Health & Safety

This report highlights the accomplishments of the Active Living by Design (ALbD) community partnerships during the five-year grant period. The information provided in this report was collected and tracked and reported utilizing the Progress Reporting System, a system developed by ALbD to document the progress made by the community partnerships during the grant program.

The Alliance for Biking & Walking's Benchmarking Project is an ongoing effort to collect and analyze data on bicycling and walking in all 50 states and at least the 50 largest cities. This is the second biennial Benchmarking Report.

This Guide to Complete Streets Campaigns is a roadmap to winning a complete streets policy in your jurisdiction. It is also a guide to effective community organizing, as it is our hope that in winning a complete streets policy our Thunderhead member organizations will also gain strength, increase partnerships, and in many ways make their communities better with improved conditions for bicycling and walking.

Potential for Conflict—When motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians compete for the same section of roadway,conflicts and collisions are bound to occur.Anyone who's walked or bicycled Southern California's streets and roads can cite instances of near misses with impatient or distracted drivers, perhaps cutting them off in crosswalks or bike lanes.

School districts/COEs can begin developing Safe Routes to School programs by establishing a multidisciplinary team with parent organizations, students, school administrators and staff, local law enforcement, city planners, health officials and other stakeholders. The group can assist with realizing a community vision, developing project proposals and implementing those projects if selected for funding.

The following optional administrative regulation should be revised to reflect district practice. The strategies listed below are organized around the "five E's" (education, encouragement, enforcement, engineering, and evaluation) recommended for inclusion in all local programs by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration and the National Center for Safe Routes to School's online resource guide, the Safe Routes to School Guide.

The Complete Streets Implementation Action Plan was created from an original and much larger list of suggested action items provided by a large cross section of department staff. The Implementation Action Plan projects are organized into seven categories: 1. Highest Focus Areas; 2. Guidance, Manuals, and Handbooks; 3. Policy and Plans; 4. Funding and Project Selection; 5. Raise Awareness; 6. Training; and 7. Research.

A resolution of the city commission providing for a complete streets policy and directing staff to develop performance measures and implementation strategies to enable safe and convenient access to our transportation system for all users of all ages and abilities including pedestrians bicyclists people with disabilities transit riders and motor vehicle drivers.

A resolution introduced for the promotion of safe, convenient and healthy transportation choices for citizens and visitors within the corporate boundaries of the City of Franklin, Venango County, Pennsylvania.

GOAL M 4.2 — Complete Streets. Provide complete streets that balance the diverse needs of diverse users of the public right-of-way.

An ordinance relating to Seattle's Complete Streets policy, stating guiding principles and practices so that trasnportation improvements are planned, designed and constructed to encourage walking, bicycling and transit use while accomodating safe operations for all users.

This document has been prepared to explain District Department of Transportation's (DDOT) approach to Context Sensitive Design. This purpose of this document is to provide guidelines for achieving excellence in planning and design of transportation projects.

Changing Policies To Support Complete Streets, resulting consequences, levels of service (LOS) analysis generates impacts to other modes and the environment, Relationship of Freeway LOS, Speed, and CO2 Emissions Factors, case study in Davis, CA.

An analysis estimating the change in crashes before and after road diets were implemented.

The goals of this study were to examine the differences between pedestrian and bicycle crashes in urban and rural settings in North Carolina and to identify problem areas.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) strongly encourages the use of raised medians in curbed sections of multi-lane roadways in urban and suburban areas, particularly in areas where there are mixtures of a significant number of pedestrians, high volumes of traffic and intermediate or high travel speeds.

A white paper that presents a thorough discussion on Complete Streets.

This report has been developed in response to widespread interest for improving both mobility choices and community character through a commitment to creating and enhancing walkable communities. This report is intended to facilitate the restoration of the complex multiple functions of urban streets. It provides guidance for the design of walkable urban thoroughfares in places that currently support the mode of walking and in places where the community desires to provide a more walkable thoroughfare, and the context to support them in the future.

