An Australian report, Speed Reduction Treatments for High-speed Environments, examines the performance of different types of speed-reducing treatments (or combinations of treatments) in high-speed environments.  The project also considered how desired speed can be aligned with a safe, anticipated operating speed with the goal of making high-speed roads more self-explanatory. Treatments reviewed included: treatments to support development of road hierarchies, perceptual countermeasures, transverse rumble strips, vehicle activated signs, gateway treatments, wide median centerlines, and sight distance adjustments on intersection approaches.

The publication, Cycling Delivers on the Global Goals (http://bit.ly/1lWY0YK), showcases the ambitions of 70 cities from around the world to increase their mode share of cycling, as well as highlighting the link between cycling and 11 of the 17 new UN Sustainable Development Goals. The publication refers explicitly to the recent ITDP study – “A Global High Shift Cycling Scenario” (http://bit.ly/1MS0C4b),– shows, cycling can have a substantial positive impact on the world’s future. The scenario highlights how increasing bicycle and e-bike use would help: saving almost $6 trillion over the next 15 years, improving quality of life and a 7% decrease of urban transport CO2 emissions.

The National Center for Transit Research (NCTR)  has evaluated how inter-modal connections between public transportation and public trails in Florida can improve livability. See: http://bit.ly/1SypSj8  The report, Methodology for Linking Greenways and Trails with Public Transportation in Florida explores existing ways of evaluating inter-modal connectivity, developes a methodology for evaluating trails and transit systems, and offers a trail/transit crossing inventory template to audit conditions at these junctures. It also recommends improvements at these junctures so people using nonmotorized transportation can use both public transit and a public trail to complete a multi-modal trip.

The study Relation between Vehicle Travel Velocity and Pedestrian Injury Risk in Different Age Groups for the Design of a Pedestrian Detection System (http://bit.ly/1Io9Vc4) clarifies the relation between the vehicle travel velocity and pedestrian injury severity or fatality risk using vehicle-to-pedestrian accident data from a macro database for 2009 in Japan. The percentage risk of fatality was consistent between sedans and light passenger cars at every vehicle travel velocity and increased rapidly at a vehicle travel velocity of 40 km/h, which targets pedestrians in all three age groups. The risk of fatality in the elderly age group increased rapidly at 40 km/h in car-to-pedestrian accidents involving sedans and light passenger cars; 4% or less at 30 km/h or lower, but 12% or more at 40 km/h or higher.

This photo archive of urban transformations shows that making city streets more user-friendly doesn’t have to be complicated. The archive, put together by the Brazilian urban design collective Urb-i, houses a collection of more than 350 before-and-after images showing city blocks across the world that have been transformed by pro-pedestrian makeovers.