-> The Sustainable Communities HotReport is designed to give community leaders and residents a quick and easy way to determine how well their communities are performing on a variety of sustainability indicators in transportation, housing, economic development, income and equity. Select a community to view charts, tables, and maps showing performance trends over time or select other communities that you consider “peer” or comparison communities. https://1.usa.gov/1iLuUdu
from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
Hogan Announces $14M For Pedestrian, Bike Projects Throughout Maryland
HANOVER, Md. (WJZ) — Governor Larry Hogan announced Tuesday that Maryland has received $14.9 million in grants for bicycle, pedestrian and multi-use trail projects across the state.
The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) is awarding a total of 63 grants, including $2.77 million in Bikeways Program grants, $1.03 million in Recreational Trails Program grants, and $11.1 million in Transportation Alternatives Program grants.
…
https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2015/09/29/hogan-announces-14m-for-pedestrian-bike-projects-throughout-maryland/
[Includes a link to a complete list of projects.]
WALKABILITY’S IMPACT ON HOUSING VALUES, FORECLOSURES & CRIME
-> In the “Does Walkability Matter? An Examination of Walkability’s Impact on Housing Values, Foreclosures and Crime” study (https://bit.ly/1Oufqau), researchers examined 170 neighborhoods in a medium-sized city to see whether walkability influences neighborhood sustainability. Their analysis shows a positive impact not only on neighborhood housing valuation but also on neighborhood crime and foreclosure. These results provide policy opportunities for planners and citizen groups to pursue strategies to encourage the development of more walkable and sustainable neighborhoods.
NEW YORK CITY NOW HAS 1,000 MILES OF BIKE LANES
-> After an aggressive expansion in recent years, New York City reached a thousand miles of bikes lanes yesterday, and more bike lane are planned throughout the city. Almost 40% of the miles are shielded from traffic, such as through greenways or off-street bike lanes. https://bit.ly/1NKUnih
[B’ Spokes: Amazing, they have 1,000 miles and we have 60? For the whole State? That’s what the Annual Attainment Report on Transportation System Performance says anyway. pg 47 https://www.mdot.maryland.gov/Office_of_Planning_and_Capital_Programming/Dashboard/Documents/2013_AR_Updated_022013.pdf And I thought we had 500 miles of bike lanes around 2004 what happened to that? ]
Baltimore Metro Transit Survey
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZBKNRBS
Signs of Our Times: Sharing the Streets
[B’ Spokes: We really need to get rid of the signage that the state and the localities have standardized on to give notice that cyclists have a right to the road. A good argument on why is in this article.]
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/bike-lane-signs-drivers-cyclists-rules-of-road
RTC: TAKE THE NATIONAL TRAIL USER SURVEY
-> Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) has begun the first-ever nationwide survey of trail use to help to create analytical models that can accurately
* Measure how effectively trail systems have connected and could further connect urban areas
* Factor and forecast the demand for, and potential use of, new trail connections
* Assess the impact of trail use on regional tourism and economic development, as well as dollars saved in relation to transportation and health care.
Take the survey online: https://bit.ly/1JoEZ57
from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
LONDON, ENGLAND: SEPARATE CYCLIST & MOTORIST TURNS
-> A new junction [intersection] designed to avoid cyclists being hit by left-turning traffic has been unveiled in London. This is the first junction of its kind in Britain. Cyclists and turning motor traffic will move in separate phases, with left-turning vehicles held back to allow cyclists to move without risk, and cyclists held when vehicles are turning left. There will also be a new two-stage right turn’ to let cyclists make right turns in safety. For straight-ahead traffic, early-release traffic lights will give cyclists a head start. These innovations aim to significantly cut the cyclist casualty rate. Around 85% of cyclist accidents happen at junctions, mostly involving turning traffic. The new junction, on the upgraded Cycle Superhighway 2 at Whitechapel Road and Cambridge Heath Road, will be the template for junctions to be introduced across London’s main road network in future. https://bit.ly/1V9v22c
[Since vehicles travel on the left side of the road in Britain, switch left with right turns above for North American contexts.]
from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
Suburban-style streets don’t fit a busy Bethesda corner
[B’ Spokes: There are a lot of good points and logic that can be applied elsewhere around the state in this article. We need to get rid of this cars first even at the expense of other modes of travel attitude from too many traffic engineers. There are solutions that work well for everyone.]
…
The real problem is the traffic engineering doctrine
One fix after another has failed here because Montgomery County remains wedded to old-style traffic engineering. Two of the profession’s basic tenets are to blame. First, engineers design streets for cars and see other users as obstacles. Second, they design the roads to minimize rush-hour delays rather than to work best at all hours. When you measure success by counting cars in rush hour, wide streets and slow lights are solutions rather than problems.
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https://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/28136/suburban-style-streets-dont-fit-a-busy-bethesda-corner/
Sprawl Costs the U.S. $1 Trillion Annually
By Liz Camuti, The Dirt
“Excessive vehicle use should be discouraged by creating streets that include adequate sidewalks and crosswalks, bike infrastructure, and bus systems.”
https://dirt.asla.org/2015/09/22/sprawl-costs-the-u-s-1-trillion-annually/