U.S. Transportation Secretary Announces New Initiative to Enhance Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety

米国交通省報道と自転車安全を強化

U.S. Transportation Secretary Foxx Announces New Initiative to Enhance Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety: DOT to launch nationwide safety assessment of key bike/ped routes

PITTSBURGH – U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today announced a new initiative to reduce the growing number of pedestrian and bicyclist injuries and fatalities through a comprehensive approach that addresses infrastructure safety, education, vehicle safety and data collection. The 18-month campaign will begin with road safety assessments conducted by U.S. Department of Transportation field offices in every state, and will produce multiple resources to help communities build streets that are safer for people walking, bicycling, and taking public transportation. Secretary Foxx made the announcement at the Pro Walk, Pro Bike, Pro Place conference, the largest gathering of, transportation engineers, city planners and professional bicycle-pedestrian safety advocates and practitioners in the country.

For more, read on.

Whither Kyoto? Whither Japan?


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Murder Machines: Why Cars Will Kill 30,000 Americans This Year

「殺人機械：車」

We are not anti-automobile.

However, the true cost of an automobile, its true cost to society, has yet to be passed onto the consumer.

From pollution, to road-building, to injury and death, society picks up the tab for much of car-related mayhem. Automobile taxes do not come close to covering this cost.

An thought-provoking article caught our eye. If you want to kill someone in the United States, you can get away with it in a car - as long as you are sober.

Read on:

There’s an open secret in America: If you want to kill someone, do it with a car. As long as you’re sober, chances are you’ll never be charged with any crime, much less manslaughter. Over the past hundred years, as automobiles have been woven into the fabric of our daily lives, our legal system has undermined public safety, and we’ve been collectively trained to think of these deaths as unavoidable “accidents” or acts of God. Today, despite the efforts of major public-health agencies and grassroots safety campaigns, few are aware that car crashes are the number one cause of death for Americans under 35. But it wasn’t always this way.

Read the entire article.

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USA State by State Report Card on Bicycle Spending

米国州ごとの自転車に関連した歳出

A group called Advocacy Advocate has released a report card for each US state and its funding for bicycle and transportation projects.

From Oregon's A to Wyoming's F, the reports are detailed and persuasive.

To see the full report, click here.


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Bicycling to opportunity...in safety

自転車で安全で機会へ

Our new hero is Anthony Foxx, the current United States Secretary of Transportation.

The former mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, won plaudits for introducing light rail into the southern city.

At the recent 2014 National Bike Summit, Foxx spoke of safety issues and increasing bike lanes - as he did while as mayor in an area of the country not known for its bicycle advocacy or use.

Music to our ears.


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American Cities with Lowest Percentage of Car Ownership

米国車離れの大都会トップ１０

On the transport front in the US, here are the cities where people use public transportation the most.

Most are older cities on the East Coast, with San Francisco and Seattle also scoring well.

1. New York, N.Y.
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 56.5%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 55.9% (the most)
> Transit score: 81.2 (the best)
> Population: 8,336,697 (the largest)

2. Washington, D.C.
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 37.9%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 38.6% (4th most)
> Transit score: 70.4 (4th best)
> Population: 619,020 (24th largest)

3. Boston, MA
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 36.9%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 34.6% (5th most)
> Transit score: 74.8 (3rd best)
> Population: 628,335 (21st largest)

4. Philadelphia, PA
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 32.6%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 26.0% (12th most)
> Transit score: 67.0 (5th best)
> Population: 1,538,567 (5th largest)

5. San Francisco, CA
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 31.4%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 33.1% (6th most)
> Transit score: 80.5 (2nd best)
> Population: 814,233 (14th largest)

6. Baltimore, MD
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 31.2%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 19.2% (23rd most)
> Transit score: 56.9 (10th best)
> Population: 620,216 (26th largest)

7. Chicago, IL
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 27.9%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 26.3% (11th most)
> Transit score: 65.3 (6th best)
> Population: 2,705,248 (3rd largest)

8. Detroit, MI
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 26.2%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 9.4% (69th most)
> Transit score: n/a
> Population: 706,201 (18th largest)

9. Milwaukee , WI
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 19.9%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 8.6% (75th highest)
> Transit score: 48.8 (18th best)
> Population: 598,916 (30th highest)

10. Seattle, WA
> Pct. of households without a vehicle: 16.6%
> Pct. commuting to work via public transportation: 19.7% (21st most)
> Transit score: 57.3 (9th best)
> Population: 621,897 (22nd largest)

Read more.


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11 Reasons Why Bicycling in the U.S. Is Exceptionally Dangerous...and why We Love Kyoto

アメリカでサイクリングする危険さの原因１１つ

Cycling in the United States is not merely aggravating - for both cyclists and drivers of gasoline- and oil-burning vehicles - it is also dangerous.

