Craigie Bridge bike/ped use?

Our friend Megan Ramey writes to ask:

Dear Boston bicycle and pedestrian community,

Anybody commute or ride regularly on the Craigie Bridge?  If so, can you get in touch with me?  Here's what I'm trying to find out:

1. Start and Destination?
2. Do you take an alternative bridge / route?
3. The construction on the Craigie is starting the night of Friday, Nov. 5th.  Like the BU bridge, the Craigie is supposed to remain open to bikes and peds throughout construction.  Can someone confirm this?

A Better City is working on a bridge construction / traffic advisory website for all forms of transportation.  Any input would be greatly appreciated!

You can email her at megalisha at gmail.com!

Pedestrianism Under The Influence

We’ve all been warned not to drink and drive, but where does pedestrianism fit in? Statistics show that pedestrians killed in vehicular collisions are disproportionately likely to be intoxicated. These stats vary regionally, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration claims that one-quarter of pedestrian fatalities involve an inebriated walker. This skews even more at night: according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, over one half of all pedestrians killed between 9pm and 6am were drunk.

So what’s the point here? Well, walking, while under the influence of alcohol, remains orders of magnitude safer than driving, and it’s still the way to go when inebriation is in the picture. As with all safety concerns, though, a little education and awareness could go a long way. Should you find yourself on an intoxicated trek by foot, try to bring along a sober companion to keep an extra set of eyes on the road. If you see a drunken friend walking off somewhere alone, offer to accompany them. Be aware that your judgment is impaired and err on the side of caution. Commercial areas with slow-seeming traffic circulation could become deadly if you’re not watching out for yourself.

Pedestrian safety, as ever, is not a one-way street (pardon the pun). Motorists should always be aware and sufficiently in control to avoid hitting a pedestrian, no matter how erratic the potential victim. They should take particular care when driving near nighttime commercial hotspots where people are more likely to be drinking. And of course, remember to never get behind the wheel yourself if you’ve been drinking alcohol; a drunk driver and a drunk pedestrian in the same location is truly a tragedy waiting to unfold.

Walking is still the safest way to get around under the influence, but don’t play the dice— always take steps to keep yourself and your companions safe.

LivableStreets Street Party! This Thursday

This is going to be a super fun party:

LivableStreets Street Party!
Celebrate our 5th anniversary!

Thursday, July 22, 5-8 pm (rain date 29th)Enter at 100 Sidney Street, Cambridge (map), and play on car-free Tudor St open to all
Admission:
includes food, drinks, and raffle ticket
Members: $15 to $150+
Non-members: $50 to $150+.
[$50 = annual membership = $4, or 2 T Rides, or 1 beer per month!]
Volunteer your way to free admission. Sign up in advance at volunteer@livablestreets.info.

Advocacy Awards:
In celebration of their efforts to create safe, convenient and affordable transportation for all people in the Metro Boston area we are presenting awards to: Boston Transportation Commissioner Thomas J. Tinlin for his advocacy on the Massachusetts Avenue bicycle lanes & State Representative Marty Walz for her advocacy on the Longfellow Bridge for more walking and bicycling space.

Chance to Win: New Bicycle
Weekend stay in Maine
Free stay at Hotel Veritas
Free movie tickets
Gift certificates to local bookstores
Urban AdvenTours bike jersey/tune up
Gift cards to local restaurants
and much more!

Food / Drinks:

Mangia Pizza 

Craigie on Main 

Asgard 

Au Bon Pain 

Mariposa 

Taza Chocolate 

BoLoco 

Harpoon 

Middle East 

Toscanini's

Games / Activities:All on car-free Tudor Street!Hopscotch 

FourSquare 

Hula-hoops 

Jump Rope

Relay Races 

Park(ing) Day 

Photo booths 

Biking testing

Sidewalk chalk art 

Bicycle powered smoothies 

Bicycle powered music and more!!

Sidewalks Make Safe Places

Recently here at WalkBoston we had an internet and phone outage that left me, trusty intern, without my usual work to do. Fortunately it so happened that I had been reading Jane Jacobs' prolific book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities during my bus commute to Boston, so I have that to share with you. Jacobs, who rejected the orthodox city planning of her time (1950s-60s), discusses at length the uses of sidewalks with what would be considered even today very progressive thinking.

