WalkBoston

Craigie Bridge bike/ped use?

2010-10-26T09:58:00.000-04:00

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:

Start and Destination?
Do you take an alternative bridge / route?
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

2010-08-11T10:34:00.005-04:00

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

2010-07-20T10:44:00.000-04:00

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

2010-06-23T10:32:00.004-04:00

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

2010-06-21T11:25:00.000-04:00

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

2010-05-07T14:06:00.000-04:00

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

2010-04-29T11:07:00.000-04:00

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?

2010-04-20T12:10:00.000-04:00

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

2010-04-16T11:17:00.000-04:00

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

2010-04-13T13:44:00.000-04:00

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

2010-04-02T12:13:00.002-04:00

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

2010-03-08T11:56:00.000-05:00

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

2010-03-05T14:51:00.000-05:00

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

2010-02-26T10:00:00.000-05:00

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?

2010-02-17T15:49:00.001-05:00

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?"

2010-02-01T15:16:00.000-05:00

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

2010-01-08T11:51:00.000-05:00

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

2010-01-06T13:44:00.003-05:00

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?

Fund public transit! Call your legislators and Gov. Patrick

2009-12-23T08:09:00.004-05:00

For those of you with short attention spans for this sort of thing, I'm going to start with my call to action and then move into the essay portion of it.

Did you or someone you know get stuck in Tuesday night's transit nightmare as a result of the red line train derailment? Were you relying on the red line to get you home, or on one of the buses that got pulled off its regular route in order to scramble for the tens of thousands of people who normally get around on the red line? Did you, perhaps, miss your commuter rail train, which runs infrequently after prime hours, due to the delays all over the system? Or were you in a car, and found yourself mired in gridlock as people who normally commute by public transit fled to cabs and private vehicles?

However you feel about the MBTA, effective and reliable public transportation is essential to the daily functioning of the greater Boston metro area. You don't even have to use it for it to make your life better, because if the more than one million daily trips currently served by the MBTA switch to cars, you can believe your commute would not be improved. Our roads don't have the capacity to serve all those trips by car, and our land mass doesn't have the capacity to expand roads to serve them, even if we did want to become Los Angeles.

If public transit makes your life better, call your legislators and the Governor's office today to insist that they fund an effective and reliable public transit system. To find your legislators' information, click here and enter your information. You want to call or write to your Senate and Representative in General Court. Governor Patrick's contact information is at the bottom of this post.

When you call, say that you rely on public transit, and that you want better funding and/or debt relief for the MBTA.

Okay, now I'm going to get into some nitty gritty about the MBTA and its history and why, even if you think it's been mismanaged in the past, it needs more money going into the future:

Also, why do I care? How does this relate to pedestrian advocacy? A robust and reliable public transportation infrastructure supports and encourages the use of walking as a primary or secondary mode of transportation. As a dedicated walker who hopes never to have to own a car in order to function in my life, I'm deeply invested in seeing public transit work well for broad swaths of the population. In Boston and surrounding communities, as in many other cities across the country, this hope is threatened by significant disinvestment in public transit by state and local governments.

In general, the MBTA is pretty great. Oh, sure, I have some of the same complaints that many people do, including poor late night coverage, doubts about effective management, frustration at rising fares without improvements, and annoyance at poor communication with riders when things go wrong. Still, I'm able to use it as my primary mode of urban transportation for distances further than a couple of miles (which I typically walk.) The fact that I and others can rely on it that way often goes unremarked as we focus on our complaints, but it's worth remembering that part of the bad rap the MBTA gets is simply that we're all more likely to be vocal about complaints than compliments.

Why will more money make things better?

In the major transportation reorganization in the state this year, many of the issues people pointed to regarding mismanagement were addressed. Compensation rules are in line, now, with other state transportation departments, and upper management of the MBTA is being reorganized, as well, to improve the agency.

Since 2000, the MBTA has suffered increasing debts due to a change in funding structure. Prior to 2000, the state covered the difference between MBTA revenue and expenditures (and before you complain that public transit needs to pay its own way, I'd like you to show me any road in the state of Massachusetts that does the same -- and most of them are free!!). Starting in 2000, the MBTA started receiving money from sales taxes collected. Unfortunately, due to a slower economy than predicted and the increase in internet spending at that time, these revenues were lower than expected. Paired with Big Dig debt that was shifted to the MBTA, this made a bad situation worse.

Today, one third of every dollar the MBTA spends goes to debt service. This is an immense amount of money. Think what public transit could do with 30% more money! One long-term solution to the problem of funding the MBTA is to reduce their debt load so that money isn't going down the drain every day. But where will that money come from? Increased taxes, naturally. Governor Patrick tried this summer to increase the state gas tax, some of which revenues would have given the T an immense boost. He couldn't muster the political will to make that happen, however, so instead, tens of thousands of people yesterday paid with their time after a train derailment, just as people every day pay with their time when the green line is slow, or there's a switch problem at JFK or a bus doesn't come as scheduled.

I don't care about the MBTA as an agency, but I care a heck of a lot about public transit in the Boston area. It needs more money to work better now and to keep working in the future. Across the country, transportation infrastructure, including transit (like the MBTA), roads and bridges, is suffering deterioration and years of underfunding. Now is the time to change that pattern, and giving mass transit in Massachusetts a boost is part of the solution. Call your legislators and the governor today to encourage them to make forward thinking the bottom line.

Also, consider joining the T Rider's union to advocate for better public transit in the Boston metro area.

Boston, MA Massachusetts State House
Office of the Governor
Office of the Lt. Governor
Room 280
Boston, MA 02133

Phone: 617.725.4005
888.870.7770 (in state)
Fax: 617.727.9725
TTY: 617.727.3666

Santa should have cookies AND veggies if he's going to walk

2009-12-17T10:59:00.004-05:00

I am utterly charmed by this analysis of Santa's energy expenditure while delivering presents.

According to our Holiday Calorie Calculator, if Santa had a cup of carrot and celery sticks at each household instead of cookies and milk, he would only consume 50 calories at each house and would only be eating 4.6 billion calories. Because he is burning off 13 billion calories by walking, he would actually lose all of his weight and disappear. A combination of veggies at most households and cookies or skim milk every few households would keep him in energy balance.

Travel lanes vs parking vs active transportation

2009-12-15T15:59:00.001-05:00

Getting back to removing travel lanes, we need to become bolder in our thinking and stop believing there’s a level playing field out there. The cities that have high rates of walking and bicycling also have conditions where driving is difficult, expensive, even painful. We cannot continue to think we can add or create walking and bicycling infrastructure while maintaining mobility for drivers and hope to see anything more than a miniscule modal shift. Rare and expensive parking is part of the needed pain for drivers, but off-street parking should be reduced before on-street parking is threatened. We should be advocating for new traffic engineering rules such as “Never have more than two lanes of traffic in each direction.” “Never require a person to cross more than three travel lanes at once.”

Michael Ronkin

Active modes of transportation -- walking and biking (among other, less common forms like, say, rollerblading) -- are an important element of moving people from place to place in urban areas. Because urban space is so constrained, this is more true than in, for example, suburban or rural areas, though those spaces could also benefit from increased biking and walking, where possible. Of course, the density in urban areas also facilitates these choices: you have to have things worth walking or biking within a reasonable distance for that.

If you've been paying attention to this stuff, you're probably aware of the increasing focus on parking, and the way it spreads out human settlements while also making it easier for people to deal with their cars. Cheap or free parking has a lot to answer for in the eyes of new urbanists, smart growth proponents, and others who love the vitality of urban areas. Are cities for cars, or are they for people?

It made my day

2009-12-14T10:42:00.004-05:00

A friend recently introduced me to the entertaining website It Made My Day. It has nothing to do with pedestrianism or urban planning; it's just funny little stories about things that made people happy.

So what does that have to do with WalkBoston? Well, I just read one that made my day:

I was in my backyard doing yard work when I heard my neighbor’s two children playing loudly. I realized they were playing cops, but instead of robbers, the offender had run a stop sign, driven in the carpool lane by herself, and changed lanes without signaling.

This just warms the cockles of my traffic-geeky heart.

Texting while driving

2009-12-08T13:03:00.003-05:00

Today's Boston Globe reports that the Boston City council is developing a measure to ban texting while driving in the City of Boston.

This is great. As far as I can tell, no one doubts that texting and driving are incompatible activities, and, yet, many people combine them. I will admit that, although I very rarely drive, I have texted while driving.

I know it's unsafe, that it distracts me from the road, and that people like me are exactly the problem. I imagine that other people are in the same position. In the moment, I feel like, if I can just get the text sent, some important piece of information will have been exchanged and then I'll be back at my normal capacity for safe driving. It only takes a moment! This makes it feel more okay than drunk driving, even though studies indicate that it makes you a worse driver than someone who's slightly drunk. That, combined with the inevitable "but I'm a better driver than most people" belief leads to people texting while driving, even though they (we) know better.

As with so many choice is life, I think it's okay for people to make bad choices if the consequences land squarely on their own shoulders. Unfortunately, choices that make people less safe drivers frequently injure and kill people who are not involved in the decision-making process. Given that, I'm in support of policies that encourage people to make the right choice, and this is one of them. I hope the City council is right that this move will spur Massachusetts to finally adopt a similar policy state-wide.

Less texting while driving will make our roads safer for everyone, and that's better.

Six bills to keep an eye on at the federal level

2009-12-04T11:17:00.002-05:00

Every six years, the federal transportation bill needs to be re-authorized. The current one is overdue to be reauthorized -- the vote on it was postponed from October to December 18. The following bills could move forward as their own pieces, or get bundled into the broader re-authorization. If any or all of them are of interest to you, it's absolutely worth a call to your legislators. For help finding your senators' and representative's contact information, click here.

Livable Communities Act (S. 1619 / H.R. 3734) – Gives local governments the tools to integrate their transportation, housing, economic development, energy and environment needs by authorizing $400 million in competitive planning grants and $3.75 billion over three years for implementation of sustainable development projects. The bill also creates an inter-departmental council responsible for coordinating sustainable development policies at Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency and others.

Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S. 1733) – Allocates 2.4% of the proceeds from auctioned emissions permits to fund clean transportation projects that help reduce carbon emissions. The Senate’s climate bill more than doubles the amount for clean transportation in the House version and substantially incorporates language from a separate marker bill known as CLEAN-TEA (S.575 / H.R. 1329).

Federal Assistance for Transit Operations (H.R. 2746) – Allow public transit agencies representing cities larger than 200,000 people to flex part of their capital transit funds for operating expenses, creating greater flexibility for use of federal dollars in urban areas.

Complete Streets (S.584 / H.R. 1443) – Ensures that all users of the transportation system, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, children, older individuals and individuals with disabilities are able to travel safely and conveniently on and across federally funded streets and highways.

Another goal included in the national transportation objectives bill is tripling transit use, cycling, and walking.

National Transportation Objectives (H.R. 2724) – Sets quantifiable national transportation objectives to ensure that federal transportation investments advance national purposes tied to health outcomes, improvements in the areas of energy efficiency, environmental protection, economic competitiveness, safety, safety, connectivity and equal access. This would be the first time the country has established a set of quantifiable national transportation objectives since the Eisenhower-era bill that appropriated money to build the interstate highway system. Some targets in the current version of the bill: reducing driving by 16% and reducing the average household’s combined housing and transportation costs by 25%, over a 20-year period.

