==
Bike-Walk Alliance of NH == 
June 2011: Bike-ed in high gear as school summer vacations near
If
you bike or walk in New Hampshire, there is something on this Bike-Walk Alliance
of NH web site that should be of interest to you! There is so much activity
here in the Granite State involving biking and walking it is difficult to
write about all of it. However, let's get started!
Highlights of June 2011 news follow
Distracted
Driving Simulators hit the NH schools
In
addition to many bike-ed presentations to students in the NH elementary schools,
high school students have started receiving awareness training in distracted
driving and driving under the influence.
The two computerized Distracted Driving Simulators as unveiled at the NH Highway
Safety Conference in April have been used in several school districts with
excellent reports. The Timberlane Regional High School in Plaistow was the
first in the state to use the simulators with about 200 students taking two
or more tests. Distracted driving induced by cell phone use (talking or texting)
and driving under the influence were simulated with student comments including
"I got in an accident pretty quick. I rear-ended a car and lost my license."
"I hit a deer. Then they did a drunk test, put me in a police car and
took me to jail." This was not a game being played by the students. One
commented how he lost his brother to drunk driving.
Jim Esdon of the Injury Prevention Center at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center
is the program manager. The units were slated for use in Sanborn and Seabrook
before the end of the school year. As of June 1, over 500 students have been
tested. BWA-NH will be involved in the logged results of the tests recorded
by the two simulators and help maintain the units as more and more schools
and organization use the machine which proves that distracted driving leads
to crashes - and that no one is immune from being distracted. For more information,
please contact BWA-NH at info@bwanh.org.
Bicycling education in NH continues to
make progress with another 12-hour LAB "Traffic Skills 101" course
scheduled for September in the Concord area. Paula Bedard, a certified LAB
Cycling Instructor, is the coordinator. For details, please check the Traffic
Skills 101 page on this web site.
Meanwhile, both classroom and on-bike training for elementary school students
continues, mostly under local Safe Routes to School (SRTS) grant programs.
Approximately 385 students plus teachers at the Dr. Crisp Elementary School
in Nashua attended the training sessions on May 26. The on-bike session is
to be held June 11. A "Train the Trainers" program offered by BWA-NH
to train and certify school phys-ed teachers, coaches, nurses, and other staff
members to be LAB "Bicycling 1-2-3 Youth Instructors" so they can
conduct LAB-designed bike-ed courses year after year in their schools for
grades 4 and 5 is being implemented. A seminar for teachers in the North Country
is being planned for October 12. This "TTT" program is funded by
a SRTS grant awarded to BWA-NH therefore it is free for the schools on a first-come,
first served basis. Please contact the BWA-NH office for details: info@bwanh.org,
603.898.9926.
New
LAB rankings for New Hampshire
The City of Keene
received the Bronze LAB Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) award on May 2. Many
local bike-ped advocates, organizations, and rail trail groups helped the
city obtain this notable award. Keene now joins Concord as the second community
in the state to receive recognition as a "BFC" by the League of
American Bicyclists.
At the state level, on May 18 the LAB 2011 Bicycle Friendly State (BFS) ranking
for New Hampshire gave us # 14 out of 50 with an overall grade of "C"
versus # 6 last year, # 8 in 2009, and # 10 in 2008. This does not imply that
bicycling conditions have declined in the state, but other states have been
doing more to earn more points in the scoring process. A key factor affecting
many states is the "Infrastructure" criteria for which NH scored
an "F". Actual condition of roads, bike paths, rail trails, etc.
in use did not mean as much in the scoring as the percentage of Federal money
allocated for same from sources like the Transportation Enhancement (TE),
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ), and Highway Safety Improvement
Program (HSIP). A complete breakdown of the NH scores by the LAB follows.
-- B in Legislation
-- B in Policies & Programs
-- F in Infrastructure
-- A in Education & Encouragement
-- C in Evaluation & Planning
-- A in Enforcement
Meanwhile, our neighboring Northern New England states went up in their new
BFS scores. Maine went from 3 to 2 and Vermont went from 36 to 15. The top
five states in the country are Washington, Maine, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and
New Jersey. All the scores are relatively subjective based on criteria set
by the LAB national office and some of the scores have been challenged by
various states, but take it as it is: there is room for improvement in New
Hampshire!