Sidewalks are not just spaces that should be designed with safety in mind, Jacobs argues, they are safety-creating devices. Cities, unlike towns and suburbs, are literally full of strangers. However, sidewalks, when operating well, create an environment that makes you or me feel safe sharing the street with the city's strangers.

Jacobs speaks quite approvingly of Boston's very own North End neighborhood, writing that its streets are some of the safest one could ever experience (and the North End was quite different in her day). Its sidewalks work so well because they are populated at all times throughout the day. People in the North End use the sidewalks before, during, and after the work day; they use them for pleasure strolls, performing errands, socializing, and going out for a meal, a drink, or a pastry. The North End is what planners call a mixed-use neighborhood—many activities perform there, all in close contact. As a result, there are almost always what Jacobs calls “eyes on the street.”

A place like the North End rarely needs closed-circuit television monitoring or doormen to watch the street. Instead, through its day-and-night activity, the North End has built-in eyes—the activity all along its sidewalks.

Impatience and distracted driving

Last week, I was out in Fitchburg to talk to a youth group about being pedestrian advocates and how to do walking audits in their communities. I got a zipcar to go to and from, and on my way back into Somerville, I hit the typical long wait at the Alewife tangle of intersections. I wasn't in any rush, though, and because I don't drive all that much, it didn't seem like that big a deal to me. I had my music on, and I was feeling relaxed, and the time in the car wasn't particularly stressful. Cars cutting me off didn't phase me, and it was easy to keep an eye out for bikes in my lane and pedestrians waiting to cross the street. No sweat!

The next day, though, I was at another evening event that required driving to, and on my way back home, I was in a big rush, because I had a someone waiting for me at home. This time, I noticed how much worse a driver I was due to my impatience. Every other car on the road seemed to be driven by my arch enemy, getting stuck behind a bike for a short distance while waiting for my opportunity to pass infuriated me, and every crosswalk where I had to stop for a pedestrian made me want to shake my fist at the people who were getting in my way.

Okay, this is something I've noticed before, and it goes to something that I'm fond of saying, which is that being a user of all modes makes me a better user of all of them. Even when I'm impatient and cranky, I stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk, because I understand the hows and the whys of what makes that important.

But I noticed something else about the difference between chill driving and rushed driving: Not only was I a worse, less attentive driver when I was in a hurry, but I was also more tempted to take out my phone. That feeling of being in a hurry meant that stops in traffic, whether for a backup or for a traffic light, felt more like dead time, and long, relatively non-conflicted straightaways on the highway felt like, "Hey, I'm not using my whole brain for this, and I really DO need to send this text ..."

Because I feel strongly about not using my phone when I'm driving, I resisted the temptation, but it was interesting to discover the difference in the temptation to do so in different states of mind. I can see how, driving and getting stuck in traffic on a daily basis, where time in the car is not luxurious relaxation but an impediment to the rest of your life, the lure of the phone and other distractions must get increasingly strong.

The pleasure of commuting by foot is that the travel is itself a satisfying activity. And, of course, there's less danger associated with texting while walking (as long as I take my eyes off my phone while I'm crossing the street!) The frustrations of daily driving for utility create and perpetuate bad habits that impact (literally) all of us.

A Longfellow Bridge for the 21st century

WalkBoston and fellow advocates urge MassDOT to consider a visionary plan for the Longfellow Bridge, taking advantage of the necessity for repairs and turning it into an opportunity to make the bridge into a world-class space. WalkBoston and other advocates presented our exciting multi-modal proposal for the Longfellow Bridge to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Board of Directors on May 5th. We encourage MassDOT to consider a plan that provides better service and safety for MBTA riders, pedestrians and bicyclists and that would transform the bridge into a wonderful place to stroll, jog, bike and admire the beautiful views. You can find details of our vision in this presentation, available on our website. The federal environmental process has not yet started, and once it does we will let you know how to provide comments and participate.

