| Two New Reports Focus in on Bicycle and Pedestrian Crashes and Travel Monitoring
Bernalillo County Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Data Analysis 2010-2014
To provide additional detail about pedestrian and bicycle crashes in Bernalillo County, MRMPO analyzed information collected by the New Mexico Department of Transportation Traffic Safety Bureau and compiled findings in the following report: Bernalillo County Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Data Analysis 2010-2014. Findings in the report are based on the best information available about the quantity and severity of crashes along with the details such as location, time, date and basic information about the people involved in the crashes. To the best extent possible, details underlying the cause of the crash are also provided. Work on the report was done in collaboration with the Healthy Here: Communities Leading Healthy Change Initiative funded in part by the Center for Disease Control.
Some of the key findings included in the report include the following:
- In 2014, New Mexico was ranked 1st in the nation for pedestrian fatalities per capita. Because bicycle fatalities are relatively rare events, New Mexico's bicycle crash ranking fluctuates significantly from year to year.
- Although it is difficult to determine the cause of the crash, in 47.1 percent of pedestrian crashes and 45.8 percent of bicyclist crashes, the officer reporting on the crash indicated that the pedestrian or bicyclist behavior did not contribute to the crash.
- East Central Ave has the highest number of combined pedestrian and bicyclist crashes in the region with 284 crashes over 10.8 mile (23 ped/bike crashes per mile). Following far behind, the second and third corridors with the most combined pedestrian and bicyclist crashes are Lomas Blvd (93 total) and San Mateo Blvd (82 total).
- A large proportion of bicycle crashes (43.3 percent) occur on roadways with no bikeway infrastructure (no bicycle lanes or adjacent path).
- Pedestrian crashes and to a lesser extent, bicyclist crashes, are correlated with areas with major transit lines, UNM, Downtown and the International District.
Pedestrian and Bicycle Travel Monitoring Report September 2016
Monitoring pedestrian and bicycle travel is a key step to planning, designing and implementing better active transportation systems at the neighborhood level. It provides baseline data needed to evaluate and understand how our built environment supports, doesn't support, or in the worst case is a barrier to walking and bicycling. Work on the report was done in collaboration with the Healthy Here: Communities Leading Healthy Change Initiative funded in part by the Center for Disease Control.
This report provides preliminary findings at seven count locations; three in the International District and four in the South Valley. It includes the numbers of people walking and bicycling along the roadway, their volume fluctuation during the day, their direction of travel and use of travel lanes, bike lanes and/or sidewalks.
The count locations were chosen to illuminate potential contributing factors influencing non-motorized user volumes and behaviors. In some count locations data was collected both before and after the implementation of roadway improvements, and in other count locations data was collected as a baseline for planned future improvements.
Some key findings included in the report and described there in further detail include the following:
- In locations on Zuni Blvd. where there were before and after counts, there was a significant jump in bicycle volume, from 90 cyclists in 2015 to 124 cyclists in 2016. At the same locations there was also a significant decrease in the percent of biking on sidewalks. These are both desirable results presumably associated with the recent road restriping and lane reconfigurations which included the addition of buffered bicycle lanes.
In addition, observations were made that need further data collection and analysis such as why are some people bicycling on sidewalks in areas where there are bike lanes, and what is contributing to low pedestrian counts in the areas studied. Read the Report
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