From Congress for the New Urbanism — The morbid and mortal toll of sprawl

A federal report revealed that US traffic deaths have risen 9 percent over the last year and have totaled 19,100 in the first six months of 2016. More than 2.2 million people have been seriously injured in that time. The economic cost is estimated annually at $410 billion, or 2.3 percent of gross domestic product. The human cost is harder to calculate. They are the most frequent reason for fatality of children 5 and up and young adults. Much of the blame has been placed, predictably, on distracted and drunk driving and rising vehicle miles traveled. The “elephant in the living room,” the factor that nobody wants to talk about, is sprawl and the infrastructure of sprawl. The roads built to support sprawl, designed to modern safety standards, are contributors to the majority of US traffic deaths and injuries. Read more: The morbid and mortal toll of sprawl | CNU

From @NewUrbanism — Roads built to support sprawl designed to modern standards are contributors to the majority... https://t.co/u9f9M0QWTc

— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) August 29, 2016

From PBS NewsHour — Traffic deaths surged in 2015

Fatalities rose 7.7 percent to 35,200 in 2015, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. That overall rate was significantly outpaced by non-motorist traffic deaths: Bicycle fatalities were up 13 percent; pedestrian deaths rose 10 percent, and motorcyclist deaths rose by 9 percent. Last year was the deadliest driving year since 2008, when 37,423 people were killed. It was also the year in which American drove 3.1 trillion miles, more than ever before. The fatality rate for 2015 increased to 1.12 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT), up from 1.08 deaths in 2014. Read more: PBS NewsHour on Twitter: "Traffic deaths surged in 2015, federal data shows https://t.co/Z458qPQ9by"

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From walklobby.tv — How wide should traffic lanes be?

More http://t.co/dRKf5dYnU0 discussing better mobility design approaches http://t.co/Wql7CGB9t3

— Howard Blackson (@hblackson) September 2, 2015

"Just to be safe, our traffic lanes are wide enough to be dangerous. Just to be safe." #bikeVA #infra pic.twitter.com/9LeHFhWuTq

— Andy Boenau (@Boenau) September 2, 2015

Pedestrians First @Penalosa_G

Pedestrians First from Knight Foundation on Vimeo.

From Smart Growth America — A national epidemic of pedestrian deaths

A national epidemic 
of pedestrian deaths

We’re walking more often, for fun and to get to places in our neighborhood. We turn to WalkScore when figuring out where to live and our most walkable places often are among the most economically vibrant in the country. Hundreds of cities have adopted Complete Streets policies to ensure walking is in the forefront of our decisions regarding street design. Public health officials from the Office of the Surgeon General to the local doctor’s office are encouraging us to get out for a walk for physical activity and to combat chronic disease.

But we are still dealing with a legacy of roadways that fail to account for the safety of people on foot. In the decade from 2003 through 2012, more than 47,000 people died while walking on our streets. That is 16 times the number of people who died in natural disasters during in the same ten years, but without the corresponding level of urgency.

In 2012, pedestrians accounted for nearly 15 percent of all traffic deaths, up 6 percent from 2011 and representing a five-year high.  Read more: A national epidemic of pedestrian deaths | Smart Growth America

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From Mother Jones — Which Kills More Americans: Guns or Cars?

Post by Mother Jones.

From PBS NewsHour — 'A long way from zero' NYC takes on traffic fatalities

Although New York City streets over the past few years have been the safest in decades, traffic accidents and pedestrian fatalities have recently started to tick back up. Now, city officials are looking to "Vision Zero," an initiative based on a model from Sweden. The plan hinges on expanded enforcement, new street designs and legislation to increase penalties for dangerous drivers. NewsHour's Hari Sreenivasan reports. Read more: A long way from zero': NYC takes on traffic fatalities | PBS NewsHour

NYC lowered speed limit to 25. Other cities should do it too.

Post by Project for Public Spaces.

From Sustainable Cities Collective: #VisionZero — Traffic Deaths: Sweden: 3/100,000 USA: 11.4/100,000

Photo by the NYC Dept of Transportation / Flickr.