Transportation Workforce Development Funding (H.R. 2444) – Requires that 0.5 percent of federal Surface Transportation Program and Highway Bridge funding go toward workforce development and job training. Dedicated funding for workforce development in transportation sector will greatly benefit communities that are currently left out of the labor force, especially low income communities and communities of color.

Transportation for America and the reauthorization of the transportation bill

2009-12-03T16:16:00.003-05:00

You all probably already know about Transportation for America, the excellent transportation and lobbying organization that is bringing transportation interests to national planning, beyond the simple cars-and-highway message that has been so prevalent for the last several decades. If you don't, you may want to check them out.

One of the things you can do right off the bat there is send a note to friends and family to encourage them to support more comprehensive thinking in this year's reauthorization of the transportation bill.

Spread the word!

Jaywalking: use your brain so you don't lose it

2009-11-24T11:23:00.005-05:00

It won't come as a surprise to anyone to hear that I'm a pretty brazen pedestrian. When I'm in a crosswalk, I don't always wait meekly on the curb for cars to stop as they ought to but often don't; many times, I'll step -- with care -- into the crosswalk and bully drivers into yielding to me as the rules of the road require. I have been known to knock on the windows of cars that have stopped in the middle of crosswalks to point out to the driver that he or she is blocking my way, and once or twice, I have used my newspaper to whack the windshield of a car that ignores the crosswalk in order to save a few seconds. I don't necessarily advocate for others doing the same, but it is important to me that users of all modes share the streets, and when I'm on foot, I consider crosswalks my domain.

Still, though, when I'm out and about in and around Boston, I see a lot of incredibly bad pedestrian behavior. Over the weekend, I was driving along the Riverway in Boston around 9PM, and a couple of young guys crossed in front of me. They were in a crosswalk, at a light ... but crossing against the light. In the dark. On a fast-moving street. After screeching (literally) to a halt on the wet pavement, it was all I could do not to jump out of my car and yell at them. No driver wants to hit a pedestrian, and that moment of a close call is terrifying.

One of my mantras about safety is that everyone is 100% responsible for being safe all the time. Stepping into a crosswalk without looking and attending to oncoming cars makes me 100% responsible for the accident, just as the driver who fails to pay attention and yield is also 100% responsible. In that case, the law is on my side, which would, no doubt, make my stay in the hospital exactly the same as if the law weren't on my side.

I also abhor bad pedestrian behavior because I think it makes other users less respectful of pedestrians in general. I'm not going to tell people not to jaywalk -- there are times when the design of a city or roadway makes it nearly impossible not to, and many more times when the design makes it extremely impractical. But do you really trust strangers to care as much about your life as you do? If you're going to jaywalk, do it with care -- for everyone's sake.

What factors lead to this accident?

2009-11-23T14:58:00.004-05:00

Last Monday, my colleague Kate came to work with news from near where she lives in Revere of a pedestrian struck and killed. We haven't found the story in the Globe, yet, but here are a couple of small pieces about it:
WHDH
FOX

Obviously, these are pretty sketchy and preliminary, and there's more information to be had, but I have some questions:

Was the pedestrian in a crosswalk? How fast was the car going? What was the speed limit?

The WHDH article includes a quote from a witness:

"Between the car being black, the pedestrian being dressed in black, with the weather being what it is and the poor lighting...it was just a tragic accident," said Keith Donnelly, a witness.

While wearing black at night does reduce one's visibility to cars (at a week-long festival I attend, people who don't make themselves visible at night are called "darkwads"), there are other factors at work in this -- and other -- accidents, and which we often take for granted and forget to consider:

Design speed: We all know what a speed limit is, and we all know we break it at least some of the time. This is because the speed that a section of roadway is engineered to handle gives us cues that tell us we're safe at higher speeds. Studies have shown that drivers recognize and understand the subconscious clues of roadway engineering and limit themselves by design speed rather than posted speed at least some of the time. Is the design speed for this stretch of road appropriate for the pedestrian use it gets?

If the pedestrian was in a crosswalk, how well-signed and -lit is the crosswalk? Especially if this is a fast stretch of road where pedestrians are relatively infrequent, it's important to call attention to crosswalks and make them as visible and noticeable as possible.

If the pedestrian wasn't in a crosswalk, is it because pedestrian needs aren't served here? Where was the nearest crosswalk?

Yes, drivers are responsible for being attentive to other road users, and pedestrians are responsible for the same, but sometimes the deck is stacked against all users. Whenever I read about a pedestrian accident, I want to know if this was one of those times.

Traffic accidents -- both lethal and non -- are a tragedy for us all.

Complete streets in the news

2009-11-18T11:18:00.002-05:00

The concept of "complete streets" -- streets and roadways that are designed not primarily for cars and secondarily for everyone else, but designed right off the bat with all users in mind -- is gaining traction and attention throughout the fields of transportation and urban planning around the US and the world.

Yesterday, US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood wrote on his blog a post titled "Report, petition call for safer roadway planning". In it, he cites Transportation for America's recent report, Dangerous by Design.

Bike and pedestrian advocates have been pushing this message for years, and it's pretty darn exciting to see the conversation really moving into the mainstream.

Does your neighborhood contain complete streets?

More on jaywalking

2009-11-16T09:36:00.004-05:00

Continuing with the questions and answers that came up during my chat on the Boston Globe last month:

One of the participants in the chat (Kelly) commented:

Also I've noticed, there is no uniform pedestrian system in Boston. In cities like New York, the lights always cycle through pedestrian walk signs. At the intersection of Beacon St. and Park where dozens of pedestrians cross every cycle, you have to push the button, the walk sign will not appear unless you do. Many people aren't used to that-they expect the walk signal to cycle through because that happens automatically at many other intersections.

And another commenter (Michael) said:

Some how In Seattle, pedestrians and motorist obey the laws in a very civil manner which tells me that enforcement is the issue here in MA. People in Seattle will wait for the light to change before walking even if there are no cars in site.

These two comments go together very nicely, and here's why: Michael is arguing that enforcement would solve the problem of jaywalking in Boston, and Kelly is pointing out that other cities have uniform systems for pedestrians.

If you've spent much time walking around Boston, you've probably noticed what Kelly did: sometimes there's a button for you to push to get a WALK and sometimes there isn't. Sometimes when you push the button, it works, and sometimes it appears to do nothing. If there's no button, you really have no idea if you just didn't find the button or if you'll get a WALK or what.

All of this says to people on foot that their needs have not been strongly considered in the design and construction of the city. And if their needs aren't being met, why should they obey the law? I don't think jaywalkers are like bank robbers and going out of their way to break the law. They're just people trying to run errands and get things done over the course of the day.

So then if I'm a person who crosses when it says DON'T WALK but I'm walking with the green light, fine, that's jaywalking, even though it's probably pretty reasonable from a traffic flow and safety perspective in most cases (lots of intersections all over the state, country and world are set up with pedestrians getting the WALK along with the parallel green), but it's a small chip in the block of the habit of obeying laws that pertain to walkers.

So, where does that leave all of us? We want the streets to be safe for drivers, for cyclists, and for walkers. AND we want people in cars, on foot, and on bikes to be able to get their errands done. Does simply enforcing existing laws succeed in doing that?

Walk rather than T!

2009-11-12T12:55:00.002-05:00

Getting around Boston by T and on foot? Check out these10 MBTA trips you should walk instead. Our own Wendy Landman helped identify these!

A defense of jaywalking

2009-11-05T09:45:00.003-05:00

Monday, Slate published an article by Tom Vanderbilt (of Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do fame) titled A defense of jaywalking. In it, Vanderbilt addresses some of the complexities of data available about pedestrian behavior, the history of street-use paradigms, and biases in crash reporting.

This is a great article, and if you're interested in jaywalking, walking in urban areas, or mode-sharing paradigms, I think you'll find it worth reading. Check it out!

Why we need pedestrian advocacy ...

2009-10-30T12:58:00.002-04:00

Do you walk around your neighborhood and think to yourself, "Hey, this isn't so bad. I can walk from my house to the store to the bus stop and it's really not so hard ..."? Or does your neighborhood look more like this:

(From There, I Fixed It.)

Jaywalking in Boston

2009-10-22T12:43:00.002-04:00

As I posted earlier in the month, Boston pedestrians were featured in an article in the Boston Globe a couple of weekends ago. As a followup to that, the Globe asked me to participate in an online chat on the topic the week after the article came out. I did, and the result was a pretty interesting Q&A discussion between me and a variety of Globe readers. For the next few posts here, I'll be adapting some of the questions and answers from that session for us to read here.

First, a bit of introduction. What's the story with jaywalking, anyway?

Jaywalking is kind of a way of life around here. But there's more to it than people just disregarding laws and sometimes their own safety.

When you're in a car, you're pretty much limited to moving along a few limited paths -- streets. But when you're on foot, you have a lot more flexibility, and the way a city is built and designed can encourage you or discourage you from obeying laws that apply to you. And the infrastructure of the city can work well for cars, or for pedestrians, or both (and let's not forget bikes!). When a lot of people are breaking the law, that's a sign that the existing structures aren't working, not merely that people are profligate rule-breakers.

Why would I, as a pedestrian, wait to cross lawfully if it's going to take me 3-5 minutes to cross an intersection that I can see I can cross safely during a break in traffic? It doesn't make sense for me to do that, and it reflects an infrastructure that says in various subtle ways that my needs are not part of the equation, which encourages me to disregard them entirely.

On the other hand, in cities where pedestrians feel like they count, you'll see them waiting at a corner for the WALK light to come, even if there's no oncoming traffic. So, we know it can be done.

Somerville Community Path Sign ribbon cutting!

2009-10-15T11:06:00.000-04:00

Pedestrians in Boston

2009-10-13T10:49:00.002-04:00

The front page article on this week's Sunday Globe was Crossing to their own beat: Injuries up, but jaywalking abounds on Hub’s busy streets, which had a few quotes from yours truly. That article also has a link to a video about the traffic monitoring setup at City Hall.

I'm sorry that the article focuses so much on the question of fines and enforcement for jaywalking, when I think that, ultimately, that's just a piece in the puzzle of safe street management. There's talk of increasing fines for jaywalking in Massachusetts (currently a laughable $1), which may make sense as a part of a larger strategy for making better use of our streets for all users, but seems to me the wrong place to start. Fines don't improve the street experience for anyone, after all, and what we'd really like to see is a change in how we think about and use streets, rather than a reentrenchment of the same old, same old.

I want this cop's job

2009-10-06T13:40:00.003-04:00

The video in this post makes me so happy. I've been watching it from time to time just to give myself a lift.

Next step: Get some Massachusetts municipalities to do the same. At up to $200 per crosswalk violation, it would more than pay for itself.

Walking can be a game!

2009-08-25T16:31:00.003-04:00

Research has shown that wearing a pedometer can help people be more active (1, 2). This is great, but ... is it fun? Well, it can be, if your pedometer is also a play-along game like this one!

