Highlights: Portland has 15mph speed limits to facilitate the mixing of cyclists with motoring traffic. They eliminated the pedestrian “beg” button downtown. In looking up some numbers it is very interesting to note they had 8 pedestrian fatalities vs our 16 pedestrian fatalities. Pedestrians are 19% of their traffic fatalities and ours is 42%.
How wasteful are we, really?
From B’more green: Baltimore ranks 16 out of 25 for being lest wasteful (not that good.) But hey, we got a mention that we are leading the way in saving leftovers.
https://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/features/green/2011/01/bmore_among_least_wasteful_cit.html
Ravenstown Bike Ride, Hon
A bit more stress on the scenery then the bike ride but that’s cool.
Portlandia: Bicycle Rights [video]
Purely for fun. There is probably a tiny voice in all of us that can relate to this video, but please let’s try to keep focused on the fun of cycling so it never gets too loud.
An open letter to Tom Hicks of Maryland’s State Highway Administration
From Bike Delaware
Bike Delaware, our constituent organizations, and bicyclists all over Delaware thank Tom Hicks (above, left), P.E. Director of SHA’s Office of Traffic and Safety, for revising Maryland State Highway Administration’s rumblestrip placement guidelines. Kudos as well to Michael Jackson (above, right), MD’s Department of Transportation’s Director of Bicycle and Pedestrian Access, for answering the call and shuttling this request along.
Bike Delaware first met with MDOT’s District Office on January 22nd 2009, out on Route 273 to investigate first hand what went wrong. Others working in MD bike/ped safety themselves brought bicycles along, to verify that this application (pictured left) did not meet bicycle-friendly guidelines. Today, we can proudly say the manuals have been revised. We are relieved to know that the rumblestrips applied along Route 273 in Cecil County, which prompted our concern as well as those of local racing teams and recreational clubs, will not be repeated on MD roads and highways where bicycling is permitted.
We commend SHA for recognizing this design as problematic in that it created conflicts between drivers and cyclists. Switching to the guidelines accepted as bicycle-friendly according to the AASHTO Guide for the Planning, Design, and Operation of Bicycle Facilities will encourage bicyclists to ride in the correct position on the shoulder and facilitate cooperation between all user groups. Further, it will allow bicyclists to ride behind the rumble strips instead of at the white line, as well as move safely into the lane when cars are turning in front of them or to avoid debris.
This will make cyclists safer and lower the stress level of all road users.
(pictured left: Frank Warnock, Maria Wilburn, Stephanie Yanovitz , and Mary Davidson join MDOT District Officials on Jan. 22, 2009, at the Highs on Route 273. Jeff Butcher was also present)
View the letter to Mr Hicks in pdf HERE.
See the revised guidelines, including a letter to Bike Delaware in pdf HERE.
Timeline for this issue on Bike Delaware News HERE.
Continue reading “An open letter to Tom Hicks of Maryland’s State Highway Administration”
Bicycles should be treated like cars [video]
Alert: The head of Maryland’s Highway Safety Office – improving pedestrian safety?
From Maryland by Vernon Betkey, Jr. , the head of Maryland’s Highway Safety Office as well as Governors Highway Safety Association chairman
Nationally, pedestrian fatalities account for about 12 percent [in Maryland that’s over 20%] of overall traffic deaths, a small but significant portion. Given that we have made so much progress in this area, GHSA is concerned to see this reversal. One factor may be the increased distractions for both pedestrians and drivers. Anyone who travels in a busy city has seen countless pedestrians engrossed in conversation or listening to music while crossing a busy street. Just as drivers need to focus on driving safely, pedestrians need to focus on walking safely – without distractions.
Now compare:
From North Carolina:
Rapid urbanization, a weakened economy, and growing numbers of vulnerable populations (including older pedestrians and socio-economically disadvantaged groups) without other transportation options have challenged the State to keep up with issues specific to pedestrian safety and mobility.