Recent statistics from the OECD show that the United States, mile for mile, is the most dangerous place in the advanced world to cycle.

Here are a few choice stats thanks to Matt Phillips:

*Roughly “17% of all cycling fatalities were involved in a hit-and-run crash in which one (or several) of their crash opponents fled the scene (2005-2011, FARS) – presumably the motorist(s). This is nearly four times the rate of hit-and-run involvement for all recorded traffic fatalities over the same period in the United States (4%).”
*“Investigating officers on the scene of fatal bicycle crashes in the United States found no contributory factor on the part of the motorist in 46% of cases.”
*“An overwhelming majority of fatal bicycle crashes occur in dry or clear atmospheric conditions – 94% in the USA and 87% in Europe.”
*“One quarter of (deceased) cyclists for which an alcohol test was performed returned blood alcohol values above 0.08 mg/ltr which constitutes a drink-driving offense in all 50 US states.”
*“In the United States, most fatal bicycle-vehicle collisions involved a passenger car or light truck (Sports Utility Vehicle) though 10% of fatal bicycle collisions involved a large truck.”
OECD
*“In the United States, 36% of all fatal bicycle crashes for the period 2005-2011 occurred in junctions with another 4% in driveways (commercial and private) most likely caused by entering or exiting motor vehicles.”
*“In the United States, the share of fatal bicycle crashes occurring in low-speed zones was lower than in Europe – possibly because low-speed traffic calmed zones are relatively less common in the United States.”
*“In the United States, 27% of deceased cyclists for which helmet use was recorded wore helmets in 2010 and 2011.”
*“Red light running by cyclists … is an often-cited contributory factor in fatal and serious injury bicycle crashes (at least in the United States).”
*“Motorists were charged with traffic violations in nearly one third of all fatal bicycle crashes and investigating officers identified a crash-contributing factor on the part of the motorist in over half of all fatal bicycle crashes.”
*“Data from the United States indicate that cyclists were imputed with an improper action in 68% of fatal bicycle crashes (though, as noted earlier, this may be biased as the cyclist was not able to give their version of events).”

Japan, in spite of a lack of infrastructure, is much safer thanks primarily we think because of greater awareness on the part of drivers.

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Commuting by Bicycle in Japan Statistics

自転車で通勤通学

According to the Cascade Education Foundation, 25% of the U.S. population cycles. The definition of "cycles" is not unfortunately spelled out.

Moreover, 60 million Americans bicycle at least once per year.

In contrast, in Japan 15% of commuters bicycle to work. That however compares poorly with the Netherlands, where 50% of commuters do so by bike.

Back in the USA, though, only 1.6% of American commuters bicycle to work.


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America's Top Ten Bicycle Cities

米国のもっともサイクリングしやすい都市ベスト１０

In Carlandia, a.k.a., the United States, May is National Bike Month.

To celebrate that, Walk Score, a website that rates neighborhoods and cities for their “walkability,” published a list of the top 10 most bike-friendly cities in the United States.

Cities were rated by the "number and quality of bike lanes and trails, destinations and road connectivity, and number of bike commuters and hills."

Scoring was out of 100, but the top-rated city this year, Minneapolis, only managed 79.

America’s Most "Bikeable" Cities:

1. Minneapolis
2. Portland, Oregon
3. San Francisco
4. Boston
5. Madison, Wisconsin
6. Washington, DC
7. Seattle
8. Tucson, Arizona
9. New York City
10. Chicago

Here is Kyoto, we doubt - no, we know -  not a single Japanese city would be ranked anywhere near the top ten based on these criteria.

However, in a broader sense of the depth of bike culture, Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo, Hiroshima and other Japanese cities should fare very well.


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Bicycle Fatalities USA National Parks

米国国立公園事故死２００７年−２０１１年

According to National Geographic, the leading cause of accidental death in US national parks is drowning. That accounted for 37% of all fatalities, in American national parks, between 2007 - 2011.

Every year some 275 million visitors head to US national parks.

Last summer, two of those were mauled to death in bear attacks in Yellowstone. While animal attacks generate big headlines, they account for just 0.6% of all deaths.

The other causes were:

23%: Motor Vehicle Accident
18%: Fall
4%: Exposure (to either heat or cold)
3%: Plane Crash
2%: Avalanche
1% Bicycle Accident
0.9%: Poisoning
0.6%: Animal Attack

Ride safe, be prepared.

The deadliest parks in terms of fatalities were:

65 fatalities: Lake Mead Recreation Area
42: Grand Canyon
42: Yosemite
31: Glen Canyon Recreations Area
29: Golden Gate Recreation Area
28: Denali

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