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.

Along with Illinois and twelve other states, Maryland has recently enacted a traffic law requiring motor vehicles to pass bicyclists at a distance three feet or more.  A new study in the journal, Accident Analysis & Prevention, seeks to assess compliance with the law in Baltimore.  Through the use of video cameras mounted on cyclists, the study  measures the distance between motor vehicles and cyclists during passing maneuvres.  The authors find that significant numbers of drivers do not observe the three-foot passing law, especially on roadways without bikeway markings of any kind.  However, where bicycle lanes were present, no passes of three feet or less occurred on roadways.

The full text of the article is available for download for $41.95.

Trails for Illinois, a non-profit trails advocacy group working to increase the number and use of the multi-use trails in Illinois, is planning to study six different trails around the state this summer in order to measure their impact on local economies and quality of life.  According to Trails for Illinois executive director, Steve Buchtel, trail development and promotion are relatively low priorities in Illinois because of an underappreciation of the number of jobs that trails and trails-related businesses may generate, as well as the number of strokes and heart attacks that may be prevented by regular exercise.  The project, called ‘Making Trails Count in Illinois,’ seeks to provide reasons for communities to work to advance trail development and usage.

Trails for Illinois plans to count trail users on the Tunnel Hill Trail in southern Illinois; the Goshen Trail in the St. Louis area; the Hennepin Canal Trail in northwest Illinois; the Fox River Trail in north central Illinois; the Rock Island Trail in central Illinois; and the Old Plank Road Trail in northeastern Illinois.  Trails for Illinois has partnered with the national trails advocacy group, Rails to Trails Conservancy, to use electronic sensors to count users on each trail. Two other partners, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Office of Recreation and Park Resources, will help develop an intercept survey, recruit and train volunteers to carry out the survey, and analyze the data collected.

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.

An article in the Journal of Transport Geography looks at the reasons why high school students in Davis, CA may choose either to bicycle or not to bicycle to high school.  The study uses data from a 2009 survey of students at Davis High School.  The analysis finds that parental encouragement and the student’s individual comfort-level with cycling are key factors.  In addition, the authors find that the perceived distance of a cycling trip is more of an influence on the decision to cycle or not than the actual distance.

The full text of the article is available for download for $39.95.

According to an article in the Daily Herald, the Carol Stream Park District will construct a bike path connecting existing trails in Red Hawk Park with the Great Western Trail.  The project includes a recreational lease agreement between the Carol Stream Park District and ComEd for a 3,000 sq. ft. parcel.  The park district will pay ComEd $1 per year for this land.  The new trail is receiving funds through the district’s $37 million parks improvement program, approved by voters in a February 2010 referendum.

In addition, the Village of Carol Stream will complete a 1.4 mile sidepath along Kuhn Road from O’Rahilly Volunteer Park to Lies Road, which was funded in part through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program.

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 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.

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.

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 online magazine, Slate, has published a four-part series on the history, science, and future of walking in America.  The author, Tom Vanderbilt, argues that “America is a country that has forgotten how to walk.”  The series offers an overview of how scientists have studied pedestrians and what they believe they have learned and concludes with ideas on how experts believe the country might get people walking more again.

As reported by the Beacon-News, the Kendall County Highway Department is proposing that the County set aside money each year for bike trail construction along county and state roads. The Highway Department director has proposed setting aside $50,000 per year for bicycle and pedestrian trails and paths.  The money would come from the county’s transportation sales tax, which currently brings in approximately $4.8 million each year.

The 4th Urban Street Symposium and 2012 Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Midwestern District Meeting will take place June 24-27 in Chicago at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza (350 West Mart Center, Chicago). The symposium is intended to explore improvements in urban and suburban street design practices, encourage discussion on emerging street designs, and to facilitate the transfer of research findings on urban street design and design processes to state agencies and local governments.   The conference is sponsored by the ITE and TRB.

The Will County Board of Commissioners approved a construction contract for two sections of the DuPage River Trail, as highlighted in the Spring 2012 edition of the Forest Preserve of Will County’s newsletter, The Citizen.  One section is in Naperville, near 95^th Street and Naperville Road to near Knock Knolls Park in the DuPage River Preserve.  Last year, this trail connection was awarded $1.37 million in Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement(CMAQ)  program funds.  This trail will link to a bicycle facility being built as part of an extension of 95^th Street over the DuPage River.

The other segment to be constructed is in the Village of Plainfield, from  Black Road (County Highway 56) to Sunset Ridge Park near the Hammel Woods Preserve.

The National Center for Safe Routes to School has released two new bicycling safety resources.

• “Helping Your Child Be a Safe Bicyclist” is a brochure for parents that covers bike safety basics, including proper helmet fit.
• “Ride Your Bike Safely” is a brochure with safety tips for elementary school students.

Both of these brochures, as well as links to additional bike safety resources, are available at www.walkbiketoschool.org/keep-going/bike-safety.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has a new child transportation safety campaign called Think Safe, Ride Safe, Be Safe!   The campaign is a collaboration between NHTSA and Ludorum, the producers of the Chuggington™ television series, which provides tools to help children walk, bicycle, ride school buses, and travel in motor vehicles more safely. The campaign includes child safety tools such as a Traffic Safety Pledge, Activity Book, banner ads and safety tips.

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 Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) announced three new Walk Friendly Communities (WFC) and the elevation of one (Corvallis, OR) to a higher status level. Among the three new communities is the Village of Forest Park.  Congratulations, Forest Park.  The WFC program recognize cities or towns for their success in working to improve conditions for walking, over a wide range of factors, including safety, mobility, access, and comfort. PBIC recognizes these four communities for their commitment to improving walkability and pedestrian safety:

Gold Level
 Eugene, Oregon
 Corvallis, Oregon

Bronze Level
 New Orleans, Louisiana
 Forest Park, Illinois

The City of Chicago was honored with Gold Level Walk Friendly status in 2011.