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More details on ODOT's change to 50th percentile from 85th percentile
by Beth McKechnie 14 May '20

14 May '20

[TDM listserv post on the Oregon DOT's changes to speed limit setting, most notably shifting to 50th percentile rather than 85th percentile] Hi friends and colleagues, I wanted to let you know that ODOT's new Oregon Administrative Rule around speed-setting went into effect on May 1. Review an overview of the new process <https://www.oregon.gov/odot/Engineering/Docs_TrafficEng/Speed-Setting-Updat…> (this link is a helpful ppt overview) or review the corresponding Oregon Administrative Rule updates <https://www.oregon.gov/odot/Engineering/Docs_TrafficEng/OAR-Update-Speed-Se…> for information about the change. We've also updated the Speed Zone Manual <https://www.oregon.gov/odot/Engineering/Docs_TrafficEng/Speed-Zone-Manual.p…> to reflect the change. All this information lives on our Speed Zones page <https://www.oregon.gov/odot/Engineering/Pages/Speed-Zones.aspx>. This represents a major step forward in our approach to posted speeds on urban arterial highways. It aligns recommended speeds with the Blueprint for Urban Design targets and anchors our technical methods around the 50th percentile speed (the typical driver) instead of the 85th percentile (the driver traveling one standard deviation faster than the norm). When choosing the posted speed, our engineering approach must document and address factors like land use context, crash history, and multimodal activity, and can also bring other elements such as user demographics and public testimony into the conversation. Rural communities will have the flexibility to use 50th percentile or the 85th. Please feel free to reach out to me or other ODOT colleagues if you have questions about what this change means for existing plans/projects or for corridors where speed is a concern. Be aware that our Technical Services folks do not advise collecting speed data now due to COVID-related impacts on travel (which we know include increased speeding in some Oregon communities). This is new practice for all of us, so we'll be learning with you. Thanks and hope you're all well! Talia Jacobson, ODOT Region 1 Planning 123 NW Flanders Portland, OR 97209 503-731-8228 talia.jacobson(a)odot.state.or.us *(she/her)*

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Your daily commute won't ever be the same
by Beth McKechnie 12 May '20

