Saturday, August 9, 2014
New tool to request Fairfax County ped safety improvements needs bike component
One of the options is to use an interactive map to draw the location of a new trail connection. By turning on the map layer showing existing pedestrian projects, you can see if a project is already underway at a particular location. Projects requested by others will also be displayed.
The image above shows the planned Vesper trail leading to the Spring Hill Metro station (shown as a dashed blue line). Also shown are planned paved bike shoulders on Old Courthouse Road (also a dashed blue line at Freedom Hill Park).
See the Pedestrian Infrastructure Requests page to view instructions on adding a feature, and a link to the interactive map.
We plan to ask county staff to modify the tool to include bicycle safety improvements. It would be relatively easy to add the ability to indicate where sharrows, bike lanes, paved shoulders, cycle tracks, climbing lanes, and other on-road bike facilities are needed.
Labels: bicycle safety, pedestrian improvement requests, pedestrian safety
Friday, August 30, 2013
School starts on Tuesday - Be Safe
For most Fairfax County students, Tuesday, September 3 is the start of another school year. I live near three schools and have enjoyed the peace and quiet of summer, but that will come to an end on Tuesday. If you're driving, be extra careful next week as there will be kids out walking and biking to school. If you drive your children to school, consider walking or biking with them. The fewer parents driving kids to school the less congestion and air pollution we'll have.Fairfax County Police are reminding everyone to pay attention to kids and traffic laws.
Labels: bicycle safety, pedestrian safety, safe routes to school
Friday, August 10, 2012
Pedestrian death spike in DC - Post blames pedestrians
Today's Post editorial entitled Death by distraction discusses the rise in pedestrian deaths in DC, which account for 54.2% of all traffic-related deaths. The Post's solution is to advocate for laws against distracted walking despite the dramatic increase in motorists who blatantly run red lights and who often refuse to yield to pedestrians.Why not enforce the laws we have? Motorist actions such as aggressive driving, turning right on red without stopping, running red lights and stop signs, and speeding rarely result in citations. In countries where there has been a significant reduction in pedestrian and bicycle deaths, traffic enforcement is much more strict than in the U.S. There are also many other measures that can be taken to make our streets more safe. From Transportation Alternatives, a New York based alternative transportation group:
Germany and Holland have improved conditions for bicyclists and pedestrians by employing concerted, long-term public policies to reengineer streets, change urban design, strengthen traffic enforcement and traffic laws and institute more vigorous driver education. Almost all of what these countries have done could be replicated in some form in New York City, and would help to reduce significantly the number of New Yorkers struck, injured and killed by drivers.
Labels: bicycle safety, distracted driving, pedestrian safety
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Dangerous By Design
Transportation for America just released a report on pedestrian safety, Dangerous by Design: Solving the Epidemic of Preventable Pedestrian Deaths (and Making Great Neighborhoods).In the last 15 years, more than 76,000 Americans have been killed while crossing or walking along a street in their community. More than 43,000 Americans – including 3,906 children under 16 – have been killed this decade alone. This is the equivalent of a jumbo jet going down roughly every month, yet it receives nothing like the kind of attention that would surely follow such a disaster.
While the report is mostly about pedestrian safety, bicycle funding was also addressed:The 52 largest metro areas averaged annual spending of federal funds on bicycle and pedestrian projects of just $1.39 per person. The average metro area spends 2.2 percent of their federal transportation funds on projects to improve conditions for walking and bicycling. The average in Washington was $1.19.
The report was covered by the Post in the article Pedestrian safety study ranks D.C. in middleCheryl Cort, policy director for the Coalition for Smarter Growth, authored a study of the region's traffic fatalities last year.
"With pedestrians comprising over 21 percent of traffic fatalities in the region, we should be spending far more making our streets safer for pedestrians," she said.
With help from groups like Transportation for America, there will be an increased amount of funding for pedestrian and bicycle projects in the next Transportation bill passed by Congress."With pedestrians comprising over 21 percent of traffic fatalities in the region, we should be spending far more making our streets safer for pedestrians," she said.
[Update: Nov. 13, 2009] A sad fact in the report that we didn't mention, as pointed out by Douglas Stewart of Fairfax Suburbanista, is that Virginia ranks last in Federal spending on bicycle and pedestrian projects. There are actually two categories in which Virginia, during 2005-2008, is last, Percent of Total Federal Funding Spent on Pedestrian & Bicycle Projects (0.3%, national ave. is 1.5%) and Spending per Capita under SAFETEA-LU ($0.22, national ave. is $1.46). Virginia spent half as much SAFETEA-LU funds as the 49th state, and 15% of the national average.
To put it bluntly, that's pathetic. Remember those numbers the next time you testify in favor of funding for bicycle projects in Virginia. In fact, on December 1 VDOT will hold public hearings on the Six Year "Improvement" Program, and you can send comments today to Six-YearProgram@VDOT.Virginia.gov.
