Local Motion Webinars

Local Motion hosts webinars intended to help advocates and communities make progress on improving infrastructure for walking and biking.

See our past Webinars below.

Webinar: Low-Cost Traffic Calming Techniques and Walk/Bike Solutions for Rural Vermont

Hosted on April 18, 2024. 

Bicycle engineer Keith Bontrager once said about bicycle componentry: "Cheap, light, strong: pick two." When it comes to traffic calming and walk/bike/roll infrastructure in general, you might say that a similar maxim applies: "Cheap, effective, low maintenance: pick two."

In this webinar, we'll look at lower-cost infrastructure that can be used to slow car speeds and make rapid, effective improvements for walking, biking, and rolling. This will include some ideas for more rural streets and roads. We might even find one or two ideas where you get to "pick all three."

View the resource document.


Webinar: How (and Why) to Build Great Bike Parking

Hosted March 21, 2024

Bike parking is an essential, and often overlooked component of a bike infrastructure network. When done poorly, bike parking can be totally absent, leave bikes suceptible to theft and damage, and even create hazards for people and the environment. When done well, bike parking encourages more biking by ensuring that bikes are secure, that arriving at a destination by bike is convenient, and that people biking feel like they are treated with dignity.

This webinar will explore key components of good bike parking, including design of short- and long-term bike parking, accommodating cargo and electric bikes, amenities, and more. We'll also talk about bike parking retrofits, the importance of bike parking provisions in land use regulations, funding opportunities for bike parking, and what entities are responsible for ensuring adequate bike parking facilities.

View the resource document.


Webinar: Funding Walk/Bike/Roll Infrastructure in Vermont

Hosted on February 29, 2024

So your community wants better infrastructure for walking, biking, and rolling. Funding the planning, design, and construction of that infrastructure is a key challenge that you'll need to overcome. This webinar will help local advocates and practitioners understand the funding opportunities for walking, biking, and rolling infrastructure in Vermont, and what strategies are needed in order to take advantage of these funding streams. We'll also discuss key funding challenges and hopefully identify some solutions.

View the resource document.


Webinar: What's a Walk/Bike/Roll Master Plan and Why Your Town Needs One

Hosted on January 11, 2024

Walk/Bike/Roll Master Plans are essential tools to help communities envision, plan, design, fund, and construct functional and effective infrastructure networks. In this webinar, Local Motion staff will outline key elements of a good Walk/Bike Master Plan, common pitfalls, success stories, and more. We'll also discuss funding and technical assistance opportunities for this type of planning in Vermont.

Here's the resource document.


Webinar: How to Make Your Place Better for Walking, Biking, and Rolling

Hosted on December 14, 2023

How can people make their communities better for walking, biking, and rolling? Local Motion staff discuss key strategies, opportunities, and barriers for Vermonters working for safer streets and sustainable transportation.

View the resource document.


Webinar: The State of Walking, Biking, and Rolling in Chittenden County

Hosted on October 25, 2023

What are the primary barriers to increased biking for transportation? Would people bike in the winter if there was safe, well-maintained bike infrastructure? Do residents support investing in walking, biking, and rolling infrastructure?

In this webinar, Local Motion staff presented new statistically representative survey data that provides answers to these and other questions.

View the full dataset, report, presentation slides, and more here.


Webinar: Using Level of Traffic Stress To Build Great Bike Infrastructure w/ Peter Furth

Hosted on Thursday, September 14, 2023

 

Presented by Peter Furth, PhD Professor of Civil Engineering at Northeastern University.

This webinar introduces the concept of Level of Traffic Stress (LTS)  an objective measurement that engineers, planners, and advocates can use to determine how comfortable a design will likely be in a given context, and the type of riders likely to use it. Building comfortable bike infrastructure is key to increasing ridership, especially among less-confident riders. But how do you know if a proposed bike lane, shared street, or other design will be comfortable and yield the ridership you want? Level of Traffic Stress (LTS) provides an objective measurement that engineers, planners, and advocates can use to determine how comfortable a design will be in a given context and the type of riders likely to use it.

More about Peter Furth: 

Peter G. Furth is a researcher and professor at Northeastern University known for his work in transit planning, traffic signals, and bicycle infrastructure. Furth is also considered an expert on Dutch cycling policy and history. He has a BS, MS and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and has authored over 70 publications in the transportation research field. He was a contributing author to the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide, and has received the best paper award from the Transportation Research Board three times, most recently in 2023. He is also the recipient of ITE’s education innovation award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycling Professionals for his work on Level of Traffic Stress.

