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Entries tagged: Pedestrian

Last month, the Dangerous by Design report cast a dramatic spotlight on the epidemic of pedestrian deaths across America. Between 2000 and 2009, more than 47,000 people were killed and another 688,000 injured in the simple act of walking in their community. Transportation for America highlighted the role of the U.S. Congress and the federal government in ending these preventable tragedies, by providing funding and passing progressive policies like Complete Streets. But there’s plenty to be done at the local level, too.

One opportunity: The Walk Friendly Communities program. Established in 2010 and administered by the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center , the WFC distinguishes cities and towns that are leading the way in walkability. In April, the initiative announced its first round of recipients, including Seattle at the platinum level and Ann Arbor, MI; Arlington, VA; Hoboken, NJ; and Santa Barbara, CA, at the gold level.

The Walk Friendly Community programs aims to model the success and be a pedestrian counterpart to the League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle Friendly Community program. Just as the League established a rubric of activities that make a city safer and more accessible for bicyclists, the WFC program provides “a comprehensive assessment tool that evaluates community walkability and pedestrian safety through questions related to engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, evaluation and planning.”

According to the WFC: “In an effort not only to recognize but to motivate walk friendly communities, applicants learn best practices through participating in the application process. Applicants use a web-based program that asks a comprehensive set of questions and provides communities with feedback and ideas for promoting pedestrian safety and activity. The questions examine engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, evaluation and planning.”

Find out where your community stands by applying for walk friendly status. The next round of applications in due Wednesday, June 15. Learn more here.

America Walks is conducting a National Walking Survey to learn more about who walks and why we walk - and the deadline is June 3.

The survey will help walking advocates understand what motivates avid walkers and what keeps others from walking more. When the data is analyzed, America Walks will let us know what they’ve learned and how we can all use the results to promote walking in America.

Thank you to the hundreds of folks who have already taken the survey - more than 5,400 people have participated thus far! This survey will take just five minutes to complete but your feedback will be vital in helping us shape future policies and campaigns for walking.

Please help the Alliance and America Walks by taking the National Walking Survey today. The deadline is June 3!

Linda Mainquist was converted to a pedestrian advocate when she watched a woman in a wheelchair struggle to travel down the roadway because the sidewalk was blanketed in snow (video). The dangerous situation galvanized the St. Paul, Minn, resident to action: “Something magical happens when you say, ‘I’m the one who should do it.’”

Mainquist contacted her local city councilmember, who put her in touch with St. Paul Smart Trips, the local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy group. Smart Trips had already created a helpful resource for snowy conditions: A slick little door hanger that gave folks a friendly reminder to bust out their shovel and comply with city regulations. “I’m a neighbor who relies on the sidewalks being clear of snow and ice so that it’s easy to get around safely,” the flier explains.

Linda started hanging the fliers on doors in her neighborhood. “It’s really good because a lot of people are too shy to talk to their neighbors about shoveling their sidewalks,” Mainquist said. “I’m proud of this one block. There are a lot of businesses and, when I walk by and see the business is open, I go in and tell them I’m Linda Mainquist and I think you should shovel your sidewalks. It’s been successful.”

St. Paul Smart Trips isn’t the only Alliance organization taking steps to make walking safe in the winter wonderland.

According to the Active Transportation Alliance in Chicago: “Snow or ice-covered sidewalks force people to travel in the street—a thoroughly dangerous enterprise. Uncleared sidewalks may even discourage people from walking at all. When people can’t walk easily to a destination, they might opt for making an unnecessary car trip.”

So they’ve come up with some snow-themed handouts, too. “Please shovel your sidewalk,” one flier asks. “It’s the law and the neighborly thing to do. Clear sidewalks make it safer and more convenient for your neighbors to walk.” To better serve and inform everyone in their community, Active Trans created fliers for both city dwellers and suburbanites; in both English and in Spanish.

Click here to download these resources from St. Paul Smart Trips and Active Trans. If your organization has model materials for keeping cyclists and pedestrians safe in snowy conditions, drop me an email if you’d like to share.

I honestly expected to sleepwalk through the Equal Footing Summit.

The half-day visioning session for America Walks this past September came on the heels of the Alliance Leadership Retreat. It was shoehorned between the end of the Pro Walk Pro Bike conference and the start of Interbike in Las Vegas. I’m not going to lie; I was more than a little fried.

Maybe it was the incredible, unparalleled energy of Mark Fenton. Maybe it was the interactive format of the session. But the Equal Footing Summit turned out to be the most energizing four hours I spent in Chattanooga.

I wasn’t alone in my assessment. And the action is just getting started.

Last month, America Walks released its new Strategic Campaign Plan, which notes, “The Equal Footing Summit was a powerful event that will shape the future of walking in America.” That summit was the first step in an exciting re-launch of the pedestrian advocacy organization and the 11-page campaign plan is the blueprint for moving forward. Today is the last day to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

“America Walks is transformed with a new mission, vision and organizational structure,” the document promises. What does that mean exactly? Here are the highlights:

• The group is giving every individual American the chance to connect with the campaign by adding their signature to the 2020 Vision Statement. By 2012, America Walks hopes, 50,000 individuals will have signed on to the goal of creating “streets and neighborhoods [that] are safe and attractive public places that encourage people of all ages, abilities, ethnicities and incomes to walk for exercise, recreation and transportation.”

• The organization plans to build a unified national voice for walking by shifting from a membership-based organization, with 26 member organizations, to a broad coalition, with 500 partners by the end of 2011.

• America Walks will have a visible presence in Washington, DC — creating a federal walking policy platform and hiring full-time staff to advance its priorities in the halls of Congress.

• The organization won’t just act as a clearinghouse for information, but advance specific campaigns to promote innovative programs, including efforts to reduce automobile speeds and enhance access to transit for seniors.

“Over the past 50 years, our nation has systematically engineered walking out of daily life,” Mindy Craig, America Walks president, writes in the introduction. “To shift this paradigm, we need a broad-based, focused voice to fund and initiate national and local actions to improve walking in America… We hope to enlist you as an ally in advancing walking in your community, business, organization or area of impact. ”

The Alliance has signed on as an ally. I’ve added my name to 2020 Vision Statement, too. Have you?

Click here to read the plan, give your .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and add your support.

Blog contributed by Alliance intern Adam Levine

Pedestrians in Ann Arbor will no longer have to “play frogger” when crossing the street.

With considerable help and encouragement from the Washtenaw Bicycling and Walking Coalition, Ann Arbor’s city council unanimously passed an ordinance that will require motorists to stop and yield the right of way to pedestrians at crosswalks.

The WBWC released an accompanying video demonstrating the perils that pedestrians face due to Michigan’s culture of not stopping at crosswalks.

Watch the video below or read more about WBWC here.