Walk and Roll: WSDOT Active Transportation Update April 27, 2020

Most recent edition: April 13, 2020

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION NEWS FROM WSDOT AND PARTNERS

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Safe Routes to School and Pedestrian/Bicycle Program Call for Projects

Webinar May 5, 2-4pm

WSDOT Active Transportation Division is pleased to announce a call for projects for the Pedestrian and Bicyclist Program and the Safe Routes to School Program. All public agencies, including tribal governments, are eligible to apply. Applications for the Pedestrian and Bicyclist Program are due July 13, 2020 and applications for the Safe Routes to School Program are due on July 20, 2020.

For the 2021-23 biennium funding for these programs is anticipated to be approximately $18 million for the Pedestrian and Bicyclist Program and $19 million for the Safe Routes to School Program. As always, the actual funding amounts will be determined by the legislature.

A webinar about the programs and process is scheduled for May 5, 2020 from 2-4pm. It will include an overview of each program’s goals and evaluation criteria. The webinar will also review eligible project elements and the online portion of the application.

• Webinar registration link
• More information
• For questions: Contact Charlotte Claybrooke, our Active Transportation Program Manager at Claybrc@wsdot.wa.gov. 

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Words Matter: Effective Vision Zero Messaging

Webinar May 5, 11am-noon

If you've been a subscriber to this email for a while you've read the multimodal usage tips we share every so often. May 5 Barb Chamberlain, Director of WSDOT's Active Transportation Division, will present on language used in transportation safety work in a webinar hosted by the Vision Zero Network. Register here.

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COVID-19 and Active Transportation

We will continue to include this topical round-up in each edition. This news round-up isn’t exhaustive, but gives you an idea of the conversation playing out. We'll adjust headings over time as themes emerge and evolve. Earlier round-up: April 13, 2020 edition.

Resources for Washington State

• Washington State Coronavirus Response official site
• Guidance on Cloth Face Coverings from the Washington State Department of Health (PDF)
• Information on COVID19 from DOH available in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Punjabi, Russina, Somali, Spanish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese

Infrastructure Responses

International

• London pedestrians and cyclists may get more space on roads
• Coronavirus: Cars to be banned from roads for safer exercise
• New Zealand First Country To Fund Pop-Up Bike Lanes, Widened Sidewalks During Lockdown
• Europe’s Cities Are Making Less Room for Cars After Coronavirus
• Milan announces ambitious scheme to reduce car use after lockdown
• Paris To Create 650 Kilometers Of Post-Lockdown Cycleways
• Australia: Pedestrians and cyclists are taking back street space but can they keep it?
• Open Parks And Trust Canadians To Social Distance. We'll Be Healthier For It.

USA--General

• The Pandemic Could Be an Opportunity to Remake Cities
• Five Temporary COVID Measures that US Cities Should Make Permanent
• Ten Ways Every City Should Respond to COVID-19 On Its Streets, Compiled by NACTO
• Rethinking Sidewalks and Streets in the Midst of COVID-19
• Closing Streets to Create Space for Walking and Biking
• How to Save Summer 2020
• The Pandemic Shows What Cars Have Done to Cities
• Driving Safely In The Time Of Coronavirus And Why It Matters
• Cities Are Taking Advantage Of Less Traffic To Rethink Their Roads
• Mixed Signals: ‘Beg Buttons’ and the Pandemic

USA--Cities and States

• NYC: De Blasio Commits to 100 Miles of ‘Open Streets’
• New York City sidewalks have failed us. Here’s how we can fix them.
• D.C. widens sidewalks in five locations to allow better social distancing during pandemic
• Pasadena’s New Safer Streets Measures: 100 Miles of Slow Streets, Traffic Signals Modified
• Oakland Paves Way for Open Streets Everywhere
• Talking Headways Podcast: How Oakland Got it So Right
• Are we using our streets properly? Coronavirus gives Connecticut a chance to reassess
• Coronavirus: Minneapolis To Add More 'Stay Healthy Streets'
• Minneapolis automates walk signals to protect pedestrians from coronavirus

Washington State

• Edmonds: City to close Sunset Avenue North to traffic and parking starting April 17
• Seattle: Announcing Stay Healthy Streets
• Stay Healthy Streets continue this week and will add 3 new neighborhoods this weekend
• Here Are the Streets We Wish Seattle Would Open for Pedestrians
• Social Distancing Is Impossible on Most Seattle Sidewalks
• Some ways the city can help more people bike during the West Seattle High Bridge closure
• Thurston Commissioners Vote to Officially Reopen County Trails During COVID-19 Shutdown

Resilience and Recovery

• The Positive Potential For Biking After Social Distancing
• As the Impacts of Coronavirus Grow, Micromobility Fills in the Gaps
• Biking Provides a Critical Lifeline During the Coronavirus Crisis
• Lime Kicks Off Webinar Series Examining Micromobility In A Post-COVID Age

