Explore our round-up of webinars and events coming up highlighting the latest road safety trends and best practices in planning and designing safe spaces for walking, biking, scooting, and rolling! Have an event you'd like us to share? Please submit your event here.
Conferences
2nd Transportation, Air Quality, and Health Symposium
Host: Texas A&M Transportation Institute
May 18-20, 2021 |
Join us at the virtual Transportation, Air Quality, and Health (TAQH2021) Symposium, hosted by the Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy and Health (CARTEEH) and co-sponsored by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and the University of California, Riverside (UCR). This one-of-a-kind virtual event will bring together experts from transportation and health. We will discuss research, policy, practice, and emerging issues related to transportation emissions, energy, air quality, exposures, and human health.
Webinars
Webinar: May is Bike Month – Ideas and Inspiration
Host: Active Transportation Resource Center (ATRC)
Wednesday, May 5, 2021 | 10:00am - 11:30am PT |
May is Bike Month! Come join the ATRC for an informal sharing session to learn more about exciting MIBM campaigns happening throughout California. To kick off the webinar, Caltrans staff will provide a summary of their 2021 MIBM efforts and how the campaign reflects Caltrans’ broader commitment to active and sustainable transportation. This webinar will also provide a quick snap-shot of the MIBM activities led by two large Metropolitan Planning Organizations in the Sacramento and San Diego regions. The ATRC team will then facilitate additional sharing with those joining the webinar. Attendees can come prepared to share their MIBM favorite ideas and activities as part of this interactive session aimed at keeping us all engaged in MIBM throughout May and beyond!
Introduction to Trail Planning (Part 1 of 3)
Host: American Trails
Thursday, May 6, 2021 | 10:00am - 11:30am PT |
In the Introduction to Trail Planning, we will discuss different types of trail plans including Master Plans, Conceptual Plans, Development Plans and Management Plans. Content will include a review of different elements to consider including in your plan. Methods for identifying stakeholders and engaging them in the planning process will be discussed. Alternatives for soliciting trail visitor feedback will be reviewed. Environmental considerations and landscape suitability for trail development will be discussed.
Making Slow Streets Great for Seniors and People with Disabilities
Host: Walk San Francisco
Thursday, May 6, 5pm – Thursday, May 13, 6pm |
San Francisco now has more than 45 miles of Slow Streets, with more on the way. SFMTA is considering how to make some Slow Streets permanent. This is fantastic!
In shaping permanent Slow Streets, there’s a key question to answer: how can Slow Streets be great places specifically for seniors and people with disabilities? Take our survey by Thursday, May 6, and then join us on a May 13 Zoom to dig in on this question.
Transportation and Gentrification: Impacts on Low-income Black Households in Portland
Host: Portland State University, TREC
Friday, May 7, 2021 | 11:30am - 12:30pm PT |
Portland’s Black population has been heavily impacted by gentrification in the historic Albina community. Nearly half of Portland’s Black population lives in the area east of 82nd Ave, known as East Portland. This has had substantial impacts on both Black households that can continue living in Albina and those living in East Portland. The suburban-esque built environment of East Portland makes it difficult to get around and reach basic necessities. Those living in Albina have taken on exorbitant rents. Both groups suffer from a geographic divide that has made it difficult to rely on family and friends for basic needs like childcare and fulfilling social needs.
This seminar will walk through those difficulties as found through a qualitative study of 27 low-income Black households in Portland. It also highlights the difficulties those households faced using various modes of transportation, why they chose the modes they did, and how they coped with their mode choices.
Addressing Unjust Financial Penalties in Traffic Safety
Host: Vision Zero Network
Wednesday, May 12, 2021 | 10:00am - 11:00am PT |
Recognizing and addressing inequities and injustices in traditional traffic safety work – including Vision Zero – must be a priority at all levels. What does prioritizing racial- and income-equity mean in your local- or state-based Vision Zero advocacy?
Join us for an important opportunity to learn from the Fines and Fees Justice Center, about how traffic citations and the resulting financial penalties disproportionately harm low-income communities and people of color.
