Transit Tip 3. Take the lane!

Too many bicyclists try to ride as far out of the traffic stream as possible. This makes you much more vulnerable to hazards such as debris, potholes, suddenly opening car doors, turning cars, and cars/trucks passing too closely. Prevent all of these by being visible and claiming your position in the lane to discourage unsafe driver behavior. Take the lane whenever you need it. Car drivers don't feel bad about taking the lane for themselves, and you shouldn't either. See Bicycle Safe for more tips.

For what it's worth, bus drivers are also taught to take the lane in certain situations to discourage or prevent unsafe driving practices by others (i.e. when a lane is too narrow for a bus, or when periodic hazards are present in the right lane).

Episode 44: Transit Data, Marketing & Communication with Aaron Antrim

Our guest today is transit data and communications consultant Aaron Antrim of Trillium Solutions. We learn how to manage, present and use transit information to improve mobility and expand freedom by making transit networks easier to use. Find Aaron's work at Trillium Solutions, including his analysis of social media for transit and what makes a great transit website. Or find him on Twitter.

Other links include: Detroit Bus Company; Rome2rio international trip planner; San Francisco Bay Area transit summary; Social Media is Bullshit by B. J. Mendelson.

Do you have thoughts on any of these topics?  Share them with the world (or just transit nerds) by emailing feedback@criticaltransit.com or using the contact form or those social media tools.

Find me this week at Transportation Camp and the TRB Annual Meeting in Washington DC, and hopefully testing out some new Epic Transit Journeys. Please get in touch if we might connect soon in Washington or elsewhere in the northeast.

UPDATE: If you're in Washington this week you might like another event called GTFS in the World, a workshop on open transit data.

Finally, if you enjoy what you hear each week, please help support this project by sharing it with your friends and colleagues, leaving a review on iTunes and other places, and consider sponsoring an episode if you are able to.

Transit Tip 2. Fewer seats, more space, faster service

`Instead of trying to maximize seating capacity, think about total capacity and circulation. In these times of crowded vehicles and reduced budgets, we need as many people on the bus as possible, as quickly as possible. Design wide aisles, standing room and space for strollers, carts and large bags.

Transit Tip 1. Information: put it everywhere!

Providing comprehensive transit information is arguably the most important element of a useful system. Sure, you need to run a reliable service, but people need to know how it can help them and how they can use it. Sometimes you just need a quick schedule check. Sometimes you need to know the universe options. Usually it's something in between. Yet so many bus stops lack basic schedule information, or worse, don't even say what services might stop there.

Maintaining current schedules can be a challenge as they can change often. But the actual routes and their span and frequency rarely change. Make it a goal for every stop to display a route map, an overview of each route's span and frequency, and the operator's phone number and website.

Transit Tips: a new feature

Transit Tips is a new feature on Critical Transit, offering quick suggestions to improve transportation services and bike and pedestrian safety. Some are cheap and easy; others take time to implement, but all are simple strategies intended to help us make real improvements for transit users in a practical manner without compromising our values. Further discussion is encouraged. Transit Tips will be posting several times each week.

Have an idea for a Transit Tip, or thoughts on an existing tip? Get in touch via the contact page or leave a comment.

Episode 43: Traffic signals with Matt Steele

A new year, a new challenge to the deity of traffic engineering: the traffic light.  Streets.mn contributor and recent Minneapolis City Council candidate Matt Steele says we have too many traffic signals and explains why that's a big problem for everyone. Choosing alternative measures of traffic control offers significant benefits to pedestrians, bicyclists, cars and trucks, and even help transit run more reliably.

Links include Strong Towns, the relation between speed and death, roundabouts and a very successful shared space project at a busy junction in Poynton, England.

Today's news selection features a fantastic Bikeyface comic on what snow says about our cities' priorities, another cyclist hit without accountability, and another oil train derailment and explosion near Fargo, North Dakota. We recap the horror that is fracking (natural gas drilling) and play two songs about fracking ("We'll Be There" & "My Water's on Fire").

A listener suggests that automation in transit operations may actually decrease safety as the humans involved become less alert. The same has happened with private cars as they've become safer for the people inside. Very interesting stuff.

UPDATE: Here's a link to the book I couldn't remember the name of, about the phenomenon of drivers being less attentive given increasing automation: Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do by Tom Vanderbilt.