Hit by a bus

2009-08-07T11:20:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, the daughter of a friend of mine was hit by a bus in Davis Square. She's okay, thankfully, but it makes me think about how vulnerable pedestrians are every day. Of course, this is one of the reasons that WalkBoston and other advocacy organizations are so important, even in areas like Davis Square that are reasonably pedestrian friendly.

I don't know the details of what happened beyond what's reported here in the Somerville Journal. And to some degree, I don't need to know the details, because all the issues are the same with pedestrians, vehicles, and crosswalks. And here's what they are:

Pedestrians, we have the right of way in crosswalks in Massachusetts. But, because we're walking around in our vulnerable skins, we should always remember that it doesn't matter whose right of way it was if we get hit -- the hospital visit is the same no matter what. Use care, don't assume cars see us or are prepared to stop for us if they do see us.

Drivers, I know that you're sometimes in a hurry, and driving is stressful, and frequently what you most want is to finish whatever it is that has you in your car so you can stop dealing with traffic and the frustrations that go with it. Still, it's your job to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, even if you had to stop five times already and are running late. But you really don't want to be the driver who hit a pedestrian, right? Right.

It's easy to be wrapped up in what we're doing, and in our agendas and the hurry and bustle of our days. Each of us needs to be responsible for our own safety, while also taking care of the people we're sharing our space with.

Lunchtime Walk and Street Talk

2009-07-15T15:46:00.002-04:00

I have two great events to announce! First, last week's "Little Lanes" walk was a huge hit, with 73 people joining, so we're doing it again tomorrow:

On Thursday, July 16 join WalkBoston for a half-hour walking tour of the "Little Lanes of Boston." This walk takes you through the charming pedestrian passageways of Old Boston, still very much in use as modern shortcuts. During this walk, you will see numerous 18th century lanes between Downtown Crossing and Faneuil Hall.

Join us at 12:15pm at the Information Kiosk on the corner of Washington and Summer Streets.

(Look for other lunchtime walks on Thursdays throughout the summer!)

And next week:

Event: StreetTalk: Mode shift: moving from driving to transit, biking, and walking
"free and open to the public, sponsored by Harpoon Brewery"
What: Lecture
Host: LivableStreets Alliance
Start Time: Wednesday, July 22 at 7:00pm
End Time: Wednesday, July 22 at 9:00pm
Where: Livable Streets Alliance Office, Central Square

To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=102706713699&mid=c82d78G27b0218bG2ee529dG7

Boston Downtown Lunchtime walk: Thursday, July 9

2009-07-07T09:41:00.004-04:00

On Thursday, July 9 WalkBoston join us for a half-hour walking tour of the "Little Lanes of Boston." This walk takes you through the charming pedestrian passageways of Old Boston, still very much in use as modern shortcuts. During this walk, you will see numerous 18th century lanes between Downtown Crossing and Faneuil Hall.

Join us at 12:15pm at the Information Kiosk on the corner of Washington and Summer Streets.

Livable Streets Alliance: What we can learn from Spain

2009-06-23T10:45:00.003-04:00

LivableStreets Alliance StreetTalk

What we can learn from Spain: urban mobility planning in Barcelona

by Marius Navazo, Urban Planner, Barcelona, Spain

Thursday, June 25, 7:00 - 9:00 pm

@ LivableStreets office space, 100 Sidney Street, Cambridge (directions: www.livablestreets.info/node/530)

This event is free and open to the public, donations suggested, beer/sodas provided compliments of Harpoon Brewery and delivered thanks to Metro Pedal Power!

What are the results of implementing better transit networks, traffic calming zones, and a bike sharing program? Are these measures always environmentally-friendly? Are they enough to create better places to live and enjoy? Learn about the development of urban mobility plans in Greater Barcelona and Catalonia, Spain. See what the Catalan Government is encouraging municipalities to do.

Marius Navazo is a geographer who has been working for the last 10 years in town and regional planning, focused on transportation and its impacts to improve cities from a social and environmental perspective. He has been working at the Catalan Government for the last 4 years, and now he is a freelancer working for different municipalities in the Barcelona area.

(Photograph: a typical day on Les Rambles, Barcelona)

For more information, go to www.livablestreets.info/node/2154

The evils of externalized costs and what it means for transportation in Massachusetts

2009-06-09T13:19:00.005-04:00

Okay, this isn't WalkBoston specific but it is related to transportation in general, and I keep ranting the ears off anyone who will listen to me and I woke up in the middle of the night last night to fret about this, so I'm just going to get it off my chest.

This spring, Governor Patrick proposed a significant transportation reform for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which involved a lot of absolutely essential elements like road and bridge repair. Like much of the rest of the country, Massachusetts' transportation infrastructure is aging and ailing, and we need to take care of it. This, of course, costs money, which no one has these days.

So, Governor Patrick proposed that we pay for these improvements by raising the gas tax 19 cents a gallon. This would have been the first gas tax increase in Massachusetts since 1991. Why a gas tax to pay for transportation improvements, though? No one wants to pay more for gas, after all!

I talk about this in terms of internalized and externalized costs. Internalized costs are costs that are reflected in the price we pay for things. So, for example, if we know that one out of every 200 oil tankers is likely to leak and cause environmental damage, and some smart economists figure out that $0.01/gallon would fully fund a program to clean up that damage, and we therefore tax gas at that rate, then the price of gas "internalizes" that environmental cost of gas. If, on the other hand, we decide that we're not going to clean up those spills, or we're going to let an environmental nonprofit do that, then we're "externalizing" that cost, either to the future or to the nonprofit and its donors.

When we drive, we cause wear and tear on roads. We create a need for traffic enforcement by state and local agencies. Our use of roads and other transportation infrastructure creates the need to spend money. Streets and roads are not free, even though they look free because so few of them are toll roads. The more we drive, the more wear and tear we create, and a gas tax is a fair way to figure someone's contribution to this. If I don't want to spend more money on gas, I can get smarter about how much I drive -- as many people have done in the last year when gas prices skyrocketed to more than $4/gallon. Because a gas tax internalizes the cost of roads, drivers can make smarter choices about how much it's worth to them to drive somewhere.

It additionally makes sense to use this money for things like public transit, because public transit is less costly per user in the long run, and a full bus is much less damaging on the infrastructure per capita than each person or family in their own car.

BUT. Public transit isn't popular, and paying for things we use isn't popular, so the citizens of Massachusetts made a big stink, and therefore the legislature dug in their heels, and someone came up with the brilliant idea of making these costs invisible again: sales tax. Now, there's no incentive for people to be calculated about their impact on the built environment, because we all pay sales tax (although it can be easy to dodge that through things like internet shopping) on things unrelated to transportation. Way to go, guys.

Now, of course, we'll raise less money for necessary improvements, it'll be more variable, and people will have no incentive to understand that their choices have consequences. If there's one great evil in our current system, it's externalized costs that create falsely deflated prices for goods and services with high costs. I'd hoped Governor Patrick could lead Massachusetts out of that system for transportation spending, but, instead, we're all going to pay higher taxes on cheap plastic trinkets while people who ride the T have to pay up to 25% more because some short-sighted jerk wants his roads to look like they're free.

MetroFuture: From Plan to Action

2009-05-27T15:42:00.002-04:00

Join the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and people from across the region for an evening of discussion, information and collaboration on how we can turn our vision of a Greater Boston into reality.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 6 p.m. at The Colonnade Hotel, 120 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02116

Complimentary dinner and registration at 5 p.m.

Free and open to all

MetroFuture is a roadmap for shared prosperity and sustainable development in Greater Boston, crafted with input from thousands of area residents. There is a clear strategy for achieving the plan's goals, and a corps of supporters who are committed to putting them into action.

Now, we turn our focus to the action campaigns key to meeting MetroFuture's goals. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss one of four topics:

Transportation Finance Reform
Green Energy and Job Creation
Local Smart Growth Planning
Advocacy Tools and Techniques

To learn more, visit www.metrofuture.org, call 617-451-2770 x2057 or e-mail metrofuture@mapc.org.

Don't miss this exciting, interactive event!

WalkBoston named Finalist in International Competition!

2009-05-27T10:12:00.004-04:00

WE NEED YOUR HELP! WalkBoston has been named one of ten finalists in the "Global Competition for Innovative Health Nudges" which looks for small, innovative pushes that help people make better health choices for themselves and others.

WalkBoston's "Timed Walking Map" project is one of ten finalists among 281 entries from around the world. Now, we need your participation in the vote so that WalkBoston can become one of three winners who will receive $5,000 toward our work. This is a one-vote-per-person system, not one where people vote every day for a month, so it should just take a few minutes to register and vote for three of the ten finalists. To vote, go to http://www.changemakers.net/designingforbetterhealth before 6PM on Friday, May 28. Click on Vote Now, and then register and vote.

WalkBoston became a finalist because our low-cost, easy-to-read maps help people see their neighborhoods, towns and cities on a walking scale, which encourages them to choose walking over driving some of the time. Our inclusion among the finalists is a great honor and an opportunity to spread the word about our walking maps and our advocacy that makes walking easier, safer and more fun.

We hope that you will share this information with your friends and coworkers to spread the word, encourage everyone to vote, and learn more about all of the creative and effective health nudges among the ten finalists. Winners will be announced June 1, and we'll let you know how we do!

Thank you for your support of these innovative maps (and other pioneering projects we work on)! Now - please vote, and then go outside and take a walk!

(Click on map below to download a pdf of a timed walking map from our web page.)

Crosswalk confusion

2009-05-21T14:23:00.004-04:00

I was walking down Clarendon Street in Boston earlier this week with a friend. It was rush hour, and we were looking forward to having drinks at a new-to-us restaurant near Back Bay Station. Because there was heavy traffic, we did not pull the classic Boston jaywalking maneuver of just crossing when there's a break in traffic, but instead walked up to the crosswalk in front of what used to be the Hard Rock Cafe.

This crosswalk is faded, but clearly visible, but when we stepped into it, the car that was approaching did not slow, initially, and when he finally did, it was in a big huff with a lot of arm waving. My companion and I gave in to the temptation to yell, "It's a crosswalk!" to which the driver stuck his head out the window and said, "That's not a crosswalk!"

Now, I'm not writing this up to say I'm right and he's wrong (even though I'm right and he's wrong), but to point out one of the problems of faded crosswalks and other unclear traffic signs and signals: confusion is bad. When there's a conflict between cars and pedestrians, especially, the pedestrian always loses, no matter what the law says. The driver of this vehicle thought that the faded crosswalk indicated that it was no longer in effect, or at least thought that was a good argument to yell at a couple of pedestrians as they crossed in front of his car. If he was right about that, then we, as pedestrians, have been put at risk due to misleading infrastructure. That's bad for everyone.

So what do you do in a situation like this? Go to WalkBoston's advocacy page and download the "Reporting Form" (or download it directly by clicking here). Fill it out (which will probably involve a call to the relevant city hall to identify the person you should contact, or, if you prefer, a call to WalkBoston where one of us will find out for you) with as much detail as possible, and send it to the city. We'd also love for you to send a copy to us so we can help with followup and tracking.

Let's make walking better!

WalkBoston/RunBoston fundraising event!