We’ll be joined by Priya Sarathy Jones, National Policy and Campaigns Director at the FFJC. Their important work includes advocating for national legislation, which Vision Zero Network supports, called the Driving for Opportunity Act to create incentives to stop debt-based driver’s license suspensions, which disproportionately burden Black and Latino people in the U.S.
Learn about local efforts that can serve as models for Vision Zero leaders in shifting the paradigm from an over-reliance on enforcement and unfair fines and fees. One example includes San Francisco’s program offering discounted fines & fees for low-income people, including for parking tickets, etc. And we’ll talk about how taking a proactive, Safe Systems approach – such as Seattle’s work to lower speed limits and using other strategies to prevent crashes without increasing enforcement, can be part of the shift.
Integrating Trails into Park Planning
Host: American Trails
Thursday, May 13, 2021 | 10:00am - 11:30am PT |
Trails are one of the most critical elements of any park system, yet many park planners may not understand the key components to consider in integrating them into your park planning efforts. This webinar brings together park planning experts from across the nation to explore the critical elements that should be considered when integrating high-quality, sustainable trails into parks. Join these experts in identifying how trails impact conservation, safety, and ongoing maintenance of parks. Examine how trail networks and trails as linear parks can be implemented regionally to build park cohesion and capacity. And, explore how trails can offer amazing opportunities to meet community needs and build equitable park access in a variety of community sizes and demographics.
Attendees can expect to come away from this webinar with a toolbox of best practices and resources that get into the nitty-gritty of how to understand trails as park elements, plan for their sustainable integration into existing and future parks, and build trails and trail networks as powerful tools for connecting your parks to the public.
This webinar will be in a forum setting where presenters will discuss each topic and allow time for couple of attendee questions following each topic. Presenters will also answer attendee questions at the end of the presentation.
Impacts of New Curbside Uses to Traditional Street Parking
Host: Institute for Transportation Engineers (ITE)
Thursday, May 13, 2021 | 11:00am - 12:00pm PT |
Curbside uses are changing. Traditional on-street parking spaces are being removed or converted to newer, higher-demand users of the curb. What are the impacts to this modernization of curbside usage? Join ITE as we explore the impacts to municipal parking revenue and parking supply, the process cities have in place to evaluate the removal of curbside parking, and future impacts to parking through the adoption of Connected and Automated Vehicles.
Emerging Equipment, Technologies, and Capabilities to Address Travel Monitoring Basics and Beyond
Host: Collaborative Sciences Center for Road Safety
Monday, May 7, 2021 | 11:00am - 12:30pm PT |
Jurisdictions often rely on observed counts as data sources for bicyclist or pedestrian volume collected either manually over short durations or by automation for longer-term counts. Models are then developed from these observational data at limited set of locations to extrapolate network-wide conditions. Newer sources of pedestrian and bicyclist activity data have emerged from GPS-based apps (Strava, Ride Report, Map My Ride and others), GPS-enabled bike and scooter sharing systems, aggregators that use these passively-crowdsourced data (i.e. StreetLight), and machine vision counts from signalized intersection control systems. These emerging data sources have advantages and disadvantages to consider when complementing traditional count data. The first presentation will share methods used to independently evaluate such emerging data sources, such as establishing a benchmark or ground truthing and discuss lessons learned from testing different systems. The second presentation will explain how data fusion techniques were used to combine data from various sources to derive network level bicyclist volumes.
Presenters for this webinar include Sirisha Kothuri, PhD, Senior Research Associate, Portland State University, and Shawn Turner, Senior Research Engineer, Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI).
Exploring Speed Management in the US and Abroad
Host: National Safety Council
Tuesday, May 18, 2021 | 2:00pm - 3:00pm PT |
Speeding is one of the major contributing factors to road traffic fatalities in the US. In support of the UN Global Road Safety Week calling for safe speeds in urban areas, this webinar will explore examples of successful speed management at home and abroad.
Attendees will hear from leading organizations on strategies and tactics, as well as practitioners on the ground working to prioritize safety. This special webinar, co-hosted with FIA Foundation and the National Center for Safe Routes to School, will be 90 minutes long to accommodate the content and allow time for discussion.