From Nevada:
Like many other places in the southwest, the road network in Clark County consists of arterials that are designed as six lanes with intersections jumping to eight lanes. In urban area that bisects freeways or beltways, intersection can be as large as 12 lanes! Streets are flat with wide lanes that are comfortable for speed and there are few places marked for pedestrians to cross the street. On major arterial streets the norm is to have nowhere for up to a mile stretch for pedestrians to safely cross the street.
Maryland has gone from a ranking of #20 to the currently 4th highest pedestrian fatality rate in the Nation. I really don’t think campaigns like below are working. (And zebra striping crosswalks would not hurt either, two parallel lines and that’s it, sheesh.)
So I am joining with Greater Greater Washington and asking those who would like to see a change for the better please write Betkey, his boss Neil Pedersen, and Transportation Secretary Beverley Swaim-Staley — vbetkey@sha.state.md.us,NPedersen@sha.state.md.us,bswaim-staley@mdot.state.md.us
[Note: I rewrote GGW’s article to put a different spin on it. So it might be worth reading David’s article as well.]
Pedestrian deaths largely flat in U.S., Maryland
from Getting There by Michael Dresser
The number of pedestrian deaths in Maryland decreased slightly over the first months of 2010 — but not by enough to stand out as an identifiable trend. The state continued to rank among the most dangerous for pedestrians — with one of the highest rates of such fatalities in the country.
According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, there were 50 pedestrian fatalities in Maryland between January and June last year compared with 54 in the same period of 2009.
The small change reflected a national trend that showed pedestrian deaths almost unchanged despite a strong decline in traffic deaths overall. Nationally, there were 1,891 pedestrian fatalities ion the first six months of 2010 — seven more than in the first half of 2009 for a statistically insignificant 0.4 percent increase. Overall fatalities are estimated by the federal government to have dropped 8 percent during that period.
Maryland was one of only four jurisdictions where pedestrians made up more than 20 percent of the total traffic deaths, the association reported. The others were the District of Columbia, New York and New Jersey. Nationally, 12 percent of those killed on the roads were pedestrians.
Maryland is also one of only three states, plus D.C., where the pedestrian fatality rate is more than 2 per 100,000 residents per year. The others were Florida and Louisiana.
Since 1999, Maryland’s fatality count for pedestrians had bounced between 91 and 116 per year with no clear trend in either direction, said lead researcher James Hedlund.
Continue reading “Pedestrian deaths largely flat in U.S., Maryland”
How to Fix Trail Crossings
WashCycle talks about the confusion of who has the right-of-way at trail crossings. https://www.thewashcycle.com/2011/01/how-to-fix-trail-crossings.html
He has a valid point there is something confusing/contradictory in having a Stop sign with a crosswalk. So just remove the crosswalk.
Interesting solution but I have to take issue with the statement "Traffic lights are expensive". One light is not expensive but I hear you say, but to put a traffic light at every trail intersection would be very expensive. That is just the wrong kind of thinking.
Garrison Keillor has a great skit about a guy who complains to the waiter that there is a fly in his soup. And the waiter responds "There might be a fly in your soup. But there might be a fly in everyone’s soup and we simply do not have the time and resources to check everyone’s soup so we can’t check yours."
We are totally missing the point that we just need to fix where there is a problem, one light at a time and no more, where needed. Unsignalized intersections have a social contract that everyone should be able to negotiate fair and equal treatment of the intersection. When bullies appear and will not let "weaker" users cross, it’s time to call a time out and mechanize who has the right-of-way.
Installing signs on the trail "Dangerous Intersection Ahead" is pure insult. It’s like saying "Ya we know there is a problem but we will not do anything about it." Signing trails with redundant stop messages without the same redundancy telling motorist must stop for trail users puts the responsibility in the wrong place and sends the wrong message. All a light does is automate what is required legal behavior from motorists. Saying a light can’t be installed is like saying motorist are not required to stop for pedestrains in crosswalks. And that kind of thinking spreads till motorist almost never stop for pedestrians in crosswalks.