2009-04-30T09:59:00.003-04:00

(I apologize for the incompatible oranges for those of you looking at this post on the WalkBoston blog page.)

The Built Environment, Activity, and Walking

2009-04-24T11:13:00.003-04:00

This weekend's incredibly gorgeous weather forecast has me eagerly anticipating a lot of time in the sunshine, and thinking about what a huge impact the built environment can have on people in innumerable ways.

Today, a friend sent me a link to Not Just Child’s Play, an article in BU Today about a study that has found that renovated playgrounds appear to improve the MCAS math scores of kids who attend those schools. It may be that a nice playground makes kids feel more invested in school, or more valued, or it may mean they're more likely to run around and be active over the course of the day. Who knows, but whatever the cause, there seems to be a connection between the built environment around schools and kids' ability to learn.

Similarly, another friend send me a link to Brain Gains, a feature focusing on the huge benefit to learning that physical activity provides. Many of us live in environments that don't encourage, or actively discourage physical activity and movement over the course of the day, and an increasing body of research suggests that this is bad for our physical health, mental health, learning, productivity and mood.

Is your physical environment encouraging you to be active? Do you have sidewalks or trails where you can walk? Can you easily cross streets and do you enjoy greenery and clean streets in your neighborhood? Are there places to walk to, if you want to run errands on foot?

Increasingly, it appears that the answers to these questions have implications not merely for how much you walk but also for how you feel, how friendly and welcoming your neighborhood is, how much crime takes place there, and the price of homes there. We at WalkBoston often wrestle with the perception of walking as a "pedestrian" activity that people take for granted, but pedestrian advocacy is important because it connects to almost every element of our lives.

Boston: #2 for walkability

2009-04-10T11:19:00.002-04:00

Every year, a variety of magazines and organizations make a list of the most walkable cities in the US, and Boston is consistently in the top ten, usually the top five. This is partially simply a lucky break due to the fact that Boston's winding streets and dense population is what we have to work with around here, so we've never had a chance to spread out the way a lot of western-US cities have done. Still, we often beat out Philadelphia and Washington, DC, so it's not exclusively an artifact of timing.

Prevention magazine just came out with the top 25 walking cities for the year and has listed Boston as #2, behind San Francisco. Now, I'm not sure I agree with listing Boston before New York, but never mind that: go, Boston! Though I have to laugh that the picture they use is of Cambridge, not Boston. Okay, never mind that, either.

So, the reason they give for our high rank this year? "Improvements such as longer WALK signals and bright, patterned intersections encourage more people to walk."

And this is the part of the post where I get to be all excited and wave my hands around with glee, because the reason for those improvements? WalkBoston, and especially the work on signal timing that WalkBoston cofounder Dorothea Hass has been doing for years. Ironically, of course, we at WalkBoston continue to be frustrated at all the work still to be done to improve signal timing for pedestrians in Boston, but it's a delight to see that Boston's getting some shout-outs on the basis of what we've done so far.

So, hey, nice going, Dorothea! And Boston!

Give my sidewalks dignity

2009-04-06T13:32:00.003-04:00

Last Friday, I was at the Congress for New Urbanism's New England chapter for their Sustainable Urbanism Summit in Portsmouth, NH. There was an excellent series of speakers who offered a number of insights, thoughts, and perspectives on the future of urbanism and sustainability in coming years. Check out the links if you're interested in learning more!

A lot of what was discussed captured my thoughts, but in particular, I've been mulling over Jason Schrieber's comments on what makes people take public transportation. As an avid walker, I am also an proponent of public transit, so I care a lot about this issue, but I also found part of what he said to be directly relevant to walking planning and infrastructure, too.

We all know that people are more likely to take public transit if it provides gains in time, cost, goes where people want to go; that's all pretty intuitive, right? But Jason talked about a fourth factor that's often overlooked: dignity. That is, even if I were going to save time and money and be delivered more or less door-to-door by public transit, I might still choose to take a private vehicle if the transit option is unpleasant, or makes me feel lousy, undervalued, or unimportant.

How many of us have decided to take transit somewhere only to find the bus stop poorly marked, wait forever for a bus that never showed up, have transit employees be unhelpful or unfriendly, poorly maintained and cleaned facilities, broken escalators, and delays that are never explained. If you take public transit even occasionally, you've probably had one or more such experience. Folks who take it every day run into this kind of thing a lot, and, of course, some systems are worse than others. For people who have a choice in how to travel, this kind of thing discourages use of public transit. For people who are obligated by economic or other constraints to rely on public transit as their primary or only means of travel, this sort of thing can reinforce the cultural idea that they don't "deserve" better service. That's bad for all of us, I think, but that's a longer, larger discussion.

This point about dignity is an important one, however, and it extends beyond public transit. Pedestrians are often subjected to incredibly lousy walking conditions, but because we don't think of sidewalks as services in the same way that we do public transit, we may overlook this. But it's one of the primary areas that we at WalkBoston focus our attention. When sidewalks are in poor repair, are too narrow, are dirty, feel (or are) unsafe, we are discouraged from walking, and those who do walk, either by choice or by necessity, are cast as second class citizens. When these conditions exist alongside expensive and well-maintained roads, we demonstrate our greater interest in cars than in people.

Many of us take the walking infrastructure as-it-exists for granted. It's just what is, and that's that. But sidewalks, pathways, and other public areas don't spring up out of nowhere. They are the result of intentional or unintentional decisions on the part of policy-makers, funders, communities and individuals. As walkers, we can request and even demand a walking environment that is not only functional but also dignified.

Where do you think you're going?

2009-03-26T15:03:00.003-04:00

We've all heard of the infamous bridge to nowhere (I bet it's been a while since you thought about that, huh?). How's this for the crosswalk to nowhere:

Street Talk: Russ Lopez on Urban Health

2009-03-25T10:39:00.003-04:00

LivableStreets Alliance to host Street Talk by Russ Lopez on Urban Health: How shaping our built environment shapes ourselves.
When: Thursday, April 2, 7 - 9 pm
Where: 100 Sidney Street, Central Square, Cambridge

This event is free and open to the public. Donation suggested. Beer/sodas provided compliments of Harpoon Brewery!

"If there’s a supermarket in your zip code, for example, you’re 10% less likely to be obese. If there are a lot of intersections in your neighborhood - a sign of street connectivity and continuity - you’re less likely to be obese. And, not surprisingly, the more time people spend in their cars, the more likely they are to be obese” says Lopez. Come hear Russ Lopez speak about how our built environment – from playgrounds to fast food chains – shapes ourselves.

Russ Lopez, a native of California, is an Assistant Professor at the Boston University School of Public Health. Past employment includes working on urban and environmental issues for then Lt. Governor John Kerry. He also worked for ten years in various positions in for the City of Boston on housing, community development and environmental concerns. Dr. Lopez was the first Executive Director of the Environmental Diversity Forum, a coalition of environmentalists and community activists advocating for environmental justice issues throughout New England.

This event is sponsored by LivableStreets Alliance.

For more information, click here.

Snow Legislation: what happened?

2009-03-04T13:24:00.002-05:00

Back in January, I asked you to call Governor Patrick's office in support of a house bill in support of making changes to snow clearing legislation. This would have made a variety of changes to how municipalities could handle snow and snow clearing, including by increasing the possible fines, adding teeth to enforcing those fines, and removing liability from residents who do clear snow from their walkways. Unfortunately, Governor Patrick vetoed this legislation, much to the great disappointment of many. Thank you all for your calls, and I'll be keeping you updated on next steps relating to the possibility of this legislation being refiled and/or other things WalkBoston will be doing to improve the state of snow clearance on pedestrian ways in Massachusetts.

Support Governor Patrick's Transportation Legislation!

2009-03-02T15:53:00.001-05:00

Please call and/or write your State Representative and Senator today — Governor Deval Patrick’s Transportation Reform and Finance Legislation needs your support! (Click here to find out who your elected officials are and how to contact them.)

Express your support for the big ideas included in the transportation bill filed by Governor Patrick on February 24th by endorsing the bills commitment to pedestrian travel across the state.

The proposal balances reform with raising revenues to bring our transportation system into the 21st century. WalkBoston supports the increase in the gas tax as the best option to raise revenues. The proposed legislation also proposes smart revenue mechanisms to encourage energy-efficient vehicles and road-use based tax mechanisms.

The package includes significantly increased attention to pedestrians in a Healthy Transportation Compact to:

* Construct “complete streets” to enable pedestrians, bicyclists and bus riders to move safely on roadways in urban and suburban areas.
* Increase bicycle and pedestrian travel throughout the Commonwealth
* Expand Safe Routes to School

The reforms will increase safety, encourage physical activity, and help to make our communities more livable for young and old, those able-bodied or living with disabilities, and all citizens who walk by choice or because they are without a car.

The entire bill can be downloaded in PDF form at:
http://www.mass.gov/Agov3/docs/Legislation/090224TranspoReformLegislation.pdf

Please also consider speaking up for the bill at one of the Joint Committee on Transportation hearings:

When: Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at 4:00 p.m.
Where: Springfield Technical Community College

When: Thursday, March 5, 2009 [Time – TBD]
Where: [TBD – South Shore]

When: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 5:00 p.m.
Where: Methuen City Hall, Great Hall, 41 Pleasant Street, Methuen, MA 01844

When: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 1:00 PM
Where: State House, Room A-1

Thank you!
Wendy Landman, Executive Director
Liz Levin, Board President

Guess who's coming to WalkBoston?

2009-02-24T10:24:00.002-05:00

Here at the WalkBoston offices, we're busy with a flurry of preparation for our annual celebration, coming up on Thursday, March 19. One of the most exciting things about it this year is that Governor Deval Patrick will be joining us for the pre-celebration walk and making remarks at the celebration itself. Would you like to join us? Please do!

Walking fail

2009-02-19T14:21:00.003-05:00

Thanks to footloose reader Ben for pointing out this walking fail, from failblog:

George Bailey

2009-02-13T12:32:00.003-05:00

I'm sad to be linking to the obituary of George Bailey, longtime WalkBoston supporter, Golden Shoe Award winner and pedestrian advocate. It mentions how George, as a member of the Sharon Planning Board, pressed to require developers to install sidewalks in their projects. "Today, Sharon is a very walkable community," said his wife, Lucile.

Our condolences to his friends and family, and we'll take a walk in his honor this weekend.

Enrique Peñalosa on Urban Happiness

2009-02-10T12:17:00.002-05:00

Last Thursday, I attended a lecture by Enrique Peñalosa, former mayor of Bogotá, who was visiting Boston through Livable Streets, and Institute for Transportation and Development Policy last week. He also visited the WalkBoston offices for a couple of lively lunchtime conversations.

What I found most engaging about Peñalosa was not any particular design suggestion he made for cities. Most of us who are interested in urbanism are familiar with ideas like creating more open space, making bigger sidewalks, bike lanes, and the like, and most of us who are working in the field in Boston know better the streets that would most benefit from an overhaul. What Peñalosa offers, however, is a way of thinking that represents a true paradigm shift in how we approach the politics of urban design.

