On April 21, 2010, the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) is hosting a roundtable on the need for Chicago and other cities to create walkable, safe streets and public places.  The roundtable will feature examples from cities around the world that are creating healthy communities through the good design and skillful use of streets and shared spaces.  The roundtable is from noon to 1:30 p.m. at MPC offices. Registration, which includes lunch, is $15 for MPC donors and $30 for all others. For more information and to register online, visit www.metroplanning.org/news-events/event/53.

Bicycle parking programs are essential for communities striving to encourage bicycling for Transportation as well as recreation. Convenient, easy to use, and secure bicycle parking encourages people to bike and helps legitimize cycling as a Transportation mode by providing parking opportunities equal to motorized modes.

On April 21, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., the Association of Bicycle and Pedestrian Professionals (APBP) is offering a webinar on bicycle parking best practices.  APBP board member Eric Anderson will present APBP’s newly updated Bicycle Parking Guidelines, with special emphasis on two hot topics: in-street bicycle parking and implementing bicycle parking programs.

The registration cost for the webinar is $50 per site for APBP members, $75 per site for non-APBP members. Each registration includes one complimentary download of the Bicycle Parking Guidelines (priced at $20 for APBP members, $45 for non-APBP members).

To register, visit the APBP website. For questions, contact Debra Goeks (262-228-7025 or info@apbp.org).

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.

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

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.

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 United States Access Board is developing new guidelines for public rights-of-way (PROWAG) that will address various issues, including access for blind pedestrians at street crossings, wheelchair access to on-street parking, and various constraints posed by space limitations, roadway design practices, slope, and terrain.

As part of the Access Board’s monthly series AccessibilityOnline, the webinar “Accessible Sidewalks and Street Crossings” will be held on Thursday, June 3 from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. CDT.

This webinar will present and describe the most recent draft of PROWAG and provide an update on the status of this rulemaking. Presenters include Lois Thibault and Scott J. Windley.  The following professional development certificates will be available:

• Certificate of Attendance (Free)
• American Institute of Architects Continuing Education System  ($25.00) : 1.5 Credits
• Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System  ($25.00) : 1.5 Credits

To register for this free webinar, visit www.accessibilityonline.org.

Earlier this month, the Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC) passed a regional Complete Streets policy.  The policy was adopted by the NIRPC Board unanimously.  The Active Transportation Alliance features links both to NIRPC’s Complete Streets guidelines and to the NIRPC Complete Streets resolution.

Last month, city engineers from Madison, Wisconsin began installing a red “bike box” at a busy intersection in the city’s downtown.  Madison plans to install between 10 and 20 similar boxes at other intersections throughout the year.  The bike boxes are intended to minimize conflicts between motorists and bicyclists by giving the bicyclists a marked, visible, and safe place to wait for the traffic signal green phase.  The design, formed with a thermoplastic material affixed to the pavement with a blowtorch, includes glass beads reflective to headlights, according to Madison city traffic engineer Dave Dryer.  The bike boxes are the first project from a fact-finding tour of bicycle-friendly cities in Germany and the Netherlands made in April by the Mayor of Madison, city and county Transportation planning staff, and civic and business leaders.

AASHTO LRFD Guide Specifications for Design of Pedestrian Bridges

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) released the 2^nd edition of its LRFD Guide Specifications for Design of Pedestrian Bridges.  These design specifications address the load and resistance factor design (LRFD) and construction of typical pedestrian bridges – defined as bridges designed for and intended to carry primarily pedestrians, bicyclists, equestrian riders, and light maintenance vehicles, but not designed and intended to carry typical highway traffic. Pedestrian bridges with cable supports or atypical structural systems are not specifically addressed in these design specifications.

The price for AASHTO members is $35, and for non-members, $42.