The urban realm for children

I tend to be quite wary of the refrain "But what about the children?" As a rule, I hear this trotted out in alarmist tones calling for conservatism and decisions based on fear. Especially in my work on Safe Routes to Schools, I hear from parents who are given messages of fear day in and day out about the dangers their children face if they're allowed to walk or bike to school: stranger danger, traffic danger, personal safety danger. I hear many of them reminisce wistfully about their own childhoods, when it was much more common and widely accepted that young children could travel about their neighborhoods unattended.

Nevertheless, the fear for children's safety, whether the perceived threats are real or imagined, plays a huge role in the decisions parents make for their children, and how other parents respond to those choices.

So, I'm fascinated by the concept of designing cities for children. We're not talking, here, about cities full of ball-pits and bouncy-castles (though who wouldn't love THAT?) but rather, cities whose physical infrastructure is safe and inviting for kids to navigate on their own, to get from home to playground to school:

As its main objectives, the project seeks autonomy, participation, safety and mobility for children in the city, to make it possible for them to leave their home without being accompanied by an adult so that they can meet friends and play in public spaces of the city: from courtyards to sidewalks, from public squares to parks.

This has me thinking about how utterly people friendly a kid-friendly city would be. If a child can safely navigate a city's streets, then the vast majority of adult users will be able to do the same. If a city's streets are vibrant and inviting to curious young people, they will probably be welcoming and intriguing to adults of all ages.

What do you think a kid-friendly city would look like?

Mobile outdoor treadmills: a new trend?

Long time readers of this blog will remember this post about the Treadmobil, a ungainly device for people who want to use a treadmill outside. Who could imagine there would be call for such a thing? Who could imagine there would be a call for two versions of it?

And, yet, here's a second outdoor mobile treadmill device. This one, at least, looks a heck of a lot more maneuverable than the previous one.

The pain of commuting

There are a lot of reasons we at WalkBoston love walking. We love the opportunity to interact with our neighbors when we're on foot. We love the human pace of it. We love the vibrancy of a neighborhood with a lot of pedestrians. We love that walking is environmentally friendly and good for everyone's health. Ultimately, we think -- and, increasingly, research supports us in thinking so -- that walking makes people happier than almost every other form of transportation, and it does so in a myriad of ways.

I'm fascinated with all of the happiness research that's happening these days, and it's always nice when I learn something that can help me inform current and future choices. Here's one of those: The daily activity most injurious to happiness is commuting.

No kidding. As any of you who have had a painful commute know, this is pretty soul-sucking. Oddly, if it weren't for the occasional day when it goes smoothly, it wouldn't be quite as painful, points out Jonah Lehrer. But, if you think about it, an hour commute each day works out to more than a full day of work of time each week when you don't get to choose what you're doing. And I certainly know that nothing drives me to frustration and depression the way stop-and-go traffic can.

My commute, these days, is about 15 minutes of walking and 15-20 minutes on the subway, and I really like it. I like getting to a different part of the city every day, and I like the balance between walking time and relaxing on the train time.

How long is your commute? Do you feel it impacting your day-to-day happiness? What's the longest commute you've had? The shortest?

WalkBoston pleased with USDOT's stance on walking and biking

Today, we're sending this letter to Ray LaHood, US Secretary of Transportation:

Dear Secretary LaHood,

WalkBoston is delighted with your new Federal Department of Transportation policy statement in support of bicycle and pedestrian facilities. We hope you will follow up in encouraging – even pressuring – state and local agencies to take action with the federal funding to recognize biking and walking as equal with other modes, rather than as afterthoughts to roads projects.

For millions of Americans, walking is not purely recreational and this number is rising. Many people walk to work and school, to trains, to transit, and for social purposes, though the data is poorly collected. The collection and use of more inclusive and comprehensive data would further support this excellent policy.

WalkBoston is the nation’s first pedestrian advocacy organization, advocating for Massachusetts pedestrians for more than 20 years. We see your statement as a huge step toward making US transportation policies meet the needs of the future. Walkable communities are welcoming to a broad range of people, resilient in the face of economic and environmental adversity, good for health and fitness, and for our children.