In essence, what he proposes is that the city be considered habitat for humans, and that people should be the primary focus for urban design. We have Environmental Impact Reviews, he pointed out, but not Human Impact Reviews. Cities planned for cars are cities that institutionalize class-based inequality, as they prioritize the transportation of people who can afford cars over the safety, enjoyment, and transportation of people who can't, or who choose not to. Therefore, reorienting the city towards pedestrians is a move toward equality.

To this end, we should see sidewalks not as relatives of streets, whose job is to get people from here to there, but instead as relatives of parks, which are all about people's pleasure of place. At intersections, the sidewalk should remain at a level, making cars come into pedestrians' space rather than make pedestrians step into the car zone to get across the street. Sidewalks should come first, then room for public transportation, which is a public good, and only if there's room should there be street space for private vehicles in the public way.

What would our cities look like if they put people first?

If you care about how transit dollars are spent ... Call your Senators today!

2009-02-05T11:21:00.004-05:00

There is movement in the Senate to strip funding from transit and redirect it to highway construction.

Please call these Senators to express your alarm about the out-of control highway proposals. Say no to highway expansion, and yes to transit and walkable communities.

Urge Senators to vote NO on the Bond Amendments and the Inhofe-Boxer Amendment!

Kit Bond (R-MO) Amendment #1: Strips $2 billion set aside for high-speed rail and redirects it to highway funding.

Kit Bond (R-MO) Amendment #2: Takes $5.5 billion in competitive transportation grants and gives it to highways.

Inhofe(R-OK) and Boxer (D-CA) Amendment: Creates $50 billion transportation slush fund with no criteria for fix-it-first or transit. Read: highway expansion.

Votes could be taken at anytime, so please call these Senators today!

Senator John Kerry
TEL: 202-224-2742
FAX: 202-224-8525

Senator Ted Kennedy
TEL: 202-224-4543
FAX: 202-224-2417

Senator Barbara Boxer
TEL: 202-224-3553
FAX: 202-224-0454

Majority Leader Harry Reid
TEL: 202-224-3542
FAX: 202-224-7327

[Edited to add: As of 11:45 this morning, I've only be able to get through to Senator Kennedy's office. It would seem the Senate phones are receiving a lot of calls. Keep trying!]

Break ice while the weather's nice!

2009-02-02T11:55:00.002-05:00

Today, it's supposed to be over 40 degrees here in the Boston area. This is a great chance for those folks who've fallen behind on sidewalk clearing to get ahead of tomorrow's snow! There's nothing so treacherous as pitted ice under a camoflaging layer of new snow, so you'll be doing your neighbors and neighborhood a good deed if you have a chance to get out there and clear old ice this afternoon.

I know it's hard to stay on top of the snow this year, but it makes a big, big difference to both individuals and communities for everyone who's able to do their part.

Who are we accomodating: people or cars?

2009-01-28T11:29:00.002-05:00

As I walked to the T this morning, I observed several snowplows getting a jump on clearing the streets as the first couple of inches of snow (4-6 predicted for Somerville, where I live) had fallen. Somerville does a great job of keeping the streets well-cleared.

Similarly, some of my neighbors had gotten a jump on the snow by clearing the first couple of inches off their sidewalks before heading to work. As in many cities and towns in Massachusetts, Somerville residents are required to clear their sidewalks of snow within a reasonable time after a storm stops or face fines (and cranky neighbors).

As anyone who's been walking around the urban and semi-urban areas around Boston this month has no doubt noticed, however, sidewalk-clearing policies still result in spotty walking conditions. In my neighborhood, where there's a high volume of foot traffic, I see a lot of people (myself included!) giving up on sidewalks and simply walking in the street.

Every time I see this, I think about how much we need to change the prevailing approach. Why does the city clear streets but not sidewalks? (Some cities do plow sidewalks with small plows, either throughout the city [Brookline] or in commercial areas [Belmont].) In more rural areas where few people move about by foot, this may be a sensible distribution of resources on the basis of people's use of sidewalks, but in areas with high numbers of foot traffic, it simply doesn't make sense.

People should be the beneficiaries of municipal policies, and in densely populated areas well-served by public transit, that includes people on foot as well as in cars. It's past time to realign our narrow, car-centric thinking to a more inclusive approach.

Urban Happiness with Enrique Peñalosa!

2009-01-26T15:22:00.003-05:00

[Note: This is an event not to be missed!]

Urban Happiness with Enrique Peñalosa! Hosted by LivableStreets Alliance
What happens when you give street space back to people?
Thursday, February 5, 6:30 pm
@ Boston Public Library, Copley Square, Rabb Lecture Hall

This event is free and open to the public. Enrique Peñalosa is a special guest speaker in the StreetTalk lecture series hosted by LivableStreets Alliance.

An accomplished public official, economist and administrator, Enrique Peñalosa completed his three-year term as Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia on December 31, 2000. While mayor, Peñalosa was responsible for numerous radical improvements to the city and its citizens. He promoted a city model giving priority to children and public spaces and restricting private car use, building hundreds of kilometers of sidewalks, bicycle paths, pedestrian streets, greenways, and parks. He received the Stockholm Challenge Award for organizing a Car-Free Day in 2000 and a referendum vote then endorsed it annually. As part of the pico y plata license plate restriction program, he removed 40% of cars during peak hours. Peñalosa also led efforts to improve Bogotá's marginal neighborhoods through citizen involvement; planted more than 100,000 trees; created a new, highly successful bus-based transit system; and turned a deteriorated downtown avenue into a dynamic pedestrian public space. He helped transform the city's attitude from one of negative hopelessness to one of pride and hope, developing a model for urban improvement based on the equal rights of all people to transportation, education, and public spaces.

This event is part of a 4-day series of events hosted by LivableStreets Alliance and sponsored by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, in collaboration with WalkBoston, Institute for Human Centered Design, Bikes Not Bombs, Charles River Conservancy, and MassBike.

For more information, check out www.livablestreets.info or contact Jackie Douglas at (617) 621-1746, jackie@livablestreets.info.

For a flyer about the event, check out http://www.livablestreets.info/files/Penalosa_5feb09_BPL.pdf

The Ultra Pedestrians

2009-01-26T15:19:00.003-05:00

Once you've mastered walking, you can try the next level: The Ultra Pedestrians!

(Link leads to a video.)

Thanks to foot-friendly reader Dan!

Boston Bikes Update Report

2009-01-20T15:32:00.003-05:00

For those of you who use or have interest in using bikes to get around, check out this event, hosted by the LivableStreets Alliance:

First Annual "Boston Bikes Update Report"

LivableStreets Alliance will host the 1st annual "Boston Bikes Report" by the city's Director of Bicycle Programs, Nicole Freedman.

When: Thursday, January 29, 7 pm
Where: Boston Public Library, main branch at Copley, Rabb Lecture Hall.

*This event is free and open to the public* The focus of the meeting will be on future steps needed to create the "world class bicycling city" that Mayor Menino has promised. There will be additional discussion about what could be done to significantly expand the cycling population -- and its political influence -- by attracting "traffic intolerant" bicyclists, read more.

Marathon Sports event!

2009-01-20T10:43:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow evening, at 7:15, join the RunBoston marathon team for a special event at Marathon Sports in Copley Square. This is your opportunity to meet our marathon team and also to hear Marathon Sports shoe specialists explain the factors that go into their unique shoe-fitting process. All attendees will receive a coupon for 20% off a future purchase.

Before this, join me and other walkers as we walk the last mile of the marathon route, ending up at Marathon Sports in time for this event. Meet in front of the BU bookstore at 6:30!

Bundle up for the cold!

2009-01-15T10:28:00.003-05:00

The talk of the town this week is how bitterly cold it is. I'm always amazed at the variety of bundling that people do -- at all times of year, really, but especially when I'm piling on as many layers as I can manage. I was pretty comfortable on my walk this morning, other than my face, because I've never figured out the trick of getting my scarf to stay up over my cheeks.

I'm shocked when I see people exposing bare skin at neck, wrist, or ankle (our intern this morning reported seeing people out and about without socks!). In fact, Somerville, where I live, has just announced a cold weather alert, and is providing warming centers open to the public during this cold spell.

Most of us (and certainly those of us reading this post) won't need to visit a special warming center, and will conduct our lives normally, if with a bit of extra shivering, in the next few days, but this brings up the important point for all of us of dressing appropriately. In the winter, the difference between a cold and shivery walk and a pleasant one is my clothing.

It seems obvious to those people who are accustomed to cold weather, but wearing the proper cold-weather attire makes all the difference, and when it's bitterly cold, the right amount may be more than you think. For the folks I work with who are from tropical climates, the idea of being warm in the out-of-doors during winter is itself inconceivable until I explain just how many layers I'm talking about.

It is possible to walk outside in the winter and stay warm, but you have to plan for it. If the option is to bundle up or not set foot outside the house from December through March, I pick the down parka and three layers of socks!

Unshoveled sidewalk? Make the call

2009-01-12T12:17:00.002-05:00

With winter in full swing, I'm thinking about snowy and icy sidewalks on a daily basis. Over the weekend, I saw a number of problem spots in Cambridge and Somerville. Of course, there's the typical sidewalk that didn't get cleared after snow, and has been packed down by pedestrians into an uneven, pitted layer of slick ice. These are a pain both for people walking by and for the homeowner who suddenly realizes that it's now or never to clear that ice before the next storm, and I saw (and thanked) a lot of people who were out chipping ice during the day on Saturday.

I also saw a number of crosswalk push-buttons buried behind a big pile of snow, meaning that in order to reach the button to get a walk phase at that intersection, I had to climb up on an icy pile of snow. In most cases, this was due to the city's snow plowing, and Cambridge should know better!

However, the thing that jumped out at me most was businesses that hadn't cleared their sidewalks. This stood out to me because I have an easy action item coming out of it: when I see an uncleared or poorly cleared sidewalk in front of a business, I can either pop in and tell them that I'm concerned about the state of their sidewalk, or call them later to complain.

I've started doing this with the business at the end of the street where I live, which rarely clears their sidewalk on my street, and I was delighted to see that this morning, for the first time this winter, they'd shoveled along my street! Now, I'm going to call them to say thanks.

Call Governor Patrick TODAY!

2009-01-09T12:24:00.000-05:00

Please call the Governor's office TODAY (617-725-4005) to ask Governor Deval Patrick to sign House Bill #4883-08.

This bill would allow municipalities to increase fines for people who do not clear their sidewalks and also establishes that an owner's good faith effort to remove snow or ice will not make that person liable for injuries due to a fall (full text is shown below).

Your friendly reminder phone call need take no more than 30 seconds.

Section 5. A municipality may by ordinances and by-laws provide for the removal of snow and ice from sidewalks within such portions of the municipality as they consider expedient by the owner of land abutting upon such sidewalks. Such ordinances and by-laws shall determine the time and manner of removal and shall affix penalties, not exceeding $200 for each violation thereof. Such ordinances and by-laws shall be specific as to the width of the area to be cleared and the standards for clearance.
An owner, lessor, occupant or other person in charge of real property or an agent thereof who, in good faith, removes or attempts to remove snow or ice from a sidewalk abutting his property shall not be liable for personal injuries allegedly caused by the snowy or icy condition of the sidewalk resulting from his act or omission unless the alleged act or omission constitutes gross negligence.

