Huntsville Urban Bike Share Coop’s Post

In Boone, North Carolina, a driver rolled through a stop sign and hit a pedestrian. This is a common occurrence at this intersection and in many cities. But why? A psychological phenomenon called inattentional blindness might play a role. You’re surrounded by a lot of visual stimuli all the time. If you had to pay attention to all of it, you’d get overwhelmed and not be able to function. To protect you, your brain often filters out things that you’re not consciously looking for. This is especially true when you’re doing a complicated activity that already uses a lot of mental capacity, like driving. This means that your brain can filter out the sight of a stop sign or a pedestrian crossing sign, especially if nothing in the street design forces you to pay attention. North America’s default for dealing with inattentional blindness is to add more signs, which just increases visual stimuli and forces your brain to filter out even more information. To actually address the problem, the street design needs to force drivers to pay attention through concrete, tangible measures, not just visual cues. Some cities do this is through raised crosswalks, others through curb extensions that narrow the street at crossing points. Broader traffic-calming measures, like narrowing the whole street, also force people to pay attention and makes it more likely that they’ll notice signs. Want to learn more about this crash? Join the free Crash Analysis Studio webinar tomorrow, where a group of experts will analyze the crash site and discuss the factors that contributed to it. (Link in the comments.)

Cycling is the missing link that makes everything else work better. In “Bicycle-Oriented Development,” Jan Ploeger and Ruth Oldenziel explain how the Dutch railways pioneered planning principles in the Netherlands that are the conceptual ancestors of transit-oriented development and the 15-minute city – and how bikes made them work. Cycling-oriented development made railway stations widely accessible, delivering results decades ago that still remain aspirations elsewhere. Every day, the Netherlands proves that chain mobility (bike-train-bike) can yield transit-oriented development that conveniently and efficiently serves everyday mobility needs.

A new peer-reviewed study refutes claim that road diets increase emergency response times, based on a review of EMS response times in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. https://lnkd.in/egPeaPzf

One of the steps to allowing incremental housing and addressing the housing crisis is nurturing local, small-scale developers. But how do you actually do that? South Bend, Indiana, offers a few suggestions: - Provide pre-approved development templates to simplify and expedite the building and approval process. - Reduce regulatory barriers by eliminating parking minimums. - Reduce cost barriers by offering reimbursements for infill development utility hookups. - Provide workshops and support on planning, financing and navigating regulations. Learn more: