Elyse Keefe, MPH, MSW, was our presenter for the PAPREN Implementation in Action session in September. There were so many audience questions, we couldn’t get to them all! Elyse graciously agreed to provide responses to questions that could not be answered live due to time.

You can find the presentation recording here, and the slides are here.

I wonder to what extent school districts have less budget to work with, so they are reducing public school bus coverage.  This happened in my community.

Yes, bus driver shortages for schools and municipalities have been a huge problem across the country, particularly since the pandemic. I think this is another very complex problem involving land use policies, education policies (e.g., charter schools), decreasing funding for public schools, and legacy transportation policies that prohibit transit routes from serving school routes. There are also of course nuances in each community. In our district, for example, they implemented staggered schedules across the schools to free up more buses. So, while I don’t think there’s one single solution to resolve this, I do think it represents another example of siloed systems that will require folks coming together to work through solutions. We hosted a workshop with folks in North Carolina for Safe Routes to School (SRTS) as part of another project a few years ago. Everyone was feeling like SRTS was a nice project, but so many other things were too pressing to really put much effort into it. Then, through talking, the group realized how SRTS was actually connected to one of their most pressing problems (the bus shortage) and started brainstorming ways that SRTS might help alleviate some of that strain.

Is prohibiting right turn on red a useful element to prevent motorists from inching into the crosswalk?

I don’t know of studies looking at that issue specifically, but I would imagine that it would have an effect on that since studies find that drivers roll through red lights instead of stopping, as is required, when right turn on red (RTOR) is not prohibited. Here is a very thorough study on the safety benefits of prohibiting RTOR and evidence that the emissions savings (the original justification for the RTOR policies) is marginal. Further, they note that adoption of electronic vehicles (EVs) will make the emissions argument even weaker and the safety one stronger. EVs are heavier and accelerate faster, making them an even greater risk to people walking and biking.

For the “high-visibility multiuse path,” what materials did you use to ensure that it wasn’t slippery when wet? Also, similarly, have you considered how some of the proposed treatments might be worn down with winter weather and the like?

I believe this is referring to the multiuse path I shared from the Town of Matthews, who would have the information about what kind of materials were used for that particular project. I will say that these discussions about selecting materials and vendors are common, so communities are definitely thinking about wear and tear and safety. They then have the opportunity to share tips and best practices with one another during the meetings and Institute where we convene. The Town of Carrboro public works department once shared a video of testing out the paint they were planning to use to make sure it wasn’t slippery for people on a bike.

Do you work with the DOT Walk/Bike Program to create or improve safety conditions and policies for people walking and or bicycling?

Yes, we work closely with BikeWalk NC and they have representation on our North Carolina Vision Zero task force, which is the group most focused on state level policies to support safety. As I stated in the presentation, mode shift is a key strategy for reducing the overall safety risk on our transportation networks and I think overall that Vision Zero plans in NC reflect the need to address safety for people walking and biking. Further, we know that the majority of the population identify as “interested but concerned” in biking for everyday trips. Therefore, we will have to build significantly safer, more comfortable, low stress infrastructure if we want to see that mode shift really take hold.