Home > Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety > Pedestrian Forum Newsletter > Summer 2002
Pedestrian Forum – Summer 2002
Safe Pedestrians and a Walkable America
VOL. 21, Summer 2002
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/pedforum/
The goal of the FHWA is to continually improve highway safety by reducing
highway fatalities and injuries by 20 percent in ten years. Ensuring safe
travel on highways is the guiding principle throughout the FHWA. Pedestrian
fatalities account for about 12 percent of all traffic fatalities and are
one of the focus areas of the Safety Office. FHWA has taken the position
that walking and bicycling are legitimate modes of transportation.
There is no question that conditions for bicycling and walking need to be
improved in every community in the United States; it is no longer acceptable
that over 5,000 pedestrians and bicyclists are killed in traffic every year,
that people with disabilities cannot travel without encountering barriers,
and that two desirable and efficient modes of travel have been made difficult
and uncomfortable.
Every transportation agency has the responsibility and the opportunity to
make a difference in the bicycle-friendliness and walkability of our
communities. The design information to accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians
is available, as is the funding. The United States Department of Transportation
is committed to doing all it can to improve conditions for bicycling and walking
and to make them safer ways to travel. (The Pedestrian Forum is also on the
web at http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/pedforum/index.cfm)
New Enhancements for the Bicycle Safety Education Resource Center – Several improvements are being made to the Bicycle Safety Education Resource
Center, which is a new website that provides bicycle safety education information
for bicyclists of all ages, motorists, and those who teach children to ride.
Currently, the site contains a searchable database of training materials,
a guide to help you identify the training needs of your audience, and a Good
Practices Guide to assist with the development of your own program.
Modifications will be made to the Resource Center by September 2002 that will
provide a manageable process for growing the resource database as well as
keeping it current. This will be accomplished by developing an Internet based
system that takes on-line program submission, allows program contacts to manage
their own program information in the database and enables the resource center
database to be controlled from a secure administration site. To access the
Resource Center, visit http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/ee/fhwa.html.
Hard copies of the Good Practices Guide are available by contacting
Tamara Broyhill at tamara.Broyhill@fhwa.dot.gov
FHWA Pennsylvania Division: Pedestrian/Bicycle Accommodations Review
– The Pennsylvania Division and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
(PENNDOT) recently completed a review to assess how FHWA and PENNDOT are accommodating
pedestrians and bicyclists on Federal-aid highway projects in Pennsylvania
and to develop an approach to assure that future projects comply with FHWA
policy. The review team met with representatives from PENNDOT Central Office
and four engineering Districts across the Commonwealth. The District reviews
included evaluations of environmental documents, design plans, and special
provisions of Federal-aid projects, and on-going or completed construction. Recommendations of the review include:
- Update state environmental handbooks and design manuals to provide better
guidance for addressing pedestrian and bicyclist accommodations on projects.
- Develop a specific definition of "to accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists".
- Provide training regarding environmental, design, and construction procedures
and policies for pedestrian and bicyclist accommodations.
- Develop a pedestrian and bicyclist maintenance and protection of traffic
statewide special provision.
The Division Office is now working with PENNDOT to implement the recommendations.
Analysis of Pedestrian and Bicycle Expenditures – The Intermodal Surface
Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) and Transportation Equity Act of the
21st Century (TEA) provided funding for pedestrian and bicycle
projects. Annual tables, by State and by funding program, have been compiled
for the past 10 years. For example, more than $339 million of TEA-21 funds
were obligated last year for pedestrian and bicycle projects. Contact Jim
Smid for more information: jim.schmid@fhwa.dot.gov.
NPA Contains New Provisions for Pedestrians/Bicycles – The FHWA's
Office of Operations issued a Notice of Proposed Amendments (NPA) for the
Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. The NPA contains various new and
innovative pedestrian and bicycle devices and provisions, including allowing
the use of the "animated eyes display" and "countdown pedestrian devices"
on pedestrian signal displays. To date, these devices have only been allowed
under experimental status, but the new provision would make them standard
devices that any locality could use without having to get permission from
the FHWA. In addition, the NPA offers new guidance for accessible pedestrian
signals, extending the pedestrian clearance time so that it is sufficient
to allow pedestrians to clear the full width of the traveled portion of the
roadway, new guidance for use of the "in pavement lights," use of colored
pavement in certain circumstances, and much more. The NPA will be open for
comment until August 19, 2002. Please review the NPA and comment on it. It can be accessed at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-12269-filed.pdf
Preliminary Estimates of 2001 Fatalities – The NHTSA announced its
preliminary analysis of highway traffic fatalities in 2001. The number of
pedestrians killed, 4,698, remained virtually unchanged. NHTSA annually collects
crash statistics from 50 States and the District of Columbia to produce the
annual report on traffic fatality trends. The final 2001 report will be available
in August. Summaries of the preliminary report are on the NHTSA website at www.nhtsa.dot.gov.
