Here’s the view from 45th Street looking south at about 1 pm today, about 30 minutes after the city Dept. of Transportation closed Broadway to motor vehicle traffic in Midtown. It’s obviously way too soon to judge how this experiment is working but today, at least, car-free Broadway appears to be a huge hit.
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Downtown Circulator
A brand-new transportation system is coming to the downtown area late this summer 2009. To better connect Baltimore residents, workers, businesses, and visitors, twenty-one hybrid EcoSaver IV buses will circulate on three downtown routes, seven days a week—with no fare or boarding fee. The circulator routes will run south to north from the Inner Harbor Visitor Center to Penn Station, and east to west from Harbor East to the B&O Railroad Museum. With buses arriving approximately every ten minutes, the circulator system is planned to connect with Amtrak, MARC, Light Rail, Metro Subway, MTA bus lines, two water connectors (Maritime Park to Tide Point and Canton Waterfront Park to Tide Point), and parking garages located on the fringes of downtown.
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VTA Leads Bicycle and Pedestrian Network in Santa Clara County
By LINH HOANG, Public Relations Supervisor, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, San Jose, CA
When people think about the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), it’s usually synonymous with images of buses and light rail. However, VTA is also a Congestion Management Agency, and therefore supports the bicycle and pedestrian communities by working with the Santa Clara County and 15 cities to enhance additional trails, bicycle and pedestrian programs and policies, and design and construction of bicycle and pedestrian pathways, trails, sidewalks, bridges, ramps, bicycle lockers, storage and gates.
“VTA is more than bus and light rail. We work diligently to create an environment that allows Silicon Valley residents to have options when they bike,” said Chief Congestion Management Agency Officer John Ristow.
As the region’s Congestion Management Agency, VTA works across many areas, including transportation programming and land use planning, in its efforts to enhance and promote the bicycle and pedestrian communities. The authority identifies cross-county bicycle corridors to plan and implement a seamless bicycle and pedestrian travel network that is continuous across city and county boundaries.
VTA, in striving to promote a greener lifestyle for the communities it serves, also has created an environment that welcomes bicyclists and pedestrians on bus and light rail. Bicycles are allowed on all VTA coaches, and electronic bike lockers are also available. Many light rail lines can drop off passengers directly to the bicycle and pedestrian trails highlighted by the Bikeways Map produced and distributed by VTA. The map has gained popularity among the region’s bicycle and pedestrian communities and has been in high demand.
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Include Public Transit in House Climate Bill; Contact House Members Immediately
The draft “American Clean Energy Security Act” (ACESA), H.R. 2454, released May 15 by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, provides for no investment in public transportation. The legislation retains language that would establish emission reductions goals for the transportation sector—in Section 222, Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions Through Transportation Efficiency—but no funding is made available from the bill’s proposed cap-and-trade system to finance transportation investments that reduce emissions.
The Committee began markup of the bill on May 18, and as Passenger Transport went to press, expected to complete consideration before adjourning for the Memorial Day recess during the week beginning May 25.
“One of the most powerful tools individuals may have to reduce their daily carbon dioxide emissions—the use of public transportation—is not part of the new climate change legislation,” stated APTA President William Millar. “Despite the facts that show providing greater access to public transportation may be the most effective weapon for combating climate change, there are no allowances from the cap-and-trade program for public transportation in the current climate legislation.”
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Senate Approves Rogoff & Porcari
Prior to adjourning for the Memorial Day recess, the Senate voted unanimously May 21 to approve the nominations of Peter Rogoff as administrator of the Federal Transit Administration and John Porcari as deputy secretary of transportation.
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City plans to install traffic circles at 5 intersections
[This is going to be bike/ped friendly??? Multi-lane roundabouts are a pain for pedestrians!]
By Michael Dresser | Baltimore Sun
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The city’s plans signal an important change in Baltimore’s strategy for keeping traffic flowing. [and increase Baltimore’s 40% pedestrian traffic fatality rate?]
“It’s a new way of thinking in the city,” said Jessica Keller, chief of planning for the city Department of Transportation. “It’s going to take a lot of education with the public.”
The intersections where the city wants to install roundabouts are at some of the most visible, high-traffic locations in Baltimore. One is at Key and Light streets –the gateway to Federal Hill, Locust Point and the rest of South Baltimore. Two are proposed for 33rd Street, where the city wants to build traffic circles near Lake Montebello and at University Parkway.
A roundabout at Park Circle would replace one of the city’s most troubled intersections, where Reisterstown Road, Druid Park Drive and Park Heights Avenue come together. Another, in Seton Hill, would reconfigure the junction of Druid Hill Avenue and Paca and Centre streets.
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Why Ride More from the League of American Bicyclists
People ride bicycles for all sorts of reasons, from better health to saving money on fuel. Additionally, bicycling helps the environment, allows you to escape from the endlessly clogged freeways of America, and is a lot of fun!
Why Ride
* Economics
* Environment
* Your Health
* For the Joy of It
* Transportation
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Bicycle still beats subway & taxi in Queens-to-midtown rush-hour race
When it comes to getting around the city, two wheels are still better than four.
For the fifth year in a row, cycling ruled the road in Transportation Alternatives’ annual commuter race Thursday, with a biker beating a straphanger and a cabbie.
It took librarian Rachel Myers 20 minutes and 15 seconds to pedal 4.2 miles from Sunnyside, Queens, to Columbus Circle during the morning rush.
“Woo hoo!” the 29-year-old Brooklynite shouted, pumping her fist in the air. “Just goes to show that bikes rule this city!”
Subway rider Dan Hendrick – who hopped the No. 7 in Sunnyside and transferred to the No. 1 at Times Square – arrived 15 minutes later.
Hendrick, 38, usually rides the rails to work at the New York League of Conservation Voters, but he may be switching to pedal power.
“Twenty minutes saved is a lot in the morning,” he said. “I could really use that time to get a latte or something.”
A yellow cab rolled up to the finish line 27 minutes after Myers, costing passenger Willie Thompson $30 and precious commuting time.
“I always thought [cabs] were the fastest,” said Thompson, 30, a nonprofit e-marketer from Flatbush, Brooklyn.
“But it was so slow, it was brutal. I’m exhausted from sitting so long!”
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Cell phone curb begins
Some state workers barred from using hand-held units while driving
By Michael Dresser | Baltimore Sun
Gov. Martin O’Malley signed an executive order Thursday that will impose a ban on the use of hand-held cell phones by Maryland executive branch employees while driving state-owned vehicles.
O’Malley said he was taking the action as part of a new driver safety program. Cell phone use has been identified in numerous studies as one of the leading distractions drivers face on the roads.
The governor’s action follows another legislative session in which the General Assembly rejected curbing cell phone use while driving. The legislature did adopt a bill, since signed by O’Malley, banning text-messaging while driving.
"This legislative session, we passed tough new laws to improve safety on our roadways by cracking down on drunken driving, speeding and texting," O’Malley said. "Today, I want to carry that protection to our dedicated state employees by preventing a major cause of workplace injury: traffic crashes."
Community Greening
monthly forums: baltimore green forum
Sunday, May 31, 4:30-6:30 PM
"Community Greening: Exploring new ideas for greening, food growing, and restorative spaces in our neighborhoods"
Parks & People Foundation’s Keri Smith and Mary Hardcastle will share information about the Community Greening Network, Urban Ag Task Force, and Environmental Education through Natural Play Spaces.
Residents of Baltimore and surrounding communities are welcome.
Where: MD Presbyterian Church, 1105 Providence Road, Towson, 21286.
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