StreetLife #38 / September 2009
|
Dear friend,
Enjoy reading StreetLife? Do you look forward to the next StreetLife, StreetTalk or StreetHeadline? Support this publication, our events and advocacy work highlighted below by becoming a member today. They cannot happen without your support.
Thank you! |
In this issue
StreetTalk
· StreetTalk: Abu Dhabi: sustainable transportation in the desert? The future of urban mobility in the Middle East, Thurs, Oct 1, 7 pm >>>
· Tell Congress To Support Public Transportation, Cycling, and Pedestrian Facilities
Recent Activity
· LivableStreets hosts new blog
· Craigie Bridges at Museum of Science gets bike-friendlier during construction
· New bicycle lanes in Boston and Cambridge
Announcements
· Park(ing) Day, tomorrow, Friday, Sept 18, all day
·
MoveMASS: Creating an MBTA that is Accessicble to All, Tues, Sept 22,
8:15 am (featuring LivableStreets board member Chris Hart)
· Volunteers needed: Boston Bikes bicycle counts
· Launch of "bike rack request" website · Join LivableStreets Alliance team and volunteer at Hub On Wheels, Sun, Sept 27
· Professional bicycle racing returns to Boston
· Rail-Volution conference is coming to Boston
· A library of success stories
|
StreetTalk
____________________________________________________________________ | |
Abu Dhabi: sustainable transportation in the desert? The future of urban mobility in the Middle East
by Mark Chase, Transportation Planning Consultant
Thurs, Oct 1, 7-9 pm @ LivableStreets office, 100 Sidney St, Cambridge [ map...]
 What are oil
rich cities are doing with the money we spend on gasoline? The Capitol
of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, has launched an ambitious
effort to become the world's greenest city by
transforming itself from a car-centric city to one that is
pedestrian, transit and bicycle friendly: all in less than seven years.
Come and learn, through Mark's first hand experience, why and how this
change is taking place.
Mark Chase
has transportation planning experience in the public, private and
non-profit sectors. He was part of the senior management team that
launched the innovative car-sharing program Zipcar.com, and
GoLoco.org, an innovative web-based car-pooling tool. Mark is actively
involved with car-parking reform as key component of sustainable
transportation systems. Currently Mark is a consulting
associate for Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates, and is a
professor at Tufts University.
StreetTalks are open to the public, $5 suggested donation, beer/sodas provided compliments of Harpoon Brewery and delivered thanks to Metro Pedal Power.
Sponsored by LivableStreets Alliance. For more information, click here.
> Related Article: 'A
Zero-Emissions City in the Desert: Oil-rich Abu Dhabi is building a
green metropolis. Should the rest of the world care?' from Technology
Review, March/April 2009. "The construction is the start of a vast
experiment, an attempt to create the world's first car-free,
zero-carbon-dioxide-emissions, zero-waste city." Read on >>>
> Related Article:
'Abu Dhabi Releases Ambitious Transport Plan' from The Transport
Politic, Feb 2009. "Abu Dhabi's future, hope the city's planners, will
be sustainable and result in a pedestrian-oriented, less polluted
environment. As a result, the plan envisions tramways running
throughout the city, with many parallel lines along the waterfront. In
certain districts, the city plans personal rapid transit service, which
would supplement the streetcar system." Read on >>>
August StreetTalk movie screening a big hit!
On August
26, over sixty people attended the LivableStreets
StreetTalk to watch the film 'Taken for a Ride', the
story of how the automobile industry hastened a shift from public
transportation to private cars through tactics ranging from cultural
propaganda to ripping up tracks, followed by a lively discussion about
transit today. If you missed the movie screening, or want to show the
movie to a friend, you can find it online here. |
Action e-lerts
_____________________________________________________________ |
Tell Congress To Support Public Transportation, Cycling, and Pedestrian Facilities
"Here's
a riddle: what is inexpensive, accessible to all, can help create jobs,
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on foreign oil, improves
the health and safety of Americans, and has a great return on
investment for our country?" asks Transportation for America.
The
answer is public transportation. Even though health care reform
will dominate the rest of the legislative session, Congress must also
deal with several transportation-related bills including the Fiscal
Year 2010 Appropriations bills, the passage of a long-term surface
transportation authorization bill or an extension of current
transportation programs, and climate change legislation.
· Contact
your members of Congress and urge them to pass the Transportation,
Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD)
Appropriations bill prior to the end of the fiscal year on September 30.