Non Urban Networks: Active Transportation in Rural America
Host: Association of Pedestrian & Bicycle Professionals (APBP)
Wednesday, May 19, 2021 | 12:00pm - 1:00pm PT |
Small communities across the US are working to support active transportation as hard as their counterparts in urban centers. But they often lack the resources of their urban counterparts and are rarely the focus of active transportation narratives. This webinar focuses on rural active transport by bringing together planners to discuss challenges and opportunities in small towns throughout California, Utah and Vermont. Moderated by Dubois & King, a Vermont-based consulting firm, attendees will hear how engagement and dedicated vision are building the backbone of walkable and bikeable communities in Mariposa County, CA. We'll learn how dedication to active transport is enabling a town in Utah to develop an active transport plan centered on equity. The webinar will illustrate how Fairlee, VT leveraged tactical urbanism and passionate volunteers to build a better village center.
MWL Roundtable: A Safe System Approach to Traffic Safety
Host: National Transportation Safety Board
Thursday, May 20, 2021 | 9:00am - 11:00am PT |
Reaching zero traffic deaths requires a shift from the traditional driver-centric approach to the integrative, shared-responsibility Safe System approach. This is a proven, effective strategy, first adopted in Sweden in the 1990s, to reduce motor vehicle crash-related deaths and serious injuries. In recent years, many US cities have adopted Vision Zero policies that are rooted in the Safe System approach.
On May 20, the National Transportation Safety Board will present a roundtable, entitled "A Safe System Approach to Traffic Safety." NTSB Member Tom Chapman will serve as moderator. Member Chapman and NTSB investigators will discuss investigations and studies related to vulnerable road users and why Protect Vulnerable Road Users through a Safe System Approach is on our Most Wanted List. Matts-Ake Belin, PhD, Swedish Transport Administration, will present on the Safe System approach including its history. Additionally, NTSB Member Jennifer Homendy, and other traffic safety experts will join the roundtable to discuss the elements of a Safe System, and ideas for improving road safety through a proactive, integrative, and shared responsibility approach at the national, state, and local levels.
Re-envisioning School Streets as Part of Pandemic Recovery
Host: The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC)
Tuesday, May 25, 2021 | 10:00am - 11:00am PT |
For decades, communities in the U.S. and around the world have been working to improve road safety around schools, especially for students, our youngest commuters. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted typical travel behaviors and provides the chance for communities to consider changes to school travel with the return to in-person learning. Some of these approaches, such as limiting or prohibiting motor vehicles on a street adjacent to a school, can improve conditions, comfort and safety for all road users and have a proven history of success. In this webinar, we will look at several recent changes to school travel in the UK and the US that help get students back to their classrooms.
Trainings
How to Start a Walking School Bus: the Bayview Edition
Host: Walk San Francisco
Wednesday, May 26, 2021| 5:30 pm - 6:30pm |
With more students returning to in-person learning, we want to support many getting to school in people-powered ways! A ‘walking school bus’ brings together a group of kids who walk a regular route to school together with a supervising adult. Kids can join in at any point along the way. Walking school buses make it safer and easier for more students to get to school powered by their own two feet.
Want to learn more about what it would take to start one? You’re invited to an online training for parents, caregivers, school staff, and community-based organizations in the Richmond neighborhood hosted by the San Francisco Safe Routes to School Partnership, Walk SF, and District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton.
Bicycle Transportation: An Introduction to Planning & Design
Host: Active Transportation Resource Center
Thursday, May 27, 2021|
This hands-on course challenges you to explore the tools used to assess and evaluate the suitability of a transportation route and facilitate its use by all types of bicyclists. This course reviews California’s commitment to supporting all modes of transportation, and participants will learn how to apply bicycle design concepts that best balance competing needs on a specific route. Current policies related to the future of active transportation will be discussed, and some visit-supporting design documents will be identified.
A single guidance document cannot apply to every scenario, and this course will introduce basic concepts of planning and design standards, as well as guidance and tools, that direct and guide bicycle transportation planning and design.
The course is intended for engineering and planning professionals from local, regional, and state agencies. Participants are expected to stay and engage throughout the entire training course.