2011
Commute Green NH program a success
Some figures have yet to be recorded, but over 62,000 miles were not driven
in single-occupancy cars during Commute Green Week of May 16-20. That is like
taking six cars off the road for a full year!
The mileage breakdown by method of travel for Commute Green week follows with more to come:
--
Carpooling: 36,367
-- Bicycling: 4,579
-- Walking: 958
-- Transit: 13,158
-- Telecommuting: 6,968
--
Total: 62,030 miles
7th Annual Safe Kids 500 held Tuesday, May 3 at the Loudon race track
This very popular event allows kids (and everyone else) to bicycle around the famous NASCAR track in Loudon only with safety in mind, not speed. The event is sponsored by the Injury Prevention Center at Dartmouth while many organizations including BWA-NH support the effort and have display tables to highlight their programs. All bicyclists are required to wear a helmet and they are fitted (or provided at low cost) prior to cycling on the one-mile oval race track. Bike are checked and minor repairs performed by the expert mechanics from S&W Sports of Concord. The May 3 event was very well attended with nearly 500 kids participating -- and it did not rain!
Rail Trail progress
Users of the paved sections of the Derry and Windham rail trails can't wait until the centers of Derry and Salem are connected. Derry expects to pave their section from Bowers Road to the Windham Depot this summer. For the same Manchester-Lawrence railroad corridor extending south through Salem and into Methuen, MA, discussions are underway between the Methuen Rail Trail Alliance, City of Methuen, Iron Horse Preservation Society (IHPS), NH-DOT, and the Town of Salem with BWA-NH helping to arrange critical meetings in Concord. The concept of IHPS building a useable rail trail at no cost in exchange for old railroad material is a new concept for New Hampshire so new guidelines must be established before any work is done. At this time, IHPS is likely to start work in Methuen this summer and would certainly benefit all parties concerned if they are allowed to continue north along the M&L corridor into Salem. A five-way meeting on May 12 set a precedent -- this was the first time NH-DOT, IHPS, Salem, Methuen, and BWA-NH representatives got together to discuss options of interest to the Southern NH Rail Trail Alliance if not the statewide NH Rail Trails Coalition as well. To prove we really did see each other, a couple photos follow.
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Left
to right: Bill Scott, Salem Community Development Director; "Kit"
Morgan, NH-DOT Bureau
of Rail and Transit Administrator; Joyce Godsey, Methuen Rail Trail Alliance
President; Joe Hattrup,
Iron Horse Preservation Society CEO, and Larry Keniston. NH-DOT Bike-Ped Coordinator.
Meeting held May 12, 2011 at NH-DOT, Concord.
(Photos by Dave Topham, BWA-NH.)
Did
you see the BWA-NH May updates? If not, here you go!
National Bike Month started in 1956 by the League of American Bicyclists
What started as Bike to Work Day by the LAB in 1956 (then the League of American Wheelmen) on the third Friday in May has since expanded into Bike to Work Week and finally the entire month of May as now called National Bike Month. Many states including NH have further expanded the basic concept to include walking, carpools, public transit, trains, and even telecommuting as means to avoid the use of single occupancy cars for commuting and all utilitarian trips when possible. By going "green", saving gas, pollution, money, and traffic headaches while obtaining some exercise via "active transportation" helps everyone and the environment.
Here
in NH, the 2011 Commute Green NH program
is well underway with a new web site, many coupons and giveaways, and a chance
for you to log your "green miles" as either an individual or part
of a corporate team. BWA-NH is a statewide supporter of the program and is
donating a collection of sponsorships, LED flashers, reflective leg bands,
pens, bumper stickers, and helmet stickers as giveaways. For more information
and to register, please visit www.commutegreennh.org.
AAA
of Northern New England
promotes sharing the road with bicycists in their latest newsletter. Maine,
Vermont, and New Hampshire are covered in one article which was compiled after
AAA's Pat Moody spoke with the bike advocacy groups in each state. If you
don't have that newsletter, you can check out the two page article here
for page one and here
for page two.
7th Annual Safe Kids 500, Tuesday, May 3 at the Loudon race track
This
very popular event allows kids (and everyone else) to bicycle around the famous
NASCAR track in Loudon only with safety in mind, not speed. The event is sponsored
by the Injury Prevention Center at Dartmouth while many organizations including
BWA-NH support the effort and have display tables to highlight their programs.
