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Vol. 4, Spring '98

[ TRB Committee on Pedestrians ] [ TRB Ped/Bike Papers Available ] [ First Int'l Trails & Greenways Conf. ]
[ Update of Pedestrian Safety Roadshow ] [ Second National Walk Your Child to School Week ]
[ Status of AASHTO Ped/Bike Guidelines ] [ MUTCD ] [ NHI Training ]
[ Completed Activities ] [ Rumble Strips ] [ Alcohol Impaired Pedestrians ]

TRB Committee on Pedestrians

The recent Transportation Research Board (TRB) annual meeting in Washington, DC, featured the annual meeting of TRB's A3B04 Committee on Pedestrians. The meeting had subcommittee updates on the following: Research Problem Statements, Foreign Pedestrian Activities, Human Factors Workshop, Pedestrian Committee Newsletter, Pedestrian Web Sites, and TRB Research Paper Review. The committee also developed its agenda for 1998 through 2000. One of the important initiatives will be the improvement of the quality and completeness of accident reporting for pedestrians. Design manuals currently being developed by AASHTO and other organizations are also of interest to the committee. The committee will expand its ongoing liaisons with related TRB committees. Reports from other TRB committees were presented, providing an excellent update for all concerned. The FHWA Pedestrian Forum newsletter and Road Shows were discussed, along with the current research studies underway at the University of North Carolina. A talk on the subject of travel demand forecasting for bicycle and pedestrian facilities was also given, along with a presentation by the ASCE Human Powered Transportation Committee. Representatives from other pedestrian advocacy groups spoke at the meeting, including the Partnership for a Walkable America, America WALKs, and the Bicycle Federation of America's pedestrian program, Campaign to Make America Walkable.

TRB Ped/Bike Papers Available

The Annual meeting of the TRB took place in Washington, DC, on January 11-15. Copies of the preprints for ped/bike-related papers are available for viewing on the Office of Highway Safety's Homepage at http://www.ohs.fhwa.dot.gov (under the bike/ped category). The papers--copied with the permission of TRB--were taken from the TRB's 77th Annual Meeting Preprint CD-Rom. Keep in mind that the papers are PREPRINTS only, and are not yet in final form. TRB would like some feedback on the effectiveness of this format (preprint CD's) if anyone would like to comment. A special thanks to TRB for making them available.

First International Trails and Greenways Conference/Meetings of State Coordinators

The First International Trails and Greenways Conference was held January 28 - 31 in San Diego, CA. The Conference gave the State Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinators, Recreational Trail Coordinators, and the State and Federal Transportation Enhancement Coordinators a chance to hold a collective meeting and with their respective groups. Deputy Administrator, Gloria Jeff, addressed the group and emphasized the Administration's support for these three programs and for their inclusion in reauthorization legislation.

Update of the "Pedestrian Safety Roadshow" and Facilitator Training Sessions

The Road Show encourages the formation of a local group of pedestrian advocates, agency staff, and politicians-- whether in a public agency or an organized external group--to focus on identifying and solving potential problems that affect pedestrian safety and walkability. The Road Show also explains what tools are available to the local communities. A unique aspect of the Road Show is that it has been developed to allow the field offices to take a leadership role in delivering "pedestrian" technology to the local communities. To date, we have done 6 sessions and trained over 80 facilitators from State and local government, FHWA, NHTSA, Governor's Office of Highway Safety, National Safety Council, Bicycle Federation of America, and other organizations involved in pedestrian safety issues.

The following sessions are scheduled: Lawrence, KS (April 1-3); West Virginia (May 19-21), and Maryland (October 6-8). Training will be accelerated in 1998, and you are invited to take advantage of this opportunity to have someone trained. Please contact your FHWA Division Office or Leverson Boodlal at 202-366-8044 for information, or the homepage: http://www.ota.fhwa.dot.gov/walk/.

The Second National Walk Your Child to School Week

This event on September 21-25, is being sponsored by the Partnership for a Walkable America and Walking Magazine. Local communities are making a commitment to creating safe and accessible environments for walking adults and children. The event brings greater awareness of routes in this issue by providing a walking checklist (How Walkable is your Community) for people to rate the walkability of the community in which they live and providing ways communities can improve their walkability with resources to help with the progress. The checklist is available at http://www.nsc.org/walkable.htm. Contact: Harold Thompson, National Safety Council, 1121 Spring Lake Dr., Itasca, IL 60143 or call 1-800-621-7615.

Status of AASHTO Bike/Ped Guidelines

The Bike Guide final draft has been submitted to AASHTO's Geometric Design Task Force for balloting. Upon resolution of their comments, it will be sent for vote by the full Subcommittee on Design. It is expected that the new version will be available in print late this year.

At its June 1997 meeting, the design subcommittee established a task force to consider the needs of pedestrians in street and highway design. The charge is to review A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets to determine how to appropriately include consideration of pedestrians in AASHTO design documents.

MUTCD Revision

The National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices met on January 7 through 9 in Arlington, Virginia to discuss the revision of the 1988 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. FHWA staff made presentations on significant changes to Part 7 (School Areas) and on revised definitions contained in Part 1 of the MUTCD. The Committee will meet again in Austin, Texas in June.

