transportation safety – Page 8 – InfoHive

5 Points. Limiting Pedestrian Deaths from the Mother Country,

The mother country, Sweden, is your go-to way to lower pedestiran deaths, and here’s what American cities are looking to emulate:

Sweden began Vision Zero to lower pedestrian deaths in 1997
Focus first on rural roads by building 3 lane roads, with a middle lane used for passing only.
Build separated bike lanes
Lower speed limits
Create pedestrian-only zones

The data trove: Movement, “a website that uses Uber’s data to help urban planners make informed decisions about our cities.”

3 Ways D.C. is using the data:

What is a smart road? A road rired with fiber optic cable, cameras and conencted devices

What are the goals of smart roads?

Where are we seeing smart roads?

The future is here. U.S. Department of Transportation is proposing new rules to require new cars to talk to each other.

What will cars be saying to each other? Cars will be required to broadcast data to one another about:

What’s an example? To ward off collisions, cars would be able to:

Use wireless technology to detect if another vehicle around the corner & 100s of yards away was going too fast in its direction & if they were headed for a…

Ft. Worth Star Telegram editorial lays out 3 reasons speed limits should be controlled locally and not by Austin lawmakers:

If the state lowers the default residential speed limit, there will be no funding for additional patrols
The city would benefit from assessing street safety to determine appropriate speeds
The city can already lower the speed limit itself, so why is a Ft. Worth citycouncil member pushing this idea?

Who is funding wildlife protection for freeways? The Annenberg Foundation

What are these wildlife protection mechanisms? wildlife crossings/bridges

In 2014, NTSB urged stronger regulation of hot air balloons.

In 2015, the FAA responded by saying that the chance of accident is ” so low”

In March 2016, the NTSB reissued its letter urging stronger regulations of hot air balloons.

The May issue of Fiscal Notes from the Office of the Comptroller concerning greater transportation infrastructure by the numbers:

38% of Texas major roads are poor or fair condition
800 million daily vehicle miles by 2040
- 455 million daily vehicle miles in 2014
19% of Texas bridges are deemed “structurally deficient” or “functionally obsolete” in 2015
$2.5 billion of net revenue from the sales tax will be moved to the State Highway Fund beginning in Fiscal Year 2018 (Prop. 7)
…

Which state passed a new trasnportation funding formula? Alabama

How will Alabama be alocating tranportation dollars?

New tax revenues will be allocated equally to all counties
The first $500,000 per county is specifically designated as bridge and road dollars

What is the goal?

What new funding is involved? A 6 cent increase in the gas & diesel taxes