The University of British Columbia’s School of Population & Public Health has developed a research program focused on the investigation of factors that encourage or discourage bicycling, transportation infrastructure associated with increased or decreased risks of cycling injuries, and air pollution and cycling.  The program website links to full-text versions of the studies it publishes and to “study brochures,” which summarize study results.  One recent study, published in the journal, Injury Prevention, examines the impact of transportation infrastructure at intersection and non-intersection locations on bicycling injury risk.

The Project for Public Spaces has produced an on-line “Rightsizing Streets Guide.”  The website features ten case studies from communities that have implemented road diets as a means to improve safety, gain public space, increase pedestrian and bicycle mobility and access, and/or enhance communities.  The site describes the rightsizing concept and best practices.

The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) has published "Access and Parking Strategies for Transit-Oriented Development" as a resource for municipal officials looking for innovative strategies to support multi-modal access to their transit stations and TOD areas.  While providing automobile parking options in TOD areas is important, this guide focuses on assessing multi-modal access strategies and places a priority on pedestrian, bicycle, and transit access.  The RTA has also produced a presentation (also available on-line) that municipal staff or others may use to explain the principles of the Access and Parking Strategies Report.  The presentation summarizes the main points of the report and provides talking notes for the presenter.

Bikes Belong is accepting grant applications from organizations and agencies within the United States for projects that “will put more people on bicycles more often.”  Fundable projects include paved bike paths, lanes, and rail-trails as well as mountain bike trails, bike parks, BMX facilities, and large-scale bicycle advocacy initiatives.

This year, Bikes Belong will only accept “Community Partnership Grant Applications.”  These proposals must come from a partnership that is minimally comprised of one government agency or office, one non-profit organization, and one business.

Bikes Belong accepts requests for funding of up to $10,000 for facility and advocacy projects. We do not require a specific percentage match, but we do look at leverage and funding partnerships very carefully. Bikes Belong will not consider grant requests in which their funding would amount to 50 percent or more of the project budget.

Grant applications are due May 24, 2013.  For more information, see the Bikes Belong Grants Program Brochure.

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has launched a web portal for the Illinois Bike Transportation Plan, located at IllinoisBikePlan.com. The website provides an overview of the plan, tracks plan progress, and offers the public opportunities to collaborate and submit feedback.  IDOT has contracted with consultants to complete the bicycle plan by December 2013.

On May 7 at 1:00 p.m. CT, the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC), in partnership with the League of American Bicyclists (LAB), will host "The Bottom Line: How bicycle and pedestrian projects offer economic benefits to communities."  The free webinar, part of PBIC’s Livable Communities Webinar Series, will focus on the economic impact of new or expanded bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

Presenters from LAB, the Adventure Cycling Association, Iowa Bicycle Coalition, and New York City’s Transportation Alternatives will discuss the latest research on the dollar value that bicycle and pedestrian projects bring to a community, as well as examples of successful pedestrian and bicycle projects from urban and rural areas and at the statewide scale.

The webinar does require advance registration.

The second annual Illinois Bike Summit will take place in Normal, Illinois, on May 15 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Marriott Hotel’s Carol Reitan Conference Center.  The Summit will include opening remarks by the Mayor of Normal, an address on the future of bicycling in Illinois by Andre Ashmore, Deputy Director at Illinois Department of Transportation, and a keynote speech, “Bikes Mean Business,” by Steve Buchtel, Executive Director of Trails for Illinois.

The full agenda and registration form is available on-line.

The U.S. Department of Transportation John A. Volpe Transportation Systems Center will present “Measuring Walkability: The Health Question” on May 7, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. CT.  Led by Ann Forsyth, professor of urban planning and director of the Masters in Urban Planning program at Harvard University, the webinar will address the questions:

• Does the design of a neighborhood affect the level of a person's physical activity?
• Do people who live in more compact areas get more physical activity than those who live in sprawling neighborhoods?

The event is free but advance registration is required.

The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) has released Complete Streets Chicago: Design Guidelines.  The guidelines represent an important step in CDOT’s efforts to implement the City’s 2006 Complete Streets Policy.  The new guidelines are intended to ensure that all CDOT engineers, planners, and managers – as well as staff and officials in other departments – are all working to implement Complete Streets.

