Updated by Norman Garrick, Carol Atkinson-Palombo, and Hamed Ahangari, Vox
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Where these strategies have been successfully implemented — New York City, Portland, Cambridge, and Seattle, along with Washington, DC — biking has skyrocketed and traffic fatality rates have dropped at a much higher rate than in other cities. Between 2000 and 2012, there has been a four-fold increase in the number of people biking to work in DC while the traffic fatality rate fell from 9 per 100,000 to 3 per 100,000. More research is needed, but one possible explanation is that protected bike lanes reduce the amount of space dedicated to cars and ultimately slow traffic.
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https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2016/11/30/13784520/roads-deaths-increase-safety-traffic-us
ON-CALL DRONES TO LIGHT YOUR WALK OR BIKE HOME
-> If you have to walk or bike down dark streets at night, a U.K. insurance company wants you to be able to call up a small fleet of drones to accompany you—acting as lights that fly with you to illuminate your path home. Fleetlights, a prototype service, is designed to be summoned with a mobile app, and uses someone’s phone to go wherever they go. One drone flies ahead, and two fly to the side, each equipped with lightweight, high-powered lights. The service isn’t available yet as there are still legal, commercial, and technical details to sort out. The code for the system is available open-source, so others can work on developing the technology. https://bit.ly/2fQEMRK
from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
US REPORT CARD ON KIDS’ PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: 21% MEET GUIDELINES
-> The National Physical Activity Plan Alliance has released the “2016 United States Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth” (https://bit.ly/2fPIGwJ). Only 21% of American children are meeting current Physical Activity guidelines. The report card discusses how the U.S. is performing on 10 key indicators and what can be done to improve these outcomes in the future. https://bit.ly/2gwl2DR
from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
GPS-ENABLED HOUSEHOLD TRAVEL SURVEYS SAMPLE SIZE
-> The Transportation Research Board report, “Sample Size Implications of Multi-Day GPS-Enabled Household Travel Surveys,” summarizes a project that studied the design of household travel surveys. Multi-day travel surveys are now more feasible, given global positioning system (GPS) technology. This project explores if surveys using a GPS device provides less drop-off in response compared to travel diaries. This project also investigates the effects of using multi-day data for developing travel demand models and explores the impact of sample size on multi-day versus single-day surveys. https://bit.ly/2fPYEHk
from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
BIKE SCORE, URBAN BIKEABILITY & BICYCLING BEHAVIOR
-> In a study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, researchers sought to determine if Bike Score was associated with between and within-city variability in cycling behavior. Bike Score® is a metric capturing environmental characteristics associated with cycling that is now available for over 160 US and Canadian cities. They found the Bike Score metric was associated bicycle mode share between and within cities, suggesting its utility for planning bicycle infrastructure. Bike Score®: Associations between Urban Bikeability and Bicycling Behavior in 24 Cities: https://bit.ly/2fPZBiT
from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
SPEED REDUCTION STRATEGIES, INTERACTIVE SPEED FATALITY MAP
-> Speed is a primary factor in a startling number of serious crashes and injuries, and in nearly one-third of all traffic deaths in the United States. To stop these deaths, communities must prioritize speed management in their suite of policy and design efforts to save lives. Many communities are taking action to recalibrate speeds to safer levels, particularly in dense, multi-modal areas. The three effective strategies for managing speed are designing and retrofitting streets to calm traffic, lowering speed limits, and using automated safety camera speed limit enforcement. (Follow link below for details and links)
Check out Vision Zero Network’s new interactive Speed Fatality Map based on NHTSA FARS (Fatal Accident Reporting System) data from the 59,374 speed-related fatalities on U.S. roads between 2010 and 2015. Zoom into the actual street location where each collision occurred. The 10 Cities with the most speed-related fatal crashes are Los Angeles; New York; Houston; Chicago; San Antonio; Dallas; Phoenix; Fort Worth; Detroit; and Kansas City. https://bit.ly/2gyw1iZ
from CenterLines, the e-newsletter of the National Center for Bicycling & Walking.