We are writing to thank you. We intend to encourage our U.S. Representatives and Senators to support your policy It has been a long time coming and we are grateful for this and your numerous other sensible strong positions.

Thank you,

Rosa Carson
WalkBoston

Life takes place on foot

Wow, our annual meeting happened and I forgot to blog for a month. Oops!

Yesterday, one of our interns was raving to me about a book he recently discovered about the design of public spaces: Jan Gehl's Life Between Buildings. I didn't previously know about this book, but it's immediately clear that it was visionary and continues to influence people-friendly designs and thinking about the public realm. Since we're WalkBoston, Phil highlighted this excerpt for me (emphasis added):

It is important that all meaningful social activities, intense experiences, conversations, and caresses take place when people are standing, sitting, lying down, or walking. One can catch a brief glimpse of others from a car or a train window, but life takes place on foot. Only "on foot" does a situation function as a meaningful opportunity for contact and information in which the individual is at ease and able to take time to experience, pause, or become involved.

I love this so much, both because it's something I believe and because it's something I experience. My whole life is changed by the neighborhood I live in, and my relationship to my neighborhood relies on my moving around it on foot on a regular basis. I know more neighbors than I would if I only traveled by car. I have casual, incidental contact with people I know at varying levels of intimacy, and each one improves my day, even on the grouchy ones!

I recently used the T stop exit farther from my house so I could finish a conversation with my friend before we went to our homes (in opposite directions from the square). As I crossed the plaza that sits above the T station, I ran into a group of friends who were hanging out. I have since resolved that when the weather is nice, I should always take the long way out of the T station on the off chance that I'll run into folks in the plaza by doing so.

I figure that when I'm 70, I'm more likely to remember and value that happy moment of unexpected socializing than getting home a couple of minutes earlier.

WalkBoston news

Here at WalkBoston, we're busy getting ready for our annual meeting on Thursday! I hope you're all planning to attend. Click here for the invitation and details. Spread the word!

Also, we got a nice little writeup in the Globe over the weekend. Click here and skip about halfway down the page to "Walking group has a major footing in transportation".

Cell phone impairment and pedestrians

There's a lot of talk lately about the dangers of distracted driving. In Massachusetts, state legislators are working on a safe driving bill (it passed in the House in February, and is currently in the Senate) that would ban handheld cell phone use for talking, texting, and other communications, but provides for people to continue using hands-free devices.

You may be aware that studies show that drivers using cell phones to talk or text are as impaired as drivers who are legally drunk. While there are obviously characteristics that make cell phone impairment different from chemical impairment -- most notably the ability to put the phone down when traffic seems to be getting more complicated. Other studies show that cell-phone impairment exists even when using a hands-free device.

Because pedestrians are often overlooked by drivers (have you ever zipped by a pedestrian waiting to cross at a crosswalk, either because you didn't see them in the busy urban environment or because you didn't feel like stopping? I have, I'm sorry to say!), and are small and slow as compared to other cars, WalkBoston sees pedestrians (and bikes) as being at special risk from distracted driving. So, this week we wrote state senators to say:

I’m writing with regard to S.2290, the safe driving bill. WalkBoston, Massachusetts’ pedestrian advocacy organization, and our membership of over 2500, strongly supports a ban on cell phone and electronic communication devices by drivers. We ask you to vote in support of this bill. Distracted driving is a danger to pedestrians and all users of our streets and roads, and banning the use of cell phones and other such devices is an important piece in the safety puzzle.

Studies have shown that hands-free devices do not significantly reduce the distraction provided by electronic devices, so we additionally support future legislation that limits drivers’ use of hands-free devices as well.

Thank you very much for your support of S.2290 and your attention to the safety of all residents and visitors of the Commonwealth.

Creative visualization of transportation data

In addition to being a bit of a transportation geek, I love creative and engaging ways of displaying data, so this post over at infrastructurist is enough to make me scream like my mother at a Beatles concert in the 60s. How are people in major US cities getting to work? Check it out.

It's the middle of February; how's your winter going?

You wouldn't expect your neighbor to clear the snow on the street in front of his house, so why would you depend on him to clear the sidewalk in front of it?

