U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Foxx is challenging mayors and local elected officials to take significant action to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians of all ages and abilities over the next year. The City of Albuquerque has recently signed on for this challenge that is based on the 2010 U.S. DOT Policy Statement on Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodation.

The official kick-off date for the challenge is March 12, 2015. This challenge involves mayors and other elected city officials leading a call to action and helping their cities take on the activities outlined below.

Call to Action

• Issue a public statement about the importance of bicycle and pedestrian safety
• Form a local action team to advance safety and accessibility goals
• Take local action through the Challenge Activities (listed below)

Mayors' Challenge Activities

• Take a Complete Streets approach
• Identify and address barriers to make streets safe and convenient for all road users, including people of all ages and abilities and those using assistive mobility devices
• Gather and track biking and walking data
• Use designs that are appropriate to the context of the street and its uses
• Take advantage of opportunities to create and complete ped-bike networks through maintenance
• Improve walking and biking safety laws and regulations
• Educate and enforce proper road use behavior by all

The City of Albuquerque has adopted the Downtown Walkability Analysis report as city policy for prioritizing multi-modal improvements in downtown Albuquerque. The Downtown Walkability Analysis also includes a list of recommended projects for short term and longer-term implementation. Downtown Albuquerque is expecting many new improvements with the adoption of this policy and with the UNM Regents' approval of the master plan for Innovate ABQ.

The national research group TRIP has identified a top-25 list of New Mexico's transportation improvement needs, including four projects in Bernalillo County. According to the Albuquerque Journal, the organization "warned that failure to pay for the projects will hinder the state's economy and worsen safety for travelers." Of the four projects called out in TRIP's top ten needs for the state, two are Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) studies: the proposed Paseo del Norte and Central Avenue BRT alignments.

Four elements set BRT apart from other transit services: off-board fare collection, station platforms, signal priority, and dedicated lanes. These elements speed up the boarding and alighting process and allow the buses to avoid traffic in order to achieve consistent speeds. More information on Albuquerque Rapid Transit, or ART, can be found here.

To read the entire Albuquerque Journal article, click here. 

The March 2015 issue of Mass Transit Magazine will prominently feature the Rio Metro Regional Transit District, both inside the magazine and on the front cover. Mass Transit Magazine is the only magazine exclusively dedicated to public transportation. A representative from the magazine visited Rio Metro in February to discuss several current and upcoming projects, including service improvements, bus rapid transit, the veterans train pass pilot project, and our unique advertising program. Several of the Rio Metro staff are featured on the front cover of the magazine posing in front of the New Mexico Rail Runner Express.

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Car-to-Car communication (also known as vehicle-to-vehicle, or V2V, technology), which can help reduce the number of car crashes and congestion, has been improving and has been noted as one of the top 10 "Breakthrough Technologies for 2015" by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's global independent media organization. Transportation officials at MRMPO member agencies are anticipating the positive safety and operations effects that these vehicles will have for travelers within the AMPA.

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