This paper discusses the growth of the Complete Streets movement and its role in road design and planning processes, particularly in relation to Context Sensitive Solutions. We will then go on to describe how the geometric design of our urban arterials and collector streets can provide more room for nonmotorized travelers, make street crossings easier for pedestrians, and help to control traffic speeds, thus reducing pedestrian, bicycle and automobile crashes. Finally, we will show how this can be done within existing rights-of-way and within tight maintenance and construction budgets, thus making better use of taxpayer dollars. A discussion of cost considerations will conclude this paper.

This article highlights the impact the bicycle industry and bicycle tourism can have on state and local economies, describes the need for bicycle facilities, discusses the cost effectiveness of investments, points out the benefits of bike facilities for business districts and neighborhoods, and identities the cost savings associated with a mode shift from car to bicycle. The evidence demonstrates that investments in bicycle infrastructure make good economic sense as a cost effective way to enhance shopping districts and communities, generate tourism and support business.

In the two years since the Local Government Commission's Smart Growth Zoning Codes:A Resource Guide was first published,the movement to reform zoning codes has gained momentum. Today, form-based codes have become an increasingly popular approach to achieve these reforms and create communities where people want to live,work and play.

The Local Government Commission's Smart Growth Zoning Codes: A Resource Guide is intended to help local officials improve community livability through code reform. It is meant for jurisdictions that already have developed a broad vision for making their communities more livable.

Benefits of road diets for bicyclists and pedestrians?

• Provide space to add bicycle lanes
• Reduce crossing distance
• Eliminate or reduce "multiple threat" crash types
• Install crossing island to cross in 2 simple steps
• Reduce top end travel speeds
• Buffer sidewalk from travel lanes (parking or bike lane)
• Reclaim street space for "higher and better use" than moving peak hour traffic

This is a manual that describes how well-conceived traffic calming techniques and traditional neighborhood street design can accomodate the needs of emergency responders while creating safe and livable neighborhoods.

This resolution sets forth MTC's regional policy for accomodation of bicycle and pedestrian facilities during transportation project planning, design, funding and construction. Also included is pedestrian accomodation checklist.

Across the country, a growing number of commumities are using the deceptively simple tool of complete streets policies to change the way they approach transportation. Adopted as state law, local ordinance or even as a city council resolution, these policies set a new vision for transportation investments. Most than 85 states, regions and cities have adopted such policies, including new state laws passed in Calfornia and Illinois and policy resolutions or ordinances in major cities including St. Paul, Miami, Chicago, Seattle, Sacramento and Charlotte.

Complete the streets so everyone can use them safely and conveniently—that's the new cry of advocates, planners and elected officials who are behind a movement to fundamentally alter the way roads are planned, designed and built.

Introduction to Safe Routes to School: the Health, Safety and Transportation Nexus, including: Overview, History of Safe Routes to School, The Decline of Walking and Bicycling, Health Risks, Safe Routes to School Programs are Part of the Solution, Elements of Safe Routes to School Programs, Take Action Now, Promising Examples and Community Success Stories

Complete streets improve safety. A Federal Highways Administration safety review found that designing the street with pedestrians in mind- sidewalks, raised medians, better bus stop placement, traffic-calming measures, and treatments for disabled travelers-all improve pedestrian safety.

Incomplete streets will hamper climate change strategies—The transportation sector is the fastest growing carbon dioxide source in the United States with emission rates rising 2% per year. Projections show that more efficient fuels and 'clean' vehicles won't be enough to offset the projected 59 percent increase in driving between now and 2030. Even with expected improvements in vehicle and fuel economy, carbon emissions from transportation would be 41 percent above today's levels by 2030 if driving is not curbed.

