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.

Hosted on Thursday, September 14, 10:00 - 11:00 AM

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: 

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.

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.

A series of webinars created in partnership with AARP

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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 

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