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HOLOGRAMS OF PEOPLE WHO NEED DISABLED PARKING SPACES STOP OTHERS FROM PARKING ILLEGALLY

According to the Russian organization Dislife, over 30% of drivers in the country regularly take disabled spots illegally. Sensors mounted near disabled parking places in certain locations around Moscow can detect the presence of a state-issued disabled parking permit as an individual is sliding their car in. If no permit is detected, a hidden projector beams a movie of an actual disabled person onto a fine layer of water mist, making them seem to pop out of nowhere. After springing to life, the hologram effectively shames the person for attempting to illegally park in a designated disabled space—see the video. http://bit.ly/1LWvXmC

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
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SCHOOL-TRANSPORTATION-RELATED CRASHES

-> A school-transportation-related crash is a crash that involves, either directly or indirectly, a school bus, or a non-school bus functioning as a school bus, transporting children to or from school or school-related activities. In this fact sheet "school-age" children are defined as children 18 or younger. From 2004 to 2013, there were 116 school-age pedestrians (18 or younger) who died in school transportation-related crashes. Sixty-two percent were struck by school buses, 5 percent by vehicles functioning as school buses, and 33 percent by other vehicles (passenger cars, light trucks and vans, large trucks, and motorcycles, etc.) involved in the crashes. http://1.usa.gov/1SfyLyV

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
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STUDY CONFIRMS 10-FOOT LANES MAKE SAFER INTERSECTIONS

-> Side impact- and turn-related crash rates are lowest at intersections where average lane widths are between 10 and 10.5 feet, according to a study (Narrower Lanes, Safer Streets: http://bit.ly/1Iq1G8H) presented at the Canadian Institute of Transportation’s annual meeting last month. This challenges the long-held, but often disputed, assumption that wider lanes are safer. Crash rates were highest where average lane widths at the approaches were narrower than 10 feet or wider than 10.5 feet. Intersection approaches with 10-foot lanes also carried the highest traffic volumes. Bicycle and pedestrian volumes generally increased as lanes became narrower.

Narrower lane widths (10 to 11 feet) are sanctioned in national policies outlined by AASHTO, particularly for urban areas, but the official standards in many states prohibit them. According to a 2010 study published in the ITE Journal, six states require a minimum of 12-foot lanes and another 24 states require 11-foot lanes. The author of this most recent study notes that lane width guidelines, in particular, were established well before we had reliable crash and safety data. http://bit.ly/1fG3XFX

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
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Prosecuting drivers is most effective way to improve cyclists’ safety, say West Midlands Police

By Nigel Wynn, Cycling Weekly

West Midlands Police has changed its tactic when it comes to trying to reduce serious injury and death to cyclists on the region’s roads, saying that prosecuting drivers is more effective than running awareness campaigns.

In a comprehensive blog published by West Midlands Police Traffic Unit (WMPTU) last week, the service says that many ‘look out’-stye awareness campaigns miss their intended audience. It says that the most effective way to make drivers more aware of vulnerable road users, including cyclists, is to prosecute them when they commit an offence, including a ‘close pass’ of cyclists.
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http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/west-midlands-police-prosecuting-drivers-effective-way-improve-cyclists-safety-284043
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Measuring what we value: Prioritizing public health to build prosperous regions

Via Transportation for America

A new package of case studies released today by T4America, in partnership with the American Public Health Association, showcases a range of strategies that metro area planning agencies can use to strengthen the local economy, improve public health outcomes for all of their residents, promote social equity and better protect the environment.

CDC APHA health case studies

Today, we’re launching Measuring what we value: Prioritizing public health to build prosperous regions, four short case studies that extend our previous work on data-driven decision-making for choosing transportation projects.
...

http://t4america.org/2016/09/22/measuring-what-we-value-prioritizing-public-health-to-build-prosperous-regions/

[B' Spokes: Or from what I learned from my involvement in our Metropolitan planning organization: "What gets measured gets done." ]
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FITNESS APP DATA ACCURACY IN COUNTING PED & BIKE COMMUTERS

-> The data collected by the fitness app Strava (http://bit.ly/1WNyrcp) turns out to be a pretty accurate way to get a handle on how many people commute on foot or by bike. Fitness apps like Strava collect data about how people move around using GPS, which is less subjective. Some cities are already using its data aggregation and analysis spinoff, Strava Metro (http://bit.ly/2cQzt4B), for city planning. But fitness apps have their own problems — since the people who use them probably aren’t all that representative of the broader population. To double-check Strava’s tracking data, scientists with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compared it with census data in four US cities: Austin, Denver, Nashville, and San Francisco. (http://bit.ly/2diAWU3) The Strava data tracked pretty closely with what the surveys reported. http://bit.ly/2cnZkUf

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
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UT DOT: ADD EXTRA WALK TIME TO SIGNAL DURING PEAK PERIODS

[B' Spokes: Alt headline: Armed crossing guards improve safety. ]

-> The Utah DOT announced its new technology that allows school crossing guards to add an extra 10-15 seconds of "walk" time on a crosswalk signal for students walking and biking to school. This increases safety and allows traffic to continue moving smoothly and efficiently throughout the day. Installation costs about $20 per crosswalk, plus 30 minutes of an electrician’s time. http://bit.ly/2cizX4p

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
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BIRMINGHAM, UK: OVERTAKING DISTANCE ENFORCEMENT

-> The Guardian reports on a new cycling safety initiative launched by West Midlands Police, in partnership with Birmingham City Council in the United Kingdom. A plain clothes traffic officer on a bike teams with a colleague in a police car up the road to pull over drivers that give the cycling officer less than 1.5m space (nearly 5 feet) when overtaking (a distance that increases for faster speeds and larger vehicles). That driver will be offered a choice: prosecution, or 15 minutes’ education on how to overtake a cyclist safely. The worst drivers, or repeat offenders, will simply be prosecuted. http://bit.ly/2cCiule

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
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ZIPCAR LAUNCHING BIKE-SHARE AT 15 COLLEGES IN 2017, PLANS 100S MORE

-> Car-sharing service Zipcar is partnering with a bike-share company called Zagster to launch bike-sharing services on 15 college campuses. Zipbike won’t officially launch until January 2017, starting with 10 schools and then spreading to a total of 15 by the end of the year. The goal is to make Zipbike the standard for bike sharing on hundreds of campuses nationwide over the next few years. Students and faculty can rent out cars and bikes using one app and one membership. http://bit.ly/2d1L2Jx

[B' Spokes: I think I just got a glimpse of the future.]

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
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FHWA STRATEGIC AGENDA FOR PED & BIKE TRANSPORTATION

-> At Pro Walk/Pro Bike/Pro Place last week FHWA unveiled its Strategic Agenda for Pedestrian and Bicycle Transportation. The agenda will guide the Agency’s bike-ped work over the next three to five years to help reduce pedestrian and bicycle fatalities and serious injuries by 80 percent in the United States in 15 years, strive for zero pedestrian and bicycle fatalities and serious injuries in the next 20 to 30 years, and increase the percentage of short trips by bicycling and walking to 30 percent by the year 2025. (Short trips are defined as trips 5 miles or less for bicyclists and 1 mile or less for pedestrians.)

FHWA identified capacity building, policy, data and research actions to achieve each of the following goals:

Achieve safe, accessible, comfortable and connected multimodal networks throughout the US
Improve safety for people walking and bicycling
Promote equity throughout the transportation planning, design, funding, implementation and evaluation process
Get more people walking and bicycling.
http://bit.ly/2cZfKjE

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
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