Draft Guidelines on Accessible Public Rights-of-Way – The U.S. Access
Board has released for public comment draft guidelines that cover pedestrian
access to sidewalks and streets, including crosswalks, curb ramps, street
furnishings, parking, and other components of public rights-of-way. The guidelines
are being developed under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which
covers access to a wide range of facilities in the public and private sectors,
and the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA), which requires access to certain
federally funded facilities. Local jurisdictions and other entities covered
by these laws must ensure that the facilities they build or alter are accessible
to people with disabilities. The new provisions would supplement the Access
Board's ADA and ABA accessibility guidelines, which address many types of
facilities but do not currently provide guidance specifically tailored to
public rights-of-way. The draft guidelines are available for public comment
until October 28. The Access Board will hold a public meeting on the guidelines
in Portland, Oregon on October 8. For additional information, go to the Access
Board's website at www.access-board.gov/news/prow-release.htm.
Pro Bike/Pro Walk 2002 – This biennial conference will be held on
September 3-6 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The program will reflect the growing
interest in and support for walking and bicycling as key elements of livable
communities. There will be seminars on bicycle and pedestrian facility planning,
design and engineering, promotion and encouragement programs, public health
and physical activity, education and safety research and programs, effective
advocacy techniques, and trails and greenway development. Conference participants
include Federal, State and local personnel, engineers, planners, transportation
officials, educators, public health specialists, park and recreation managers,
and advocates. The U.S. Department is a sponsor of this conference. For more
information, go to www.bikewalk.org.
Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day – The second annual Put the Brakes
on Fatalities Day will be held on October 10. Public and private organizations
have joined together to increase safety on America's roadways. Events will
be held around the country to solicit everyone to focus on their own individual
behavior when using the roadways as pedestrians, bicycle and motorcycle operators,
motor vehicle operators and passengers. For more information, visit www.brakesonfatalities.org.
Detectable Warnings – Detectable warnings are an ADA requirement in
the current Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG)
for the use of detecting the boundary between the sidewalk and the street.
The original requirement in ADAAG was suspended for a time to conduct further
research. Research was conducted, and the suspension of the requirement was
lifted on July 26, 2001. Detectable warnings are now required when constructing
and altering curb ramps. Truncated domes are the only detectable warnings
allowed by ADAAG. They are a unique design and have proven to be the most
detectable surface. The original ADA design standard for truncated domes is
found in ADAAG (4.29.2). After the research was conducted, a new design recommendation
was made for the dimension and placement of the domes on curb ramps. Both
the FHWA and the U.S. Access Board are encouraging the use of the new design
pattern and application over the original ADAAG design. Publications of the
FHWA and the U.S. Access Board contain comparable information. However, at
the time the FHWA's publication, Designing Sidewalks and Trails for Access,
Part II, Best Practices Design Guide, went to print, the suspension had
not been lifted, so the text in Chapter 6 does not mention that detectable
warnings are required. For information on the recommended design and other
useful information, visit www.access-board.gov.
International Walk to School Day - The 2002 event is scheduled for
October 2. The goal of the walk varies from community to community. Some
walks rally for safer and improved streets, some to promote healthier habits
and some to conserve the environment. Whatever the reason, the events encourage
a more walkable world. More information can be found on two websites, www.walktoschool-usa.org and www.iwalktoschool.org.
UPCOMING EVENTS AND CONFERENCES
1) August 4-7, ITE Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, www.ite.org
2) September 3-6, Pro Bike/Pro Walk, St. Paul, Minnesota, www.bikewalk.org
4) September 8-11, NAGHSR Annual Meeting, St. Louis, Missouri, www.naghsr.org
5) October 2, International Walk to School Day, www.walktoschool-usa.org and www.iwalktoschool.org
6) October 10, Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day, www.brakesonfatalities.org
7) October 23-24, Worcester, Massachusetts, Caroline Hymoff, 617-973-8908
Editors:
shirley.thompson@fhwa.dot.gov, 202-366-2154
leverson.boodlal@fhwa.dot.gov, 202-366-8044
tamara.redmon@fhwa.dot.gov,
202-366-4077
400 7th Street, SW, Room 3407, Washington, DC 20590
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