Additional Resources: 


Webinar: What You Need to Know About E-bikes in VT

Hosted on Wednesday, December 15, 2021


E-bikes are having a moment, and if you ask us, they aren't going anywhere. They're especially beneficial in a hilly place like Vermont, so it's no surprise that communities across the state are seeing rapid growth in ridership, from older folks who never thought they'd ride again until they got on an e-bike, to parents making the school drop-off fun and efficient with cargo e-bikes.

This webinar will help you understand e-bikes on a variety of levels, including:
- Types of e-bikes & their uses
- Ridership trends and user profiles
- Benefits of & support for e-bike adoption
- Infrastructure and planning considerations
- State and local e-bike regulations
- User conflict and best practices for management

Webinar: Edge Lane Roads: A Solution for Vermont Towns

Hosted on Thursday, November 18, 2021, at 1 pm

An edge lane road, also known as "advisory bike lanes," is a roadway design that could make Vermont roads safer and calmer for vulnerable users. These roads have a center lane with edge lanes on each side. Vulnerable users have the right-of-way in the edge lanes, and motorists can move into the edge lanes only when passing other vehicles and must yield to vulnerable users.

It's a low-cost and versatile treatment that's especially useful on streets and roads that are not wide enough for dedicated bike lanes. In fact, several Vermont communities already have edge lane roads, including Lincoln, Danville, and Burlington. Could this design work in your town? Join us for this webinar presentation and discussion to find out.

We'll hear from Michael Williams, who is considered the foremost expert and researcher on edge lane roads in the U.S. Mr. Williams is a transportation consultant with more than a decade of experience as a licensed general contractor on public works projects and he holds three engineering degrees including an MS in Civil Engineering.


Webinar Series: AARP "Get Back on Your Bike & Biking Basics"

A series of webinars created in partnership with AARP

 

 

 

 

 


Webinar: Greenways 101 & Discussion

Hosted on Monday, June 7, 2021, at 10 - 11:30 pm

Bike paths, shared-use paths, rails trails, oh my! These are all different ways to refer to walk/bike routes that are separated from roadways, wide enough for bidirectional travel, and are generally ADA accessible. We're going to refer to them all with the term "greenways."

This webinar will serve as the foundation for a series that will help Vermonters develop greenways in their communities. We'll begin with an overview of what constitutes a greenway, where and how they are usually built, and some of the tools and resources available for this work. We'll also hear from Vermonters who are closely involved with the development of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail, and Cross Vermont Trail. We'll devote significant time to an open discussion after the introductory presentations, and will use the themes and questions of that discussion to shape the rest of the series. We hope you'll join us!

Panelists include:
Dave Stanley — Chair, Northwest Vermont Rail-Trail Council
Greg Western — Executive Director, Cross Vermont Trail
Hans Huessy — Counsel for VAST and Vermont Trail Alliance
Tom Sexton — Northeast Regional Director, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Yvonne Mwangi — Trail Development and TrailLink Coordinator, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy


Webinar: Where Recreation Meets Transportation

Hosted on Tuesday, May 13, 2021, at 3 - 4:30 pm

Where does transportation end and recreation begin? This webinar will explore the overlap of transportation and recreation planning, highlighting examples of projects completed here in Vermont.

In many rural and resort communities, recreation IS the destination, and recreation facilities dually serve as transportation networks. Similarly, in many places in Vermont, you simply cannot build a “transportation-only” multi-use path—it will be scenic and fun no matter where you put it.

Active transportation has played an increasingly important role in communities throughout Vermont. In conjunction, there is a growing desire for recreation opportunities right out your door that don’t require driving to the trailhead. Planning for a connected regional network that encompasses both the active transportation system and more recreation-oriented trails is critical to achieving these goals, but all too often we completely bifurcate the planning processes for transportation and recreation.

We'll look at three examples of Vermont projects from Northfield, East Burke, and the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail that served to better connect communities to and integrate with recreation and transportation.

