Safe Travels Evaluating Mobility Management Traffic Safety Impacts

Abstract
This paper investigates the relationships between mobility (the amount people travel) and crash risk, and the traffic safety impacts of mobility management strategies that change travel patterns to increase transportation system efficiency. Although many factors affect traffic crash rates, evidence summarized in this paper indicates that all else being equal, per capita traffic crash rates increase with per capita vehicle travel, and that mobility management strategies tend to provide safety benefits. Strategies that reduce per capita vehicle travel tend to reduce overall crash risk. Mode shifting tends to reduce per capita crash rates by reducing risk per mile and total mileage. Shifting vehicle travel from more- to less-congested conditions tends to reduce crash frequency but may increase crash severity due to higher traffic speeds. Smart growth land use policies tend to reduce crash severity and fatality rates, although crash frequency may increase due to increased traffic density. Strategies that reduce traffic speeds provide significant safety benefits. Conventional traffic risk analysis tends to understate the safety impacts of changes in mileage. This analysis indicates that mobility management is a cost effective traffic safety strategy, and increased safety is one of the largest benefits of mobility management.

Continue Reading

  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

Motor Vehicle Occupant and Pedestrian Fatalities

Motor vehicle traffic deaths remain the leading cause of death among Americans aged between 1 and 34 years. In 2001, traffic crashes accounted for about 38000 deaths, of which an estimated 4700 were pedestrians. 1 Although only about 5% of all trips are made on foot,2 pedestrian fatalities make up about 12% of all traffic deaths, making walking one of the most dangerous modes of travel.3

[Baltimore traffic fatality rate is 74% higher then New York City.]

Continue Reading

  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

The Price of Anarchy in Transportation Networks

[I thought this was relevant as it shows that every road does not need to be a car only road in fact it might help to make some roads bike and pedestrian only roads.]

According to an Oct. 6th Bright Green Blog entry, "File this one under 'intensely counterintuitive.' A recent study has found that closing off certain streets can actually relieve traffic congestion. Using Google Maps, a trio of scientists -- Hyejin Youn and Hawoong Jeong, of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and Michael Gastner, of the Santa Fe Institute -- looked at traffic routes in Boston, New York, and London. Their paper, titled 'The Price of Anarchy in Transportation Networks: Efficiency and Optimality Control' and published in the journal Physical Letters, found that, when individual drivers seek the quickest route, they sometimes end up slowing things down for everybody.

"It all hinges on something called Braess's Paradox (and yes, I appreciate the irony of a Wikipedia entry that challenges the wisdom of crowds), which states that adding capacity to a network in which all the moving entities rationally seek the most efficient route can sometimes reduce the network's overall efficiency. The authors give a simple example of how this could play out: Imagine two routes to a destination, a short but narrow bridge and a longer but wider highway. Let's also imagine that the combined travel times of all the drivers is shortest if half take the bridge and half take the highway. But because each driver is selfishly trying to seek the shortest route for himself, this doesn't happen..."

Continue Reading

  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

NAT'L PARKS RULE CHANGE WOULD BENEFIT BICYCLING

According to a Nov. 24th Bicycle Newswire article, "An upcoming National Park Service (NPS) rule change could greatly benefit mountain bicycling by improving the administrative process for opening trails to bicyclists. IMBA has been asking the agency to revise its policies since 1992, because the current 'special regulations' process is needlessly cumbersome and treats bicycles like motorized vehicles.

"The NPS has said the proposal for new rules will be formally announced later this year. IMBA hopes the enhanced procedure will allow park superintendents to make trail access decisions locally, instead of being tied to a Washington-based, multi-year regulatory journey. The new rule would treat bicycling like other non-motorized trail users, such as equestrians.

"The suggested NPS rule change would only apply to places where including bicycling is deemed non controversial, and would maintain current requirements for environmental review and public notice. Opening a trail to bicycling must be done in compliance with the National Park Service Organic Act, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Historic Preservation Act, and all NPS General Management Planning processes..."

Continue Reading

  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

QUOTES R US

-> "Right now, the U.S. consumes about 10% of the world's oil supply just to get back and forth to work. If we are able to reintroduce the bicycle into our communities, we are going to make it easier for people to break our addiction to oil. I have cycled to work in Washington, D.C., for 12 years. I've burned over 300,000 calories and saved $94,000 in car costs, 206 gallons of fuel, and 4800 pounds of carbon dioxide."
-- Earl Blumenauer, U.S. House of Representatives (D., Ore.)
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/5up48j">http://tinyurl.com/5up48j</a>;

-&gt; &quot;We go from shock to trance. You know, oil prices go up, gas prices at the pump go up, everybody goes into a flurry of activity. And then the prices go back down and suddenly we act like it's not important...And, as a consequence, we never make any progress. It's part of the addiction, all right. That has to be broken. Now is the time to break it.&quot;
-- Barack Obama, President-Elect
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/6r3jqa">http://tinyurl.com/6r3jqa</a>;

