Artículo: Four Florida metropolitan areas recently ranked as the most dangerous places for pedestrians, according to a survey by Transportation America.

Orlando and three other Florida metropolitan regions again top the list of most dangerous places for pedestrians, with more than 550 pedestrians killed between 2000 and 2009. According to a survey by Transportation America, these areas lead the nation in pedestrian fatalities and other injuries relative to the amount of walking that occurs there, and Hispanic and black residents are disproportionately the victims.

Experts blame the problem on a glut of wide, arterial roads built for cars. These multi-lane roads have few crosswalks and sidewalks, and the car culture built up around them includes some motorists who speed up at the site of pedestrians crossing.

Southern and southwestern metro areas make up the bulk of the regions that scored poorly on the survey. New York City-Northern New Jersey-Long Island was found to be the safest place for pedestrians.

 

source: PLANETIZEN

ARTICULO + VIDEO: Riding Bogota’s Bountiful Protected Bikeways

Riding Bogota's Bountiful Protected Bikeways from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Tomado de www.STREETfilm.org

Since 1998, Bogotá, Colombia has built more than 300 kilometers of protected bikeways. Streetfilms recently had the chance to explore the city's bike network with the man responsible for building it, former mayor Enrique Peñalosa.

"When we build very high quality bicycle infrastructure, besides protecting cyclists, it shows that a citizen on a $30 bicycle is equally as important to one in a $30,000 car," said Peñalosa. And as mayor, he walked the walk, extending the network of protected bikeways to every community.

"He spent all of the money that he had developing public space for pedestrians and bicycles," said Carlos Felipe Pardo from SlowResearch.org. "If you go to other places, you have people in the mud walking but the cars on a perfect road and here it is the opposite."

Now the investment in cycling infrastructure is paying off. After starting off with hardly any bike commuters, Bogota is pushing a five percent bike commute mode-share.

artículo original AQUI