· Urge
your elected representatives in the U.S. House and Senate to support
the higher levels of funding for public transportation in the Senate
bill.
· Ask them to support $4 billion for High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail as included in the House version of the bill.
For details, see the American Public Transportation Association website or Transportation For America |
_________________________________________________________________ |
LivableStreets Alliance Hosts New Blog
"Musings
on transportation, health, and livable communities" written by Steve
Miller, a founding LivableStreets board member. It serves as an
"op-ed" section rather than the official editorial position of the
organization. Postings are intended to be analytic commentaries
about larger issues rather than a daily recounting of personal activity
or opinions.
"We are as we move. We make
personal choices, but those choices are shaped by our
surroundings. And our surroundings are shaped by a web of
inter-connected systems including transportation, energy, technologies,
economics, and more. These systems make some choices easy and
others extremely difficult - even to the point of shaping our
assumptions about what is possible versus what we don't even bother
thinking about," the blog overview states.
"Transportation, like
the others, has a huge impact on where we live and work, the kinds of
work we do, the types of food and shelter we consume, how we play and
relate to others, our health, our environment, and everything
else. As Winston Churchill said about architecture - "We shape our
buildings; thereafter they shape us" - so, too, about transportation."
"This
blog will explore how our transportation system can be structured to
improve our lives - by creating more livable streets."
Miller's blog can be accessed from LivableStreets Alliance's home page or directly at http://blog.livablestreets.info/.
Some recent postings include:
ReDefining Transportation from Moving Vehicles to Place-Making
Why the Dutch Don't Wear Bike Helmets: Building Safety Into The Road
What Happens If You Build It...Or If You Take It Away?
|
Craigie Bridge at Museum of Science Gets Bike-friendlier during construction period 
Signs of changes can be seen during the construction
of the Craigie draw and dam bridges. Because of advocacy work by
LivableStreets Alliance and others, the state Department of
Conservation and Recreation has significantly improved its plans for
the Charles River bridges to incorporate better accommodations for
walking and cycling.
As part of the DCR repair of the bridges, sharrows (share the road
symbols) and "Bicyclists May Use Full Lane" signs have been installed.
We hope this will help bicyclists riding in the roadway and for
motorists to give bicyclists their space.
|
|
New bicycle lanes in Boston & Cambridge
New bike lanes on Columbus Avenue and North Harvard Street; plans for lanes on Commonwealth Ave.
Boston add additional bike lanes by the end of this year. Two notable locations are on Columbus Avenue in the South End (shown here) and along  North
Harvard Street in Allston. Local observers have noted that
cyclists seem more likely to stop at the red lights at the end of the
lanes now that they feel they have a safer space on the road. And
cars are no longer parking in the bike lane now that the city has
started ticketing violators.
There was a
public meeting at the Copley Public Library in Boston to discuss
extending bike lanes on Commonwealth Ave from Kenmore to the Public
Gardens. A proposed design will place the lanes on the left-hand
side along the mall -- away from the parked (and double-parked)
cars. As the consultant pointed out in response to complaints of
"wild cyclists," the addition of bicycle facilities typically increases
compliance of traffic controls by bicyclists.
Also, check
out the new bike lanes installed this week on River
Street in Cambridge; bike lanes on companion Western Avenue were added
last year. |
|
Progress in Somerville
 Keep up the momentum by emailing the Mayor!
Somerville
Avenue rebuilding will soon end and, through the efforts of
LivableStreets Alliance members and others, 1.2 miles of
continuous bike lanes from Porter Square to Union Square will be
installed. Next spring the City is planning to stripe bike lanes along
Broadway between Magoun Square and McGrath Highway. Sharrows
(shared lane markings) have also been added to Elm, Mossland, Washington and Park Street - about 1.3 miles combined.
If you bike through Somerville, show your support for these improvements by sending an email to Mayor Joe Curtatone. If you're a Somerville resident, you can also e-mail your Alderman (find your Alderman here). |
Announcements
_____________________________________________________________ |
Join the PARK(ing) Day Celebrations - Friday all day
Tomorrow, Fri, Sept 18, join us to reclaim a piece of the street for social life.
 LivableStreets
Alliance and WalkBoston will transform a parking space in front of
Boston City Hall into a mini-park with sod, chairs and a hammock. The
first ever PARK(ing) day spot was last year in front of city hall
(photo). Watch our film about last year here >>>
Other
Boston PARK(ing) Day parks will be on Newbury Street in front of the
Boston Architectural College, on Commonwealth Avenue at Boston
University, in Allston at the intersection of Brighton Ave and Harvard
Ave. There will be two parks in Cambridge - one in Harvard Square
and one in Porter Square.