(From Phil's Blog)

In Massachusetts, we get most of our snow in February and March, so I'm anticipating some big storms in the next few weeks, but we've had a couple of notable ones already this year. Last week's dud notwithstanding, last night walking home from Davis, before most of my neighbors had shoveled their walks, I found myself slipping and sliding all over the place! That's not exactly the kind of excitement I'm looking for on my walk home.

How is your neighborhood doing on snow clearance? Does your city have a snow clearing ordinance?

This Thursday, StreetTalk: "Streets for whom?"

StreetTalk
Streets for whom?
by Barbara Knecht, Director of Design, Institute for Human Centered Design

Thurs, Feb 4, 7-9 PM
@ LivableStreets office, 100 Sidney St, Cambridge

Open to the public. Suggested $5 donation. Complimentary beer provided by Harpoon.

Should Segways be allowed on sidewalks? Should all bicycles travel only in designated bike lanes? Should motorized scooters be treated as if they are wheelchairs? Where should roller blades, skateboards, adult tricycles, bikes with trailers or kick scooters travel? The world of personal mobility is expanding. But all those other modes are having a hard time finding their place on the streets and sidewalks of our cities. It seems someone always thinks one or more of the alternatives is unsuitable. The solution becomes clear if one applies a universal -- human centered -- design approach to the problem. It isn't simple, it is just clear. It ends the discussion about vehicles. It starts a discussion about people and how they can get around in the city. Barbara will discuss the concept of human-centered design and showcase examples of streets in South America, the US and around the world. A Q&A discussion will follow the talk.

Barbara Knecht, R.A. is Director of Design at the Institute for Human Centered Design. She is also co-director of the IHP "Cities in the 21st Century" and a consultant to Westhab, Inc., an affordable housing and community development organization. Ms. Knecht holds a BA from UC Berkeley and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University. She was awarded a Kinne Fellowship, a Loeb Fellowship, and received a Graham Foundation grant. She serves on the Metropolitan Life/Enterprise Foundation Awards for Excellence in Affordable Housing, the Board of Directors of Care for the Homeless, and the Streetscape committee of the Municipal Art Society.

Hosted by LivableStreets Alliance.
For more information: www.livablestreets.info/node/2450, 617-621-1746, events@livablestreets.info

Today's worst idea: dashboard computing

Yesterday's New York Times included Driven to Distraction - Despite Risks, Carmakers Integrate the Web With the Dash. This article reports on the increasing number of carmakers and technology companies that are working together to integrate computers and cars for "infotainment" in the front seat.

The first wave of these “infotainment systems,” as the tech and car industries call them, will hit the market this year. While built-in navigation features were once costly options, the new systems are likely to be standard equipment in a wide range of cars before long. They prevent drivers from watching video and using some other functions while the car is moving, but they can still pull up content as varied as restaurant reviews and the covers of music albums with the tap of a finger.

I don't think I have anything to say about this that you can't think of yourself. It's a terrible idea to put more distractions in front of drivers, especially bright distractions that require them to take their eyes off the road for seconds at a time. This is bad for drivers, bad for pedestrians, bad for cyclists, and has the potential to be bad for buildings and signposts as well.

Mr. Walker vs. Mr. Wheeler

You know how, when you're walking, drivers are all inconsiderate jerks, and when you're driving, pedestrians are slow, annoying obstacles?

Certainly Disney's Goofy has some experience with this: Goofy in Motor Mania!

Putting ourselves in other people's shoes is one of the trickiest, and frequently, most easily overlooked elements of sharing space with others. When I'm on a crowded sidewalk, everyone around me is walking too slowly and seems totally oblivious to how they're blocking the sidewalk. When I'm standing talking to friends, I'm annoyed at the person brushing by me in a hurry.

In fact, switching modes makes us better at all of the modes we use. By changing our perspective on the road, we can become more aware of all the elements of the travel environment and the factors that are most prominent to each. When I'm on a bike, I'm acutely attuned to how closely cars pass me, so, now, when I'm in a car, I give cyclists more space, for example.

Do you use multiple modes on a regular basis? Has it made you better at moving around in the urban environment?