-&gt; &quot;When a cyclist is killed by a driver who was text-messaging someone, you read as much in the paper about how awful the driver feels. We've made driving so easy, accessible and convenient -- and the system is so forgiving -- that people can drive distracted at great speeds and mostly get away with it. But we've seen conclusively that not paying attention will cause bad things to happen; studies have shown that distracted driving is just as dangerous as driving drunk. We should be penalizing those people the same way that we treat drunk drivers.&quot;
-- Andy Clarke, Executive Director, League of American Bicyclists
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/6aep22">http://tinyurl.com/6aep22</a>;

Continue Reading

  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

I told the president

Here’s YOUR chance to tell President-elect Barack Obama and the new Congress what they need to know to take action to improve transportation next year.

What’s bugging you? Congestion? Safety? Potholes? Bumpy pavement? When it comes to America’s transportation system, there’s a lot riding on the future. Add YOUR voice to the debate.

[This is important to let them know bicycling issues are important on so many levels, safety should be a priority for all not just for motorist. Vulnerable road users make up over 15% of traffic fatalities but get less then 2% of the funding, this has to change! Powerful lobbies are trying to take every last penny away from us to insure only motoring is supported.

* Per US DOT survey 73% would welcome new and improved bicycle facilities#1
* Per NHTSA survey 89% of bike trips begin at a residence and only 7% at a recreational site#2
* Over 75% of all car trips in the US are for distances under ten miles and nearly 60% are for distances under five miles.#3
* Per recommendations of TFAH and RWJF increase access to safe, accessible places for physical activity in communities. Examples include creating and maintaining … bike lanes and providing incentives for smart growth designs that make communities more livable#4]

Continue Reading

  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

HOLIDAY RIDE ON DECEMBER 6th


COME DRESSED IN THE COLORS OF YOUR HOLIDAY

AND WEAR LOTS OF BELLS

A HOLIDAY PARADE OF BIKES

NO LIMIT ON THE NUMBER OF RIDERS

Note: This is a casual ride - not an official One Less Car Event - a cue sheet will be provided but most of the riding will be on city streets.

On December 6th a group will leave David's house on 519 W. 40th Street to take a ride to the Fells Point Christmas Celebration. The departure time is 10:00 AM (giving the sun enough time to wake up) as long as the temperature at 9:00 AM is over 35 degrees and it is dry outside. If you are interested in riding please send an E-Mail to d.schapiro&quot;at&quot;att.net, There is no cost to ride for OLC members or to anyone who purchases a raffle ticket on the morning of the ride (available at the starting location).

ALSO

Continue Reading

  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

14-Year-Old Dies After Being Struck By SUV

No Word On If Driver Will Be Charged In Crash

MIDDLE RIVER, Md. -- A 14-year-old boy is dead after being struck by a sport utility vehicle on Friday evening.

Baltimore County Police said that Blaine Sunowitz was riding his bike when he was hit by a Dodge Dakota near the intersection of Martin Boulevard and Middle River Road.

Sunowitz was taken to Franklin Square Hospital for treatment where he later died.

Continue Reading

  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)

How the streets were made safe for cars!!

Originally Posted by MIT Press
Before the advent of the automobile, users of city streets were diverse and included children at play and pedestrians at large. By 1930, most streets were primarily motor thoroughfares where children did not belong and where pedestrians were condemned as &quot;jaywalkers.&quot; In Fighting Traffic, Peter Norton argues that to accommodate automobiles, the American city required not only a physical change but also a social one: before the city could be reconstructed for the sake of motorists, its streets had to be socially reconstructed as places where motorists belonged. It was not an evolution, he writes, but a bloody and sometimes violent revolution.

Norton describes how street users struggled to define and redefine what streets were for. He examines developments in the crucial transitional years from the 1910s to the 1930s, uncovering a broad anti-automobile campaign that reviled motorists as &quot;road hogs&quot; or &quot;speed demons&quot; and cars as &quot;juggernauts&quot; or &quot;death cars.&quot; He considers the perspectives of all users—pedestrians, police (who had to become &quot;traffic cops&quot;), street railways, downtown businesses, traffic engineers (who often saw cars as the problem, not the solution), and automobile promoters. He finds that pedestrians and parents campaigned in moral terms, fighting for &quot;justice.&quot; Cities and downtown businesses tried to regulate traffic in the name of &quot;efficiency.&quot; Automotive interest groups, meanwhile, legitimized their claim to the streets by invoking &quot;freedom&quot;—a rhetorical stance of particular power in the United States.

Fighting Traffic offers a new look at both the origins of the automotive city in America and how social groups shape technological change.

Continue Reading

  • Currently 0.00/5
Rating: 0.00/5 (0 votes cast)