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Dear Reader,
Welcome to Alta’s October 2015 Newsletter offering interesting commentary and content from our international observatory of bicycle and pedestrian innovation. As I write this note, Seattle is preparing for the three-day visit of China’s President Xi Jinping. He and his entourage and the thousand North American hangers-on hoping to influence China-US business and political decisions are descending on our central city. Travelers in Seattle are advised to plan ahead and expect traffic delays on all three days with the closure of nearly nine city blocks. Seattle’s famous close-to-vehicular-gridlock will be epic. I won’t notice it though, really. My 25-minute bike commute will be 25 minutes. My secure parking spot will be available in the Alta BikeSPA Laboratory downstairs. I’m guessing our 4.2% mode-share may jump this week. We’ll be monitoring the automatic counters.

In this newsletter we bring you news about Rail~Volution in a couple weeks in Dallas, TX. This conference has been a great venue for bicycle and pedestrian professionals; did you visit Minneapolis last year and see our Cedar Lake Regional Trail or Seattle in 2013 to see the kick-off of our First Hill Cycle Track? Alta’s proven transit experience helps communities evaluate needs, develop strategies for improving accessibility, increase ridership, and build convenient routes, intersections, and facilities.

Or maybe you’ll be in St Louis for APBP professional development seminar. Come see how this major city is lighting up to cycling. Find us leading the mobile bike tours of our work implementing the Bike St. Louis cycling network, on the stage, or at our booth.

Finally, did you get your conference proposals in to the Winter Cycling Congress (in Minneapolis in February), and the National Bike Summit (in March)? Both are due September 30th. We are proud sponsors of both, and we hope to see you there.

Sincerely,
Steve Durrant, ASLA, PLA
Vice President

Steve was recently named a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. The new class of Fellows will be recognized at the 2015 ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO, November 6-9, in Chicago.

Join us at Rail~Volution on October 25-28!

As transportation systems expand and grow, transit agencies and communities are increasingly exploring how to get transit users to the station and beyond by foot, bike or other non-motorized form. Learn how two transportation agencies are taking the lead in planning and implementing solutions for first and last miles by coordinating with other agencies with Katie Mangle on October 26th, or join Greg Maher on the 27th for a comparative analysis of active transportation corridors within three socio-economical distinctive communities.

See you at APBP St. Louis!

Alta is proud to be a Platinum Sponsor of the 2015 APBP Professional Development Seminar (PDS). PDS will head to St. Louis, Missouri this year - where Alta just celebrated the completion of Bike St. Louis Phase III. The plan added 40 miles of new on-street bike lanes, updated 60 miles of bike lanes, and added the City's first protected bike lane.
Fun Fact: St. Louis now has more miles of downtown protected bike lanes than Seattle.

Can the City of Oaks become the City of Spokes?

In 2010, the City of Raleigh had just 1.4 miles of bike lanes; in 2015, it has 13.4 miles of bike lanes, 16.0 miles of sharrows, and 6.0 miles of buffered bike lanes.

Welcome New Alta Staff!

Meet some of our new staff – talented professionals across the country bringing their dedication and experience in building a better world to communities we serve.

Hunter Beckham, FASLA, PLA has over 20 years of experience and was a member of the ASLA executive committee for over a decade. Hunter is one of the founding authors of SITES, a voluntary sustainable rating system for exterior projects. Hunter has an unparalleled ability to understand the balance of design and sustainability.

Contact Hunter: hunterbeckham@altaplanning.com

Hugh Louch recently joined Alta to head up the Oakland office, bringing 15 years of experience in multimodal transportation planning and project management. Hugh has successfully managed dozens of multimodal transportation planning projects at local, regional, and state levels, and has led research to identify best practices in transportation planning.
Contact Hugh: hughloch@altaplanning.com

Kerry Blind, FASLA, LEED AP joins Alta's Atlanta office and is a recognized leader in green infrastructure and low impact development practices. He has chaired the ULI Atlanta Sustainability Committee and is the past chair of The Georgia Conservancy’s “Blueprints for Livable Communities” committee and serves on the Southface Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable Steering Committee.
Contact Kerry: kerryblind@altaplanning.com

Congratulations!

To Alta Principal Jessica Roberts on receiving the APBP 2015 Professional of the Year Award. Her work bridging active transportation and Travel Demand Management is inspiring change across the country, and is instrumental in improving quality of life by connecting community assets and community residents.

Stay On the Move

Industry news and more

Google Wants To Make Silicon Valley As Bike-Friendly As Copenhagen.

The Active Cities Report - a blueprint for city leaders to transform any city into an active city.

Each year, Smart Growth America makes a limited number of technical assistance workshops available to interested communities for zero cost. Applications are now being accepted for their 2016 workshop series and are due October 21st.

On October 28, 2015, NACTO will unveil a new resource for designing urban streets around the world: the Global Street Design Guide.

2015 is certainly the year of the protected bike lanes. Like this one under construction in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Bikes vs Cars is an award-winning documentary film that looks toward a future where developments in city infrastructure allow cars and bikes to share space instead of competing for it. The film, having premiered at the SXSW film festival, explores how issues with urban mobility are impacting cities, cyclists and drivers alike.

On the Blog: Active transportation is playing a lead role in Los Angeles County’s dramatic urban evolution.