Countries like Sweden have taken ambitious, holistic steps to improve traffic safety and save lives through an initiative called Vision Zero, a road safety framework that asserts that “no loss of life is morally acceptable.” The concept has spread to places such as New York City, where newly elected Mayor Bill de Blasio campaigned and has adopted the approach. Both Sweden and New York City’s strategies are advanced for two reasons, the first being that they set clear targets. Research has revealed that setting ambitious road safety targets can help motivate stakeholders to improve road safety. Secondly, these policies shift the responsibility for road safety from only personal actions like wearing seat belts and helmets to a shared responsibility between road users and designers, which means also creating safer pedestrian infrastructure, automated enforcement, and reducing driving speeds. Together, these ideas can drastically change how countries and cities around the globe approach traffic safety. Read more: Urban Road Safety and Overall Goals | Sustainable Cities Collective

De Blasio Signs Traffic Safety Bills, 25 MPH Will Go Into Effect This Fall @StreetsblogNet Via @PPS_Placemaking

Post by Project for Public Spaces.

From Medium — You’re a Street Designer (you just don’t know it yet) — The Design Principles Behind Streetmix

Chances are that smaller streets around you are changing,  — as is our way of thinking about them. While streets were originally built with people in mind (a century ago, it wasn’t uncommon for parents to just feel safe to tell their kids to go play in the street, even in a big city center), throughout the last century we largely surrendered them to car traffic. However, many city planners and urban designers are revisiting that approach and re-imagining streets as once again more pedestrian-, bike-, and public transit-friendly.

A typical way to communicate new ideas is via a “street section” — a slice of the road illustrating all of its parts side by side, from the building on one end, to the building on the other.

This web-based street section editor was built as a side project by a small team of fellows at Code for America, a non-profit dedicated to finding ways to apply modern technology practices to city governments. Code for America believes in open source, open data, and citizen engagement through web applications, and Streetmix is a direct extension of that way of thinking. More at: You’re a street designer (you just don’t know it yet) — Medium 

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Recently here in Nanaimo on a Facebook neighbourhood group page discussion turned to traffic calming on a residential thru-street and with Streetmix I was able to contribute this street redesign: 

Public Space & Slow Zones in NYC v Paris

Public space & slow zones in NYC v Paris,where 37% of streets have <#20MPH speed limits http://t.co/T3oX083N7N #cplan pic.twitter.com/hutqunry7m

— urbandata (@urbandata) March 26, 2014

From BBC Radio 4 — Thinking Streets

The streets beneath our feet are getting smart. Pavements are melting into the roads and traffic lights are disappearing. Inspired by the work of scientists and engineers in Holland and Japan, this is a revolution in urban design. Part of it is a movement known as 'Shared Space', which promises to dramatically change the way cities look and how we experience them. In Thinking Streets, Angela Saini asks if all these ideas really fulfil the promise of making us all safer, happier and more efficient? Read more: BBC Radio 4 - Thinking Streets

Immediate positive results / zero cost: 30k/hr speed zones in all residential neighbourhoods @VIAwesome @G_Anderson1 @cbruntlett

Immediate positive results / zero cost: 30k/hr speed zones in all residential neighbourhoods @VIAwesome @G_Anderson1 @cbruntlett

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) March 5, 2014

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From Copenhagenize.com — Bicycle Culture by Design: Mexican Bicycle Town Fights for Country's First Slow Zone

It all starts at around 12:45 PM. A stream of mostly female cyclists starts flowing erratically from several cross-streets, weaving through downtown of the Mexican town of San Andrés Cholula in all directions. They are rushing to pick their kids up from the several schools located in this area. Most of their bicycles feature improvised small wooden seats fixed to the upper part of the frame, right where their children can grasp the handlebar while being protected by their mothers’ arms. However, it is when they are riding with their children when they seem the most vulnerable. In the middle of rush hour, they have to brave impatient speeding cars, distracted pedestrians and the many other cyclists that share the main road. This reality will soon change if the urban cycling collective Cholula en Bici succeeds in implementing Mexico’s first official slow zone. The campaign called Cholula Zona 30 would reduce the speed limit to 30 km/h through a redesign of the streets in a 5 km-wide perimeter in the center of San Andrés Cholula. 

Read more: Copenhagenize.com - Bicycle Culture by Design: Mexican Bicycle Town Fights for Country's First Slow Zone