Bike to the Future and Green Action Centre invite you to join us for this
webinar being presented by the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle
Professionals (APBP):
*
*Location:* EcoCentre boardroom (303 Portage Ave, 3rd floor)*
*
*
**
**
*Designing and Retrofitting Bridges for Active Transportation*
*Wednesday, August 17
2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Central Time
***
Bridges are highly visible and symbolic pieces of infrastructure; they act
as gateways and when done right can showcase a city's commitment to creating
great places for bicycling and walking. With national attention on the USA's
degrading and deficient infrastructure, bridge repair and rehabilitation
will be a major engineering focus in coming years. This represents a
historic opportunity to incorporate bicycle and pedestrian facilities in
bridge design for future generations.
Engineers, planners, advocates, and agency staff at all levels of government
should attend this webinar to get up to speed on the policy, planning and
design issues specific to building bridges that meet goals for supporting
and increasing active transportation. Attendees will learn:
• to identify the role of bridges in bicycle and pedestrian networks as
critical links for accessibility between trip generators and popular
destinations;
• to define bicycle and pedestrian issues that arise during bridge
rehabilitation in order to increase bicycling and walking mode share and
safety;
• to identify facility designs that safely manage transitions from different
facility types, as well as how to select the appropriate cross section (i.e.
how to divide space among different roadway users);
• to recognize that bridge rehabilitations often involve multiple
jurisdictions, and to discuss the complexities and lessons learned from
working with numerous agencies and stakeholders.
Examples will be taken from Massachusetts' accelerated bridge retrofit
program in the Charles River Basin. Click on this
link<http://www.apbp.org/link.asp?e=jessie@greenactioncentre.ca&job=426763&ymlin…>to
learn the background about LivableStreets Alliance's Charles River
Better
Bridges Campaign. Click
here<http://www.apbp.org/link.asp?e=jessie@greenactioncentre.ca&job=426763&ymlin…>to
read the League of American Bicyclists' policy report,
*Bridging the Gaps in Bicycling Networks: An advocate's guide to getting
bikes on bridges*.
Presenters are Jacqueline Douglas, Director, LivableStreets Alliance, and
Nick Jackson, the Regional Office Director for Toole Design Group in Boston.
--
*Beth McKechnie* | Workplace Commuter Options
<http://greenactioncentre.ca/>Green Action
Centre<http://www.greenactioncentre.ca/>
<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/>
3rd floor, 303 Portage Ave | (204) 925-3772 | Find us
here<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/>
Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living.
Support our work by becoming a
member<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/memberships/>
Bikeshares are popping up across North America, with Montreal's
Bixi<https://montreal.bixi.com/>being the first. Here's a short video
on the success of Minneapolis's system
called Nice Ride <https://www.niceridemn.org/> (purchased from Bixi), which
is now one year old.
One thing to keep in mind is that bikeshares work best in cities with
significant amounts of bike infrastructure (bike lanes, separated on-road
bike paths, pathways, etc).
http://www.grist.org/biking/2011-08-01-bikeshare-makes-for-a-nice-ride-in-m…
cheers,
Beth
Spring Bike Counts Show Steady Growth of 14 Percent
by Noah Kazis <http://www.streetsblog.org/author/noah-kazis/> on July 28,
2011
http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/07/28/spring-bike-counts-show-steady-growth…
*The growth of cycling in New York City shows no signs of letting up.* The
Department of Transportation’s latest count of cyclists entering the center
of the city posted a 14 percent increase this
spring<http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c7…>compared
to last spring. If the trend holds up for the rest of 2011, it will
mark the fifth consecutive
year<http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/commuter_cycling_indicator_and_da…>of
double digit growth.
“More and more New Yorkers are choosing to get around town by bicycle, and
by creating more bike lanes, we’re giving New Yorkers the option to safely
choose to bike,” said Mayor Bloomberg in a statement. “It’s the City’s
responsibility to adjust to trends in commuting and ensure our streets are
safe for everyone on the road, and by improving our street network and
strengthening enforcement of traffic laws, we’ve made our streets safer than
ever – for everyone.”
