NCST is hosting a three part series of two hour audio conferences on travel training for the aging network. The audio conferences are from 12:00 to 2:00 Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday September 28th, Wednesday September 29th, and Thursday September 30th. 

Registration will cover all three of the audio conferences whether you choose to attend one or all of the sessions. Please register before Friday September 10th.

This paper makes a case for transportation policies and advocacy to focus on improved street design and pedestrian safety. An example of a survey tool and listing of additional resources are included.

Download A Walking AdvantAGE as a PDF.

To read his blog post, click here.

America Walks member John Z. Wetmore produces a public affairs television series called Perils For Pedestrians. He will be in TN, MS, AL and GA in mid-September before and after the ProWalk/ProBike conference in Chattanooga.  If you are in one of those areas, and would like to talk on camera about issues of concern to pedestrians in your community, please contact John at john(at)pedestrians.org.

Click here to read the entire article.

Click here to read more about this tragic incident on the U.S. DOT’s blog and find out how they are working to prevent future pedestrian injuries.

Check out this video by Clarence Eckerson, Jr. on Streetfilms.org, which features America Walks Expert Advisory Committee member Gil Penalosa sharing his observations about pedestrian life.

On Monday August 16, 2010, New York City released the landmark New York City Pedestrian Safety Study & Action Plan. “The report’s focus on pedestrians is part of a broader effort to address the safety of all vulnerable road users: road users outside a closed vehicle, namely pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists.” By 11:59 pm on Tuesday the 16^th the plan had received 211 media hits on Google; I first read about it at the New York Times.

Comprehensive Pedestrian Strategy

In 2008, the NYC DOT finalized their Strategic Plan, Sustainable Streets, which called for cutting annual traffic fatalities 50% from 2007 levels by 2030. Reaching this goal would save over 1,600 lives over the next two decades. Also in April 2008, Mayor Bloomberg signed into law, Local Law 11 (Council Intro 567-A, §3) that set out robust and specific measureable outcomes for pedestrian safety in NYC.

The Pedestrian Safety Study and Action Plan follows from these commitments.  Its general tenor is refreshing and dead-on; it moves away from blaming the victim and focuses on data-driven engineering, education, and enforcement solutions to make it easier and safer for a diverse NYC population to walk and cross streets.

New Pedestrian Safety Commitments

The 2010 Pedestrian Action Plan calls for:

• § Installing countdown pedestrian signals at 1,500 intersections.
• § Re-engineering 60 miles of streets for greater pedestrian safety, according to corridor crash data.
• § Re-engineering 20 intersections for pedestrian safety on major Manhattan two-way streets.
• § Launching a pilot program to test the safety performance of neighborhood 20 mph zones.
• § Implementing a pilot program to improve visibility at left turns along avenues in Manhattan.

There is also incredible political investment in pedestrian safety. Transportation Commissioner Sadik-Kahn’s letter in the report, page five, is a must read. She lays out her department’s many significant accomplishments as well as future actions for NYC leadership on this issue.   One such action is DOT pursuit of legislation to:

• Increase the City’s enforcement capabilities, to prevent dangerous speeding and red light-running;
• Use Safety Education and Communications offices to begin transforming the culture of New York City streets, building more respect and safety for all street users; and
• Work with other City agencies including NYPD and the Department of Health to continue to collect better data and optimize our traffic safety initiatives.

Data-Driven Strategies

Many U.S. traffic safety approaches rely on rules of thumb.  Not so here.  The action plan is based primarily on local data and in-depth evaluation. While many of the findings fall in line with international research, including safety issues for high-speed, high-volume roads, distracted driving, and poor driving records. However, local data is essential to identifying and fixing real local problems such as NYC’s top 20 dangerous intersections or targeting the most appropriate populations. In many cases this in-depth analysis could mean the difference between developing good pedestrian policy and wasteful policy.

