Monday, January 23, 2012
Wonk / Transit Report: Georgia is 45th in nation for biking, pedestrian safety
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Mon, Jan 23, 2012 at 12:16 PM
According to the new report released by the Alliance for Biking & Walking, the Peach State ranks 45th among states for overall cyclist and pedestrian safety. Researchers say the poor showing could be thanks to the lack of adequate funding for bike and pedestrian projects. Researchers say Georgia spends just 1.75 percent of its federal transportation cash on biking and walking — about $2.50 per person.
“Since 1990, Georgia has witnessed a 111% increase in the popularity of cycling, for both recreation and transportation,” Georgia Bikes Executive Director Brent Buice said in a statement. "But, as a state, we fail to capitalize on available funding for bicycle and pedestrian facilities, which create jobs, improve property values, and promote physical activity."
The report, which was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with assistance from the AARP and Planet Bike, is a 243-page beast that's sure to delight most data-obsessed wonks. Statistics are available for states and major cities, which allows you to compare Atlanta to, say, New York, Minneapolis, or Charlotte.
City cycling and pedestrian advocates should be tickled knowing that Atlanta ranks in the teens for many categories, including cycling and pedestrian levels. The number of Atlantans who pedaled to work increased by 2,245 people, or 461 percent, between 1990 and 2009 — which researchers considered very high.
More and more attention — and funding — is being placed on cycling walking by cities and states across the country. According to the report, the largest 51 U.S. cities showed a 29 percent increase in bicycle facilities since last year's report. And cities plan to, so long as funding is available, build nearly 21,000 miles of bicycle facilities and more than 7,000 miles of pedestrian facilities over the coming years.
Comments (36)
Showing 1-36 of 36
Sadly not a surprise in a state where the Department of Transportation is really the Department of Roads. Even more frustrating, those funds that are spent on bicycle lanes evaporate figuratively (or is that literally?).
Apparently they don't use the high durability lane striping epoxy for marking bike lanes but instead use a the more old fashioned paint because it is less slippery for bike tires. Problem is this paint rapidly wears off the road, or evaporates, leaving no marked bike lanes because no one bothers to come back and re-apply the paint ...... After all its just bikes .....
Take a look at the bike lanes installed on Peachtree as part of the major rehab in Buckhead. Ashford Dunwoody Road inside 285, or Briarwood Road between Buford Highway and I-85 (apparently a popular bike corridor to reach Clifton Road/Emory/CDC). Those bike lanes are now gone except for the portions over bridges where for some reason the paint lasts longer on concrete.
I've been mentioning this to folks for over a year, but no reapplications, after all they are just bikes.
like
dislike
As to pedestrian safety, late Friday night I drove by a bunch of police a distraught driver and a dead pedestrian in the Northbound lane. Very disturbing. And no doubt a major contribution is the fact that this heavily populated area with heavy transit and pedestrian activity lacks sidewalks as does not have an adequate number of spots to cross the street.
For at least 10 years we've been talking about Buford Highway having the highest Pedestrian Mortality rates and its faulty design http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqIVBI-QJek. Yet nothing has happened on this part of Buford highway (basically from Clairmont Road south to Lenox/Cheshirbridge Road). It is a travesty and it speaks volumes about the transportation priorities of this region.
Funny how someone was commenting last week about Atlanta (region) being a top US City! Top in what: idoit presidential Canidates!
Let me be the first to indicate this but BIKING IS A PLEASURE ACTIVITY *NOT* TRANSPORTATION!!!! Gee whizz i feel like the liberal hotheads around here were absent at kindygarten when they explained this fact: YOU DON'T RIDE A BIKE ON A ROAD. Get the heck off the street for the people with JOBS (aka producers) are whizzing past you fleeter than foxes. Go ride your fixie in an abandoned lot you looser!!!
This is common sense and I find it abhorrent that so-called "progressive" policies caall for such "development." More room for bikes, why? If you have 60 minutes to bike carefree and brainless to work then your job is not very important and is not exmphasizing speed and urgency. Them's the facts.
