Check out this week's featured stories:
1. Circulate hosts German transit planners in San Diego
2. Panel Discussion - Women and Active Travel
Circulate hosts German transit planners in San Diego
Last week Circulate hosted a pair of German transit planners visiting San Diego.
In Germany, Verkehrsverbund agencies create a seamless transportation experience for riders. In large regions with multiple transit operators, the Verkehrsverbund system unifies the fare policies and coordinates timetables, even providing integrated trip planning and other rider-facing material.
Thomas Werner, from Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft and Gisela Grafin von Schlieffen with Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund each represent a transit operator and a transit planning agency respectively.
They spoke at an event co-hosted by the Downtown San Diego Partnership on April 11th. Early the next morning, they visited KUSI for an interview with their local morning show. We also arranged visits to both MTS and SANDAG, where they were able to discuss best practices with local agency staff.
Our partner TransitCenter invited Thomas and Gisela to visit the United States, and arranged a three-city tour of Seattle, San Francisco, and San Diego where Circulate served as a local host.
Panel Discussion – Women and Active Travel
Earlier this week, Jana spoke on the Women and Active Travel panel at the 2019 National Planning Conference in San Francisco. The discussion topics from the panelists explored how women are often excluded from key sustainable travel modes: cycling, walking, and public transit. Each of the panelists spoke to different aspects of this issue and cited research conducted on this topic.
Jana presented on cargo bikes as an equitable transportation solution for American women. Jana’s research looks at the feasibility of the cargo bike as a substitute to the automobile and the factors involved in this mode selection changeover. Factors include:
- Men and women transportation patterns, needs, and purposes differences,
- Women often making more trips related to household and child-related responsibilities, and
- Women are trip-chainers.
The cargo bike research Jana worked on used a two-part study, comprised of a nation-wide online survey and in-person interviews with female cargo bike users. Findings from this study suggests that the feasibility of cargo bike changeover is heavily dependent on:
- Bicycle education to support greater confidence in bicycle ability and roadway rights as a bicyclist,
- Creating roadways and designing bicycles that are attractive to the comforts and trip purposes of all riders, and
- Working towards making bicycle trips with children and other cargo safe, easier, more enjoyable, and convenient for women.
The research helped show that cargo bikes provide an equitable transportation model that accommodates for the travel behavior and preferences of women. This research also helped demonstrate how the travel behavior of women can be better integrated into the design and implementation of transportation systems.
Circulate San Diego is pursuing opportunities to expand the research of women in transportation and how safety and comfort can be improved. A current study is looking at lighting in San Diego neighborhoods and identifying “black holes,” where women feel most vulnerable walking at night. Keep an eye out for progress on that research!
Special thank you to San Diego State University for inviting Jana to be a part of the NPC panel and such an important conversation.
Scooter Regulations at City Council on Tuesday
Scooter regulations will be heard by the San Diego City Council on Tuesday, April 23rd. If you’d like to support scooter regulations, meet us at City Hall for the 2 p.m. hearing!
You can also join Lime for a lunch and ride to City Hall from Waterfront Park before the hearing. Details and RSVP for their ride: https://action.li.me/lime_circulate_sd
The proposed regulations have incorporated feedback heard at the Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee and include limiting speeds in high-pedestrian traffic areas, staging requirements, and obtaining permits to operate in the City.
Special thanks to our Corporate Members:
Their support allows Circulate San Diego to go "above and beyond" to advance our mission to create excellent mobility choices and vibrant, healthy neighborhoods. Your firm, company or employer can find more information on our Corporate Membership page.
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