Participation

• Bike shops and trails in Snohomish County are open and busy
• Pandemic fuels big increase in biking and walking in Minnesota
• Wary of Public Transport, Coronavirus-Hit Americans Turn to Bikes
• Bikes a two-wheel cure for cabin fever
• Tips for Maximizing Your Bike During COVID-19

Equity

• COVID-19 & Race: Commentary
• Disproportionality
• Not Interested in Your New or Old Normal: This Shouldn’t Be Normal
• Confronting Power and Privilege
• Equitable Enforcement of Public Health Laws
• Enforcing Streets for People
• COVID-19: Progressive Urban Advocacy Means More than Wider Sidewalks
• Bottom-up politics in urban landscapes: Q&A with author Barbara Brown Wilson

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National and Local/Regional Surveys on COVID-19 and Active Transportation

• Local Actions to Support Walking and Cycling During Social Distancing Dataset: Open-access dataset invites people to submit information about their communities’ efforts to rebalance streets for walking, biking, and other forms of travel while promoting social distancing.
• Smart Growth America survey Complete Streets + COVID-19 on community responses
• Rails-to-Trails Conservancy survey about trail management experiences. 
• American Trails survey to quantify the effects of the pandemic on the trails and outdoor recreation industry.
• Safe Routes During COVID-19: Resource Tracking Document for ideas to engage youth and families while schools are closed
• Cascade Bicycle Club survey Biking, Walking, and Rolling During COVID-19
• Seattle Neighborhood Greenways survey Safe Streets in an Era of Social Distancing
• Know of a survey related to active transportation inviting data from people in Washington state? Send to barb.chamberlain@wsdot.wa.gov with dates it's open and we'll share in the next Walk and Roll E-News.

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Rails-to-Trails Seeks Trail Project Plans

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy invites trail organizations and jurisdictions to send existing trail and/or active transportation plans with "ready-to-go" investments. WSDOT Active Transportation Division has been seeking this same information to include in the State Active Transportation Plan as part of a conceptual statewide bikeway network linking the US Bicycle Routes, regional trails, and population centers.

If your trail group submits information to RTC, they suggest you use the case study format you'll find in descriptions on their website. They note that job creation from trail projects is estimated at 17 full-time equivalent jobs per $1 million spent, according to a study commissioned by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) on American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) job creation.

If you send information on your trail project to RTC, we invite you to cc WSDOTactive@wsdot.wa.gov so we can add it to what we've received from jurisdictions that responded to our request earlier this spring. You'll have the chance to comment on the conceptual Washington State Bikeways Network when the draft plan comes out for public review and feedback later this spring.

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TRAININGS, CONFERENCES, WEBINARS

We add new trainings as we find them so the list changes with every issue. Some of these offer continuing education credits. All times are shown in Pacific time zone. 

All webinars listed are FREE unless a price is noted. All items are webinars unless a location is noted.

April

• April 28, 9-10am: On the Park Bench - The Local Government Response. Congress for the New Urbanism.
• April 28, 10-11am: Life After Carbon: The Next Global Transformation of Cities. Maryland Dept. of Planning and Smart Growth Network.
• April 28, 10-11:30am: Enhancing Mobility, Access and Safety for Pedestrians: Part I. PBIC/FHWA.
• April 28, 1-2pm: Mapping Our Roles for Social Change in Times of Crisis. SpeakOut.
• April 28, 5pm: Housing & Social Equity Series: A discussion with Richard Rothstein, Author of The Color of Law. California YIMY
• April 29, 10-11am: Lorain Connected: A collaborative approach to active transportation planning and implementation. Road to Zero Coalition.
• April 29, 11-11:30am: There’s No Tool Like Curbs. Eno Center for Transportation.
• April 30: "How to do Map Stuff" series of live online mapping workshops with YouTube live tutorials.
• April 30, 10-11:30am: Enhancing Mobility, Access and Safety for Pedestrians: Part II. PBIC/FHWA.

May

• May 1-31: National Bike Everywhere Month. May is still Bike Month. Even if you're riding alone, or six feet apart from other people, you can sign up for participation challenges in some locations. Check the list maintained by Cascade Bicycle Club to find out whether your local challenge is rolling in May.
  • Washington state Bike Everywhere Challenge will be held in June this year.
    