All bicyclists are required to wear a helmet and they are fitted (or provided
at low cost) prior to cycling on the one-mile oval race track. Bike are checked
and minor repairs performed by the expert mechanics from S&W Sports of
Concord. For more details, please
see the event flyer.
NH received two Distracted Driving Simulators in April
The NH Highway Safety Conference in Meredith had distracted driving as the main theme with multiple presentations and demonstrations proving that drivers cannot safety drive and talk/text on cell phones even if hands-free devices are used such as Bluetooth headsets. There are many possible distractions while driving including eating, changing radio stations, checking a GPS unit, etc. but cell phone use leads the way as the most distracting. Just talking on a cell phone increases the risk of a crash by four times - about the same as a drunk driver with a .08 BAC. Texting while driving increases the risk by eight. Drivers seemingly "must" use their phones while driving to the point of being addicted as proven by extensive tests including brain scans. Most drivers acknowledge there is a risk factor but "they" are better than others who are talking and texting while driving. And even with the NH anti-texting law, enforcement is a problem as usually nothing is done until after a crash when cell phone records are examined - and the victims are examined in a hospital or a morgue.
What can we do? While certainly there is no one answer, better education and awareness can help. BWA-NH was instrumental in the NH Highway Safety Agency and the Injury Prevention Center at Dartmouth obtaining two Distracted Driving Simulators (DDS). The computerized and portable devices will be taken into schools and public places to allow drivers of all ages to learn for themselves that they are really not good at driving safely when playing with their cell phone. The simulators run a program called "One Simple Decision" - and it really gets the point across: simply do not talk or text when driving. Multitasking may sound like a good idea and many people feel they do it very well. Unfortunately, the statistic and deaths prove otherwise.
During May, a core group of safety professionals will be trained on the DDS by the Injury Prevention Center in Lebanon on the set-up, use, and database logging so they can train others who will be able to borrow the units at no charge for up to a week at a time. When not in use, one unit will be stored in Lebanon at the IPC office, then second stored in Concord at the Safety and Health Council of Northern New England office where BWA-NH rents space and services. The goal is to greatly increase the awareness of NH drivers of distracted driving so they will change their habits before causing a serious crash. Bicyclists and pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users with distracted drivers being a severe risk which is increasing every year for the past decade or more. The DDS units are but one way we hope to address this serious issue.
Please
see our Distracted
Driving page for details and photos.
Bicycling Education efforts continue
With May being National Bike Month and the school year winding down, many schools are holding bike-ed classes with the help of certified LAB Cycling Instructors and the BWA-NH "Train the Trainer" program. School personnel are very thankful for the efforts and comprehensiveness of the program, especially when the on-bike sessions are included. A recent LAB "Kids-II" class for grades K-5 at the Canterbury Elementary School is but one example of another success story.
For adults wishing to hone their on-road cycling skills, a second LAB "Traffic Skills 101" course is scheduled for the Concord area this September. Please see our Traffic Skills-101 page for details.
Canterbury Elementary School sign announcing bike event, April 16, 2011
About 1/4 of Canterbury Elementary School students in bike-ed class, April 15, 2011
Canterbury Elementary School students practicing straight-line starts/stops
Rail Trail progress
Paperwork for the Derry-Windham-Salem tri-town TE grant for $1.2M as awarded in 2010 continues to move forward but a pace not likely to see any construction until 2012. Users of the paved sections of the Derry and Windham rail trails can't wait until the centers of Derry and Salem are connected. For the same Manchester-Lawrence railroad corridor extending south through Salem and into Methuen, MA, discussions are underway between the Methuen Rail Trail Alliance, City of Methuen, Iron Horse Preservation Society (IHPS), NH-DOT, and the Town of Salem with BWA-NH helping to arrange critical meetings in Concord. The concept of IHPS building a useable rail trail at no cost in exchange for old railroad is a new concept for New Hampshire so new guidelines must be established before any work is done. At this time, IHPS is likely to start work in Methuen this summer and would certainly benefit all parties concerned if they are allowed to continue north along the M&L corridor into Salem. Our June BWA-NH update will carry news of the meetings, hopefully with good results to report.