the relationship between active travel and rates of physical activity, obesity, and diabetes.  The article, which examines aggregate, cross-sectional health and travel data for 14 countries, all 50 US states, and 47 of the 50 largest US cities, finds that at all three geographic levels statistically significant relationships exist between active travel and obesity, physical activity, and diabetes.

The study provides strong evidence of population-level health benefits of active travel, and concludes that “policies on transport, land-use, and urban development should be designed to encourage walking and cycling for daily travel.”

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will be conducting two two-day workshops, “Designing Streets for Pedestrian Safety,” in the Chicago area during the last week of October.

These IDOT- and CMAP-sponsored workshops will address pedestrian safety issues through design and engineering solutions. Instructors cover the significance of land-use, sidewalk and walkway design, signs, signals, and crosswalks. Participants also take part in a field exercise at a nearby intersection. This course, funded by the FHWA, will be an opportunity for planners and engineers to learn about strategies for addressing pedestrian crashes and design-related barriers to pedestrian travel in our communities. Information about the workshops is posted at the CMAP Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety webpage.

The workshops are free. Space, however, is limited and registration is required. Up to 16.4 professional development hours (PDH) are available for the engineering community. The course dates, locations, and times are as follows:

October 26 to 27, 2010 (Tues. and Wed.)
Limited to IDOT and County staff and their consultants
Illinois Department of Transportation
District 1 Offices
201 West Center Court
Schaumburg, IL 60196-1096
Contact tmurtha@cmap.illinois.gov for more information about the IDOT workshop.

October 28 to 29, 2010 (Thursday, Friday)
For municipal, county, and IDOT staff and their consultants
Cook County Room
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning Willis Tower
233 S Wacker Dr Suite 800
Chicago IL 60606
Click here to register for the CMAP workshop.

Information from the developer of the course, the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC), on course content, goals, and target audience is available here.
 

The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) presents the webinar “Designing Walkable Urban Thoroughfares: A Context Sensitive Approach” on Wednesday, September 29, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. CDT. The webinar will include presentations by James Daisa, P.E. at Kimley Horn and Associates, Inc. and Joh Norquist, president and CEO, Congress for New Urbanism. The webinar will provide a detailed overview of the contents of the newly released manual, Designing Walkable Urban Thoroughfares: A Context Sensitive Approach, along with supplemental information and case studies to demonstrate real world implementation of the concepts included in this guide to recommended practice. The webinar costs $100 for ITE members; $175 for non-members; and $50 for ITE student chapter members.