Along with existing bicycle, pedestrian plans, the new guidelines will be further supported and advanced by Sustainable Urban Infrastructure Guidelines and Policies, which is currently under development and will provide guidance on creating streets that are intended to be more efficient, more economical, and help to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Read more about the Chicago Complete Streets Design Guidelines on our Policy Updates Blog.

The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) recently released “Making Way: A Guide for Communities to Promote Pedestrian Mobility and Increase Access to Existing Transit.”  The guide was developed to encourage municipalities in the region to implement small-scale capital access improvements such as the installation of sidewalks and crosswalks near existing transit facilities.  Such improvements promote pedestrian mobility and provide added access to transit.  The guide outlines specific steps that communities can take to improve their local built environment while providing viable connections to existing bus and train facilities that will help increase transit ridership.

The City of Batavia is undertaking a downtown streetscape project which includes installation of a woonerf on North River Street.  A woonerf is a Dutch word used in traffic codes to signify curbless roadways or plazas on which motorized traffic is restricted to a walking pace, such that pedestrians and cyclists share the street with the slow-moving motor vehicles.  On woonerfs, equal priority is given to all street users – cars, pedestrians, and cyclists.  Techniques of creating shared spaces, traffic calming, and urban design are used to produce the low speeds and, ultimately, to improve pedestrian, bicycle, and automobile safety, enhance the quality of public space, and create vibrant, social places.

The Walk Friendly Communities program has created a new guide to help communities become more pedestrian friendly.  “Giving Cities Legs: Ideas and Inspirations from Walk Friendly Communities” highlights efforts from communities that sought Walk Friendly Community status during the program’s first three rounds.

The European Transport Safety Council released a report that reviews bicycle safety policies in European Union cities.  The report details cycling infrastructure and best practices for facilitating safe cycling.  While design practice, policy development, and regulatory contexts differ between Europe and the U.S., concepts for safe cycling described in the report may be adaptable to local conditions and needs.

Growing out of the guide book, “Steps to a Walkable Community,” which we wrote about in a previous post, America Walks and Sam Schwartz Engineering have created a new website, www.walksteps.org.  The website is an “online resource for developing strategies toward walkable communities,” with tactics and case studies that communities can use to help them in their efforts to become more walk-friendly.  The website allows users to create and share specific tactics in a “My Tactics” page.  The tactics are organized under the following six categories:

• Advocacy
• Policy
• Land Use
• Design and Engineering
• Encouragement and Education
• Enforcement

The National Complete Streets Coalition (NCSC) has released three new presentations that are available for individuals and communities to use and/or adapt to help inform and educate others about complete streets.  The first, “Introduction to Complete Streets,” covers the basics on why Complete Streets are needed.  "The Many Benefits of Complete Streets" addresses the value that a Complete Streets approach can add to your community.  Lastly, "Complete Streets: Changing Policy" outlines and describes the basic elements of an ideal Complete Streets policy. Each presentation includes citations and presenter notes.  In addition, see NCSC’s factsheets covering various topics that are related to and can potentially be addressed through complete streets.

The League of American Bicyclists (LAB) has created summaries, accessible via an interactive map, of each state’s laws that directly affect bicyclists.  In addition, LAB is working to create model legislation for use and adaptation by communities to improve bicyclists' safety and comfort.   LAB recently completed the first of these model ordinances, a Vulnerable Road User law.

The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) has published a white paper that examines automated enforcement systems in order to assess their potential for improving bicyclist and pedestrian safety.  The paper argues that automated enforcement systems should be seen as one potential tool to aid crash prevention, rather than a comprehensive and final solution.  The author concludes that, to be effective, such systems should be implemented alongside education and engineering improvements, as well as other enforcement activities.

A new report by Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute discusses reasons to implement complete streets and how the complete streets approach to roadway design relates to other planning innovations.

The Village of Wheeling Board has adopted the Wheeling Active Transportation Plan, and is moving forward with discussions on how to implement the plan’s recommendations. The plan was developed by the Village with assistance from the Active Transportation Alliance and TranSystems, a transportation design and engineering firm.  The plan was funded through the CMAP’s Local Technical Assistance (LTA) program.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) has released applications for the Illinois Bicycle Path Grant Program, the federal Recreational Trails Program (RTP), and the Illinois Off-Highway Vehicle Program.  More information and important dates can be found on the IDNR’s Bicycle Path webpage.  Application deadline for all programs is noon on March 1, 2013.