Winter in Boston: not for sissies

2009-01-08T10:22:00.002-05:00

Wow, this sure has been an unpleasant week for walking, and, really, leaving the house in general here in eastern Massachusetts. Yuck!

Monday, we were treated to a thin sheen of ice on just about everything. Several of my friends slipped on their front steps or sidewalks. I continued my campaign to shame the architecture firm that lives at the end of my street and never clears their sidewalk by calling them and pointing out that walking by their building is extremely treacherous.

Tuesday wasn't bad, but yesterday blew chunks, rather literally! I felt like I was walking on small, icy marbles suspended in water for maximum slipping and slopping. Happily, by the end of the day, it was just rain, but when temperatures dropped last night, that was transformed into a thick sheet of ice almost everywhere.

Take care out and about today, and this winter! I know it's no better to be on a bike or car today, either.

Just what we need: Treadmobil

2008-12-29T13:05:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone has enjoyed whatever winter holidays you celebrate, and I hope you've had a chance to get out and about on foot. Here in the Boston area, almost all the snow we got a couple of weekends ago has melted, making walking once again easy and enjoyable.

Did you get any good walking gifts for your holiday of choice? If not, you could consider this extravagant absurdity:

(Click through to the YouTube page for [some profane] the amusing comments, if you're so inclined.)

This thing is hilarious. Tip o' the sneaker to agile reader Mark for pointing this out to me.

Let it snow?

2008-12-22T11:11:00.003-05:00

Today, I'm surly.

It was a beautiful, cozy weekend to welcome the official start of winter with a couple of big snowstorms in the Boston area. I really love snow, both being out in it and also being inside and watching it fall while sipping a hot drink and enjoying the sight from the comfort of my living room.

What I don't love, however, is dealing with navigating through the complete mess our sidewalks become once the snow is done falling. If this were my personal blog, this post would be full of obscenities, so please feel free to fill them in wherever seems appropriate as you read.

This morning, I mentally praised my neighbors who have done even a moderate job of clearing the snow from their sidewalks in the last few days. Unfortunately, this was largely overridden by muttering about the people (and businesses!!) who haven't even begun clearing their sidewalks, making the sidewalks effectively impassable for pedestrians on their way to ... well, anywhere, really. This meant that nearly all the pedestrians I saw today were walking on the street, which is narrower than usual, due to piles of snow on either side, meaning cars have less room to maneuver around people on foot. This isn't safe or comfortable for anyone!

Also, the street is slippery, as I learned when I had my foot slide right out from under me, so surely some of my grumbling is due to having taken an unpleasant spill first thing today. Fortunately, the cab that was approaching was going slowly enough that there was no risk of my getting run over while I picked myself up.

Nevertheless, this is a great opportunity to remind everyone that snow clearing is an issue of vital concern to all of us. Please check out our snow/sidewalks page to see what WalkBoston has to say on the issue.

And if you have time, why not take a shovel out to the corner and dig a connection between the sidewalk and the street where the plows have left nearly impassable mountains of slush? If you do this and send me a picture, I'll praise you publicly and buy you a pony! Or a coffee. Whichever you'd prefer.

Extreme crosswalk geekery

2008-12-04T15:17:00.012-05:00

I am about to get really crosswalk geeky on you:

There are a lot of different patterns used for crosswalks, all of which are intended to give pedestrians a clear, protected zone in which to cross a street. As I'm sure we've all observed, they can be used at intersections and at mid-block crossings. But what's the deal with all the different designs?

Okay, first, in Massachusetts, the "standard" design (and the one the state pays for when cities want to put in or repaint a crosswalk) is this:

There's one of these near my house, actually, I didn't realize until just a few months ago that this was a crosswalk at all -- I always figured that these were simply lines in intersections to tell cars where to stop, and I found them confusing when located mid-block. They're okay, I guess, but they're not very visible. Also, because they run perpendicular to traffic, they get worn and faded quite quickly. D

Even worse is the dashed style:

This one has all the disadvantages of the standard style, plus it's effectively pre-faded. Maybe the fact that it's dashed makes it more visible? I'm not sure. In any case, I don't like it. D-

Another that I don't see particularly frequently is the solid crosswalk:

This one is certainly more visually arresting than either the standard or the dashed. Sometimes I see these painted yellow, or with white borders and yellow fill. Not bad. It uses a lot of paint (or, more often, these days, thermoplastic), though, which is costly, needs a fair amount of maintenance, and might be slippery for both vehicles and pedestrians. C

The continental style is among the most commonly used in and around Boston, I think:

The stripes are attention-getting, and because they're oriented parallel to vehicular travel, they will be more durable over time. Vehicle tires will, at least some of the time, miss the markings, which should decrease skidding in cases where that material is more slippery than the pavement. Pedestrians also won't have to walk on a solid painted or plastic surface. B+

The ladder style has a lot of the same advantages:

The framing bars that run perpendicular don't, to my mind, add much, except a zone requiring more frequent maintenance. On the other hand, the kids I've worked with for Safe Routes to School liked the imagery of "climbing the ladder" as a reminder for them to stay within the crosswalk zone when crossing streets. And since the consequence of worn framing strips is that the ladder will simply look like a Continental style crosswalk, I suppose that's not a big deal. B

Zebra crosswalks have a certain visual appeal:

The problem, as you probably surmised, is that the angle means more wear over time. B-

So those are the most common crosswalk types I've seen out and about. But this post was actually inspired by a couple of new (to me) crosswalk styles that I think are pretty nifty:

First, there's the piano style:

The big win here is that you still have a very visible crosswalk, but by leaving extra room where most vehicle tires will wear, you cut down on any potential skidding and maintenance costs due to the markings getting worn down. Nice. A

In a different vein, you get the double ladder:

Instead of reducing skidding for vehicles, this one leaves an unmarked zones where pedestrians can walk and reduce potential slippage for them. What's not to like? A

Finally, putting those two good ideas together, there's the double piano:

It's visible. It experiences reduced wear and tear. It minimizes potential slipping and skidding for vehicles and pedestrians. This is a great crosswalk. A+

Hey, I'm in the news!

2008-12-02T11:59:00.002-05:00

Well, okay, mostly it's walking that's in the news in Hub workers: These routes are made for walking in the Boston Herald over the weekend. Though the photo isn't in the online version, there paper includes a picture of me and WalkBoston's Bob Sloane leading a group of Greenbuild conference attendees to an off-site session led by Wendy Landman and Doug Farr the week before Thanksgiving.

Do you know why you drive the way you do?

2008-11-18T11:15:00.006-05:00

As far as I can tell, all drivers speed. I do it; every single driver I've been driven by in the last year does it; you almost certainly do it, too. I find myself speeding for a lot of reasons, but they nearly all boil down to: I speed because I feel safe doing so. After all, if I didn't feel safe, I'd slow down, right?

That's the conclusion reached by An empirical analysis of driver perceptions of the relationship between speed limits and safety, a recent study at Purdue University. As the abstract states:

A key motivating factor in drivers’ tendency to exceed the speed limit is that they believe that the excess speed does not threaten safety. This paper, specifically studies this matter by using a survey that asked drivers how fast above the speed limit they feel they can drive before safety is threatened ... Estimation findings show that drivers’ perception of the speed above the speed limit at which they will receive a speeding ticket is a critical determinant of what they believe is a safe speed – suggesting that enforcement plays an important role in safety perceptions. Other variables found to be significant factors in determining the speed above the speed limit at which safety is first threatened include age, gender, being previously stopped for speeding, and drivers’ ethnicity.

This means that planners and advocates who want cars to slow down should focus not on speed laws but instead on changing drivers' perceptions. We don't want streets that are unsafe, but we do want them to feel unsafe, or just a little. For example, we know that narrowing the lane of traffic will slow driving speeds as drivers feel more constrained. Making neighborhood streets bumpy rather than smooth will discourage people from flying down the street far better than putting up a speed limit sign.

What are other effective ways you've experienced a decrease in your sense of safety at speed?

Contested Streets

2008-11-18T09:46:00.003-05:00

Do you ever wonder what our cities will look like 10, 50 or 100 years in the future? I was recently watching the trailer for "Contested Streets: Breaking New York City Gridlock", which included some film clips from the early part of the 20th century, showing how city streets were shared by pedestrians and cars then, and, of course, now. I would dearly love to get a glimpse into the future to see what we're doing in 2088, but for now, I'll have to settle for looking back and thinking about planning well for a good future for our city streets.

If you're interested in seeing Contested Streets, but you don't want to buy the DVD, and you're in the Boston area, check out these screenings:

· Thursday, November 20, 2008, 4-5pm at the Harvard School of Public Health, Kresge G3 (Boston, MA)

· Thursday, December 4, 2008, 6-7pm at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Piper Auditorium (Cambridge, MA)

This movie is being offered as an extension of the "Bicycle Environments in the U.S. and the Netherlands/Denmark" class (Harvard School of Public Health). The showing of the movie is sponsored by the following groups in alphabetical order:

Harvard Urban Planning Organization at the Graduate School of Design (HUPO)
Harvard School of Public Health Post Doc Association (HSPH PDA)
Interdisciplinary Consortium on Urban Planning and Public Health (ICUPPH)
Livable Streets Alliance

Who uses sidewalks?

2008-11-17T15:28:00.003-05:00

Who uses sidewalks?

We first think of walkers when we think of sidewalks, and typically able-bodied walkers at that. We might think of people of different ages, and with different goals to their activities -- some are on an errand and in a hurry, and some are just out for an aimless stroll or wandering with small children. Thinking of being at different paces makes me think also of runners, who frequently use sidewalks, too, and when they're crowded, runners wind up running into frustration, weaving amongst slower users.

Among less able-bodied people, we might see people with canes, crutches, walkers -- moving very slowly -- and people in wheelchairs and scooters -- moving quickly!

Speaking of wheels, I also see kids on kick scooters and the occasional person on inline skates. Probably my least favorite wheel-based travelers on sidewalks are people on bikes, who I always imagine must be equally annoyed by the pedestrians they encounter.

Are the sidewalks in your neighborhoods well designed for all the people who use them?

Watertown Walks! Belmont, November 15, 2:00pm

2008-11-10T11:34:00.002-05:00

Rock Meadow - Belmont
Saturday, November 15th 2 pm

Join the Watertown Citizens for Environmental Safety for a walk through this 70 acre parcel of conservation lands in Belmont, where we'll see meadowlands, wetlands and community gardens. Options will be available for a short walk, and a somewhat longer walk through BeaverBrook in Waltham.

Rock Meadow is located on Mill Street in Belmont. Pick up Mill Street where it intersects with Trapelo Road, turn right on Mill Street. Heading west, go .3 mile past the entrance to McLean Hospital. Turn left into the driveway to the parking area for Rock Meadow. There is a sign post on the road. If you get to the Concord Street intersection, you've gone too far.

By public transportation, take the #73 bus to Waverly Square. Walk west (toward Waltham) to the intersection of Mill Street, turn right. Follow directions as above.

Join WalkBoston!