May 2014 be the year in which we finally take traffic violence seriously and focus our attention and investments on sustainable transportation modes: walking, cycling, skating and especially public transit.  Help support this show and my other work by sharing it widely and by making a donation to my Transit Tour Fund if you are able to.  I am headed to the northeast very soon; please get in touch if we might connect.

Episode 42: Bike Winter

An informative panel discussion with four winter bicycling veterans in Minneapolis. We cover bike handling, what to wear and how to prepare your two-wheeled vehicle for our favorite season. Sneak away from the holiday dinner for this special episode and get ready to ride across a frozen lake, visit an ice shanty, ride a ski bike, go mountain biking, make your own DIY winter tire solution or just buy a fat bike and impress your friends.

Alternatively, you could stay inside and read Kat's excellent Grease Rag post on winter bike safety & handling, all about Ice Biking, what not to ride in the winter, and get your snowy terminology in order. Then go back listen to Episode 33 for Low's perspective on building community and supporting new and old bicyclists.

Episode 41: Rail Transit Safety with Marc Ebuna

In light of the latest Metro-North Railroad derailment, fellow New Yorker Marc Ebuna, now a Boston-based transit advocate and editor of Transit Matters, joins me to explain what we can learn from the recent series of incidents this year on the nation's busiest commuter rail network.

Topics include technology, maintenance, funding, regulations and more, including considering whether bus and train operators should continue working the split shifts that are standard practice throughout the industry. We also remind you that, contrary to popular headlines, using a car is still by far the most dangerous way to get around.

Read more about the crash and investigation.  Follow Transit Matters and @transitmatters on Twitter.

What ideas do you have for improving transit safety?  Send comments, suggestions and ideas for show topics/guests to feedback@criticaltransit.com or use the contact form.  Follow me on Twitter and Facebook.  Also share your thoughts on the new web site look; more improvements to come.

UPDATE: Transit Matters is growing into a transit advocacy organization and I'm a part of it. Find out more at transitmatters.info.

Episode 40: Bicycling in the Rain with The Sprocket Podcast

Brock Dittus and Aaron Flores take a break from hosting The Sprocket Podcast to join me from rainy Portland, Oregon, for a discussion of biking in cold and wet weather. We discuss the three elements -- clothing, bike setup, behavior -- of a warm and dry trip, without any fancy gear or sacrifices.

Most importantly, do what works for you. And if you want to avoid the rain altogether you might try saving up for a velomobile.

Head over to The Sprocket Podcast for more info on these fine Cascadians.

Share your comments and suggestions for topics/guests by emailing feedback@criticaltransit.com, using the contact form or following my work on Facebook and Twitter.

If you enjoy what you hear, please consider supporting better, more frequent shows by making a donation, sharing it with your friends and colleagues, and leaving a review on iTunes and other places.

Episode 39: Safe bike driving with CyclingSavvy co-founder Keri Caffrey, and bikes in the news

Fear of cycling in traffic is the greatest barrier to bicycle transportation, but safe bicycling is possible when you take control of your space and drive defensively. Our guest today is cycling instructor Keri Caffrey, co-founder of CyclingSavvy and editor of Commute Orlando. She is working to increase confidence and prevent crashes by educating bicyclists on how to safely operate a slow, narrow vehicle on roads designed for fast, wide vehicles. Also check out this video in which Keri reviews the basics (and shows off her cargo bike). Later we share some interesting bike news (the good, the bad and the super cool), including: a New York Times op-ed on the near total lack of penalties for drivers killing cyclists, plus victim blaming, with a perfect response from the great Bike Snob NYC; a cyclist assaulted by an SUV passenger; a tool for finding apartments close to transit (may be helpful along with Walk Score); a kit for bicycling across water bodies (seriously!) and a DIY bicycle elevator.

We close with a listener email on highway bypass roads and other suburban wastefulness, including the difficulty of providing useful transit in such places. It reminds me of a recent experience in the suburbs of Denver.

Share your comments and suggestions for topics/guests by emailing feedback@criticaltransit.com, using the contact form or following my work on Facebook and Twitter.

If you enjoy what you hear, please consider supporting better, more frequent shows by making a donation, sharing it with your friends and colleagues, and leaving a review on iTunes and other places.