WalkWiseLee puts safety first, one step at a time

BWL's column informs about the new innovative pedestrian education program being offered (for free) in Lee County (just contact Dan Moser), and reports on some interesting stats on biking participation, from Bikes Belong.

BikeWalkLee Column in News-Press "Go Coastal" section, April 2, 2015

You can walk this way, you can take a walk on the wild side, you can even walk like an Egyptian — but wouldn’t you rather WalkWiseLee?

Dated music references aside, WalkWiseLee is a new pedestrian safety effort that is working to make Lee County a safer place to take a stroll. A joint undertaking by the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at University of South Florida and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), WalkWiseLee provides innovative pedestrian safety education to any group at no cost.

Traffic safety affects everyone, since we are all part of it at some point during our day — particularly as pedestrians when we walk for practical purposes, exercise, or recreation. What you may not know is that Lee County is one of 10 counties in Florida being targeted due to its poor traffic crash, injury, and fatality record.

WalkWiseLee offers an informative, interactive 15- to 30-minute presentation (with time for discussion) for anyone living or working in Lee County. All that’s needed is an invitation from you and an appropriate place to hold the presentation. Any club, association, business, church, or other group interested can make the request and they’ll schedule it to fit your needs.

Interested? Contact at Dan Moser dan@bikepedmatters.com or (239) 334-6417 for more information and to request a presentation.

A bicycling benchmark
 People For Bikes, a national bicycle coalition promoting cycling, safety and support, released a benchmark participation study last month that offers some interesting statistics:
•Thirty-four percent (or 103.7 million) Americans rode a bicycle in the past year. Out of those, about half road twice a month or less.
•Thirty-two percent (or 95.5 million) Americans rode a bicycle for recreation in the past year. Out of those, about 60 percent rode twice a month or less.
•Fifteen percent (or 45.1 million) Americans rode a bicycle for transportation in the past year. Out of those, almost 65 percent rode twice a month or less.
•Fifty-four percent report bicycling is convenient and 53 percent would like to ride more often. But 52 percent are worried about being hit by a motor vehicle.
•Forty-six percent of adults would be more likely to ride if bicycles were physically separated from cars, but only 31 percent are satisfied with the bike lanes, paths and trails now available to them.
•Availability of a working bicycle also poses a challenge: Forty-eight percent of adults don’t have a working bicycle in their household.

The full report is available at http://www.peopleforbikes.org/pages/u.s.-bicycling-participation-benchmarking-report.

Bike/ped season winds down

With the end of tourist season in sight, the season of weekly runs, walks or rides is beginning to wane as well. Some of that comes with the uptick in temperatures, in concert with the departure of winter residents.

However, for those of you still ready to hit the roads or paths, you can still find a 5K for the next few weekends (check out www.fortmyerstrackclub.com or www.active.com), along with a selection of organized bike tours of varying lengths and causes (www.caloosariders.com is your best one-stop source).

And don’t forget the monthly SWFL Critical Mass ride is Friday, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Riders gather at the open lot near the downtown Publix (off West First Street) for a 8-10 mile fun family ride.

•Want to support the “6ft Flag” Safety Movement — Bike Lights Campaign, a grassroots movement to help improve the safety of cyclists in Southwest Florida? Go to http://www.gofundme.com/SWFL6ftflag_lights for details and to donate.

BikeWalkLee is a community coalition raising public awareness and advocating for complete streets in Lee County — streets that are designed, built, operated and maintained for safe and convenient travel for all users: pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit riders of all ages and abilities. Information, statistics and background online at www.BikeWalkLee.org.

Moser Column: Everyone can benefit from WalkWiseLee

Dan's column this week introduces the new WalkWiseLee education program. Contact Dan to schedule your presentation!  The advocacy corner talks about BikeWalkLee's bike light campaign.
 
Florida Weekly April 1, 2015 Outdoors Section

 When it comes to traffic safety there’s little debate that Lee County — and all of Southwest Florida for that matter — leaves much to be desired. In fact, we’re among the worst of the worse in terms of risk for motor vehicle drivers, pedestrians and operators of bicycles.

But it’s also a fact that there’s an ongoing and robust effort taking place to make our dismal record a thing of the past. Many partners work tirelessly within coalitions and other groups and organizations on this important matter. Among the most dedicated are Lee County Injury Prevention Coalition, Stay Alive... Just Drive!, BikeWalkLee, Cape Coral Bike-Ped, Lee County Emergency Medical Services, the Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization, Lee Memorial Health System, Florida Department of Transportation, and all of the law enforcement agencies that serve our communities.

