Welcome to the Alliance's weekly roundup of state & local biking & walking advocacy news. Every week, we crawl the blogs of our member organizations and bring you the most interesting tidbits.
BENCHES HAVE BEEN MARKED.
This week saw the release of the 2014 Alliance Benchmarking Report, the biennial CDC study to analyze data on biking & walking in all U.S. states, the 52 largest cities, and (new this year) 17 midsized cities. It's comprehensive; it's a behemouth; it's a transportation nerd's dream come true. Download it here.
Pittsbugh advocates are excited that the report includes data on the City of Bridges.
Kansas City, MO is movin' on up in biking and walking rates.
Georgia Bikes is fascinated by 8 fascinating facts.
BikeWalkLee laments that Florida comes in last for biking and walking fatality rates. Room for improvement, y'all.
INFRASTRUCTURE NEWS
San Diego's I-805 project: $58.36 per mile, 0 accommodation for people getting around sans car.
Philadelphia advocates are concerned that driveways in the new Children's Hospital design will create danger for bicyclists.
Car parking takes up a lot of space on the San Francisco Marina Bay Trail even though 98% of users are on foot or on a bike.
Mayor Peduto of Pittsburgh touts involvement in the Green Lane Project as a key "First 100 Days" accomplishment. Woo hoo!
In preparation for a vote on a cycle track network, Bike Calgary secures an endorsement from a prominent downtown developer.
The Kansas City, MO Parks Department planned to build a trail to connect a neighborhood and a park. But the price tag went up, so sharrows will be fine, right?
Caltrans, the California DOT, endorsed the NACTO guide, and everybody is excited.
PROGRAMMING
Atlanta Streets Alive is this weekend!
We love this write-up from Chicago's Active Transportation Alliance about the value of a day of volunteering.
Last Friday was the second annual Walk to Work Day in San Francisco, and it was twice as big as the year before.
Bike Pittsburgh is bringing back I <3 My Bike, a cute bike photo booth that's also a registry system.
THE BIG PICTURE
The SF Bicycle Coalition has a shiny new website.
Come to think of it, so does the Alliance for Biking & Walking.
The world's #1 Trek dealer loves Bike San Diego. Us too, #1 Trek dealer!
ADVOCACY AVENUE
Seattle passed a new bike master plan, which includes plans for a protected bikeway network. Congrats, Cascade Bicycle Club!
There are confusing bike and pedestrian detours around the Navy Pier flyover construction site in Chicago. Advocates are working on it.
As the Secretary of the Wisconsin DOT tours the state for town hall meetings, advocates organize supporters to turn out.
An upcoming ballot measure in King County, WA will determine whether public transit gets big cuts.
LEGISLATION LANE
An ordinance in Chicago would allow e-bikes, including gas-powered ones, in bike lanes. Advocates came out in support of it, then clarified that they were against the gas-powered part.
California advocates are working on a Vulnerable Road Users bill.
Illinois has a new state bike plan and has announced 71 active transportation projects that will receive a total of $52.7 million in funding.
IN THE NEWS
Tennessee lawmakers tried to ban bus rapid transit in the state's metropolitan areas; now a deal will allow projects to proceed with oversight from the state. (Wired)
Cincinnati's mayor is trying to freeze a protected bike lane project. (Cincinnati Business Courier)
A Toronto study published in Pediatrics found that walking to school (a) has big health benefits and (b) is only dangerous if the built environment is dangerous. (CBS8)
When the streets un-open after CicLAvia, it becomes clear that Los Angeles needs better bike infrastructure. (Streetsblog LA)
"I just don't care," said the Australian driver who sent 44 text messages before plowing into a guy on a bike. (Treehugger)
TRAILER
Portland is stylin'.