"The department of roads" HaHa! It is!!! ROADs connect people and jobs. "BIKE TRAILS" are for liesure riding with your bell and your bonnett and your fidel castro hat on backwards with a ridiculous bulky derailleur (oh how de rigueur!! lol!!) Can you people understand that? A death or a mangling here and there it's bound to happen but at what cost???? everyone get on your tandem bikes it'll be like anne of green gables out there on the connector how fanciful BLECHHH!!!!
No. This is 2011. We need to move at the speed of business to quote FedEx and that is correct. We need cars and NOT TRAINS and definitely not bikes. This is common sense and an utteral liberal boondoggie to even consider worryabout safety and bike riding only lanes. Waste of time for everyone;; a backwards-looking throwback. This is not Barcelona people. Thank God too.
To sum up -- STAY OFF THE ROADS!!!! unless you have 4 wheels and can keep up. I may not be a Roads Scholar here but I know enough to not let a bunch of turtles loose on a NASCAR track.....that kind of thing is obvious it is just like riding a bike thank you
Isn't 45th an accomplishment considering GA is even lower in categories such as education?
@ Pete - Let me not be the first to indicate this: You're a total fucking moron.
I won't even take the time to detail why this time, as it's clear nobody takes you seriously.
To address this issue: I agree - this is the type of thing that completely characterizes the state/region's view of non-auto transit options. Mayor Reed comes down to Atlantic Station to cut the ribbon on an electric vehicle charging station, and to preach on about how Atlanta can become one of the top 10 most sustainable cities, yet the city does nothing of value to actually support that.
I'm aware that a lot of our public transportation woes are due to the fact that we don't get a dime from the state, which would be one big peanut farm without Atlanta (and Savannah). Whether it's better lobbying, or figuring out a way to flex a little muscle, this city needs to flex a little muscle.
If it were up to me, I would go after any major employers that were outside of the city, and offer them all sorts of incentives to re-locate into the city (there's plenty of office space). I'd buy back plots of infill land in Midtown/Downtown, and cut them up into smaller parcels, and sell them to non-Novare developers to expand the presence of rental housing in the city. I'd also go after the state for a nice chunk of funding change for MARTA (to expand it's urban presence), as well as approvals to charge congestion tolls on those commuting into the city. I wouldn't waste money on unnecessary stadiums, or PR Projects like the Beltline - 80% of which is going to be horrendously wasteful.
Satire of what?? What america needs to hear?i suppose so but then wouldn't that make me the voice of reason???
And kiss my dumper "atlanta advocate", you have proven over and over that your "advocacy" only applies to issues you can ROB people to attain. You're a overimportant porkchop BLOWHARD with the memory of a teetsy fly;;;the absolute WORST category of American.
What surprises me here is there are 5 states deemed worse. Last report I read Atlanta was second-worst among all major metros in terms of cycling, with only Houston being worse.
I moved here from Houston. They're OK inside the Loop but a horror show outside it. Same is true here with the Perimeter, although here there are many IOP areas I would consider no-go.
"I won't even take the time to detail why this time, as it's clear nobody takes you seriously."
good
"If it were up to me, I would go after any major employers that were outside of the city, and offer them all sorts of incentives to re-locate into the city (there's plenty of office space)."
MARTA tried this when they built lindbergh. the agency tried to do a value capture development - basically where a mass transit agency purchases land, builds a station, develops around the station, and then reaps the profits. it mainly worked because MARTA got bellsouth on board - MARTA would not have been able to get the loans necessary to build office space there without a guaranteed tenant. unfortunately there are a lot of fiscal and legal issues which would make it difficult for MARTA to pull this off again
value capture is a great concept. something like 75% of modern post-war tokyo was built by private rail/land development firms
People who commute by car should be happy that some want to ride their bikes. For instance, I usually take the highway or another busy route when I drive. But when I ride my bike, I take the less traveled back roads. Therefore, there is one less car on the busy roads, the demand for gasoline decreases, and the air is slightly cleaner.