2008-11-07T11:38:00.001-05:00

As you know, I work (and blog!) for WalkBoston and we are a Massachusetts-based walking advocacy nonprofit working to improve the physical environment for walking and to encourage people to walk more for health and in their daily lives. It's pretty awesome.

And if you ever walk in Massachusetts, or you wish it were easier for you to do so, you should be a member! Membership funds help us do all sorts of advocacy, education and outreach, and, even more importantly, more members make our voice stronger in our efforts to make improvements.

To join, click here, read about the benefits (including, for people joining at the $30 individual level, a $25 Zipcar credit, so your WalkBoston membership is practically free!)

You know you want to :)

This post isn't about walking; it's about hope

2008-11-04T08:58:00.003-05:00

[This post does not express the official views or opinions of WalkBoston.]

Last night, I was figuring that today I would write a cheery little post about walking to my polling place, chatting with a few people while waiting in line, and then walking to the subway to come to work, before exhorting y'all to be sure to vote today.

Imagine my surprise, then, when the line at my polling place was not only out the door (which has never happened in my time voting here), but all the way down the block and around the corner. "Perhaps I'll vote after work," I thought to myself. Imagine my further surprise to find myself not only tearing up, but on the verge of full blown crying as I walked by the long line of people waiting to vote.

I have largely been in denial this election season. I feel so afraid, after the last two presidential elections, that getting my hopes up will only result in their being dashed. And in neither of those was I so moved and inspired by any available candidate as I have been by Barack Obama. But even more, I'm grateful to have had my ideas about what's possible, politically, blown open this year.

Until even a year ago, I believed that I would not, in my lifetime, see the United States take seriously the presidential candidacy of a woman or a person of color. To have this happen not only when I'm here to see it but when I'm still in my early 30s amazes me, and it gives me hope. To see so many people in my neighborhood, where our individual votes matter rather less, given the inevitable allotment of Massachusetts's electoral votes to the Democratic party, speaks to inspiration and hope felt by many.

I want to hold onto this feeling when I feel stuck or discouraged in my political work, now and into the future. I want to hold onto this feeling even if I wake up tomorrow to find the election hasn't gone as I wish. I want to imagine that everything we work for is possible.

Halloween safety!

2008-10-31T13:26:00.002-04:00

Happy Halloween, everyone!

I'd like to say I dressed up today, but I'm afraid I overslept and am dressed as just a boring old pedestrian, as usual. Oh, well.

But! I'm looking forward to tonight, when hordes of young (and not-so-young) children descend upon my neighborhood in search of treats. Last year, we had nearly 300 trick or treaters come to our house, so you can see that it's serious business in my neck of the woods.

Everywhere, though, Halloween is a time when it's important to take extra care moving about, whether you're on foot, bike, or car.

The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center has put together these tips for Halloween safety. Check 'em out! And have a safe weekend!

Measure twice, cut once

2008-10-30T10:44:00.003-04:00

Last night, I was walking down Elm Street in Davis Square past the bus stop in front of the Social Security office and Dunkin Donuts. As usual, there was a big crowd of people waiting on and around the bench for a bus. And since it was prime after-work time, there was a lot of car and foot traffic around and about, too.

The sidewalk there is about 8 feet wide, and it's an extremely high-traffic spot. Both the Dunk and the Social Security office have a lot of visitors, the bus stop, especially during rush hour, probably has no fewer than 10 people waiting at any given time, and often 20 or more. And, of course, there are a lot of people walking by on their way to or from engagements in Davis Square.

This sidewalk, I thought to myself as I stepped off the curb and into the street to get around the mass of people waiting for a bus, is insufficient. It's insufficient for any of the uses it sees at rush hour, much less all of them. And it leads to pedestrians stepping out into the street in order to get by, not to mention a lot of frustration and annoyance for all involved.

But what can you do about a sidewalk that's not wide enough? Obviously, taking down the buildings and pushing them back isn't an option. The best bet in this case, actually, is probably a curb extension, which would approximately double the width of the sidewalk and could provide plenty of waiting room for bus riders while clearing the rest of the sidewalk for through foot traffic. This would not lose parking, since the curb would extend into the bus zone, but it would mean that one lane of traffic would be blocked when buses stop to load and unload passengers, which would make it a hard sell.

This got me thinking about the importance of careful and thoughtful design at the beginning of any development. In most cases in urban settings, we're working within the constraints of previous decisions with regards to the built-environment, and that limits what we can do going forward. This will always be true, so it's super important for planners and designers to consider all the uses an area might see. These days, as we look ahead to increasingly costly personal-vehicle use, we know that pedestrian and bike uses of streets will represent more and more of the traffic, especially in dense neighborhoods where that's realistically likely to be a major portion of people's daily trips.

This is one of the reasons that I think the work of WalkBoston is so important. The decisions we make today have a real, immediate, and long-term impact on people, communities and neighborhoods. The fact that I have to step into the street to get through shows a failure in the past to effectively foresee the current uses, and that failure constrains how we can respond now. We're not always going to foresee in an accurate way, but it's incumbent upon us to think carefully about our decisions. At WalkBoston, we daily raise this kind of issue with urban designers and planners to keep all street uses on the table in the planning process.

Presidential Campaigns in Boston Walk: Saturday, November 1, 10:00AM

2008-10-29T14:27:00.003-04:00

Hey! Do you have plans this weekend?

Oh, sure, we're all dressing up and handing out candy on Friday, but what are you doing on Saturday morning? How about a walk?

Join us for our Presidential Campaigns in Boston Walk this Saturday morning 10-11:30AM. ($10/members free)

Walk with Clint Richmond, author of "Political Places of Boston," to places where presidential candidates have campaigned with speeches, rallies, and fundraising since 1860. Sites will include the iconic "Cradle of Liberty," the 2004 Convention, and the backrooms of Boston politicking.

Meet at 60 State Street, T-accessible by the Blue and Orange lines, near the State Street Station stop.

Volunteer needed: graphic design for our enews

2008-10-24T10:20:00.003-04:00

Here at WalkBoston, we're working on updating the format of our enews, and we could use a couple of hours of help from someone with expertise in graphic design for electronic communications. Is that you? Drop me a note!

Cold weather walking

2008-10-23T11:28:00.003-04:00

Now that the weather around Boston is starting to get blustery and cold, I know a lot of people have a more difficult time motivating themselves out the door for a walk.

I know that, for myself, there are a couple of hurdles to get over when I'm thinking about walking in cooler weather. First, if I'm comfortable in my house or office, it's pretty tough to get excited to step out into the cold. If I'm a little chilly, as sometimes happens if I'm sitting still indoors, it's even more difficult to consider going out! The best way for me to encourage myself up and out, in either case, is to think about the good things about getting outside. If the sun's out, even if it's cold, I'll be glad for a hit of bright light. If it's grey, I just focus on feeling good through movement or getting errands done. I must admit, this doesn't always work, so if any of you have other ideas here, I'm all ears.

Once I'm feeling inspired to leave the house, there's the issue of dressing appropriately. In warm weather, all I have to do is put on comfortable shoes and be on my way. In the cooler months, there's the additional step of bundling up. Of course, I can't recommend this enough. Nothing will hamstring my decision to stay active in cold weather like one or two walks that see me arriving home with a case of hypothermia. If I do that in October, you're not going to see me leaving the house voluntarily until April, maybe May. So I'm a big fan of bundling up. I don't care if it makes me look silly (okay, well, I care a little bit, but I get over it) to wear a hat, scarf, gloves, three sweaters, and two pairs of long underpants under my winter coat. I understand this is particularly difficult for people who come from warmer climates. Trust me; having the right clothing for being outdoors makes a big difference in your experience of time spent out and about. SRSLY.

I'm a big believer in structurally encouraging myself to do the things I know I want to do, so I like to make plans to have hot cocoa at a coffee shop that's a pleasant walk from my house, for example, so I'm motivated (i.e., forced) to leave the house, but there's a built-in reward at the end. I mean, a reward beyond the satisfaction of getting up and moving around, which can be hard to get excited about when you're cozy on the comfy couch in the middle of winter, for sure.

Physical activity guidelines

2008-10-20T09:16:00.003-04:00

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released their 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (that link will take you to the summary of their recommendations). In even more summary form: The findings won't surprise anyone. The recommendation is that people should engage in physical activity. Some is better than none and more (quantity, intensity, frequency) is better.

I have a couple of problems with these guidelines:

First, I believe the "some is better than none" message gets obscured by the "more is better" message. I see it as being easy for people to feel discouraged by their perception that they aren't doing enough, and thereby doing even less, because they're never going to reach the recommended amounts of activity, so what's the point? So, let me say: Some is better than none! Get up and walk around the block, or walk to the store, or walk around your house while you're talking on the phone or brushing your teeth or waiting for your spouse to get ready to head out the door. Making small changes to your habits can be an effective way to increase your activity level and make it easier to make larger changes.

Second, the guidelines are, predictably, in a very structured format. I mean, hey, that's what guidelines are, right? But I don't see this as a particularly organic way for people to integrate activity into their lives. I know there are people who look at it as a checklist item with a set-aside time-frame, and that's great, but for the rest of us, hearing that we should be aiming for 2.5 hours of moderate physical activity each week is a little abstract. What does that mean for me?

Finally, this is a great example of how we put our activities in different categories and don't let them blend between each other. Work for 8 hours a day, exercise for 30 minutes a day, sleep for 8 hours, etc. To my thinking, this makes physical activity a chore to be checked off a list rather than a pleasurable component of a good, healthy, happy life.

So, I know the US Department of Health and Human Services can't say something like this, and they might not even agree with it, but my guidelines for physical activity are a little more lax: Get up and move. Make it a habit. Make it a part of your life that doesn't take any serious thought or feel like a chore. Move because it makes you feel good, and it helps you see your neighborhood and your world or because it gives you time to think or not to think. Be active for yourself and for whatever reasons speak to you most. Want to join me for a walk? Let's!

Thursday, October 23: Pedestrianism in Belmont

2008-10-16T10:36:00.003-04:00

Next Thursday evening at 7:30, I'll be speaking in Belmont on issues related to walking-friendly neighborhoods and snow clearance.

Join WalkBoston and representatives of other community and government agencies for an evening discussion of benefits of and challenges to walking in and around Belmont.

We'll be in the Belmont Public Library Auditorium at 336 Concord Avenue, Belmont MA.

And, of course, other neighborhoods or organizations that would like to have WalkBoston attend a meeting or event to talk about issues relating to walking, that's one of our favorite things to do!

Franklin Park walk, Thursday, October 16

2008-10-15T15:42:00.002-04:00

Join me and others for a wonderful walk around Franklin Park tomorrow evening from 5:30 to 7.

About the walk: Follow trails past unfamiliar parts of Frederick Law Olmsted's renowned park with Christine Poff of the Franklin Park Coalition and with walkers from the Uphams Corner Health Center walking program.

Where to meet: Meet at the Valley Gates parking area on the main park road across from the golf course

How to get there: MBTA - Orange Line to Forest Hills Station, MBTA Bus #16 to Valley Gates

International Walk to School Day! Wednesday, October 8

2008-10-07T12:13:00.003-04:00

Hey, parents!

Did you know that tomorrow is International Walk to School Day?

How are you going to celebrate it?