With so many organizations and coalitions focusing on traffic safety I think it’s accurate to say things would be even much worse if they weren’t involved. At least that’s what keeps me and many of my colleagues doing what we do.
Education and awareness campaigns are among the tools employed, often in conjunction with enforcement and engineering efforts. The latest addition to our toolbox is WalkWiseLee (facebook.com/walkwiselee), an innovative education program that was developed by the Center for Urban Transportation Research at University of South Florida and funded by the Florida Department of Transportation. WalkWiseLee succinctly addresses all aspects of traffic safety and is based on techniques proven to be effective while it was being developed in the Tampa Bay area by CUTR, a nationally recognized research center that serves as a valuable resource for decision makers, transportation professionals, educators and the general public. They’ve provided their services here many times.

One example of the effectiveness of the WalkWise program comes from CUTR’s data that indicates that before the group’s presentation, only 65 percent of participants correctly answered that a pedestrian should walk against traffic when sidewalks are not available. Immediately after the WalkWise presentation, about 90 percent answered correctly. This may sound insignificant to some but I can confirm that it’s very common for folks to be confused about the direction they should walk as well as which direction to ride their bikes (always with the flow of traffic). CUTR also found that the interactive nature of the 15-30 minute presentations, which can be extended in length if the audience is engaged and interested in learning of others’ experiences and sharing their own, make the delivery technique very effective. Since its inception, Walk- Wise Tampa Bay has been presented to more than 20,000 people who have attended the more than 1,600 presentations CUTR has conducted in the Tampa Bay area, so it has plenty of data to back up its claims.

If you’d like to request a WalkWiseLee presentation for any size group all that’s required is an appropriate place to meet. All participants receive a reflective backpack and those completing an online post-presentation survey will be sent a WalkWise Florida T-shirt (while they last). Of course, there’s no charge for participants or those hosting it. To request a presentation, visit walkwiseflorida.com/pedestrian-presentation or contact me at dan@bikepedmatters.

Advocacy update
BikeWalkLee has launched the “Six- Foot Flag” campaign, but with a twist. You may remember seeing orange flags attached to the back of bikes to improve their visibility to motorists; unfortunately, due to unintended consequences, it turned out not to be as good of an idea as it sounds. That being the case, the new “Six-Foot Flag” that BWL is promoting are bike lights. With public support they’re seeking to purchase and distribute 2,000 lights to make bike riders more visible. They’re also encouraging people on bikes to use flashing lights even during daylight hours to make others more aware of their presence and raise awareness of bike and pedestrian safety issues here in Southwest Florida. If you’d like to donate to the cause, visit gofundme.com/swfl6ftflag_lights.
Of course, you can learn more about this, WalkWiseLee, and many other important community matters at bikewalklee.blogspot.com.

Until next time, I’ll look for you on the roads and pathways.

Upcoming Events
Running/Walking:
¦ Harbour Heights Half-Marathon, Saturday, April 4, Punta Gorda (harbourheightshalfand5k.org)
¦ African Aid 5K, New Hope Church, Saturday, April 11, Fort Myers (ftmyerstrackclub.com)
¦ Viking 5K Paint Run, Bishop Verot High School, Saturday, April 18, Fort Myers (ftmyerstrackclub.com)
For more Lee County running events, visit Fort Myers Track Club (ftmyerstrackclub.com), Endurance Sports Timing (endurancesportstiming.com) and 3-D Racing (3dracinginc.com). For Naples/ Collier running info, it’s the Gulf Coast Runners (gcrunner.org). Charlotte County running information is at zoomersrun.com. Walkers can visit meetup.com/Walking-SWFL.

— Dan Moser is a long- time bicycle/ pedestrian advocate and traffic safety professional who cycles, runs and walks regularly for transportation, recreation and fitness. Contact him at bikepedmoser@gmail.com and 334- 6417.

Introducing WalkWiseLee

Part of an organization, service club, church, business, or neighborhood association and looking for an informative (and free) presentation to your members? Here's your chance to have Dan Moser come and make a presentation on the new FDOT initiative called WalkWiseLee that provides innovative pedestrian safety education.


Dan Moser (R) gears up for his new role in WalkWiseLee

The Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at University of South Florida and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) announces a program new to Lee County that you may be interested in taking advantage of for your residents, clients, or organization's members.


WalkWiseLee is an initiative that provides innovative pedestrian safety education to any group at no cost. As you know, traffic safety affects everyone, being that we are all part of it at some point during our day, particularly as pedestrians when we walk for practical purposes, exercise, or recreation. What you may not know is that Lee County is one of ten counties in Florida being targeted due to its poor traffic crash, injury, and fatality record.

The WalkWiseLee campaign provides an informative and interactive 15- to 30-minute presentation with time for discussion for anyone living or working within Lee County. All that's needed is an invitation from you and appropriate place to hold the presentation. Any club, association, business, church, or other group interested can make the request and we'll schedule it to fit your needs.

Please contact at Dan Moser dan@bikepedmatters.com or (239) 334-6417 for more information and to request a presentation.