Road Diet Support From Tri City News!

Pick up a copy of Tri City today!

Big thanks to Dan Jacobsen Publisher of Tri City News for an in-depth, informative, and supportive article about the reconfiguration of Main Street.

Part of the article quoted from Polli Schildge, APCSC committee member:

As you drive on Main Street, “traffic calming” is what you’re experiencing. It’s the driver response to a street that feels narrower, and where there’s a need to be more aware. Drivers seem to have adapted, and they’re driving more safely, even though it isn’t pretty. Right now Main Street is in the process of repair, with obstacles like barrels, trucks, and potholes which “calm” traffic. When the project is finished there will be a calmer flow of traffic, because of only one north and one south lane, bike lanes, and a center turning lane. Drivers will find that they’re getting to their destinations without losing time, and without needing to zoom traffic light to traffic light.

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More…

A small city like Asbury Park is perfectly positioned to implement infrastructure like the Main Street Road Diet, and to adopt The Asbury Park Plan for Walking and Biking, which Doug references. We’re at #peakcar. #toomanycars. With bikeshare, jitneys, electric cars, and other transit options Asbury Park can be a model city for getting around safely walking, biking, and with or…without a car.

For many years, much of the focus in engineering city streets has been how to efficiently move cars. Asbury Park is among other forward thinking cities globally where we’ve realized that safety, and PEOPLE should be the focus. Cars are often needed to get to destinations, but within the city there are much better, healthier, and safer ways to get around, especially for many residents who do not own cars at all.

We’re so fortunate to have Transportation Manager, Mike Manzella and advocate members in Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition who can help educate, and partner with residents, businesses and police to make this city truly walkable and bikeable.

Stay tuned for more ways in which Asbury Park will be creating better ways for people to move about the city without a car.

April 11, 2019April 8, 2019

APCSC Advocates For Less Car Dependence

Asbury Park is joining cities around the world which are increasingly piloting and implementing new mobility strategies to reduce vehicle congestion and curb carbon emissions. Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition advocates for “improved mobility, equitable access and reduced car dependence in communities everywhere.”

#toomanycars

Streets for All Coalition unveiled to advocate for safe, clean mobility

Kristin Musulin

March 12, 2019

During a featured South by Southwest (SXSW) session dubbed “The Future of Transportation,” panelists unveiled the Streets for All Coalition, a group intended to advocate for “improved mobility, equitable access and reduced car dependence in communities everywhere.” Read more…

https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/streets-for-all-coalition-safe-clean-mobility/550241/

April 10, 2019April 8, 2019

Parking Revolution

Would this be a revolution in Asbury Park? “We need more parking!” is the familiar refrain. The fact is that we can’t create more parking. We have #toomanycars. The best ways to reduce the use of, and need for cars in any city is to reduce the availability of parking, and make it less desirable to drive. The solution is to make it more desirable to use alternative transportation, walk or bike. “Talkin’ ’bout a revolution…”

A Modest Proposal to Eliminate 11,000 Urban Parking Spots

Feargus O’Sullivan Mar 29, 2019

Amsterdam plans to systematically strip its center of parking spaces in the coming years, making way for bike lanes, sidewalks, and more trees.

A woman parks her bike beneath boxes of daffodils on a bridge in Amsterdam, Netherlands April 22, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs – RC190EAE23D0

This week, Amsterdam is taking its reputation for pro-bike, anti-car polices one step further by announcing that it will systematically strip its inner city of parking spaces.

Amsterdam transit commissioner Sharon Dijksma announced Thursday that starting this summer, the city plans to reduce the number of people permitted to park in the city core by around 1,500 per year. These people already require a permit to access a specific space (and the cost for that permit will also rise), and so by reducing these permits steadily in number, the city will also remove up to 11,200 parking spaces from its streets by the end of 2025.

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/03/amsterdam-cars-parking-spaces-bike-lanes-trees-green-left/586108/

April 9, 2019April 8, 2019

Do Wider Streets Move Traffic Better?

Some drivers and traffic engineers believe that making streets wider will effectively provide for more cars and make traffic move more efficiently. Learn more here.

CityLab University: Induced Demand

Benjamin Schneider Sep 6, 2018

When traffic-clogged highways are expanded, new drivers quickly materialize to fill them. What gives? Here’s how “induced demand” works.

Two Key Points:

In urbanism, “induced demand” refers to the idea that increasing roadway capacity encourages more people to drive, thus failing to improve congestion.
Since the concept was introduced in the 1960s, numerous academic studies have demonstrated the existence of ID.