Like red-light cameras, trail crossing lights need to send a message to motorist that illegal behavior was going on here and everyone needs to take a deep breath and pause for their fellow man and follow the laws even though you thought you could get away with breaking the law at other peoples expense for your own minor convenience. We need to insist that the system accommodates all users and fix where things go horribly wrong. A person is a person wither they are sitting in a car or not. We need to end the thinking "Fast users need to go as fast as possible and cannot be delayed in the slightest. While slower users would not mind going even slower." The reality is fast users can easily make up minor delays, but making it hard on slower users with extra delays on every single block just puts more faster users on the road till the system breaks under the load of just too many people in cars being used for every little thing no matter how short the trip.
All it would take is one signal light a year on a problem trail intersection, till people get it, is that really too much to ask?
What gets measured gets done (sort of) 2010 Attainment report
These are the things MDOT looks at:
Bicycling mode share (2008-2003, recent to old rates): 0.3%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.2%, 0.1%, 0.2%
Hey it looks like things are getting better, till you look at the National average of 0.5%, that’s right Maryland is below average but MDOT does not want to look at that.
Maryland offers an extensive network of on- and off-road bicycle
facilities, as well as hundreds of miles of sidewalks. This network not
only facilitates mobility, but it also improves public health and access to
transit and retail centers. To demonstrate its commitment to bicycle and
pedestrian mobility, MDOT has committed $118.5 million in the FY2010-
FY2015 CTP. Maryland has also developed a coordinated trail initiative
to promote trails as a viable transportation option through Maryland
Trails: A Greener Way To Go. MDOT also supports Maryland’s Smart
Green & Growing initiative, a coordinated multi-agency effort to help
Maryland grow in a more compact and sustainable fashion. Other MDOT
efforts include promoting dense, mixed-use development near rail transit
stations, known as Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), and promoting
“complete streets” that serve vehicles, transit, pedestrians, and bicycles
throughout corridors, making a more multimodal and coordinated
investment in transportation.
Hey everyone look how well Maryland is supporting biking on roads with lots of fast traffic! Don’t get me wrong, supporting bicycling everywhere is nice, it’s the bicycling “only” on State roads that bugs me. But at least the localities has committed $23.4 million in trails that they have to pay $11.7 out of there own pocket for. So State roads that are only 20% of all roads in Maryland get 80% of the bike/ped funding. That does not sound right to me. But the real proof of the pudding is not how much is spent but on the progress made, which we will look at later.
KEY INITIATIVES
MDOT: Maintain leadership in the Maryland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory
Committee, which provides guidance to State agencies on matters directly
relating to bicyclists and pedestrians, including safety.
Like not supporting our No Parking in Bike Lanes, now that’s leadership. [/sarcasm] You know something along the lines of MDOT being responsive to cyclists concerns would be better.
SHA: Continue driver safety programs to improve public understanding
of the rules of the road for all users—bicyclists, pedestrians and
motorists—through training, education, and enforcement.
The Highway Safety Office has been more attentive to our concerns lately but there are still some issues like not involving citizens in the Street Smart campaign, which really boils down to: pedestrains don’t j-walk or engage in distracted walking. We need stronger messages that also address the driver side errors, at least something better then “Hey drivers there are idiot pedestrains out there.”
Why Did Performance Change?
• Developed a new bicycle safety awareness campaign targeting
motorists
• Conducted the StreetSmart awareness and enforcement
campaign
• Conducted road safety audits in jurisdictions with a high
number of pedestrian crashes
• Received $1.74 million in “Safe Routes to School” funds,
totaling $9.25 million to date
• Installed accessible pedestrian signals at more than 400
intersections on state highways during FY2009
• Invested $5.3 million in Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
improvements in FY2009
• Illegal street-racing during CY2008 resulted in a crash that
killed 8 on-lookers; this single incident caused an increase in
pedestrian fatalities above the previous yearWhat Are Future Performance
Strategies?
