A recent article in The Atlantic details how the protected bike lane suddenly became common in America. The spread of bike lanes to so many corners of the country couldn’t have happened without a set of street-design standards, written down in a book so that less daring engineers didn’t have to blaze their own trails anew. The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) codified emerging protected bike lane practice in New York City and other pioneering cities into what eventually became the Urban Street Design Guide. See: “The Design Bible That Changed How Americans Bike in Cities.”  See: https://theatln.tc/2CUUwOx

The Centre for Transport Studies at University College London, England, has released a new report that outlines interventions for making travel easier for people with mental impairments. The report assesses the ease of various modes of travel for people with disabilities, including walking, taking the bus, ride hailing, and rail. It also includes specific interventions to address issues people experience. Download “Building Confidence: Improving Travel for People with Mental Impairments  https://bit.ly/2uOLmVb.” (.pdf)

The USDOT has released a report that identifies 8 multimodal policy and program areas that state DOTs can implement to help improve safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users and others. The report focuses on the most vulnerable users—pedestrians and bicyclists— and details infrastructure approaches that can provide for their safety. Download Safety for All Users Report at https://bit.ly/2Iwwb4L  (.pdf)

Electric bicycles (aka e-bikes) are growing in popularity. Some suggest that e-bikes make cycling a more practical option for getting around by providing a boost for getting up hills, and giving older bones and weary muscles a bit of a break. Thus far only about 1% of the new bicycles sold in the US have been e-bikes, but in some European countries (notably the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria) e-bikes account for a quarter of all sales. In many US communities the laws regulating e-bike use need to catch up. In many places there’s ambiguity about the types of e-bikes that are allowed, and where people can ride them. Some e-bikes are more powerful than others, and move too fast for bike lanes shared with slower cyclists. Washington state advocates are working with state legislators to clarify the rules for e-bike operation on streets and trails. See the chart that classifies access and use by the type of assistance an e-bike provides and the maximum assist speed. See the related article at StreetsBlog USA: https://bit.ly/2GDXMk2

Road crashes are estimated to be the 10th leading cause of death globally. The World Resources Institute has released a study that calls for preventing the 1.25 million global traffic deaths each year by implementing an approach that shifts responsibility away from drivers and pedestrians, and onto city planners and other officials. Researchers indicate that governments should treat traffic deaths like a public health issue, or a preventable disease, that can be fixed through better sidewalk and road planning, public transportation improvements and better urban design. The report is named Sustainable & Safe: A Vision and Guidance for Zero Road Deaths, and can be downloaded at https://bit.ly/2msnhMW (.pdf file)