Electric scooters, Aug 30 meet and greet, Georgia Walks Summit, Monroe Drive

August 2018

In This Issue

Save our Sidewalk Space!

Welcome Kathrine Morris: Aug 30 meet and greet

Save the date: 2019 Georgia Walks Summit

Demand safe sidewalks and crossings on Monroe Drive

Save our Sidewalk Space!

Shareable motorized scooters have great potential , especially as a fun, convenient


	Photo credit: Kelly Jordan

alternative to relying on cars to reach nearby destinations. PEDS welcomes this sort of future,

but it's essential that people ride scooters in the road, not on sidewalks.

Sidewalks must remain safe and welcoming for people on foot and using wheelchairs. Period.

During July, Sally Flocks, President & CEO of PEDS, spoke at City Council work sessions, exchanged e-mails with planners and elected officials, and recommended regulations that will protect people on foot.

The State of California adopted excellent regulations - and we'd like local and state governments to adopt similar rules here. California sets 16 as the minimum age for riding motorized scooters. It also prohibits people from using motorized scooters from doing any of the following:

Riding upon a sidewalk
Riding with any passengers in addition to the operator
Parking a scooter on its side or on a sidewalk in any way that limits access for people who are walking

Please join us in asking Atlanta City Council members to put safety first. Nothing should be allowed on sidewalks that exceeds the speed of joggers. Traveling 15 mph on sidewalks is unsafe for both pedestrians and people riding scooters.

Aug 30 meet and greet: Welcome Kathrine Morris

Kathrine Morris, our new Community Engagement Coordinator, has been with us for just a

week. And we already know she's a terrific addition to our team. She's an expert on equity, inclusion, and community programming.

We're eager for you to meet her as well, so please join us on Thursday, August 30 for coffee and conversation.

We'll hang out from 7:30 - 9:00 a.m. on the first floor of the new Post Office Coffee and Co-Work building at 86 Pryor Street, SW in Atlanta.

Save the date: March 7 - 8 Georgia Walks Summit

Drum roll, please. We've lined up terrific keynote speakers for the 2019 Georgia Walks Summit. Three more reasons to save the date!

Chuck Marohn, Founder and President of Strong Towns, is a recovering engineer who likens American suburbs to a giant Ponzi scheme and explains why "stroads" - hybrids of streets and roads - don't work well for anyone. In 2017 Planetizen named him one of the 10 Most Influential Urbanists of all time.
Nisha Botchwey, Associate Professor at Georgia Tech's School of City and Regional Planning, is an expert in health, equity, community engagement and the built environment. She co-directs the National Physical Activity Research Center and directs the Built Environment and Public Health Clearinghouse.
Ellen Dunham-Jones, Director of the Urban Design program at Georgia Tech, is a leading authority on suburban redevelopment. She co-authored Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs and is a Fellow and past Board Chair of the Congress for the New Urbanism.

We're thrilled to partner with the Georgia Department of Transportation to present the fourth annual Georgia Walks Summit. Th e Summit will be in Norcross and Peachtree Corners on March 7 - 8, 2019 and is likely to be the best yet.

We'll keep you posted as we call for proposals and offer opportunities to register. Stay tuned!

Demand safe sidewalks and crossings on Monroe Drive

Renew Atlanta's latest recommendations for the Monroe Drive/Boulevard Complete Street are a big disappointment to people who live or walk on Monroe Drive.

As currently designed, Monroe Drive is dangerous for all travel modes. Renew Atlanta's recommendations do little to change that.


	Creating a center turn lane will reduce the risk of wrecks like the one that occurred on Monroe in mid-July

These recommendations are not a done deal - and it's not too late for you to participate .

If you haven't already done so, please join PEDS in calling on Renew Atlanta to:

Redesign Monroe so it has one lane in each direction, a center turn lane, and wide sidewalks
Install midblock crossings between Montgomery Ferry and Piedmont Avenue
Install safe crossings at all intersections on Monroe Drive

Your voice matters. Please send comments to [email protected] by August 10.

Your contributions make change happen.