Designing A Transit Village

Last summer Asbury Park was granted a Transit Village designation and the city will be continuing to invite community input. The city of Compton had a wonderful “methodology to help it’s residents and stakeholders explore their own lived experiences, needs, and identity to develop community based solutions for the station area.”

Empowered Through Design: How a Purposefully Rudimentary Activity Sparks the Imagination

Memory can be an intensely powerful tool when planning for the future.

August 16, 2018 James Rojas

Building imaginary station area dioramas with objects actively engaged participants in the design process, rather than leaving it all up to the experts. Participants were able to communicate, illustrate, and negotiate ideas with others that would have been difficult by using existing maps and words alone. In fact, maps would have limited the creative, brainstorming process and would have appealed to people who can read maps. The object’s tactile, visual, and spatial elements gave participants, especially the elders, the opportunity to quickly test their ideas and design interventions with others. Through this process, new ideas emerged and developed with the help of others. In a short period of time the scenarios begin to take form and fill out the tabletops.

August 16, 2018August 15, 2018

Transit Equity Is A Local Issue

NJ Transit and in particular Asbury Park train service is integral to equitable transportation. NJ Transit has a lot of work to do and APCSC is engaged in conversation about it.

Transit Equity Starts at Home, Not in Washington

A federal law has done little to advance transportation fairness for low-income communities. Progress is up to local leaders.

JULY 31, 2018

August 15, 2018August 11, 2018

Lazy Reporting Of Pedestrian and Bicyclist Deaths And Injuries

It’s a crash. “The word “accident” exonerates the driver – with the implication that injuries and deaths of people walking or riding bikes are preordained or unavoidable. (This is intentional in our car obsessed culture.) And the blame is placed on the walker or person on the bike, relying on testimony of the driver because the victim cannot tell his side..read this story which got more coverage than most.

How Lazy Coverage of Pedestrian Deaths Obscures Why Streets Are So Dangerous

Angie Schmitt Aug 8, 2018

August 14, 2018August 11, 2018

Need Bicycle Friendly Law In NJ

Last October bicycle friendly law was signed in Delaware. Isn’t it time for other states to act? This includes forbidding to honk at cyclists; requires motorists to change lanes when passing bicyclists, even crossing the double yellow line; the Delaware Yield, (bicyclists may proceed through stop signals as yield so they do not mix with cars in intersections); and bicycle traffic signals.

We’ll need to sell it to the NJ State Police.

“One of the keys to the near-unanimous passage of this legislation was the involvement, suggestions and buy-in from the Delaware State Police.”

Bicycle Friendly Delaware Act into law on Thursday, October 5, 2017

Pedestrians are People Webinar: Sept. 12. 2pm

Wed, Sep 12, 2018 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT

Walking is the original form of transportation and yet too often it is forgotten in planning, promotion, and protection. Equally concerning is the increased messaging around victim-blaming, distracted walking legislation, and other moves to criminalize walking. This webinar will explore the criminalization in walking and the responsibility we all have in supporting a culture of safe and accessible walkability. This webinar assumes a basic knowledge of issues related to walking and walkable communities. Attendees of this webinar will: *Learn how policies such as jaywalking are used to discourage walking and target individuals of color *Hear how the increase of victim-blaming and distracted walking narratives plays a role in protecting the auto-centric culture of the US *Be inspired to take action against messaging, policies, and programs that criminalize walking and public spaces

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1806296785161436675

August 12, 2018August 11, 2018

End Right Turn On Red!

Allowing drivers to turn right on red prioritizes movement of cars over the safety of people. It may be true that banning ROTR is a “paperwork nightmare” but is it worth risking injury and death for people who walk and ride bicycles?

It’s Time for Cities to Rethink Right Turns on Red

By Angie Schmitt May 15, 2018

Letting drivers turn on red can save gas, but there is a trade-off. Though recent studies are lacking, the body of research shows that allowing rights on red compromises safety for people who walk and bike.

Permitting rights on red increases pedestrian crashes by 60 percent and bike crashes by 100 percent, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found in the 1980s.

August 11, 2018February 23, 2020

Study: Drivers Don’t Look Right!