That being said, the real reasons that I like to ride are more selfish - I enjoy the exercise. Because I live close to work, I can still get there in 30 minutes, faster than many of my co-workers who drive. Also, I save time because I don't have to visit the gym. It makes me healthier and more productive. So, actually, I perform better at work.
Another minor benefit is that I tend to feel more connected to the community - I talk to people more, I wave, and I take in the sights and sounds.
Finally, if you get behind someone on a bike, take a deep breath, turn on your blinker, and go around them.
"SimplePete is satire, right?"
Yep, unlike PistolPete who is a representation of what happens when you listen to Rush, Sean, Glenn, Neal or the leadership of the Georgia Legislature too much and fail to recognize there is more to the story; SimplePete is a parody of people who listen to Rush, Sean, Glenn. Neal or the leadership of the Georgia Legislature too much and fail to recognize there's more to the story.
@ Pfeif -
"MARTA tried this when they built lindbergh. the agency tried to do a value capture development - basically where a mass transit agency purchases land, builds a station, develops around the station, and then reaps the profits. it mainly worked because MARTA got bellsouth on board - MARTA would not have been able to get the loans necessary to build office space there without a guaranteed tenant. unfortunately there are a lot of fiscal and legal issues which would make it difficult for MARTA to pull this off again"
This wasn't what I was referring to. As far as office tenants are concerned (being that they are a primary source of jobs), we don't need additional development. Our office market has more than enough space to accommodate plenty of new employers. I am also extremely opposed to any sort of master planned development like Lindbergh or Atlantic Station. Their results speak for themselves.
"As far as office tenants are concerned (being that they are a primary source of jobs), we don't need additional development."
negatory. the bulk of office space in atlanta is distributed in edge city-style employment clusters in autocentric development. we need to shift that office space into areas more amenable towards mass transit
"Our office market has more than enough space to accommodate plenty of new employers."
which inherently generates plenty of new commuters
"I am also extremely opposed to any sort of master planned development like Lindbergh or Atlantic Station. Their results speak for themselves."
lindbergh works pretty well. atlantic station was all private. apples and oranges?
like i said, most of modern metropolitan tokyo - and many other large japanese cities - were built as public/private projects after the war. those results are pretty good, no? what about copenhagen, helsinki, or amsterdam? each of those cities has also exploited value capture to synchronize the development of land and the expansion of transit
SimplePete,
As Einstein said:
"Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler."
you == case in point!
troll!
wle
anyone who uses == in internet debates isn't worth listening to fyi
go put on a fedora and ride your unicycle to linuxcon, maybe you can wifeswap for bitcoins
ready? this is the south. 10 years behind the rest of the finer cities in the US of A.
@ Pfeif -
"negatory. the bulk of office space in atlanta is distributed in edge city-style employment clusters in autocentric development. we need to shift that office space into areas more amenable towards mass transit"
While this is true (edge city-style, auto-centric development), it doesn't change the fact that the office vacancy rates for Buckhead and Midtown are 24% and 17%, respectively. In Buckhead the vacancy rate for buildings built in the last 5 years is 51%. There's plenty of existing space that needs to be filled, before we start building any more. The only caveat to that would be if there was an employer that would move into the city, if they were able to build their own building, and occupy it on a long-term lease.
"which inherently generates plenty of new commuters"
Or plenty of new transit riders. Or plenty of new commuters paying a congestion tax - if we could get that enacted.
"lindbergh works pretty well"
Umm...no, it doesn't.
"atlantic station was all private"
Irrelevant
"apples and oranges?"
Nope...I oppose master planned developments, based on the lack of economic reasoning behind them, not based on who funds them. AS dumped millions of Sq Ft of space onto the Atlanta market in an area that was completely disconnected from the rest of the urban-center of the city. It had to, as there was nowhere else spacious enough to handle it. Think of what Atlanta proper could have looked like if that development was encouraged at a measured pace, to meet organic demand, in the city. Not to mention the financial problems the place has endured due to it's positioning.
It's not a Tokyo did it, so we should too example. I don't have anything against public/private development...I've advocated it many, many times. However, doing it on the scale of AS or Lindbergh, in neighborhoods that have no want for what those places offer, and require a "forced demand", is bad form.