12 May '20

[In case you don't want to sign up for a free National Geographic account, I've pasted the article below.] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/05/coronavirus-your-daily-c… Coronavirus will upend—but perhaps make healthier—the ways we use trains, buses, and bike lanes in our post-pandemic future. It's time to go to work. The COVID-19 pandemic is behind us, and—in this vision of the future—trains and buses are running again. But things look different than they used to. You pay your fare without touching anything. Seats are spaced farther apart on divider-filled vehicles, while drivers sit in ventilated compartments, isolated from passengers. Smartphone apps may help decongest trains and buses. And with more people choosing to bike, walk, or work from home, packed train cars have become part of the pre-pandemic lore. While it’s impossible to predict the future, interviews with transportation and public-health experts suggest that the pandemic offers an opportunity to reshape transit systems and revive cities, with the potential to ward off infectious disease and even some chronic illnesses. And while lockdowns have put public transport in a state of crisis for the moment, strategic investment <https://www.citylab.com/perspective/2020/04/coronavirus-public-transit-ride…>, creative thinking, and new technologies could eventually make people feel safe enough to ride again, says Yingling Fan <https://www.hhh.umn.edu/directory/yingling-fan>, an urban planner at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. “There's certainly a lot of challenge, but also there's a lot of opportunity,” she says. The pandemic might also open up possibilities for making transit systems more inviting. “Transportation history is full of stories where something that was done temporarily turned out to be permanent, because people didn't want to go back,” says Jarrett Walker <https://jarrettwalker.com/>, an international transit consultant and author of *Human Transit: How Clearer Thinking about Public Transit Can Enrich Our Communities and Our Lives*. Cars don’t equal healthy The whole purpose of mass transit is to move heaps of people, and this crowding increases the chances of spreading infectious diseases. In a study of dozens of people during the 2008-2009 influenza season, researchers in the United Kingdom found that those who rode buses or trams were nearly six times as likely as non-riders to seek health care for an acute respiratory illness <https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12940-018-0427-5;%20https://bmci…> . The natural reaction might be to take a car instead, but that ups the risk for chronic illnesses, says Lawrence Frank <https://www.spph.ubc.ca/person/lawrence-frank/>, a transportation and public health expert at the University of British Columbia. In 2004, he and his colleagues found that every extra hour <https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(04)00087-X/abstract> that people spend in a car each day increases their risk for obesity by 6 percent. Obesity, in turn, is a predictor of diabetes and heart disease—which both increase a person’s vulnerability <https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/groups-at-…> to COVID-19 complications. “We want fewer people to have those preconditions, so that if a pandemic hits, if they get exposed to it, they will survive it,” he says. “The real question is: How do you build a future that addresses both chronic and infectious disease?” Urban density is unlikely to disappear, Frank says, nor should it. His research has linked dense neighborhoods, walkability <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01944360608976725?casa_token=tG…>, proximity of shops, and access to public transportation with lower rates of <http://www.metrovancouver.org/services/regional-planning/PlanningPublicatio…> diabetes, heart disease, and stress, as well as with reduced health-care costs. His group <https://health-design.spph.ubc.ca/> is now investigating how chronic disease and infectious disease vary with neighborhood walkability, transit use, car dependence, and the ability of people to engage in active modes of transportation, like walking and biking. Preliminary results suggest that people who live in more walkable neighborhoods and those with less exposure to air pollution <http://www.metrovancouver.org/services/regional-planning/PlanningPublicatio…> are less likely to have chronic conditions and may be less vulnerable to dying from COVID-19. Preserving both public transit and encouraging active transportation is important for keeping air pollution down, he adds, and that has health implications, too <https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/04/pollution-made-the-pande…> . “The most vulnerable society is the one that becomes the most sedentary and the most car dependent, and that's the worst possible case when a pandemic comes,” Frank says. Infection-proofing public transit The COVID-conscious commute may begin before you leave home, Fan says. In some cities in China, such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou, pre-booking a seat is already common on city buses and trains. She suspects that adding the option of pre-paying for fares online or via smartphones could reduce the number of people who need to touch a grimy kiosk. It’s also possible to disperse people in ways beyond limiting transit capacity, which plenty of places have done during the pandemic, Walker says. Cities can use existing automatic vehicle-location <https://www.traffictechnologytoday.com/features/making-public-transit-more-…> and passenger-flow monitors <https://ny.curbed.com/2019/7/30/20747360/mta-pilot-technology-improve-subwa…> to quickly reroute buses when demand changes. Automated passenger-counters and weight sensors—currently in use in Australia, the U.K. <https://ggwash.org/view/64291/real-time-signs-reduce-train-crowding>, and elsewhere—can provide information about train-car capacity through smartphones or display screens at stations, so riders can spread out by picking the least crowded car. Last year, Google started using crowdsourcing and traffic information in more than 200 cities worldwide to give users a heads-up about how full they should expect buses and trains to be <https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-jam-packed-will-my-train-be-google-says-it…>. Integrated with smartphone apps <https://ggwash.org/view/64291/real-time-signs-reduce-train-crowding>, all this information could reduce congestion by allowing passengers to avoid crowded platforms and vehicles. So far, this type of data has not been used by officials to enforce crowd spacing on public transport, Fan says, but applying the idea is conceivable, as China already uses similar technology to restrict road traffic. However, using some of these apps might mean surrendering certain levels of privacy. Monitoring apps on your phone, for example, could alert you if you have ridden a train with someone who later tested positive for COVID-19. Apple and Google <https://blog.google/inside-google/company-announcements/apple-and-google-pa…> are developing software with this kind of contact-tracing capability, which is already available in China, Singapore, and other countries. Cultural differences play into the willingness to give up privacy, Fan says. South Korea’s contact tracing has been successful in part because laws allow the government to track an infected person’s credit card history and cell phone location data. “The trade-off between privacy and safety is a hot topic,” Fan says. “I do not think the general public in the U.S. is ready for any strict contact-tracing measures.” Facial sensors like ones that have been deployed on public transportation in China <https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3049215/ai-firms-deploy-fever-dete…> may also measure your temperature, rejecting entry to a bus or subway station if you have a fever. Once antibody testing is accurate and easily available <https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/05/why-unreliable-tests-are…>, you might even show an immunity card before you can board, though there will be a fine line between safety and hassle, adds David Levinson <https://www.sydney.edu.au/engineering/about/our-people/academic-staff/david…>, a transport engineer at the University of Sydney, Australia. “All of those invasions of privacy are things that are not going to make people happy, and are going to make them more likely to use other modes than public transit,” he says. “People will find alternatives if they can.” Bike bounce Bikes are among those alternatives. New bike lanes have already been popping up during the pandemic, appearing in cities from Berlin <https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-pandemic-gives-cyclists-more-road-in-berl…> to Bogota. In recent weeks, Oakland, California, has closed 74 miles <https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-closing-streets-to-traf…> of streets to make room for cyclists and pedestrians, and many other places, including Seattle <https://sdotblog.seattle.gov/2020/05/07/2020-bike-investments-to-accelerate…>, Washington*,* and Milan <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/21/milan-seeks-to-prevent-post-c…>, Italy, aim to permanently reduce car use. Experts predict these bike lanes will create a self-perpetuating cycle, as the number of people biking boosts demand. During a major overhaul of the freeway through downtown Seattle, for example, the city temporarily turned traffic lanes into bus lanes, and then never took them away. Building 400 miles of bike paths in Paris would cost much less than <https://www.ft.com/content/52ae6c52-8e75-11ea-a8ec-961a33ba80aa>—just two percent the price—an upcoming redesign of the city’s subway system. Biking isn’t realistic for everyone, Walker says, and it tends to be more accessible to people who live close to their jobs. Still, a growing industry of electronic bikes could help people commute farther, especially if public transportation systems integrate their fare structures with bike-sharing programs to allow people to hop from bike to train to bike again, Frank says. E-bikes are already available through share programs in dozens of cities <https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/articles/2019-08-12/e-bikes-take-the-lea…> . Work from home forever? For some people, the future of commuting might be no commute <https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/04/06/telecommuting-will-likel…> at all. About half of adults with jobs in the U.S. are working from home during the pandemic, according to a report published by the Brookings Institution in April. That’s more than double the percentage who did some telecommuting two years ago. Close to 20 percent of chief financial officers surveyed by Brookings said they planned to permanently retain remote work for at least 20 percent of their workers. This kind of societal shift could further reduce crowding and the spread of disease on mass transit, Levinson says, especially if people go into offices only occasionally, if they bike when they can, and if they get better about staying home when sick. Still, maintaining strong public transit systems is a key component of vibrant cities, Fan says. Buses, trains, and other modes of public transportation bring people together across race and income, and that kind of mixing builds empathy in a way that sitting in your car doesn’t. “Public transportation is a place where people experience urbanism,” she says. “It’s where people negotiate their differences.”