The article states 1. Even the “safe” demographic of drivers selected for the study do not look right when turning right. 2. Drivers were less likely to look right when they are familiar with the intersection. And here’s the scary one-3. people on bikes and walkers should assume that drivers don’t see them. The article doesn’t mention the most serious problem…Right Turn On Red. RTOR was a plan designed in the 70s during the gas shortage to save gas and reduce emissions. Drivers not only don’t look right, but also routinely do not stop at red lights and stop signs before turning. “Permitting rights on red increases pedestrian crashes by 60 percent and bike crashes by 100 percent, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found in the 1980s.” ( https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/05/15/its-time-for-cities-to-rethink-right-turns-on-red/) RTOR is another example where mobility of cars is prioritized over safety, and needs to end.

More than half of drivers don’t look for cyclists and pedestrians before turning right, study finds

August 9, 2018, University of Toronto

August 9, 2018August 8, 2018

International PARK(ing) September 21!

International PARK(ing) Day is on September 21. Last year Asbury Park built a Parklet, a brightly painted and beautifully planted mini-park, and placed on parking spaces around the city. Temporary parking spot “parklets” are an effective way to show just how our streets can be places for people if we stop devoting so much space to storing cars.

July 26, 2018 Regina Schroter

What is your car doing when you are not driving it? It is probably parked outside your front door, occupying space. All around the world, people are already making creative uses out of parking lots. The city of The Hague is taking it a step further by offering citizens in Segbroek, a suburb in the west of the city, to turn their parking spot into an urban park for six months.

As cities are getting more dense, owning a private vehicle will not be possible for urban dwellers in the future. Adding some more green to the streets of The Hague is a nice side-effect, but the project’s aim goes way beyond that. Walter Dresscher, who works for the city government, explains that the citizens who participate will give car-sharing, public transport and biking a chance. Dresscher wonders whether this bottom-up approach will work or if top-down policy that manages car parking is still needed. Regardless of the outcome, whilst relaxing in their own pocket park, residents might come to the realization that living in an urban environment doesn’t need to go hand in hand with car ownership.

If you want more inspiration on how to transform your parking lot, check out this article.

August 7, 2018August 6, 2018

Street Ballet!

Traffic is horrendous in Mexico City, just like in American cities. What a glorious way to illustrate that streets are meant for people, not just for cars!

In Mexico City, Ballerinas Dance in Traffic—and It’s Absolutely Captivating

DAVID BEARDAUG. 1, 2018

A burst of brightness in a city notorious for traffic.

Is this a flash mob? A comedy troupe? Some strange protest along a busy intersection in Mexico City?

Not quite. These seven ballet dancers from the Ardentía dance company are performing selections from “The Nutcracker” and “Swan Lake” and even grooving to Michael Jackson in a downtown crosswalk in the Mexican capital.

Granted, the performances only last 58 seconds—the time it takes for a traffic light to change from red to green—but they’re making a big impact. Over the past couple of weeks, the Ardentía company has performed these mini-shows to brighten the lives of weary commuters, part of an initiative called “the theatricality of public space,” reports the Associated Press. The performances have drawn large crowds and captivated photographers across the city.

“We never thought this was going have to this kind of impact,” says one dancer, Manuela Ospina Castro. “Not only are people accepting it, but they need it.”

August 6, 2018

Scooter Company Funds Bike Lanes

As cities are being choked by automobile traffic alternative transportation is the way to go. Infrastructure for bicycling and walking are being implemented in many cities, but what about scooters? Scooters are appearing to be the next wave of a viable, inexpensive way to get around, and Bird is working on it.

Jason Plautz August 3, 2018

Bird establishing fund for protected bike lanes

Dive Brief:

Electric scooter-share company Bird is setting aside a portion of its revenue for a new fund to create protected bike lanes and repair and repaint existing ones in cities where the company operates.
The company is also establishing a Global Safety Advisory Board to work on policies and education to make electric scooter use safer. The board will be led by former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) chief David Strickland.
“Bird is bringing the future of transportation to cities all over the world — a future that doesn’t rely exclusively on cars and is less damaging to our environment,” said Strickland in a statement. “As this valuable work progresses, we also want to make sure that it is a safe future as well.

Month: August 2018