Originally
created by Rebar, San Francisco art and design collective,
PARK(ing) Day is an annual, one-day, global event where artists,
activists, and citizens collaborate to temporarily transform metered
parking spots into "PARK(ing)" spaces: temporary public
parks intended to promote creativity, civic engagement, critical
thinking, unscripted social interactions, generosity and play.
Drop by any, or all, of these parks
to celebrate another view of urban space. Have lunch, wiggle your toes
in the grass, play board games and enjoy your neighborhood!
|
MoveMASS: Creating an MBTA that is Accessible to All
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 8:15-9:30 AM
@ Brown Rudnick, One Financial Center, across from South Station (Photo ID is required for entry to building)
Gary
Talbot, MBTA's Assistant General Manager for System-wide Accessibility,
and Chris Hart, Director of Transit and Urban Projects at Institute for
Human Centered Design and LivableStreets Alliance Board Member will be speaking.
Click here for more information.
|
Volunteers Needed: Boston Bikes bicycle counts
The Boston Bikes program are counting the number of cyclists in select areas around the City of Boston.
The things that are counted, count. Boston Bikes needs to document how the city's
new bike lanes have changed the number of on-road cyclists, and develop
baselines for measuring the impact of future improvements.
|
Launch of "bike rack request" website
 When
you bike to your Boston or Cambridge destination and can't find a bike
rack, what do you do? Lock to a sign, railing, or (gasp) tree? Now you can
use our new on-line website to request a location-just point to the
location on a google-map! All the requests are delivered to the
bike-rack coordinators in each city who will add them to the queue.
Made possible in part with funding from REI/Bicycle Friendly
Communities Grant, and some tech-savvy volunteers!
Click here to request bike racks in Cambridge or Boston. |
|
Join the LivableStreets Team at Hub on Wheels
Hub
On Wheels, Boston Mayor Menino's annual Bike Ride & Festival, has
played a critical role in raising public awareness for the Boston Bikes
program. LivableStreets Alliance has been involved in Hub On Wheels
since its inception. This year, you can both join the city-wide ride
and support LivableStreets (at no extra cost). When registering, just
indicate that you are a member of the LivableStreets Alliance team when prompted for a team affiliation.
Ride 10, 30 or 50 miles on September 27, 2009.
Not riding, but want to get involved? Volunteer for LivableStreets on Sept 26 & 27 at Boston City Hall during the bicycle festival. E-mail jackie@livablestreets.info for more information. |
|
Professional Bicycle Racing Returns to Boston
For
the first time in 20 years, Boston will host an elite level
professional bicycle race at city hall on Saturday, September 26th.
 The
first annual TD Bank Mayor's Cup Pro Race on Saturday, September 26th
starts at 2 pm with a Boloco Block Party, then a kids race, a mascot
race, men and women's pro races (with equal prize money for each), and wraps up with a free concert featuring Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra.
Check it out today and enter to win a free bicycle.
|
|
Rail-Volution Conference is coming to Boston
RailVolution
brings together advocates, policy-makers, technical experts, and others
interested in making transit and land-use work together for the
betterment of our communities and country. From Oct. 29 through
Nov. 1 this huge event will be in Boston. LivableStreets Alliance
will be attending, and participating in the "Advocates Reception"
on the opening night. See Rail-Volution Registration and Scholarship Information for more information. |
|
A Library of Success Stories
Case studies for advocacy, classroom, or simple morale building.
The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center Case Study Compendium contains a collection of all of the case studies developed by the PBIC and the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle
Professionals (APBP). The case studies, or success stories, cover
pedestrian and bicycle projects and programs from across the US and
abroad, including engineering, education, enforcement, encouragement,
planning, health promotion, and comprehensive safety initiatives. | |
|
|
_____________________________________________________________________
Sincerely,
Jacqueline Douglas
Transportation Advocate
LivableStreets Alliance
E: jackie@livablestreets.info
P: 617.621.1746
W: www.livablestreets.info
______________________________________________________________________
You are subscribed to the LivableStreets Alliance's monthly
newsletter, StreetLife, edited by Jacqueline Douglas and Steven E.
Miller. We also publish the weekly StreetHeadlines, edited by
Charlie Denison, containing annotated links news items related to
transportation, public spaces, and urban planning. To subscribe
or unsubscribe to either one, click the "Update Profile" link below.
|
|
|
|
|