Incomplete streets a barrier for children—When streets are designed only for cars, they become barriers for children, who cannot safely walk or bicycle along or across them. Unfortunately these safety fears are well founded—pedestrian injury is a leading cause of unintentional, injury-related death among children, age 5 to 14. As a result, many children end up in the back seat of the car, missing out on opportunities for independence and physical activity. One recent survey found that, while 71% of adults walked or rode their bicycles to school as a child, a mere 17% of their own children currently do so.

Incomplete streets a problem for older Americans—Even when roads have basic pedestrian facilities, they often do not consider the needs of the growing population of older Americans. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2025, the portion of Americans over 65 will increase from 12% to nearly 20%, totaling 62 million Americans. As people age, many give up driving for safety's sake.

Incomplete streets put people at risk—Streets without safe places to walk, cross, catch a bus, or bicycle put people at risk. Over 5,000 pedestrians and bicyclists died on U.S. roads in 2008, and more than 120,000 were injured.2 Pedestrian crashes are more than twice as likely to occur in places without sidewalks; streets with sidewalks on both sides have the fewest crashes. While the absolute numbers of bicyclists and pedestrians killed has been in decline for the decade, experts attribute this in part to a decline in the total number of people bicycling and walking.

Incomplete streets restrict physical activity—When streets are designed only for cars, they deny people the opportunity to choose more active ways to get around, such as walking and biking. Even where sidewalks exist, large intersections and speeding traffic may make walking unpleasant or even unsafe—discouraging any non-motorized travel. Obesity in America has reached epidemic proportions in recent years. The latest data show that 32% of adults are obese, the number of overweight or obese American children nearly tripled between 1980 and 2004.

Complete streets foster livable communities — Communities are increasingly embracing smart growth to meet their residents' desire for choices in housing, shopping, recreation, and transportation. Complete streets meet the demand for transportation options, while promoting other community goals. They provide safe and affordable access for everyone, whether traveling to school, work, the doctor, or their favorite restaurant.

Good planning practice requires that communities establish long-range comprehensive plans for future physical development. A comprehensive plan provides a vision of how residents and stakeholders wish to see their community evolve, and acts as a policy guide for decision-making regarding future development. In different states, comprehensive plans are known by a variety of names, including community plans, master plans, and general plans. In some states, these plans are required; in others, they are optional. The plan's effect from a legal perspective also varies widely, and some states require that comprehensive plans address specific topics and undergo regular updates.

Local governments have the power to fight childhood obesity and improve community health by passing complete streets policies that foster streets safe for active travel. At theGood planning practice requires that communities establish long-range comprehensive plans for future physical development. A comprehensive plan provides a vision of how residents and stakeholders wish to see their community evolve, and acts as a policy guide for decision-making regarding future development. In different states, comprehensive plans are known by a variety of names, including community plans, master plans, and general plans. In some states, these plans are required; in others, they are optional. The plan's effect from a legal perspective also varies widely, and some states require that comprehensive plans address specific topics and undergo regular updates. National Policy and Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity (NPLAN), we developed this Model Local Ordinance on Complete Streets to assist localities in making streets safe, comfortable, and convenient for everyone. Our models are developed by thoroughly surveying existing law, conducting extensive legal research, and consulting legal and policy experts.

State governments have the power to fight childhood obesity and improve community health by passing complete streets policies that foster streets safe for active travel. At the National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity (NPLAN), we developed this Model State Statute on Complete Streets to assist states in making streets safe, comfortable, and convenient for everyone.

State and regional governments have the power to fight childhood obesity and improve community health by passing complete streets policies that foster streets safe for active travel. At the National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity (NPLAN), we developed these Model State/Regional Resolutions on Complete Streets to assist states and regional governments in making streets safe, comfortable, and convenient for everyone.

Streets are key public spaces that often make up much of the land in a town or city. But across America, streets are frequently built for cars, with few features like sidewalks to make them safe and pleasant places to walk or bike. Conventional street design promotes traffic congestion, pollution, and collision injuries and discourages physical activity.