Is Asbury Park A Strong Town? Here’s The Test

Think of the reasons that you love Asbury Park. Four cities were in the semi-final round of The Strongest Town. (Voting is now closed, and results are in as of April 6. Stay tuned.). Would Asbury Park someday be able to see our name on this list? Could we win? Take a look at the The Strong Towns Strength Test. Click on the underlined questions for details. How do you think we would score? Asbury Park might only score a 1 out of 10 right now – We have work to do, but with your support of APCSC advocacy we are moving in the right direction!

Preview the upcoming New book by Charles Marhon, Jr., Strong Towns.: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity.

Strong Towns Strength Test

November 17, 2014 by Charles Marohn

We understand that cities are complex, adaptable systems that defy easy or precise measurement, so we asked ourselves: are there simple observations we use to signal that a city is either a strong town or on its way to becoming one? If you went to a place and had a little bit of time, could you scratch the surface and get a sense of how strong and resilient it was?

Here are ten simple questions we call the Strong Towns Strength Test. A Strong Town should be able to answer “yes” to each of these questions. (Click on the underlined questions to read a step-by-step guide for answering that question.)

Take a photo of your main street at midday. Does the picture show more people than cars?

Cyclists Are ‘Less than Human’?

Are you that driver?

I’ve been riding bikes all of my life, sometimes with a child in a bike seat, and even with an infant on my back (horror in the US but normal in The Netherlands), and in the last 15 years on a road bike dressed in the much maligned SPANDEX.

Whenever I ride my bike I feel a relationship – a connection- with people driving cars around me. I ride a bike, and I drive a car too, after all. We’re exhorted to “Share The Road”, but I now realize that drivers are not feeling a relationship with me. I sometimes ride a bike with a basket, wearing street shoes, and sometimes a skirt around town. But very often I’m that spandex clad “cyclist” riding with a streamlined road bike, riding fast for training 50 miles or more, or commuting with a backpack to work about 12 miles away from home. In both scenarios I am not considered a human. If I am injured or killed by a driver, the driver may be absolved.

Aggressive Drivers See Cyclists as ‘Less than Human

By Angie Schmitt Mar 28, 2019

A shocking number of people view cyclists as less than human — even likening them to insects — and that those “dehumanizing” attitudes are connected with aggressive driving targeted at people on bikes, according to a new study.

The Australian researchers asked participants about their attitudes toward cyclists — and 31 percent rated cyclists as less than human. The dehumanization was even worse among non-cyclists: 49 percent viewed people who ride a bike as non-human, according to the study published in the journal Transportation Research,

“Studies have shown that dehumanization is associated with increased antisocial behavior and aggression toward a variety of groups, and that it does so by removing normal inhibitions against harming others,” the author Alexa Delbosc, and her team wrote in their summary.

Read about it~

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2019/03/28/study-aggressive-driving-is-linked-to-seeing-cyclists-as-less-than-human/

April 5, 2019April 4, 2019

Congestion Pricing Is A Great Idea…It’s About Time

We’ve hit peak car. People are complaining about traffic, and lack of parking in Asbury Park and in cities all over the US. Building wider roads was never a good idea (induced demand), and it isn’t feasible or economically a great idea to build more parking (Cities are eliminating parking.) Maybe car culture in the US is about to change.

The Streets Were Never Free. Congestion Pricing Finally Makes That Plain.

The policy could change not just traffic, but also how we think about the infrastructure cars require.

By Emily Badger April 4th, 2019

The idea of the open road evokes these intertwined meanings: The freedom to use it should be free. Residential street parking should be free. Traffic lanes should be free. Stretches of public curb dedicated to private driveways? Those should be free, too.

In other ways, the government has heavily subsidized driving, or hidden the reality of who pays for it in places no one sees. Local laws require off-street parking from businesses and housing developers, who pass on the construction cost of it to tenants and customers who may not drive at all.

Read the article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/04/upshot/the-streets-were-never-free-congestion-pricing-finally-makes-that-plain.html

March 31, 2019April 1, 2019

Success! APCSC Annual Meeting and Bike Light Fundraiser

What a fun way to have a meeting!

Thank you Smith Group for hosting at Little Buddy Hideaway with food, drink and a door prize donation, and to Stringbean Blues for the tunes, and Sarah Galloway for allowing us to screen Bike Riddim. To all who stepped up to support and participate, it was a terrific event on Saturday!

Stringbean Blues

The crowd, Tshirts + Bike Donation (Second Life Bikes)

We had a wonderful group at APCSC Annual Meeting and Bike Light Fundraiser. The ticket and tshirt sales, plus generous donations will enable us to purchase bike lights for people in Asbury Park who need them.

Our State of The Organization was read, and the Proclamation was on view for attendees to sign. Our transportation manager, Mike Manzella was on the mic with updates to keep us apprised about Complete Streets upcoming initiatives.

The Proclamation Mike Manzella, Transportation Mgr.