  • National Bike to Work Day is postponed to Sept. 22.
• May 1, noon-1pm: Transformative Talks: Community Resilience and COVID-19. The Untokening. Participation prioritized for BIPOC individuals and others who have felt tokenized. 
• May 5, 11am-noon: Words Matter: Effective Vision Zero Messaging. Speaker: WSDOT Active Transportation Division Director Barb Chamberlain. Vision Zero Network.
• May 5-6: 2020 National Shared Mobility Virtual Summit. Cost varies based on sector.
• May 7-8: Living Future 2020 Online Conference. Cost varies. International Living Future Institute.
• May 8, 11:30am-1pm: Creating And Using A Publicly Available Multimodal Transportation Data Archive. TREC at Portland State University
• May 13, 11am-noon: Walking and Walkability in the Time of COVID-19: New Policies and Practices. America Walks
• May 14, 10-11:30am: Common Ground: Shared Goals for the Trails and Health Communities. American Trails. Cost varies with membership.
• May 15, 11:30am-1pm: Safe Speeds Save Lives: How Portland is Managing Speeds for Safety. TREC at Portland State University
• May 15, noon-1pm: Transformative Talks: Community Resilience and COVID-19. The Untokening. Participation prioritized for BIPOC individuals and others who have felt tokenized. 
• May 20, 7pm, worldwide: Ride of Silence. Organizers recommends participants ride solo or with your household members. Organizers can still report rides organized to honor and remember those killed or injured while cycling on public roadways.
• May 20, 10-11am: City of Boston Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics. Road to Zero Coalition.
• May 20, noon-1pm: 2020 Vision: Through the Lens of Equity. APBP. Cost varies with membership.
• May 22, 11:30am-1pm: Understanding Technology-Based Exclusion in Emerging Smart Mobility Systems. TREC at Portland State University.
• May 29, noon-1pm: Transformative Talks: Community Resilience and COVID-19. The Untokening. Participation prioritized for BIPOC individuals and others who have felt tokenized. 

Planning Ahead

• June 1-30: Washington State #BikeEverywhere Challenge. Moving to June and to a new ride-tracking platform.

GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

• RCO grants: Deadline May 1 for several programs including Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP- Recreation; WWRP Habitat; WWRP Forestland; WWRP Farmland). A separate application will be due Nov. 1 for programs including the Recreational Trails Program.
• WSDOT Pedestrian/Bicyclist Program Grants: Deadline July 13
• WSDOT Safe Routes to School Grants: Deadline July 20
• USDOT TIFIA Rural Project Initiative loans can be used to construct pedestrian/bicyclist infrastructure
• Have any funding opportunities people should know about? Send to barb.chamberlain@wsdot.wa.gov

AWARDS, COMPETITIONS AND KUDOS

• May 15 deadline: Nominations due for Disability Rights Washington Breaking Barriers Awards.
• June 12 deadline: Contest Needs You to Create Better Bike Lane Barriers
• Aug. 12 deadline: Bicycle Friendly Communities applications
• Aug. 25 deadline: Bicycle Friendly Universities applications

PLANNING AND PROJECTS

• Division Connects, Spokane: Study on the Division Street corridor
• Children of the Sun Trail, Spokane: Planning efforts for the section of the NSC Children of the Sun Trail south of the Spokane River to the I 90 vicinity are ramping up. Engage in the process of determining the trail location and development of public space in and around the NSC. Visit NSCPlace.com for upcoming workshops, public surveys, and emerging concepts.
• E-bike use in National Wildlife Refuge System: Federal regulations proposed to permit e-bike use. Learn more in AASHTO article, federal regulation notice. Submit comments by June 8, 2020.
• Benton-Franklin COG Active Transportation Plan: Provide input.
• Looking for a WSDOT project to check on status, get email updates, attend an open house? Start here.

Have an upcoming project, open house, public comment opportunity? Construction projects people should know about as they relate to biking/walking? Compliments on a project? Send to barb.chamberlain@wsdot.wa.gov

PRESENT AND PARTICIPATE

• StreetSmart invites submission of published resources on integrating health in transportation by May 15 for a clearinghouse being developed with the Institute of Transportation Engineers. Account creation required to submit; ITE members will use their member login.

SURVEYS AND DATA COLLECTION

• Share your e-bike story: Invitation from Cascade Bicycle Club.
• E-Bike Study: If you have an electric bike powered by a Bosch system you're invited to participate in a National Science Foundation study of mobility by e-bike. Depending on which type of display your e-bike has, when you fill out the application you'll learn whether you meet the study criteria. More information.
• ITE Pedestrian Demand Survey: On behalf of the ITE Bicycle & Pedestrian Standing Committee, asks for information about crossings where before and after counts have been performed. Respondents will receive summary or link to completed results. Google account required to complete survey; for email option contact Mike Hendrix at mike.hendrix@perteet.com.
• Does your city/town have bicycle traffic signals? Add to the crowdsourced tracking spreadsheet of cities in North America

If you read this far, thank you! You're finding something of value here and you know someone else who should receive this kind of news and learn what's happening with the state Active Transportation Plan. Forward WSDOT Walk and Roll to others and share the subscription link on social media (tag it #WSDOTactive).