An example of this is the finding that male drivers are involved in the vast majority of crashes, while professional taxi drivers (also mostly men) are involved in proportionally fewer. These sorts of findings should allow the DOT to target its interventions more effectively. Using this example, the city might consider adding a new and ambitious requirement for more rigorous and ongoing driver training to the plan’s future policy and legislative action items.

The findings of the report suggest that DOT should focus on the following traffic safety campaign messages aimed at changing driver and pedestrian behavior:

• Know the speed limits and the exponential danger of speeding
• Yield to pedestrians in crosswalks
• Don’t allow unlicensed drivers behind the wheel
• Always cross with the light, not against it
• When crossing, watch especially for turning vehicles crossing your path

Additional important programs that New York is currently conducting include:

• Safe Streets for Seniors
• Safe Routes to Transit
• Clamping down on drivers without a valid license
• Interagency coordination

All large cities should adopt the rigor of New York’s approach to pedestrian safety; new federal and state programs should be developed to help communities of all sizes identify their particular pedestrian safety needs and intervene with proven, carefully targeted strategies.

Scott Bricker is a Campaign Manager for America Walks, a national non-profit organization that fosters walkable communities by engaging, educating, and connecting walking advocates. Scott can be reached at sbricker(at)americawalks.org.

After a discussion of common safety problems associated with unsignalized crossings, participants will be given an overview of effective countermeasures that may be applied under various roadway conditions. Supplemental treatments that will be discussed include high-visibility crosswalks, advance pedestrian yield lines, rectangular rapid flash beacons, the HAWK pedestrian beacon, raised median islands, and others. The presentation will include a collection of resources that local agencies can use to identify the best solutions for local implementation.

This Webinar is the third part in the Designing for Pedestrian Safety series. To register for upcoming Webinars and to access archived presentations in this series, please visit www.walkinginfo.org/training/pbic/dps_webinars.cfm.

Content from the PBIC Designing for Pedestrian Safety Webinar series is drawn from the PBIC’s in-person training focused on engineering solutions for pedestrian safety. The training is meant for engineers, planners, traffic safety and enforcement professionals, public health and injury prevention professionals, and decision-makers who are seeking ideas and solutions for making changes to the physical environment that improve safety for pedestrians. Detailed information on this and other training opportunities offered by PBIC can be found at www.walkinginfo.org/training.

Like many cities Cambridge, Mass., has laws on the books that mandate that property owners keep the sidewalks in from of their homes and businesses free of snow and ice. However, people walking in Cambridge have noted for years that some blocks are always well shoveled, while on other blocks pedestrians are seen climbing over snow banks and taking to the streets. 
 
Sarah Fresco of GreenStreets Initiative, Jesse Kanson-Benanav of TROMP and Katherine Lydon, Postmaster of the Cambridge Post Office worked together to organize the first “Best Shoveled Block in Cambridge Contest” in March 2010. Residents nominated a block in their neighborhood for the honor with judging done by mail carriers.  

The GreenStreets Initiative signature Walk/Ride Day Program challenges individuals in schools, workplaces and communities  to “Wear Green and Go Green” on the last Friday of every month, so it was natural to honor the four most walkable blocks at the Cambridge Post Office on Walk/Ride Day.  All winners chose green transportation to get to the post office with three of the blocks enjoying a walk through a surprise spring snow flurry.

Winning blocks were on Greenough Street where the neighborly ties go back 50 years, Lawrence Street, Foch Street and a special award was given to the custodians at Adams House, a Harvard University Residence on Bow Street.  Bow Street had not been nominated but the mail carriers felt it deserved a special honor.

GreenStreets Initiative credits the active involvement of Kathy Lydon, Postmaster, as the key to the success of the contest. The coalition is already planning for next year, including a kick-off on Walk/Ride Day in November with publicity for this event supplied through post office channels. Here are some materials used to promote the event:

• Invitation to Sidewalk Shoveling Contest
• Flyer about Contest
• Contest Certificate

Please feel free to contact Sarah Fresco at 857-928-1625 or sarah.cambridge.walk.ride.days(at)gmail.com if you would like more info.