C.A.T.S.M'eo

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Walking

Walking is the most basic of human transportation forms. It is not alternate transportation. Driving is alternate transportation and the worst mode we can choose. Because of the speed differential, driving displaces other legitimate modes, dominating the discussion and the policy, and killing the planet.

Fast right turn lanes, short crossing signals, no lead walk signal, narrow or driving adjacent sidewalks, unmarked or poorly signalized crosswalks, sidewalks with impeding street furniture, dangerous broken sidewalks, are all consequences of displacement. However discussion of solutions quickly turns toward Public Transit or Pedestrian Over Crossings (POC), ceding the street and the means of accessing services to drivers. Instead of discussion the need for a level 7' minimum width sidewalk and the location of services within walking distance for our families, we discuss an over crossing and fail to recognize that (access) walking to the and from the overpass ends up dangerous, unpleasant, unhealthy and compromised. Compromises result in the POC being placed in an inconvenient and out of the way location because the street continues to be ceded to the driver. Worse the services that walkers want to access like the video store, movie theater, grocery store, dental or doctor office, and playgrounds have been relocated to a spot that can be reached only through a huge parking lot. The street, like the El Camino, to get to these parking lots is noisy, unhealthy, exposed to the elements, lacking a tree cover, and unfriendly precisely because it has been expanded to accommodate drivers and the resulting budget used for smooth road services and not level unbroken sidewalks. Because of drivers ability to easily travese a 1.4 mile crossing end up being 500 to 1000' making walking longer and improbable because of spread of services. Our blocks end up balkanized within our neighborhoods and our children are imprisoned with a gauntlet of speed and death.

Newsfeed

http://www.americawalks.org/Content/10025/WALKINGltigtRESOURCESampADVOCACYltigt.html
http://www.californiawalks.org/organizeYourNeighborhood/index.htm

Action

C.A.T.S.M'eo recognizes that walkable communities are key to our most basic travel mode. We want it to be the basis of our most frequent travel mode. How can we help you get to this goal? Come and discuss your issues with us (http://catsmeo.org/Join), and we will help you get to a common solution.

C.A.T.S.M'eo wants to change how we access services, return our street designs to walkers, keep the discussion focused on walking, and displace modes which are dangerous, unhealthy, noisy, and threatening. C.A.T.S.M'eo wants a community that where we can meet our friends and neighbors when we walk to the store or the doctor; in other words: a great neighborhood.

Agenda

Retrofit communities with sidewalks, pedestrian cut-throughs, and small shops within 1500' walking radius of a transit center.
Set speed limits to 15 mph on neighborhood and collector streets, and 20 mph on arterials within the walking radius of a transit center.
Create a complete network of sidewalks and trails composed of accessible streets and crossings linked to the landuses of children and seniors.
Close many intersections to reduce the danger of through traffic and improve throughput with shorter crossings and mid block crosswalks.
Reclaim the street instead of pedestrian refuges.
Integrate traffic calming on a regional basis.
Educate people to walk.
Build in disincentives to driving.
Link housing to demographics.
Focus on services locations that walkers need to reduce the lure of easy driving.
Revitalize existing walkable neighborhoods.
Build in a sustainable return on investment so that reduced road repairs from walker frequented streets can go toward paying for incentive programs that pay people to walk and pay for delivery.