"Or plenty of new transit riders. Or plenty of new commuters paying a congestion tax - if we could get that enacted."
yeah, but if you look at past trends and extrapolate it'll be more cars
there isn't much on the horizon to think that we will have expanded transit or a congestion tax in the next couple decades
"Nope...I oppose master planned developments, based on the lack of economic reasoning behind them, not based on who funds them."
ah, you're just arguing scale and i'm arguing motive. i get it
I wonder if those Atlantic Station office tenants would have gone to Cumberland, Perimeter or Alpharetta?
I agree it would have been better to fill in the all to many parking lots the area has.
Thankfully some of that is starting to happen now, with a new apartment complex on the corner of 12th and Peachtree and more on the way for Crescent.
One thing I think Atlantic Station did was open up the West Side so now West Peachtree and Spring Street are now considered more centrally located.
Oh I like Lindbergh, its not done because of the Real Estate market stall. But its a vast improvement over the acres of surface parking that was there before.
Therein lies the problem...nobody considers the opportunity cost to the rest of the city - particularly the more urban-centers of the city, that have infrastructure in place that could be used to create a truly dynamic neighborhood - when they think about places like Lindbergh and Atlantic Station.
The comments typically go something like this "I love Atlantic Station because it used to be an old steel dump." Or "I like Lindbergh, because it used to be a parking lot". But nobody ever considers the opportunity cost to the rest of the city...For example, what Midtown Proper would look like with a number of extra apartment buildings and ground floor retail, or with some of it's abundant supply of office space filled up. The state/city doled out millions of dollars in assistance to get Atlantic Station developed, when that money could have been used creating dense, urban, infill development, that has better road connectivity, has better access to transportation, would have seen considerably less crime than AS did (up until recently), would have been a more organic form of supply/demand development, and would have been a better source of growth for the city. The same can be said about Lindbergh.
I have been to probably over 100 different cities, I've used over a dozen different public transportation networks, I've lived in 3 different cities - 2 of which are considered world class cities (Atlanta being the third) - and I've never been to a place that so blatantly ignores and fights against the benefits of urbanization like Atlanta does. On top of that, we have so many great resources at our fingertips (Emory & Ga Tech, the world's busiest airport, an abundance of space that could be transformed into the infrastructure of a real city), and we squander it for these cookie-cutter, chain-driven, PR projects like Lindbergh & AS.
"The comments typically go something like this "I love Atlantic Station because it used to be an old steel dump." Or "I like Lindbergh, because it used to be a parking lot". But nobody ever considers the opportunity cost to the rest of the city..."
well, what would the potential loss to the city be if AS were still a brownfield? or if LS wasn't a nexus of office/residential directly atop a rail line?
"For example, what Midtown Proper would look like with a number of extra apartment buildings and ground floor retail, or with some of it's abundant supply of office space filled up."
the main reason midtown hasn't developed more is because of atlanta's heavily automotive transportation profile. not only would midtown be a congestion mess, but why bother building there when there is still abundant infill land and also readily accessible suburban land?
and you can't blame atlanta for being so automotive, as the regional, state, and federal actors have a tremendous role to play in our car addiction. atlanta is fairly weak in terms of being able to do anything about the waves of cars washing all over the place
"The state/city doled out millions of dollars in assistance to get Atlantic Station developed, when that money could have been used creating dense, urban, infill development, that has better road connectivity, has better access to transportation, would have seen considerably less crime than AS did (up until recently), would have been a more organic form of supply/demand development, and would have been a better source of growth for the city."
yes we could have spent some of that money somewhere else. two important things you're missing though
1) agencies are a lot more willing to throw money at rehabbing a brownfield, which is otherwise useless
2) one big project generates more political impetus than a bunch of small, piddling projects and therefore attracts more money
i do agree that piddling projects would probably create better aggregate benefit to the city but it's just a hell of a lot harder to pull off if your city council has to go to higher levels in government, hat in hand, to get something done
"The same can be said about Lindbergh."
