NJN News interviews New Jersey's own Dr. John Pucher on his latest research.

I had the great pleasure and honor studying under Prof. John Pucher at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. Dr. Pucher or as he calls himself "Car-Free John" is one of the leading researchers when it comes to analyzing the effects of proactive bicycle and pedestrian policies with that of public health, transportation expenditures, transportation mode shares etc. usually comparing the policies of one country to another.



The story begins by following Dr. Pucher's bike commute and then profiles a Summit family that gets around by bicycle. The final segment focuses the popularity of bicycling and the poor road conditions in urban New Brunswick. Overall a good snapshot of bicycling in New Jersey. Now all we need is to convince our elected officials to muster up the political will to make bicycling a real transportation option.

Sec. LaHood makes major Bike/Ped friendly policy announcement

This is Big!

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, already well liked in the bicycling community and now famous for his table top speech at last weeks National Bicycle Summit, made a major announcement today on his blog. The USDOT will put the needs bicyclists and pedestrians on equal footing with other modes of transportation. "This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized," LaHood announced. To make this happend Sec. LaHood proposes key recommendations for state DOTs and local communities:

• Treat walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes.
• Ensure convenient access for people of all ages and abilities.
• Go beyond minimum design standards.
• Collect data on walking and biking trips.
• Set a mode share target for walking and bicycling.
• Protect sidewalks and shared-use paths the same way roadways are protected (for example, snow removal)
• Improve nonmotorized facilities during maintenance projects.

This picture © J. Maus of BikePortland. View the BikePortland Flickr stream here.

For more details about the policy see the official USDOT Policy Statement on Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodation.

Also don't forget to see Ray LaHood's statement on his "Fast Lane" Blog.