As noted by Andrea Bernstein at Transportation
Nation<http://transportationnation.org/2011/07/28/breaking-new-york-city-biking-is…>,
the new numbers were released by the mayor’s office, not the Department of
Transportation. That, along with Bloomberg’s statement, is an encouraging
sign that the mayor is embracing the increase in cycling as a major
achievement — perhaps in recognition of the broad public support for
expanding the bike
network<http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/07/28/bike-lanes-more-popular-than-god/>
.
According to the DOT count, the number of commuter cyclists this spring rose
62 percent compared to the spring of 2008. Since 2000, the number has
increased by 262 percent. Until now the city has released the annual
screenline counts all at once each fall. DOT says they will now release the
counts more frequently. One thing to look for in the next release: How the
Manhattan Bridge bike
detour<http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/07/18/wanted-better-protection-for-thousand…>,
which includes several harrowing blocks on the Bowery, is affecting bike
commuting over that bridge and the nearby Brooklyn Bridge.
The screenline count, which the city has been collecting for decades, has
its advantages and disadvantages. By counting the number of cyclists
crossing the East River bridges, on the Hudson River Greenway at 50th
Street, and at the Staten Island Ferry, the city captures a certain set of
trips that doesn’t necessarily reflect the full citywide
picture<http://www.streetsblog.org/2010/04/27/how-many-new-yorkers-bike-each-day/>
.
Census data actually showed cycling
decreasing<http://www.streetsblog.org/2010/10/01/did-nyc-bike-commuting-decrease-in-20…>citywide
in 2008 and 2009, but the Census has its own flaws. It only tracks
people’s primary commuting mode, hiding non-work trips and people who
commute by bike less than half the time. The numbers DOT announced today, in
contrast, count actual, observed bike trips.
Transportation and social justice: The sentence is in on the Raquel Nelson
case
by Sarah Goodyear <http://www.grist.org/people/Sarah+Goodyear>
26 Jul 2011 1:13 PM
http://www.grist.org/transportation/2011-07-26-the-raquel-nelson-case-and-t…
Could the Raquel Nelson case be a turning point in the way pedestrian rights
are seen in this country?
I write this shortly after the sentencing in Nelson's case. In case you
haven't heard of her, Nelson is the Atlanta-area single mother who was
convicted of vehicular homicide after her 4-year-old son was struck and
killed by a hit-and-run driver who later admitted to drinking and being on
painkillers.
Nelson and her three children, ages 9, 4, and 2, were trying to get from a
bus stop to their apartment complex directly across a busy road, and there
was no crosswalk or pedestrian signal to protect them. It was a shocking,
and fatal, case of bad street
design<http://www.grist.org/infrastructure/2011-07-20-when-design-kills-the-crimin…>.
Such autocentric design is only too common around the
country<http://www.grist.org/sprawl/2011-07-21-pedestrians-and-transit-riders-theyr…>;
in this case, it was compounded by a mystifyingly aggressive prosecution.
Today, in Cobb County State Court, Nelson was sentenced to 12 months
probation and 40 hours community
service<http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/mom-gets-choice-in-1042791.html>.
Crucially, the judge also offered her an alternative: A new trial that would
clear her of wrongdoing in the heartbreaking case. I'm waiting for word on
which course she chooses.
No matter what, the sentence is far better than the three years in prison
she could have gotten. But why was Nelson in that courtroom to begin with?
Nelson's conviction earlier this month on the vehicular homicide
charge<http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/pedestrian-convicted-of-vehicular-1014879.html>,
and the relatively light sentence received by the driver in the case (he got
off with just hit-and-run charges, resulting in six months served and
probation) attracted outrage from around the country.
Advocacy groups like Transportation for America (T4A) took up the cause
immediately. T4A's David Goldberg wrote a powerful blog post on the
case<http://t4america.org/blog/2011/07/18/prosecuting-the-victim-absolving-the-p…>,
following up on reporting by Tanya Snyder at Streetsblog Capitol
Hill<http://dc.streetsblog.org/2011/07/14/mother-convicted-of-vehicular-homicide…>
.