Roadway Design Objectives should include: a roadway environment that the user can: Interpret correctly and safely, Minimize their mistakes, Minimize impact of their mistakes

Provide guidance for the design of urban thoroughfares that is consistent with CSS principles

A framework for thoroughfare design:

1. Define context
2. Specify a complete palette of thoroughfare types
3. Define correspondence between context and thoroughfare type
4. Bring network into the process

Evolution of network in California cities; the effects the network has on traffic safety, travel mode choice, and emergency services response time.

The Complete Streets Act of 2007 will ensure that the transportation plans of California communities meet the needs of all users of the roadway including pedestrians, bicyclists, users of public transit, motorists, children, the elderly, and the disabled. By encouraging good planning for all modes of travel, the AB 1358 will make our roads safer and more convenient places for Californians who choose to walk, ride a bike, or take transit.

This handbook recommends a process for development of street standards, provides important information to help communities consider and decide on the standards, and includes model designs as a starting point.

The purpose of this guide on "How to Develop a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan" is to present an overview and framework for state and local agencies to develop and implement a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan tailored to their specific problems and needs. Pedestrian Safety Action Plan is a plan developed by community stakeholders that is intended to improve pedestrian safety in the community. An objective of the guide is to help state and local officials know where to begin to address pedestrian safety issues. it is also intended to assist agencies in further enhancing their existing pedestrian safety programs and activites, including identifying safety problems and selecting optimal solutions.

This study offers a method for analyzing the theory that the physical design of streets impacts safety.

These chapters cover many of the basic elements that can help create good places and enhance community life, including traffic calming, an innovative approach to the design and management of streets that redistributes street space more equitably for all users and, in doing so, acts as a Placemaking catalyst.

This report analyzes the travel patterns of K-12 students in Gainesville, Florida. The data indicated that students were more likely to walk in neighborhoods with sidewalks on main roads; another significant factor is distance of the school from home.

Every two years, SACOG conducts a programming round to allocate funds to projects based on apportionments of regional Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ), Regional Surface Transportation Program (RSTP), and State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) funds. These funds are programmed through the Air Quality, Bicycle & Pedestrian, Community Design, Transportation Demand Management (TDM) and Regional/Local funding programs.

Funding rural transportation projects is an even greater challenge because many funding programs are based on population. Rural areas comprise only a small percentage of the SACOG region's population but must maintain a disproportionate number of the region's road miles. Rural areas in the SACOG region account for only 10 percent of the population, but they contain 48 percent of the region's road miles (8,258 total road miles). Urban areas, on the other hand, account for 75 percent of the population and contain only 41 percent of the road miles (7,054 total miles).

An ordinance providing for the continuation of a one-half of one percent retail transactions and use tax by the Sacramento Transportation Authority for local transportation purposes

As this report will show, there still is a long way to go to repair the damage done to communities in the past, even as we begin to shift policies and design philosophy to build streets that are safer for pedestrians and motorists alike. However, there are a growing number of excellent models to build on and thousands of communities eager to move forward.

Complete streets can improve population health indirectly — through increased walking, biking, and transit use, Increased physical activity, Less obesity and chronic disease, Reduced respiratory conditions, deaths, other conditions related to air pollution — and Directly — through Reduced traffic injuries and deaths, and increased social interaction.

1. Transportation Action Plan
2. USDG Philosophy and Approach
3. Applying the Six-Step Plan/Design Process

For four decades, activists for greener, safer NYC streets have scrounged at the margins of this automobilized streetscape. A few feet of traffic lanes converted to bike lanes, the occasional sidewalk extended to relieve a dangerous intersection — all important changes, but all within the context of streets that serve cars, first and foremost. But what would our streets look like if they were redesigned, building-to-building, to first accommodate walkers, bicyclists, the disabled and surface transit? The days of living at the margins are over: the Complete Streets revolution has begun.

What rights do non-motorized modes have to use public roadways? Do nonmotorized modes receive a fair share of roadway resources? Do motorists really subsidize walking and cycling? This report explores these questions.