Are you a joiner? Me neither! Just the same, here I am a first-year member on the Minneapolis Pedestrian Advisory Committee. Since the city is taking applications for this year’s vacancies through April 20th, I thought sharing my PAC experiences thus far could help others deciding whether to apply. What compelled this city policy novice […]
There’s an intriguing experiment happening right now in Saint Paul over the precise procedures for testimony at City Hall. The long-standing rule that speakers “state their address” before testifying has been waived, in favor of simply writing it on the “sign-in sheet” next to the podium. The local angle here is that this movement seems […]
The University of Minnesota is known for its academics and beauty in all seasons. A 3rd party site did at least rank it #50 in the Most Amazing College Campuses for 2018. I usually notice the more subtle notes like the perfectly curvy bike lanes along the West Bank campus, the grand piano in Coffman […]
Thus far in this series of ideas concerning the path that the city of St. Paul might take towards becoming a Vision Zero city that pays more than token lip-service to the idea, the first three of the “Five E’s” – Evaluation, Engineering, and Education – have provided a framework for studying the issues, re-designing […]
Why does the city need to know — and publish — the home address of a resident who wishes to comment on a public issue?
A month ago we took a look at the history of bicycle helmets and data on their usage at various locations in Minnesota. But should a bicycle helmet by mandatory, or even worn in the first place? Everyone points to the original study saying they reduce head injuries by 85% or tells anecdotes about how […]
A very common comment from people is that they don’t ride a bicycle because they don’t feel safe on our streets. This is largely a universal human condition and not limited to just the U.S. Dutch folk feel no more comfortable in various situations than U.S. folk. And this is what drives transportation engineering in […]
Here’s a chart from a recent New York Times op-ed column comparing the United states to a few other countries. Long story short, we have not made much progress in the last 20 years about improving our road safety. Here’s the chart: The Times piece lists a few reasons for this relative lack of progress, […]
On November 7th, Saint Paul elected a new mayor for the first time in twelve years, former Ward 1 City Council Member Melvin Carter III. Carter campaigned on a platform that pledged to move Saint Paul forward, calling to “reduce our city’s carbon footprint by expanding transit, biking, and pedestrian opportunities citywide” and to “design […]
Roundabouts are safer for motorized vehicles. But that may not be true for pedestrians, whose patterns have been insufficiently studied.