• Add wayfinding signage and pavement markings to a network
of 1,700 miles of State highways identified on the State Bicycle
Map
• Develop a new public education concept for sharing the road
that incorporates bicycle and pedestrian awareness
• Identify state-of-the-practice design techniques to improve
bicycle and pedestrian safety
• Increase pedestrian safety enforcement during critical times of
day (e.g., Tuesday–Friday, 3–8 p.m.)
• Promote the Bicycle Level of Comfort planning “calculator”
to assess bicycle impacts from road improvements and
opportunities to improve bicycle access
• Expand the StreetSmart program into Baltimore
• Focus enforcement and education funds for areas with a
history of high pedestrian injuries and fatalities
• Perform an inventory of shoulder widths, outside lane widths,
and trails or multi-use paths, and map locations of these
facilities with appropriate bicycle compatibility
• Expand intersections with pedestrian “count down” signals,
safety signage, and ADA features ($31.9 million for BRAC
Intersections near Fort Meade in the FY2010-FY2015 CTP)
Note the signage and wayfaring only on State roads, while many of these roads are not on the local bike maps as State roads are not always the best roads to bike on. PLEASE WORK WITH LOCAL BICYCLING ADVOCATES to mark the best routes no mater if they are State roads or not.
By expanding access to transportation options—transit, ridesharing,
telecommuting, biking, walking, and intercity passenger rail—Maryland’s
transportation agencies contribute to reducing the use of fossil fuels and
lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A few key examples of MDOT’s
efforts include expanding bicycle and pedestrian access, implementing
programs to lower single-occupancy vehicle usage (e.g., Commuter Choice
Maryland), and transitioning to more “green” transit vehicles. MDOT also
supports efforts to coordinate land use at the local level and promotes Smart
Growth and Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). These efforts create
opportunities to preserve and improve the environment, while strengthening
Maryland’s economy at the same time. Maryland has made great
environmental progress, with passage of the Clean Cars Act, which adopts
cleaner car standards beginning with the 2011 model year, and 2009’s
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act, which commits to reducing GHG emissions
25% from 2006 levels by 2020. MDOT continues to engage with partner
agencies to improve air quality and reduce the State’s carbon footprint by
conducting analyses in support of the Maryland Climate Action Plan.
Kind of funny in that there are no bike/ped projects funded by CMAQ and bikes are not allowed on MARC even off peek hours.
MDOT’s services also contribute to goals beyond
mobility such as improving air quality and supporting
active lifestyles. Agencies are exploring opportunities
to link transportation improvements with community
revitalization, economic development, Smart Growth, and
environmental restoration efforts to support Maryland’s
Smart, Green & Growing initiative. For example, Maryland
has taken steps to improve both the safety of and access
to bicycling facilities. These efforts range from developing
a Statewide trail initiative, constructing dedicated
bicycle lanes, and equipping 100% of transit buses to
accommodate bicycles.
And adopting policies that make it harder for the localities to get Federal funding.
IS THIS PROGRESS?
There is no doubt this is the most frustrating aspect of our 20 year plan’s objective measurements. 3% improvement over 20 years with a target bike friendly grade of D. The first thing wrong is SHA nailed this in the first year so we basically have all State roads are as good as they need to be for bicycling and that is just wrong. Grade D is just what it sound like, not very good at encouraging bicycle use. And designating bikeable shoulders as bike lanes is totally lost on most cyclists, it’s something but it really isn’t new accommodations like it sounds.
We need grade C or better targets, we need State roads bike friendly in urban areas, measure that, please. In order to meet current goals rural roads are easier to make bike friendly so there is a lot of stress there we really need to get some funding and attention to where it will do the most good and reach the most cyclists.
SHA: Safety & Security
Performance Measure: Number and rate of bicycle and pedestrian fatalities and injuries on all Maryland roads
Definition: Number of bicyclists and pedestrians killed / injured in traffic-related crashes in a calendar year
If SHA did indeed report the pedestrian fatality rate AND compared it to the average National pedestrian fatality rate I am sure heads would roll. But even without that, reporting the same old same old not much progress you would think at some point over 7 years someone would be held to the fire a bit.
Continue reading “What gets measured gets done (sort of) 2010 Attainment report”