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) issued a Bureau of Design and Environment (BDE) Procedure Memorandum (Number 68-10) on “Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodation (Complete Streets).”  The memorandum modifies Chapters 5 and 17 (‘Local Agency Agreements’ and ‘Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodations,’ respectively) of the Bureau of Design and Environment Manual.  The changes represent IDOT’s implementation of the Illinois Complete Streets Law.  The revisions will be incorporated into the next update of the BDE Manual.

Upcoming webinar: Pedestrian safety from around the world

In this presentation -- one in the series of webinars offered by the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) -- Charlie Zegeer will discuss pedestrian safety from an international perspective.  From China to Dubai to New York City to India, Mr. Zegeer will lead us on a quick tour of pedestrian safety design and treatments from around the globe.

Beginning with pedestrian safety statistics at the global and regional level, the presentation will uncover relationships between design, engineering treatments, and pedestrian safety and establish the basic principles that guide and inform these relationships.  Charlie will also present a selection of results from the International Scan on Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety and Mobility, which examined pedestrian safety treatments at a number of locations throughout the world.  He will also describe a case study from Miami-Dade County, Florida, regarding safety benefits that can potentially result from a comprehensive pedestrian safety program.

The webinar is free and takes place Wednesday, June 30, 2010 from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. CDT.  Registration is available online.

Localities and states have increasingly turned to land planning and urban design for help in reducing automobile use and related social and environmental costs.  However, the effects of such strategies on travel demand have not been generalized in recent years from the multitude of available studies. The authors of the article “: a meta-analysis,” published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Planning Association reviews and generalizes literature on the built environment and its affect on Transportation options and travel behavior.  Consistent with prior studies, the authors find that vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is most strongly related to measures of accessibility to destinations and secondarily to street network design variables.  According to the article, “walking is most strongly related to measures of land use diversity, intersection density, and the number of destinations within walking distance.”

The full article is available for free online.

Learn about the evolving best practices in the creation of bicycle boulevards.  This Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) webinar will draw from lessons learned in Portland, OR, and other cities across the nation.  Presenters Mia Birk of Alta Planning+Design and Greg Raisman of Portland Bureau of Transportation will describe the current state of the practice and the “next big thing” -- neighborhood greenways -- which incorporate the idea of bicycle boulevards with green streets, neighborhood enhancements, and community building.  This broader concept of sustainable, bike-friendly streets appeals to diverse groups and can help communities obtain funding.

The webinar is designed to help practitioners fully optimize existing bicycle boulevards. Attendees will learn about:

• route selection
• levels of intervention
• examples of challenges and solutions for a range of design issues
• neighborhood greenway strategies, and
• processes for getting project buy-in and approval

The webinar takes place Wednesday, July 21 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. CDT.  Cost is $50 per site for APBP members, $75 per site for non-APBP members.  Online registration is available.  For more information, contact Debra Goeks at 262-228-7025 or deb@apbp.org.

The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) hosts the Livable Communities Webinar Series in order to encourage safe walking and bicycling as a viable means of Transportation and physical activity.  The free webinars are offered every other month. Afterwards, the webinars are archived for free download.

Part 1 of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center’s (PBIC) Pedestrian Safety Webinar Series take place on July  20, 2010, from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. CDT.  The title of the webinar is “Introduction to Pedestrian Safety Design and Planning Principles.”

The webinar will provide an overview of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)/PBIC course, "Designing for Pedestrian Safety" and will also provide participants with a background in planning and pedestrian safety issues. Nationwide statistics on pedestrian safety and crash trends in the U.S. will be presented to give participants an understanding of the scope of the problem.

The presentation also covers key questions regarding pedestrian planning principles and related accommodations, and builds the case for including pedestrians in all Transportation and design decisions. Participants will then be presented with an overview of planning elements that affect pedestrian safety, including land use, connectivity, access management, site design, and level of service.

The instructors will be Michael Ronkin of Designing Streets for People, LLC, and Craig Allred, FHWA resource center technical specialist.  Online registration is available.

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.

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.

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.

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.