Pro Walk/Pro Bike 2012: Come check it out!

The Pro Walk/Pro Bike/Pro Place conference will be held in Long Beach Sept 10-13. Be sure to stop by and hear from several current and former LADOT Bike Program representatives!

Pro Walk/Pro Bike is having its international conference in Long Beach this upcoming week. It will be held September 10-13, at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center. The conference will feature over 100 presentations, from a long list of renowned experts, spanning six themes (Invest & Govern, Advocate & Include, Design & Engineer, Healthy & Safe, Plan & Connect, Safe Roads to Schools & Beyond) and seven tracks (Placemaking, ITE, Safety/Data, Green Lane, Road Share, Peer Problem Solving Consultation, Offsite Event). Check out the schedule of events.

The Pro Walk/Pro Bike/Pro Place conference is organized by both the National Center for Bicycling and Walking and the Project for Public Spaces. The conference is also sponsored by numerous local and national government programs, as well as various non-profits and grassroots organizations.

There will even be poster presentations by a number of LADOT’s very own Bike Program representatives (both current and former). All descriptions are from the official program guide:

Transforming Los Angeles. Nate Baird (Bicycle Coordinator) and Michelle Mowery (Senior Bicycle Coordinator). Mon. Sept. 10. 4-5pm.  Los Angeles is on the brink of becoming a truly bicycle friendly city. With its new bicycle plan, the city is in the midst of an important shift: to implement a network of 1600 miles of bikeways and over 180 programs that will transform Los Angeles. A year into that shift, what has the city been able to accomplish to take L.A. into the new millennium for bicycles?

The LADOT Bike Blog: Social Media and Outreach. JoJo Pewsawang (Assistant Bicycle Coordinator). Wed. Sept 12. 9:30-10:15am, 3:15-4pm.  At LADOT Bikeways, we have sought to garner community input by complimenting the typical planning process with an online forum that is available 24/7. Our social media strategy allows anyone to engage with the department though a direct channel. Our social media strategy doesn’t just stop at blog posts and Facebook comments. We continue to integrate social media with everything we do.

York Boulevard: the Economics of a Road Diet. Cullen McCormick (former Assistant Bicycle Coordinator). Wed. Sept. 12, 9:30-10:15am, 3:15-4pm. How do road diets and bike lanes affect surrounding local economies? There are myriad speculations about this interaction, but surprisingly few data. York Boulevard: The Economics of a Road Diet explores this relationship through research in Los Angeles, California. Employing property value, sales tax, and business turnover data as well as stakeholder surveys, we compare economic conditions along two similar sections of York Boulevard, one with a road diet/bike lanes and the other without.

Benefit-Cost Analysis for Bicycle Investments. Ricardo Gutierrez (Assistant Bicycle Coordinator). Thu. Sept. 13. 9:30-10:15am. Reduced collisions, health care savings, vehicle emission reductions; the benefits of bicycle investments are numerous and often far outweigh the costs. Cost-benefit analysis is an effective method for quantifying those benefits and presenting a case for allocating limited public funds towards bicycle infrastructure. This presentation will review the cost-benefit analysis completed for a recent USDOT TIGER grant application and prepare fund seekers for grants with cost benefit analysis requirements.

Bicycle Amenities for Bicycle Friendly Business Districts. Jordan Miles (Bicycle Outreach and Planning Intern). Thu. Sept 13. 9:30-10:15am. Through the installation of bicycle corrals and bicycle repair stations, the City of Los Angeles supports bicycle friendly business districts. In a built-out urban setting, accommodating bicyclists’ needs can be difficult. However, converting car parking spaces into bicycle corrals and portions of public sidewalks into public bicycle repair work stations can serve bicyclists and increase business activity alike.

Striping Spring Street. Eve Sanford (Bicycle Planning and Outreach Intern) and Tim Fremaux (LADOT Traffic Engineer). Thu. Sept. 13. 9:30-10:15am. LADOT recently implemented innovative green bike lanes on Spring St., a major downtown thoroughfare. Rain and other issues hampered the initial implementation. This poster displays the results of subsequent materials testing LADOT performed to select a material for future installations. Five different materials have been installed on the Spring St. bike lane for testing. This poster will give information about the different materials being tested and analyze their endurance and performance in the face of various weather conditions and infamous Los Angeles traffic.

We here at the Bike Program are excited to present our work to bicycle/pedestrian professionals from around the country, and to learn from other efforts being pursued and implemented throughout North America. We hope to see you all there!