lindbergh is totes different tho. it was mainly a MARTA show, and one could argue that the city is much better off due to lindberg's presence simply because MARTA collects rent on the development, which then gets folded back into ever-scarce operational funding
"I've never been to a place that so blatantly ignores and fights against the benefits of urbanization like Atlanta does"
it's not just that atlanta ignores these things, but that atlanta is one of if not the most heavily suburbanized, politically fragmented metros in america
houston is more suburbanized, perhaps. but they have a much stronger regional government. st. louis is hilariously fragmented - the city itself is split between like three different 'city' governments - but it does have more of an established old CBD core
atlanta is relatively powerless in terms of comprehensive planning, simply because the bulk of metro atlanta's built environment is split up between a hundred squabbling suburban governments and because the state never empowered ARC with any real Big Stick authority
"we squander it for these cookie-cutter, chain-driven, PR projects like Lindbergh & AS."
i can buy your pejorative description of AS, i'm not so fond of it either. but LS is different, largely because it was a public project and not a private development using public funds
here peep this, maybe it will change your mind
http://www.nctr.usf.edu/jpt/pdf/JPT%207-3%…
new post just because this is an important point:
decrying large scale cookie cutter development is fine. but keep in mind that MARTA is always starving for operational funds, whereas they can pull tremendous capital funds out of nowhere through issuing bonds. MARTA invested a large sum of capital to co-develop lindbergh, but all revenue it receives through increased ridership and rental revenue can be tossed right back into operations
so even if you want to oppose AS you should encourage more projects like LS simply because they are inherently transit accessible and also help support atlanta's anemic transit infrastructure
Wait, AS is transit accessible? :-\ The bankhead spur ought to progress upwards toward AS.
@ Pfeif -
"well, what would the potential loss to the city be if AS were still a brownfield? or if LS wasn't a nexus of office/residential directly atop a rail line?"
I think it would have been a net positive - particularly because of the long term trend that would have emerged. I never suggested that it was an all or nothing kind of deal. What we likely would have seen is a host of retailers that wanted an in-town presence, lease space on the other side of the Highway. All that vacant space at 12th & Midtown would have been developed. Had the supply of AS condos/apartments never taken shape, Daniel Corp and Selig, and - unfortunately - Novare, may have built their apartment buildings before now, and leased their retail space as well. Perhaps that development would have compelled Dewberry to start developing their sites as well. The point being that development would have been pieced together as the city demanded it, rather than slapped down in one massive multi-million sf development with a field of dreams mentality.
"the main reason midtown hasn't developed more is because of atlanta's heavily automotive transportation profile. not only would midtown be a congestion mess, but why bother building there when there is still abundant infill land and also readily accessible suburban land?"
Midtown is already a congestion mess, and yet it hasn't deterred Daniel, Selig, Novare, etc. from developing and continuing to do so. The worse congestion gets, the more compelled people are to use public transportation...that's a good thing. The people who live in Midtown now, but work in Buckhead would reconsider. The people who live in Buckhead and drive to Midtown would also begin reconsidering. There would be organic demand for businesses and services, there would be a stronger sense of social culture, density would improve, the energy would improve, and people would use mass transit more often. Seems like a win to me.
"yes we could have spent some of that money somewhere else. two important things you're missing though
1) agencies are a lot more willing to throw money at rehabbing a brownfield, which is otherwise useless
2) one big project generates more political impetus than a bunch of small, piddling projects and therefore attracts more money"
I'm not missing this at all. I get it, but that doesn't mean it's wrong. Political impetus isn't what building a city should be about. A lot of the time it is - particularly in Atlanta - but on occasion the Jane Jacobs of the world beat the Robert Moses', and the results speak for themselves.
"it's not just that atlanta ignores these things, but that atlanta is one of if not the most heavily suburbanized, politically fragmented metros in america"
Ok, so that's a problem...it needs to be changed. Whether it takes stronger and more effective arguments to the states to gain control of the roadways through Atlanta, and therefore the ability to impose a congestion tax, or whether it means poaching suburban employers to the city, and incentivizing developers to develop beneficial urban projects, there are a lot of ways to fix this....over time.