Over at Change.org, Eliza Harris of Orlando,
Fla<http://twitter.com/#%21/@myurbangen>.,
started a petition in support of
Nelson<http://www.change.org/petitions/cobb-county-ga-release-grieving-mother-of-h…>that
also called for a crosswalk in the place where her son, A.J., was
killed. Yesterday morning, the petition had about 58,000 signatures. By the
time the sentencing happened, that number had jumped to about 140,000.
That big boost in the last 24 hours before Nelson's sentencing is probably
due in large part to her appearance on the *Today
*show<http://www.grist.org/cities/2011-07-25-mother-facing-jail-in-sons-jaywalkin…>.
And this is what gives me hope: that a mainstream outlet like the
*Today*show, with its mass audience and its incredible reach, even saw
this as a
story.
Could it be that this country might finally be waking up to the idea that
access to affordable, reliable, safe transportation is a serious public
concern -- a matter of civil rights and full enfranchisement in our society?
Today, Wired's Autopia blog ran a piece entitled "Transportation as a Civil
Rights Issue<http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/07/transportation-as-a-civil-rights-issue/>."
It follows up on a report from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human
Rights <http://www.civilrights.org/transportation/> about transportation
equity as a central issue of social justice:
The way the Conference sees it, access to transportation is key to
connecting the poor, seniors and those with disabilities to jobs, schools,
health care and other resources. It is essential to widening opportunities
for all. Many of us take our mobility for granted, but getting around can be
a real challenge for millions of Americans.
This is a key issue as Congress considers the surface transportation
reauthorization bill, which essentially maps out federal transportation
spending and priorities for the next six years.
"Smart and equitable transportation systems connect us to jobs, schools,
housing, health care services -- and even to grocery stores and nutritious
food," Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Conference, said in testimony
presented to the House Highways and Transit
Subcommittee<http://www.civilrights.org/archives/2011/04/1198-transportation-equity.html>.
"But millions of low-income and working-class people, people of color and
people with disabilities live in communities where quality transportation
options are unaffordable, unreliable, or nonexistent."
Transportation systems, and streets, need to be not only smart and equitable
They also need to be safe. According to the Leadership Conference's report,
Hispanic pedestrians suffer a death rate 62 percent higher, and African
Americans almost 70 percent higher, than non-Hispanic whites.
Several months ago, I spoke to Angela Glover Blackwell of
PolicyLink<http://www.grist.org/article/2010-10-29-angela-glover-blackwell-talks-about…>about
the connection between transportation and social justice. When I ran
into her recently at the Ford Foundation forum on "The Just
City<http://www.grist.org/cities/2011-07-15-building-better-cities-so-people-can…>,"
I told her how often I have had occasion to reference our conversation.
Here's what she told me then:
[M]ost of the civil rights struggle in this country has centered around
transportation, in one way or another, starting with *Plessy v. Ferguson *[in
1896]*.* That had to do with access to train cars. Then we have Rosa Parks
sitting down on a bus. We had the Freedom Riders trying to do something to
show that black people ought to be able to ride a bus across jurisdictions,
they ought to be able to ride through the South on a bus without having to
go to the back of the bus. The whole urban renewal, which people often call
"black removal," because that's what happens, in the 60s, was a fight around
highways coming in, going right through communities that had been vibrant,
often destroying the financial district in an African-American community.
So if you go all the way from *Plessy v. Ferguson* right up to the urban
renewal, you will see that the fights have often been around transportation,
and how transportation decisions have been made.
It seems to me that the Raquel Nelson case has taken a place, however small,
in this historic tradition. Maybe that's too optimistic. But at least it's a
beginning.
Sarah Goodyear is Grist's cities editor. She's also on
Twitter<http://twitter.com/buttermilk1>
.
Mother convicted in son’s street-crossing death speaks out on Today show
[VIDEO]
http://www.grist.org/cities/2011-07-25-mother-facing-jail-in-sons-jaywalkin…