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Building your counting program: join us for a Canada-focused webinar
by Beth McKechnie 11 May '20

11 May '20

This Thursday, 14th May at 1-2PM ET *Eco-Counter Webinar Invite, May 2020* View this email in your browser <https://info.eco-compteur.com/e/685233/alk-about-data-693182-e-UNIQID/3j82t…]> *In partnership with Share the Road Cycling Coalition, join us for a Canada-focused webinar this Thursday!* We have been a proud partner of Share the Road Cycling Coalition <https://info.eco-compteur.com/e/685233/2020-05-11/3j82w/93412152?h=M6Q114xJ…> for a while now and have attended every single Ontario Bike Summit since it started back in 2009. Unfortunately, this year's OBS has been cancelled due to the pandemic. Instead,* join us for a free, open to anyone webinar* on building your bike and pedestrian count program! *Building your counting program* *Thursday May 14th, 2020 - 1-2PM (ET)* Click here to register for the webinar <https://info.eco-compteur.com/e/685233/g-program-tickets-102118384838/3j82y…> *About the webinar:* What are the best practices for building a count program? What challenges do planners face for building and maintaining a count program? Where is a good place to start? During this data session, learn from leading experts about about how to build an effective bike and pedestrian count program and leverage counting efforts to build a more bicycle-friendly community. We look forward to seeing you there! [image: Facebook] <https://info.eco-compteur.com/e/685233/EcoCounter-/3j831/93412152?h=M6Q114x…> [image: Twitter] <https://info.eco-compteur.com/e/685233/Eco-Counter/3j833/93412152?h=M6Q114x…> [image: Website] <https://info.eco-compteur.com/e/685233/2020-05-11/3j835/93412152?h=M6Q114xJ…> Copyright © 2020 Eco-Counter. 3981 Saint-Laurent Blvd, Suite 604 | Montreal, QC | H2W 1Y5 Office: 1-514-849-9779 | Toll Free: 1-866-518-4404

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Sorry - we can't find that page
by Terry Zdan 11 May '20

11 May '20

I am sharing this article with you https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/winnipeg-bicycles-indigenous-students-1.…