I'm not looking to fix the city of Atlanta overnight, but if the small steps aren't taken, it will never get fixed. If we keep building large, master-planned, failing developments, that turn brownfields and parking lots into centers of criminal activity, buildings full of vacant space, empty apartments and condos, etc. then not only are we hurting the rest of the city by removing what could be useful organic demand in more appropriate places, but we're also preventing those sites from developing organically over time.
Transit has to be woven into the infrastructure of a city. Transit is natural in Paris, NYC, London, San Francisco, Tokyo, etc. It isn't in Atlanta, because it's not built to serve specific areas that are in need of it. Instead, a lot of it has been built to meet a destination spot that is either vacuous (like north springs, or Inman park) or a destination that has failed it's purpose as a development (like Lindbergh).
"Wait, AS is transit accessible?"
no, of course not. i was being confusing, but i was referring to LS
"The point being that development would have been pieced together as the city demanded it, rather than slapped down in one massive multi-million sf development with a field of dreams mentality. "
not on a brownfield tho
"I'm not missing this at all. I get it, but that doesn't mean it's wrong. Political impetus isn't what building a city should be about. A lot of the time it is - particularly in Atlanta - but on occasion the Jane Jacobs of the world beat the Robert Moses', and the results speak for themselves."
idealism is great but it doesn't let you ignore pragmatic nuts and bolts issues. atlanta is just a difficult city for positive urbanism, due to systemic political and financial issues
"there are a lot of ways to fix this....over time."
yeah plenty of methods, i just fear that motive is lacking
""there are a lot of ways to fix this....over time."
yeah plenty of methods, i just fear that motive is lacking"
One way is to not continue to over supply sprawl inducing transportation infrastructure. Note the state is talking about funding the I 75 expansion outside 285 now - and that's not gas tax dollars.
Again I don't think AS necessarily took all its tenants from midtown and downtown. Though yes some midtown development probably was diverted. On the other hand I think the revitalization of the west side was pushed along dramatically by AS and this will ultimately help midtown.
The crushing real estate dive is what has stopped progress in midtown. Though as I look out the window I see several surface lots being converted to residential units. Do I wish it would happen quicker? Yes.
But its going to happen if gas prices go up as expected and we don't start going on a road building binge in the northern quadrant (the favored quarter) of the region.
@ Pfeif -
"not on a brownfield tho"
So what? Over time, something would have eventually been done to take care of that space, but it would have been done when it was more appropriate to do so - i.e. when the supply demand fundamentals were better aligned...say, for example, when we run out of space in Midtown Proper.
"atlanta is just a difficult city for positive urbanism, due to systemic political and financial issues"
No question about it, but that doesn't mean the fight shouldn't be fought.
@ InAtl -
"One way is to not continue to over supply sprawl inducing transportation infrastructure"
Completely agree, but I think this is something that comes from the state level if I understand it correctly. So, what we really need - in this regard - are people who can lobby the state politicians effectively enough to give Atlanta some control over it's own destiny.
"The crushing real estate dive is what has stopped progress in midtown"
No, the crushing real estate dive is what stopped the speculation in Midtown. Those were condos being built on top of speculative retail and office space, much of which still remains to be leased. If those condos would have been apartments that were scaled to meet a more appropriate level of demand, Midtown would be a drastically different place. Point in case - Most of the new condos aren't over 60% sold, meanwhile the supply of apartments in Midtown Atlanta have an occupancy rating of 97% +/-.
"Though as I look out the window I see several surface lots being converted to residential units"
Totally true, and this is a good thing. I have my issues with the design - particularly Novare's - but it is a good thing that rental residential is being added to Midtown.
@SimplePete
You can't have that train of thought and be surprised that you are a petty and bitter failure (A little local knowledge...)
Being a little slow is no excuse for not using a spellcheck.
"Peach State ranks 45th among states for overall cyclist and pedestrian safety. Researchers say the poor showing could be thanks to the lack of adequate funding for bike and pedestrian projects."
Or the fact that drivers in Atlanta & surrounding areas refuse to pay attention (?)...
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