Kay Harris (Asbury Galleria and Asbury Park Museum), and Polli Schildge (Executive Committee APCSC)

Thanks so much to our amazing and supportive Asbury Park business door prize donors!

Ada’s Gojjo; America’s Cup; Asbury Galleria; Asbury Park Cyclery; Booskerdoo; Beach Box; Carla Gizzi; Cryolete; Foolish Ginger; High Voltage Cafe, Pipe Dreams; Second Life Bikes; Smithgroup; SoulKraft Ink; Words! Bookstore.

Onward!

March 29, 2019March 29, 2019

APCSC State Of The Organization

Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition Annual Meeting and The State of the Organization

Raising funds for the Bike Light Campaign to Light Up Bikes in Asbury Park

Annual Meeting and Bike Light Campaign Fundraiser at Little Buddy Hideaway, Saturday, March 30th 6-8pm

Get tickets in advance here, or buy at the door (limited to 75).

Music by Stringbean Blues, door prizes (2 bikes!), screening of Bike Riddim, the award winning documentary, and updates on what’s happening in city infrastructure for biking and walking.

This event will help to raise funds for bike lights for people who need them. We hope to engage APPD to help distribute and install the lights, and we’d like to provide lights to restaurants to help hospitality staff to be lit up when they ride at night.

Buy tickets

Annual Meeting and Bike Light Campaign

Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition

How Far Have We Come?

February 2019

Thank you for your continued support as APCSC endeavors to make the streets of our city safer for all users, especially the most vulnerable. If we design our streets for children and for the elderly they will be safe for everyone, including for drivers. As advocates for safe and accessible streets for all users, we want to be a one-point contact for all things regarding street safety. Our mission evolved to advocate for City streets that are safe for all road users. Speed endangers our most vulnerable citizens – Crashes cause pedestrian, bicyclist, and driver deaths.

APCSC is entering the 4th year of our existence. We were originally founded to address bicycle regulations on the boardwalk. While that issue remains one of our goals, the successful completion of other initiatives are many.

When the Route 71/Main Street road improvement plan was announced, APCSC advocated and educated for the proven safety benefits of a lane configuration. Many Main Street businesses signed on in support. Success in achieving this goal was recognized at the State level and by the NJ Bike and Walk Coalition, with whom we have an affiliation.

Leading the City’s street safety efforts today is the City’s Transportation Manager, Michael Manzella. Mike has shown his expertise and dedication to biking and walking planning from conception to implementation. Mike has proven to be our “road warrior,” working with Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition on transportation and mobility concerns for Asbury Park: A Bike Share Program; An increasing number of bike lanes; a checklist for a “Complete Streets Policy”; The “Asbury Park Plan for Walking and Biking”; spearheading the implementation of an electric car share, approval of the NJDOT reconfiguration of Main Street and Road Diet; improved crosswalks and markings, and a bicycle registration program by the AP Police Department.

We continue to advocate for:

Requiring new construction and road paving to include accommodation for bicycles

Installation of more bike racks throughout the city

Engaging with APPD in support of people riding bikes, and installing bike lights

Continuing bike light giveaway project

Reducing parking spaces to provide for safe corners and bike parking

Rewriting boardwalk bike ordinance

Making recommendations for city ordinance re: riding on sidewalks

Continuing crosswalk improvements

Encouraging regular Community Bike Rides

New initiatives are:

Installation of Leading Pedestrian Intervals and Leading Bicycle Intervals at intersections

Installation of protected bike lanes

Building a bike depot at the transit center

Promote alternative “traffic calming” strategies

Encourage walking and jogging paths around Sunset Lake

Encourage alternate means of transportation – not cars

Enforcement of speeding, double parking, and blocking bike lanes

Designation of loading zones

Develop off-site parking for delivery trucks and mandate smaller truck delivery

Develop an anti-bike theft program

Developing off-site parking and “Last Mile” transportation options from the transit center to destinations in the city

Thank you for your continued support, as APCSC endeavors to be your one-point beacon for all things regarding equitable mobility and street safety.

Look for us and follow on social media. Twitter: @Asburyparkcsc; subscribe to our website: www.apcompletestreets.org; Facebook page: @asburyparkcompletestreetscoalition.

Upcoming:

Annual Meeting and Fund Raiser: LIttle Buddy Hideaway, Saturday, March 30th 6-8pm See more and buy tickets!

“ASBURY PARK ALIVE!” on May 4th from 1-5pm:The ultimate open streets, car-free festival. Cover letter for Asbury Park Alive

State of The Organization Letter-3_8_19

Great news! Multi modal transportation options will enable more people to get around the city without cars!

ASBURY PARK TRANSPORTATION ADVANCEMENTS

E SCOOTERS & BIKES PROPOSED ON HEELS OF BIKE/WALKING MASTER PLAN ADOPTION