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Survey finds 65% of Londoners changed their usual mode of transport for the ULEZ - Green Car Congress
by Terry Zdan 11 May '20

11 May '20

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/05/20200510-ulez.html

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Cycle sales booming in UK
by C Feaver 10 May '20

10 May '20

Demand for more mobility and exercise amid lifestyle changes imposed by the lockdown has also boosted bike sales across the UK. "Very strong" bicycle sales at bike and car parts chain Halfords this week saw its shares soar by 23%. Some bike stores are battling to meet demand. Broadribb Cycles in Bicester normally despatches 20-30 bikes a week, but manager Stuart Taylor says the shop is currently selling 50 bikes every day - and seeing a commensurate rise in demand for servicing. "It's just gone crazy," he told the BBC. "People are dragging bikes out of sheds and garages and finding they need new tyres and cables. ... But rusty cyclists may be nervous on busy roads, so the pressure group Cycling UK has commissioned research showing how 100 "pop-up" lanes in 10 English cities could make cycling and walking easier. ... The Scottish government has announced£10m of funding for councils to provide temporary space on the roads this way <https://www.transport.gov.scot/news/10-million-to-support-pop-up-active-tra…>, and Cycling UK is urging ministers in Westminster to follow suit. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52564351 -- Sent from my tablet

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Transport Committee launches e-scooter inquiry - Lexology
by Zdan, Terry (MI) 08 May '20

08 May '20

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=98338dea-2e74-4fb7-b58e-5d70… Happy Trails Terry Zdan

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London cycling could increase tenfold after lockdown, says TfL
by Charles Feaver 08 May '20

08 May '20

Cycling in London could increase tenfold and pavements could be widened to allow for <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/22/uk-will-need-social-distancin g-until-at-least-end-of-year-says-whitty> physical distancing and queueing outside shops, under plans to overhaul the capital's streets post-lockdown. As part of the <https://www.theguardian.com/uk/london> London Streetscape plans, new walking and cycling routes along major corridors would be fast-tracked , including temporary cycle lanes along routes such as the busy thoroughfare of Euston Road. .. But the office of the London mayor, <https://www.theguardian.com/politics/sadiq-khan> Sadiq Khan, said millions of journeys a day would need to be made by other means, with London's public transport capacity potentially running at a fifth of pre-crisis levels. If people were to switch even a small fraction of those journeys to cars, Khan said, London risked grinding to a halt, air quality would worsen and road danger would increase. The mayor and <https://www.theguardian.com/uk/transport> Transport for London (TfL) said they would work with boroughs to focus on three areas: * The "rapid construction" of a strategic cycling network, using temporary materials, with new routes, aimed at reducing crowding on public transport. * A "complete transformation" of local town centres so that people can walk and cycle where possible, including widening footways on high streets so that people can safely queue outside shops. * Reducing traffic on residential streets and creating "low-traffic neighbourhoods". <https://www.theguardian.com/uk/tfl> TfL said its modelling suggested there could be a tenfold increase in distances cycled, and up to five times the amount of walking compared with pre-coronavirus levels, if travel demand returned. .. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/06/cycling-could-increase-five-fo ld-in-london-after-lockdown?CMP=share_btn_link

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Wpg Sun: Dropping speed limits best path to traffic ‘calming,’ says councillor (May6'20)
by Beth McKechnie 07 May '20