Presenters:
Abby Long, Executive Director - Kingdom Trails
Ayden Eickhoff, Analyst + Planner - SE Group
Drew Pollak-Bruce, Senior Recreation Planner - SE Group
Sean Neely, Transportation Designer - Stantec


Webinar: Why E-Cargo Bikes Might Be the Missing Link in Your Municipal/Business Fleet

Hosted on Tuesday, March 30, 2021, at 2 - 3 pm

How do you keep your employees mobile while achieving goals of sustainability, equity, health, safety, and of course, cost? This webinar will explore how electric cargo bikes can be a low-cost, sustainable, and accessible addition to vehicle fleets. We'll discuss the results of a pilot project by Saris Infrastructure and the City of Madison, Wisconsin, which integrated electric cargo bikes into its municipal vehicle fleet, and consider how e-cargo bikes can meet the needs of Vermont communities.


Webinar: Walkability & Design in European Cities: What VT Can Adopt

Hosted on Thursday, December 10, 2020, at 10 - 11 am

What can Vermont towns and cities learn from our European counterparts? 

This presentation will deconstruct the big concept of the “European City” into manageable parts that can be, and in many cases have been, implemented in the United States, and in Vermont specifically.  Using examples like community-led pedestrian shortcuts, better pedestrian signals to improve communication with all street users, Gezelligheid pedestrian walkways, and others, Stu will examine creative concepts and provide ideas to take back to your community.

About the presenter: It took just one bike ride in The Netherlands for Stu to realize the benefits of having a safe and secure place to leave your bike when you are shopping, going to a waterfront concert, or just about any other bike destination. After attending a Winning Campaigns workshop hosted by Local Motion, Phil Hammerslough and Stu revived the Valet Bike Parking program, going from only 150 bikes parked the first year to over 8,000 in 2018. In a normal year, Stu coordinates over 70 Valet Bike Parking events. He won’t rest until we have a “Fietsenstalling” in Burlington- a safe and secure place for any cyclist- rich or poor, young or old to park their bike. 

Photo by Jurriaan Snikkers on Unsplash


Webinar: How We Move on This Earth & Why That Matters

Hosted on Tuesday, December 8, 2020, at 10 - 11 am

Join an exploration into how our mobility choices fundamentally influence our human perceptions and worldviews and ultimately our communities and our environment. Drawing on legend, literature, cinema, neuropsychology, philosophy, and other sources we'll take a deep dive into the dynamics of our bodies and our essential human capacities to sense and emotionally interact with the ecological and social places we pass through. With this, we will then explore the often overlooked magic of what happens when we are engaged in the act of transportation and the ways in which we ourselves may be transformed by it. Finally, we'll consider the implications of automobility on our embodied human connections to the world as well as our response to climate change and also consider practices that may bring a greater sense of depth and meaning to our everyday mobility.

About the presenter:

Dave Cohen is an integrative psychotherapist in Brattleboro (davecohencounseling.com) specializing in approaches in mind/body modalities and ecopsychology. He is also the founder and director of VBike (vbikesolutions.org), an advocacy group dedicated to promoting new bike design and technologies for everyday bicycle transportation in Vermont.


Why We Cycle Discussion - Practitioners

Hosted on Thursday, December 3, 2020, at 12 - 2 pm

What happens when cycling is as normal as breathing?

After viewing the "Why We Cycle" film, a curated group of panelists answered questions about the film. 

Click here to view the discussion recording


Why We Cycle Discussion

Hosted on Thursday, November 19, 2020, at 7 - 9 pm

What happens when cycling is as normal as breathing?

After viewing the "Why We Cycle" film, a curated group of panelists answered questions about the film. 

Click here to view the discussion recording 


Webinar: Healthy Transportation for Back to School with Mark Fenton

Hosted on Thursday, August 12, 2020, at 2 - 3 pm

Presenter Mark Fenton, who is a nationally recognized expert on the intersection of walking, transportation, and public health in the U.S., will offer critical insights and recommendations for your fall back-to-school transportation planning, including: 

- Proven strategies to encourage walking and bicycling

- Low-cost demonstration and “quick-build” techniques to accommodate increased pedestrian and bicycle demand

- Tips on utilizing free Local Motion and VTrans resources and technical assistance to improve routes to school

More about presenter Mark Fenton:

Mark Fenton is a national public health, planning, and transportation consultant, an adjunct associate professor at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and former host of the "America's Walking" series on PBS television. He's the author of numerous books including the best-selling "Complete Guide to Walking for Health, Weight Loss, and Fitness" (Lyons Press, 2nd edition 2008). He was a developer of the University of North Carolina's Safe Routes to School clearinghouse, and facilitator for the walkable community workshop series of the National Center for Bicycling and Walking; he now provides technical training and community planning as an independent consultant.