Transportation Summit to Focus on Safety


The 6th Annual Oregon Transportation Summit (September 15th) will focus on safety as the key topic.

My sometimes debating opponent (stop spacing, value of streetcars) Jarrett Walker of Human Transit fame will be the keynote speaker.

From the descriptive materials:

The 2014 Summit will have a considerable focus on safety and its relevance to creating livable communities. In the plenary session, Minnesota DOT’s Sue Groth will describe her state’s implementation of programs as part of its Toward Zero Deaths philosophy. In a two-part response, Oregon DOT’s Troy Costales will describe efforts across the state regarding TZD and Leah Treat, Director of the Portland Bureau of Transportation, will describe what TZD means to the city. There will also be a workshop in the morning on system-level safety (“Safety Is More than a Buzzword”) featuring Utah DOT’s Robert Hull. In the afternoon, a workshop on project-level safety will pay particular attention to the safety of bicycles and pedestrians.

Register here.

 


2 responses to “Transportation Summit to Focus on Safety”

  1. Safety ideas for DOTs:

    1. Design roadways so that drivers are forced to drive slower, particularly at intersections. More chicanes, traffic circles, etc.
    2. Speed cameras
    3. Continue and expand the use of centerline cable barriers and grooved pavement, provided they don’t inconvenience cyclists and pedestrians.

  2. The last event Jarrett spoke at PSU, he lost me at some graphic calculation that transit couplets were not as efficient as both direction transit on a single street. Portland’s system proves couplets work just fine. At that event, I showed him my designs for Seattle transit which employed couplets. His response was an haughty “I don’t get it.” Excuuuse me, Mister Walker, sir. Did not buy his book. Since then, he’s been a part of transit redesign proposals that may prove his earlier haughty rejection of couplets a lesson learned, perhaps.

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