Greenway Inauguration in review

2008-10-07T11:04:00.002-04:00

I'd like to tell you all about the fabulous activities and events that happened at the Rose Kennedy Greenway Inauguration this Saturday, but I can't, because I spent the whole time at the WalkBoston table, handing out stickers, maps, brochures and talking about the importance of a pedestrian-friendly infrastructure. We had beautiful weather, and loads of people stopped by and shared their stories of pleasures and challenges walking in their various communities.

By the end of the day, we'd handed out so many of our bright orange and green stickers that people from other parts of the Greenway came seeking us out wanting to know what they were all about.

Big thanks to our many volunteers: Georgette, James, Reggie, Karla, and Daniel!

Fall walking pleasures

2008-10-02T10:03:00.002-04:00

Last night, I was walking home by one of my favorite routes, which takes me past a neighbor's house with a spectacular set of rose bushes, and then, serendipitously, through fall's first pile of dry leaves on the sidewalk.

I don't know what my neighbors do to get the blooms they do, but whatever it is, it's brilliant. Four or five times a year -- June through November -- the six rose bushes in front of their house are loaded with beautiful, wonderfully scented flowers. I love it, and I make it a point to walk by their house when the roses are in bloom so I can stop and smell them.

As fall approaches, another feature I enjoy in my walks is walking through piles of leaves. Now, I know this is an able-bodied pleasure, and the piles of leaves can be an issue for people who are less sure-footed or on crutches or in wheelchairs, and even for me, after a rain, a big pile of leaves represents a real slipping hazard. Still, I take a deep pleasure in wading through a pile of crispy leaves along my way.

Greenway Inauguration!

2008-09-30T12:20:00.003-04:00

This weekend, the Rose Kennedy Greenway, the park portion of the infamous Big Dig highway construction project, celebrates its official inauguration with a number of events and activities on and near the Greenway itself. I'll be representing WalkBoston there at a table in Dewey Square, and there's a whole slew of fun and interesting stuff happening, including lots of activities for kids. Check it out!

Safe walking habits

2008-09-25T10:31:00.004-04:00

The last couple of weeks, I've been getting involved with our Safe Routes to School trainings at elementary schools around the state. In these, we go to elementary schools, train parents, teachers and other volunteers in the skills we want them to teach the kids, and then we all take small groups of kids out walking around the school to practice those skills and begin developing safe walking habits.

One of the interesting observations I've made in this process is what bad habits the adults have -- myself included! It's less urgent that adults have good habits in looking out for our own safety, because we are generally more observant and aware of our surroundings than your average 2nd or 3rd grader, but it presents a challenge to our volunteers to model good walking habits when their own habits demonstrate their own lack of concern with regards to, for example, making sure that cars in all lanes of traffic have stopped before they enter the crosswalk.

I've also noticed that over the course of working with 3 or 5 classrooms in succession, the adults get much better, smoother, and more comfortable with the material and enacting the behaviors we hope to impress upon the children. This makes me think how important it is that children be regularly exposed to safe walking in practice and also in discussion. Kids often know the right answer, even as they enact bad habits.

For example, I might ask a couple of kids at a crosswalk, "What do you need to do to cross safely here?" And they certainly know the answer is, "Look both ways!" But very often, looking both ways simply involves turning their heads without actually paying attention to what they see.

This is all a reminder to me to take more care with my own walking habits, and not to assume that cars will do what I expect them to do at crosswalks, traffic lights and other places that I encounter them as a pedestrian. It also reminds me, though, to talk about safe walking when I'm out and about with kids, rather than simply leading the way and figuring they'll pick up the right thing to do by osmosis.

PARK(ing) Day

2008-09-19T13:17:00.002-04:00

Once again, I'm missing the boat by posting about something late in the game. Bad blogger!

A couple of us just took a short jaunt out of the office to check out the PARK(ing) Day park put together by the Trust for Public Lands and staffed by, among others, folks from LivableStreets.

What's the story? They've taken over a parking spot downtown and converted it to a delightful little park where people were lounging, doing homework, eating lunch.

Next year, I want to see a whole series of these scattered across the city so WalkBoston can lead a walk to visit them!

Franklin Park walk: tonight! 5:30

2008-09-18T11:31:00.004-04:00

It occurred to me last night that I have missed several grand opportunities to walk with my friends and readers by failing to announce a regular walk I do each week and that, while targeted to a particular program I'm working on, is certainly open to one and all:

The program is Walking Prescriptions for People and Neighborhoods, and its goal is to increase habitual walking among the community of a local health center. We're about to revamp our walk schedule, but I'm certain that we're going to keep our Thursday night walks in Franklin Park, because they're one of the walks with steady attendance, and, well, to be honest, it's one of my favorite parts of every week, and I refuse to give it up.

Join me and others for a walk around Franklin Park any Thursday, meeting at 5:30 (we usually set out about 5:45) at the benches in front of the "Zebra" entrance for Franklin Park Zoo (near the intersection of Blue Hill Ave and Columbia Rd.)

Drop me a note (rcarson @ walkboston.org) if you have any questions or if you want me to look out for you this week or any week!

Walking at night

2008-09-15T11:09:00.002-04:00

Thinking about the details that influence my walking routes for the last post here, I also started thinking a lot about how different it is to walk during the day versus at night. A route that is pleasant to walk during the day thanks to its seclusion may feel unsafe at night for the same reason, for example. But more than personal safety changes with the time of day.

Some places that I walk, especially in many of the old neighborhoods that exist in and around Boston, have pretty challenging walking conditions, including sidewalks that are too narrow when they pass by old trees, or that have been pushed into tall, cracked hills by those trees' roots. Brick sidewalks, already somewhat tricky are especially hazardous where they interact with tree roots. And all of these obstacles are even more challenging at night, because those same trees then block the streetlights' illumination of the sidewalk in those areas. This means that when I'm walking at night, I try to choose routes that avoid poorly-lit sidewalks that I know to have obstacles where they interact with trees.

Are there other issues that change your walking habits daytime vs. nighttime?

Choosing a route

2008-09-12T10:46:00.003-04:00

Walking to and from the nearest T station to my house involves a relatively straight shot from origin to destination, so I don't tend to put a lot of thought into selecting a route, especially because the most direct route is also the most pleasant, as it takes me on the community bike path near Davis Square. The Porter Square T stop is also a comfortable walk from my house, but it's a little further away, and the walk isn't as enjoyable, so I tend only to go that way when I need to stop at one of the stores in Porter Square on my way to wherever I'm going.

On the work end of my commute, however, I have many more choices. Park Street and Downtown Crossing are equidistant from my office, and neither involves a particularly more or less pleasant walk in comparison to the other. Further, there are a couple of routes from Park Street, equivalent in distance. So, how do I decide?

In general, I select the station that's in the right direction on the rail line for the direction I'm going. If I'm Davis-bound, I go to Park Street. Headed to Andrew? I go to Downtown Crossing.

On the other hand, the walk to Downtown Crossing is almost always much more crowded in the afternoon, and because I'm a relatively brisk walker, I often find crowded sidewalks annoying in the extreme.

One of the routes I can take from Park Street involves less in the way of crowds, typically, but more in the way of construction traffic, and it also takes me past an alley where two restaurants take their trash. Though I'm not particularly squeamish, walking past there can, at times, be stomach-turning, so despite my appreciation of the less crowded sidewalks, I've recently reverted to the other route.

What factors influence your choice of walking route?

RunBoston!

2008-09-04T14:07:00.003-04:00

I'm just back from a wonderful vacation, during which I visited one of the least pedestrian-friendly cities I've ever seen (Las Vegas, NV) and one of the most pedestrian-friendly (Black Rock City, NV, aka the Burning Man arts festival). While I was away, lots of things happened here at WalkBoston, and today, I'm excited to announce one of them:

The Boston Athletic Association has chosen WalkBoston for one of its highly sought positions as an Official Boston Marathon Charity. As an official charity, we have been donated bib numbers to form RunBoston, a 2009 marathon team to help us raise much needed funds for our growing roster of programs and advocacy.

For those of you who don't keep track of the marathon circuit, this is a big deal because the Boston marathon is highly competitive. To run with a bib number, you have to either qualify by running another marathon in a qualifying time or you join a team like this one and raise money for a charity in the process of your training. For us here at WalkBoston, the fit between us and the marathon seemed obvious, and we're excited to link up with it!

For more information, check out the Boston Marathon's charity page.

Great things afoot

2008-08-12T10:35:00.002-04:00

It's not new or unique to remark upon the social joy of getting about on foot, but that doesn't detract from the deep pleasure I get every time I encounter a friend or acquaintance when running errands or traveling across town. When I'm in a car, or even on a bike, things and people pass by so quickly -- in a car, I may not even recognize a friend in her car passing the other way, and on bikes, we give a quick wave, but on foot, we can easily stop and have a brief chat. Maybe we're going the same way and can use that time to catch up on each other's lives.

Last week alone, I had this experience five times over the course of the week, including running into a former boss, whom I hadn't seen in about five years! It's a miracle we even recognized each other. I also bumped into a friend and got to hear about her adventures in buying a new condo, and found out that another acquaintance is expecting a baby in February, thanks to strolling around my neighborhood on one of these infrequent dry summer evenings.

It's not a surprise to have such encounters, in general, but each one is always a surprise in itself in who I see and what we talk about when we do.

Disproportionate subsidization

2008-08-06T10:30:00.002-04:00

Though vehicles and pedestrians can happily coexist in many settings -- I have my sidewalk and they have their streets -- it's hard for a pedestrian not to feel a little cranky from time to time as policy decisions continually prioritize the infrastructure and culture of private vehicles over all other forms of transportation.

I've long been annoyed by the complaints people throw out about subsidies for public transit without acknowledging the massive subsidization of private vehicles currently practiced in the US.

Thanks to Slate and Daniel Gross, though, I know I'm not alone: Highways Paved with Gold

WalkBoston in the Globe

2008-07-21T10:19:00.001-04:00

Hey, check it out! WalkBoston's Executive Director, Wendy Landman, was featured in the Boston Globe in Feet give the best, cheapest mileage yesterday!

Help Pass House Bill 4635

2008-07-14T09:54:00.001-04:00

Please take action to help pass House Bill 4635, An Act Relative to Speed Limits. This bill would lower the prevailing speed limit from 30 to 25 mph on local roads in urbanized areas across Massachusetts. The text of the bill is provided at the bottom of this email.

With the escalation of gasoline prices and the emphasis on walking for good health more and more pedestrians are using their feet for transportation. When pedestrians, especially children and older people, are walking along the sidewalk or along the edge of the road when no sidewalk is available, the speed of passing traffic is important for maintaining safety. The difference of 5mph in the speed of passing cars is often the difference between a fatality or serious injury and a narrow escape.

The Massachusetts Highway Department, state legislators, local transportation officials, and community activists worked together to develop this legislation and have indicated their support for the changes in Chapter 90. We are hopeful that after many years of effort, 2008 will be the year that this important pedestrian safety measure becomes law.

Please call or write to your Representative and ask them to urge Representative Robert DeLeo, the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, to act favorably on this bill. To look up your local representative, go to http://www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.php.