Here’s a map of the city of Minneapolis taken from the recent report that put together a massive amount of city-wide crash data. Here’s one of the maps in the study, which shows the crash density for the key “concentration” corridors where the bulk of the city’s crashes are located: The study has a lot […]
Urban planners and some bicycle and pedestrian advocates tell me that “roundabouts are safer than traditional signalized intersections.” It comes up in the context of conversations about pedestrian-friendly urban street design. I hear this line a lot and see it on websites and in social media posts. In most cases, folks are parroting various viral […]
Here’s a map from a recent working paper co-authored by Mengying Cui and streets.mn board alumnus David Levinson. The analysis, entitled “The Safest Path, analyzing the effects of crash costs on route choice and accessibility,” looks at Twin Cities road data and crash stats. To make a long story short, crashes are expensive, and there […]
Janette Sadik-Khan served as transportation commissioner for the city of New York during Michael Bloomberg’s tenure as mayor. She was in charge of most of the streets, roads, bridges, tunnels, and ferries responsible for moving a population of over eight million people. As such, she was responsible for the maintenance and programming of more infrastructure […]
Here’s a grim chart from the Star Tribune’s data desk showing the 2016 rising trend in pedestrian deaths from crashes. The chart below looks at death counts for the past ten years adjusted for the first nine months of the year: You should read through the article. The author, Eric Roper, interviews a public safety expert who points to the […]
It’s The Crank again, and today I’m going to talk about bicycle lighting or the lack of it, and the various ways I find it annoying. When I ride at night or in low-light situations, I like to have at least a rear light to make me more visible to motorists. A front light is […]
I was in a fury last week after learning that someone killed a Minneapolis child with their car on Halloween. First, I was angry that this happened at all. Halloween is the deadliest day of the year by far for children walking. Just this Halloween alone, 4 people were killed and 7 were injured around […]
In the midst of a busy month of traveling and sketching, the work on Bicyclopolis Book 2 continues unabated. In the meantime, here’s an ancient Roadkill Bill comic that explores a subject that should be familiar to every streets.mn reader from age nine to ninety. Click on the comic to make it bigger:
Here’s a fascinating chart making the rounds today, from a meta-study looking at how lane width impacts speed and (thus) crashes, injuries, and safety on streets: The trough of the curve (the place with the least severe crashes) seems to be right between 10.5′ and 11′. That’s something that cities should keep in mind, because the default […]
Some people inside and outside the bicycling community believe that we should require cyclists to get licenses and/or register their bikes with the state. License and registration fees would help pay for bicycle infrastructure and ensure that all cyclists are adequately trained in correct riding techniques. Motorists like this idea because they think cyclists don’t […]