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PWPB2012: Transportation in flyover country

By Mark Plotz On April 23, 2012 · Add Comment
Ever since emerging from a haystack somewhere west of the Mississippi and making my way to the District of Columbia, I have been occasionally called upon to set the record straight about what life is like in flyover country. These occasions are usually precipitated by one of three causes: 1) I refer to [...]
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Happy 42nd Earth Day! (Where have all the hippies gone?)

By Mark Plotz On April 23, 2012 · Add Comment
If Earth Day were a person, she would be long overdue for a midlife crisis. The world celebrated her birth; in her teens she had her admirers; by her twenties she had loyal followers on both sides of “the aisle”; in her thirties she went abroad on sabbatical; and today, well… a person’s acknowledgement of [...]
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PWPB2012 preview: Sh*t parents say

By Mark Plotz On April 17, 2012 · Add Comment
Adults choose not to walk or bike for a lot of reasons. Kids don’t get a choice, so much of their mobility (or lack thereof) is determined by parental whims, which often run counter to sound kid logic. Junior: Why can’t I ride my bike to my friend’s house?Parent: Because.Junior: Because why? It’s just around the [...]
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Road diets: Less filling *and* tastes great!

By Mark Plotz On April 12, 2012 · Add Comment
Are these complete streets or road diets? Answer: these streets are working, so who cares? Can there be anything closer to a free lunch than a road diet? Let’s review: Improved vehicle flow Lowered speeds Lowered crash rates Safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users Finally, it accomplishes all of the above within [...]
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PWPB2012 preview: Projecting the Value of Linear Greenspace

By Mark Plotz On April 11, 2012 · Add Comment
The presentation’s title is a mouthful; John Havenstrite, lead presenter, likes to shorten the title to The ROI of Cool, and we think you’ll agree once you learn more about his project. John’s firm was asked by the Houston Parks Board to define and quantify the benefits associated with constructing a 300 mile trail system throughout [...]
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PWPB2012 preview: Modeling multimodal LOS

By Mark Plotz On April 10, 2012 · Add Comment
In 25 years we project this roadway will have 25k ADT. Therefore, this roadway must be improved to a divided four lane highway or we will be at LOS ‘F’ in 10 years.  Gary Toth of PPS spent a good percentage of his engineering career ‘building transportation through communities’ for New Jersey DOT. Transportation mostly meant [...]
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Youth corrupting the minds of adults and Glasnost

By Mark Plotz On April 5, 2012 · Add Comment
The Active Living Resource Center’s Emerging Leaders pilot program in Chattanooga TN developed active living related internships for  students in health, planning, engineering, and public administration. Send us your future planners, engineers, and public health practitioners who are yearning to learn how the built environment influences health, happiness, and well-being. We will have [...]
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PWPB2012 Proposal Scoring: Behind the Curtain

By Mark Plotz On April 5, 2012 · Add Comment
Don’t worry, your proposal is in here somewhere. I haven’t had much time for blogging because this is notification week for those who proposed sessions for PWPB2012. Don’t panic if you haven’t heard from me; I’m going slow because I don’t want any errors.The compendium of proposals runs about 300 pages (9 point [...]
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Road safety and driver aptitude

By Mark Plotz On April 5, 2012 · Add Comment
I don’t know about you, but I think we kill and injure far too many people on our roadways. When I tell the creation myth of how the Bicycle Federation of America and Pro Bike came to be the National Center for Bicycling & Walking and Pro Walk/Pro Bike, respectively, I start by mentioning the lowest [...]
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PWPB2012: Stop framing the solution and start framing the problem

By Mark Plotz On April 3, 2012 · Add Comment
You pay your rent or you pay your mortgage, and you do so because you need a roof over your head. That was the conventional wisdom before the housing meltdown, and it is what made mortgage backed securities such alluring investments. Interestingly, that assumption may no longer hold true according to a credit information company’s [...]
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Friday Dispatch: What you won’t be seeing at Pro Walk/Pro Bike 2012

By Mark Plotz On March 30, 2012 · Add Comment
Next week I can start talking about the conference program. Until then, I can entertain/satiate you by telling you what you won’t be seeing at Pro Walk/Pro Bike 2012: technological triumphalism. I have taken the liberty of producing a 4 minute and 48 second video that explains this affliction. Warning: before watching this video, clear [...]
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Racers are starting to take a pull for advocacy

By Mark Plotz On March 29, 2012 · Add Comment
Bike commuters race, and racers bike commute.* Bike commuters advocate, and racers… well, ahem, they… race.** That appears to be changing somewhat, and the overflow crowd at last week’s National Bike Summit is evidence of a culture change in the racing community. Nearly everyone in the room was a licensed racer or licensed triathlete. The [...]
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Bike tourism: A triple bottom line

By Mark Plotz On March 29, 2012 · Add Comment
This morning I met with Jim Sayer, Executive Director of Adventure Cycling. For those who aren’t aware, NCBW and Adventure Cycling go way, way back. For now I will skip the history lesson, but suffice it to say that much of the DNA of national bicycling advocacy can be traced back to Missoula, Montana. Much [...]
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Biker, on your Left

By Mark Plotz On March 28, 2012 · Add Comment
It is health care week here in the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court protest tourism business is booming. I just hope they are better drivers than the cherry blossom peepers.I don’t get to present at PWPB2012; I will be much too busy to actually enjoy the conference. One of the perks I do [...]
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Where is our tipping point?

By Mark Plotz On March 27, 2012 · Add Comment
The windshield perspective in south Mobile, Alabama. The title of this post refers to a question I ask myself as I review proposals: How can Pro Walk/Pro Bike 2012 help you make the case–in a place like Mobile–that 5 lanes of arterial is a luxury, while 5 feet of concrete is a necessity?Safety [...]
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    For questions about the program, or for more information on becoming a sponsor, please contact:

    Mark Plotz
    Conference Director
    mark [at] bikewalk [dot] org
    (202) 223-3621

  • top photo credit: Damien Newton at Los Angeles Streetsblog