The NPRM for Part 7 was issued on December 5 and will be open for comments until September 9, 1998. The NPRM for Part 9 (Traffic Controls for Bicycle Facilities) is scheduled to be issued in September 1998. Comments can be made via our Rulemaking Homepage at http://www.ohs.fhwa.dot.gov.

NHI Courses

The following course is recommended to increase awareness of Pedestrian/Bicycle safety and accommodation:

  • Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety and Accommodation Course, NHI 38061

(Contact, Lynn Cadaar 703-235-0528, or check the NHI web page for this and other information,http://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov.)

Courses scheduled for 1998:

  1. May 18-20
    San Jose, CA
  2. June 16-18
    Seattle, WA
  3. July 14-16
    Las Vegas, NV
  4. August 25-17
    Lansing, MI
 Upcoming Conferences- 1998
  1. ITS America 8th Annual Meeting
    May 4-6
    Detroit, MI
    (Contact: Bonnie Jessup, 202-484-2896)
  2. ITE Annual Meeting
    August 9-12
    Toronto, Canada
    (Contact: 202-554-8050)
  3. Pro Bike/Pro Walk Conference
    September 8-11
    Santa Barbara, CA
    (Contact: Karen Nozick
    202-463-6622)
  4. AASHTO Annual Meeting
    November 6-10
    Boston, MA
    (Contact: Hannah Whitney, 202-624-5800)
  5. Call for abstracts for The Urban Street Symposium
    Dallas, TX
    June 28-30
    You are encouraged to submit any abstract on any urban street design topic (Send abstracts to:
    J.L. Gattis
    Mack-Blackwell Transportation Center
    University of Arkansas
    4190 Bell Engineering Center
    Fayetteville, AR 72701)

Completed Activity

Improving Conditions for Bicycling and Walking, A Best Practice Report, is available by contacting the National Bicycling and Pedestrian Clearinghouse, 1-800-760-6272. The report gives examples of projects that may be replicated in other places and provides contacts for help in answering questions. The report is a collaboration of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP), Federal Highway Administration, and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.

Rumble Strips

At the State Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator's Meeting (mentioned before), the subject of rumble strips and their effect on bicycling was addressed. Rumble strips have been a topic of discussion among the coordinators for some time, and this meeting's discussion centered around the inclusion of rumble strips in AASHTO's updated Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities. AASHTO's policy states that all roads should be designed and constructed under the assumption they will be used by bicyclists. Many States use rumble strips to deter vehicles from running off the road, but rumble strips can impact the safety of a bicyclist since they can reduce usable shoulder width, limit access on and off the road, trap debris, channelize the bicyclist's path, and prevent bicyclists from crossing the road to make left turns. There were a number of questions raised concerning the design of the rumble strip, research on different types of strips and widths, and how much width is needed on the shoulder to provide safe use for the bicyclist. The coordinators agreed to submit their suggestions for revisions to the draft AASHTO Guide.

Previous Issues

The "Pedestrian Forum" newsletter is available on the Home Page at http://www.ota.fhwa.dot.gov/walk. Topics covered were:

Update on Partnership for a Walkable America

The Partnership met on Monday, February 23 in Washington, D.C. to discuss its Draft Strategic Plan and Walk Your Child to School Week (discussed on the previous page of this newsletter). Included in the Strategic Plan were outlines for an Annual Walkable Community Awards and an Annual Best Pedestrian Projects Awards. The Strategic Plan covers 1998 through the year 2002.

Alcohol Impaired Pedestrians

NHTSA sponsored a study to develop an accurate picture of the involvement of various cultural populations in alcohol-related pedestrian crashes, identify cultural barriers for each group, and recommend strategies for future research aimed at reducing these crash problems. The study found that among white, black, and Hispanic pedestrians aged 15 and older who died in vehicle crashes, 39 to 47 percent on average has blood alcohol contents (BAC) of 0.10 percent, and the proportion increased to 84 percent for Native Americans (see figure):

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Percent of Fatally Injured Adult Pedestrians with Known BACs at or above .10 and .20%

Further, among Hispanics, the highest levels of alcohol involvement were found in Hispanic males 21 and older; and among black males and females over age 25. For Native Americans, very high levels were found in both men and women of all ages. Asian and Pacific Islanders, on the other hand, had proportions of alcohol involvement that were extremely low in pedestrian crashes.

To obtain a copy of the report, Identification of the Alcohol-Pedestrian Crash Problem Among Culturally Diverse Groups, contact the Office of Research and Traffic Records, NHTSA, NTS-31, 400 7th St., SW, Washington, DC 20590, or send a fax to (202) 366-7096.

Editors:
Leverson Boodlal
(Office of Technology Applications, FHWA, HTA-30)

Tamara Broberg
(Office of Highway Safety, FHWA, HHS-10)

Address: USDOT, FHWA, 400 7th St. SW, Washington, DC 20590

Our Challenge is to create an environment of change
in which all communities "buy into" the concept of
Pedestrian safety and walkability

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