MAKING THE CASE FOR STATEWIDE COMPLETE STREETS IMPLEMENTATION


-> Surveying the mounds of evidence connecting Complete Streets with improved physical activity and health, law student Samantha Chapman makes a strong case for state-level implementation in Indiana. Her article, published in the Indiana Health Law Review (Vol. 12, No. 1), should be reference for folks working in other states, too. (Combating Obesity One Step at a Time: Why Indiana Should Implement Statewide Complete Streets Legislation http://bit.ly/1IJ3akX)

[B' Spokes: If Maryland has this kind of legislation then we should sue the various DOTs that have failed. If not we should work on getting this kind of legislation.]

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
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8 80 CITIES: HEALTHIEST PRACTICE OPEN STREETS WEBSITE


-> 8 80 Cities recently launched its Healthiest Practice Open Streets website (http://bit.ly/1KygWnK). ‘Open Streets’ are community-based programs that temporarily open selected streets to people, by closing them to cars. By doing this the streets become places where people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds can come out and improve their health. The Healthiest Practice Open Streets program is a tried and tested best practice model. This new website features: 1) A toolkit to help plan a new Healthiest Practice Open Streets program or improve an existing program, 2) A video describing the Healthiest Practice Open Streets concept to share with others, among other resources.

from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
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RUDDER APP FINDS MOST WELL-LIT WALKING ROUTE HOME


-> Rudder, a navigation app, takes into account streetlight data for your city to provide you with the most well-lit path home. Once you are on route, the app will give you an easy-to-follow turn-by-turn progress bar at the bottom of your screen, giving you tangible context for how much longer you will be walking until your next turn. Some of the app’s most notable features include a light meter - a unique feature that lets you quickly gauge how well-lit your current surroundings are - as well as a progress meter for the entire trip, and for each individual step of your travel to show you just how much further until you arrive at your destination. Future features will include sharing your travel progress with friends and family to give them a heads up when you get home safely. Data for 12 cities to date. http://bit.ly/1JQSgUT

[B' Spokes: No Baltimore at the time of this writing but they do have Washington DC.]

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


The Baltimore Bike Share web site is up!

https://www.bmorebikeshare.com/

From the web site:

How it works
Enjoy your city! Baltimore Bike Share sets you free to explore Baltimore on two wheels.
Baltimore Bike Share is public transportation on your schedule. Grab a bike, go for a ride, give it back. You can pay for Bike Share by the month or by the trip, similar to MTA.

1 JOIN
Become a Pass holder and use Bike Share at your convenience.

2 CHECKOUT
Walk to a station, choose your bike, and unlock it with your pass or the Baltimore Bike Share App.

3 RIDE
Ride around the City in style.

4 RETURN
Return the bike to any Baltimore Bike Share station.

https://www.bmorebikeshare.com/
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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.
....


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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