07 May '20

*Dropping speed limits best path to traffic ‘calming,’ says councillor* https://winnipegsun.com/news/local-news/dropping-speed-limits-best-path-to-… Changes to Winnipeg speed limits and new traffic safety measures could be on the horizon for city residents over the coming months. On Wednesday, a Standing Policy Committee report, advocated for “a whole new suite of traffic calming measures” was accepted by council – although the road to safer streets in Winnipeg is paved with controversy and complexity. The motion was partly in response to ongoing complaints filed by concerned residents regarding vehicle speed problems on city streets. Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverly West) said the report will align Winnipeg with many other jurisdictions regarding traffic safety initiatives. “There are many new approaches to traffic calming that many cities throughout the world are using,” she said. “One of the things that I’ve learned is traffic calming is very labour intensive, time-consuming and very expensive.” Lukes said that many Winnipeg streets were designed with cars at the top of the transportation pyramid – resulting in the need for traffic calming and road retrofits. “And expenses are being incurred,” she said. “Many of our streets are still being designed in a manner that does not encourage traffic calming. In my almost two decades of working on active transportation initiatives, I’ve never heard more public outcry than I have in the last few years.” To avoid wasting a fortune on road safety infrastructure, Lukes said the best way to bring about calmer streets is lowering speed limits. “Of course, there would be some initial investment for signage,” she said. “Cities all over the world are lowering speed limits on residential streets.” Coun. Ross Eadie (Mynarski) agreed with Lukes about the need for traffic calming but had his own take on excessive speed on Winnipeg streets. “The condition of the street dictates how fast people are driving,” he said. “Our streets are so bad that nobody’s actually speeding. They’re not speeding because there’s – I guess you could call them – natural decay speed bumps called potholes all over the place. I think it’s very important that public consultations do happen.” Cutting to the chase, Eadie said the biggest problem on Winnipeg streets is drivers who flout the rules. “And I’m not just going to blame drivers,” he said. “There are cyclists who don’t follow the rules of the road, and they cause problems for everybody as well. Everybody needs to follow the rules and do things appropriately. Driving is not a right, it’s a privilege. Police can’t be on every street and every block.” Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort-Rouge East Fort Garry), said that a cost-benefit analysis leads her to believe that lowering residential speed limits to 30 km/hr is a “cheap alternative” to other, more costly, traffic safety initiatives like speed bumps. “I just want to acknowledge the budgetary reality that need not be if we just reduce speeds.” Coun. John Orlikow (River Heights – Fort Garry), said that if council decides to lower speed limits, residents will continue to “drive the road.” “We can arbitrarily say we should have 10 km/hr or 30 km/hr,” he said. “But the problem is we’re going to have to do some road modifications if we don’t want to have people driving at those speeds.” Orlikow said that safer streets can’t be predicated on a one-size-fits-all model. “We have to have many different facets to it,” he said. “But, it is a serious issue that we are facing.” Mayor Brian Bowman explained that creating safer streets is a long-term project that could take years. “I do obviously think that adopting new processes for triage, for analyzing and implementing requests for traffic calming measures is entirely appropriate at this stage.” jsnell(a)postmedia.com Twitter: @JamesWestgateSn

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WFP: Report puts more school-zone driving restrictions on city’s radar (May7'20)
by Beth McKechnie 07 May '20

07 May '20

Report puts more school-zone driving restrictions on city’s radar https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/ways-to-expand-30-kmh-zones-outline… SCHOOL-zone speed limits are here to stay and could be expanded in the future, according to a public service review from the City of Winnipeg. A review of all school-zone speeding tickets issued in 2018 in the East Kildonan and Transcona districts revealed the reduced 30 km/h limit appears to be achieving its goal of slowing drivers. Fewer speeding tickets were issued in those zones than in photo-radar areas near schools that didn’t have a lowered speed limit. Based on feedback from school administrators in six local school divisions, the report’s authors have flagged several school-zone changes the city could consider, including keeping lowered speed limits in effect all day, every day, not just during school hours; placing school-zone limits at middle schools and high schools; and expanding school-zone limits to streets that are near schools but not necessarily adjacent to school property. Those suggestions haven’t been officially put forward as recommendations, but the report notes some of the changes could be made with approval from city council and/or changes to municipal bylaws. The review, which was released as part of the agenda for next week’s East Kildonan-Transcona community committee meeting, was requested last spring by city councillor Shawn Nason (Transcona), who said he hears regular concerns about speeding in the ward, which contains several school zones, and he wanted to know the location of the problem areas. Nason said Wednesday he will review the report. “One of the things I was looking for was areas that were having increased photo-radar tickets, so that we could look at safety perspectives,” Nason said. The majority of speeding tickets issued near schools in the ward were via photo radar, on streets where there is no lowered speed limit. Very few tickets were handed out for speeding in 30 km/h school zones, according to the review. Most tickets were issued in “school areas” that have signs identifying them as such. The signs allow photo radar enforcement to happen there, but the posted speed limit is not lowered. The most common place to get a “school area” photo radar ticket was at northbound Plessis Road, north of Rosseau Avenue West. Of the total of 523 tickets issued in East Kildonan-Transcona in 2018, 198 tickets went to drivers in that spot. Another 104 speeding tickets were handed out near Polson School, at 491 Munroe Ave., which doesn’t have a lowered speed limit. Despite the 30-km/h limit in place outside of St. Joseph the Worker School, at 505 Brewster St., 25 speeding tickets were handed out there in 2018, making it the most commonly ticketed reducedspeed school zone in the neighbourhood. katie.may(a)freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @thatkatiemay

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