The U.S. Is Failing At Making Its Communities More Walkable

A new report gives the country an F grade on attempts to make it easier and safer for all citizens to get places without a car.

Whether by street design, long distances between places, or more deep-seated cultural reasons, most Americans walk very little every day. That’s a shame: Public health advocates argue that moderate, informal exercise outside, including walking, is an important determinant of public health. And America’s car-centric development isn’t doing us any favors, remaining an impediment to higher levels of walking and walkability, a new report shows.

Read more:

https://www.fastcompany.com/40472360/the-u-s-is-failing-at-making-its-communities-more-walkable

Bicyclists get free roadside assistance in Connecticut city

To encourage bicycle commuting in the city and ease some the fears associated with it.

“The free roadside assistance initiative is run by the Hartford Business Improvement District. It is part of the organization’s Clean and Safe program, which puts those “safety ambassadors” on downtown streets, giving free assistance to stranded motorists, providing security escorts and acting as another set of eyes and ears for police, said Jordan Polon, the business district’s executive director.

The group added bicycle assistance in May to encourage bicycle commuting in the city and ease some the fears associated with it, she said.”

“Eddie Zayas is one of the district’s “safety ambassadors.” Like the vast majority of the others, he’s a city resident. He wears a fluorescent yellow uniform and an identification badge and patrols on his bicycle downtown. He carries with him a two-way radio, a tool kit and three different sizes of bicycle tubes.

He looks for bicyclists who need help and takes service calls.”

http://www.njherald.com/article/20170916/AP/309169933#

Eddie Zayas, a safety ambassador for the Hartford Business Improvement District, shows off some of his bicycle repair tools during patrol of downtown streets on Sept. 2, 2017. Zayas is part of a program that provides free roadside assistance to bicyclists who break down in Connecticut’s capital city (AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb)
The Associated Press

 

 

The Joy and Freedom of a City Without Car Traffic

“Imagine a major city without car traffic, without the honking, the congestion, the tailpipes spitting out poison. A city without the ever-present threat of getting run over.”

http://usa.streetsblog.org/2017/10/02/the-joy-and-freedom-of-a-city-without-cars/

“As you browse through these photos from the journee sans voiture, keep in mind that Paris is trying to make its streets free from the burden of car traffic all year round. The car-free day fits within a comprehensive strategy to improve mobility while reducing motorized traffic.”

Bike-Sharing Is Flourishing in Washington. Can the City Handle It?

“…while the city embraces its innovative bicycling culture, longtime riders argue that the capital still lacks infrastructure to support it. “

“…critics worry most about beginner urban riders navigating the segmented nature of the city’s designated bicycle lanes: They begin and end seemingly at random, forcing cyclists to veer into four-lane roads stippled with potholes and urban grit. Buses and hurried automobile traffic push them into the right-most lane, where doors of parked cars can swing open unexpectedly, catapulting cyclists.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/01/us/politics/washington-bike-share.html?_r=0

Iceland-Photos, Video: 3D Crosswalk Slows Down Cars

The small fishing town of Ísafjörður in the Westfjords unveiled the first ever “3D crosswalk” in Iceland.

The crosswalk, which is painted to look like it is hovering over the street, is intended to slow down traffic and reduce driving speeds in the narrow residential streets of the old town of Ísafjörður.

The environmental commissioner of Ísafjörður, Ralf Trylla, had come across the idea while researching for novel ways to slow down traffic speed.

It only took a couple of weeks from Ralf getting the idea to all necessary permits from the Police and the Transport Authority being in place. In the meantime Gautur Ívar and Ralf practiced 3D painting.

Read more…

http://icelandmag.visir.is/article/photos-video-3d-crosswalk-isafjordur-helps-slow-down-speeding-motorists