Browsing by Author "Petesch, Michael"
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Item Bicycle and Pedestrian Data Collection Manual(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2017-01) Minge, Erik; Falero, Courtney; Lindsey, Greg; Petesch, Michael; Vorvick, ThorThe Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) launched the Minnesota Bicycle and Pedestrian Counting Initiative in 2011, a statewide, collaborative effort to encourage and support non-motorized traffic monitoring. One of the objectives of the Initiative was to provide guidance related to monitoring bicycle and pedestrian traffic. This manual is an introductory guide nonmotorized traffic monitoring. The manual describes general traffic monitoring principles; bicycle and pedestrian data collection sensors; how to perform counts; data management and analysis; and the next steps for bicycle and pedestrian traffic monitoring in Minnesota. The manual also includes several case studies that illustrate how bicycle and pedestrian traffic data can be used to support transportation planning and engineering.Item The Minnesota Bicycle and Pedestrian Counting Initiative: Implementation Study(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2015-06) Lindsey, Greg; Petesch, Michael; Hankey, SteveThe Minnesota Bicycle and Pedestrian Counting Initiative: Implementation Study reports results from the second in a series of three MnDOT projects to foster non-motorized traffic monitoring. The objectives were to install and validate permanent automated sensors, use portable sensors for short duration counts, develop models for extrapolating counts, and integrate continuous counts into MnDOT traffic monitoring databases. Commercially available sensors, including inductive loops, integrated inductive loops and passive infrared, pneumatic tubes, and radio beams, were installed both as permanent monitor sites and used for short-duration counts at a variety of locations in cities, suburbs, and small towns across Minnesota. All sensors tested in the study produced reasonably accurate measures of bicycle and pedestrian traffic. Most sensors undercounted because of their inability to distinguish and count bicyclists or pedestrians passing simultaneously. Accuracy varied with technology, care and configuration of deployment, maintenance, and analytic methods. Bicycle and pedestrian traffic volumes varied greatly across locations, with highest volumes being on multiuse trails in urban areas. FHWA protocols were used to estimate annual average daily traffic and miles traveled on an 80-mile multiuse trail network in Minneapolis. Project findings were incorporated in a new MnDOT guidance document, “DRAFT Bicycle and Pedestrian Data Collection Manual” used in statewide training workshops. A major challenge in implementing bicycle and pedestrian traffic monitoring is data management. Years will be required to institutionalize bicycle and pedestrian traffic successfully.Item The Minnesota Bicycle and Pedestrian Counting Initiative: Institutionalizing Bicycle and Pedestrian Monitoring(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2017-01) Lindsey, Greg; Petesch, Michael; Vorvick, Tohr; Austin, Lisa; Holdhusen, BruceThe Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) launched the Minnesota Bicycle and Pedestrian Counting Initiative in 2011, a statewide, collaborative effort to encourage and support non-motorized traffic monitoring. This report summarizes work by MnDOT and the University of Minnesota between 2014 and 2016 to institutionalize bicycle and pedestrian monitoring. The project team established a new statewide bicycle and pedestrian traffic monitoring network with 25 permanent monitoring locations and a new district-based portable counting equipment loan program. Other key accomplishments included Minnesota’s first Bicycle and Pedestrian Annual Traffic Monitoring Report, a new MnDOT website for reporting annual and short-duration counts, and a new Bicycle and Pedestrian Data Collection Manual that local jurisdictions and consultants can use to design manual and automated non-motorized traffic monitoring programs. The project team also included provisions in MnDOT equipment vendor agreements that enable local governments to purchase bicycle and monitoring equipment; established new annual training programs for bicycle and pedestrian monitoring; and contributed provisions in the Statewide Bicycle System Plan and Minnesota Walks that call for bicycle and pedestrian traffic monitoring and creation of performance measures based on counts. Despite this progress, challenges in implementing monitoring remain and continued investment in and support for bicycle and traffic monitoring is needed.Item Mississippi Riverfront: Indicators of Accessibility and Use(Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2013-06-18) Chen, Joe; Dahl, Andrew; Gunderson, Eric; Petesch, Michael; Simon, BrieannaItem Pedestrian Crossings and Safety on Four Anishinaabe Reservations in Minnesota(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2020-11) Lindsey, Greg; Hourdos, John; Dirks, Peter; Duhn, Melissa; Qi, Yunlei; Singer-Berk, Lila; Petesch, MichaelThe Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has identified Native American as one of six priority populations in the state that face disproportionate risks as pedestrians. This report summarizes results from observations of pedestrian crossing behaviors on four Anishinaabe reservations in northern Minnesota. The University of Minnesota Traffic Observatory (MTO) video-taped and classified pedestrian crossings at 10 intersections identified by Tribal transportation managers as high priority because of perceived risks. Across the intersections, pedestrian crossing volumes during daylight hours ranged from 3 per day to 136 per day. The percent of pedestrian crossings that involved interactions with vehicles ranged from 9% to 54%. Tribal transportation managers from the Bois Forte, Fond du Lac, Grand Portage, and Mille Lacs Bands, MnDOT, county engineers, and the investigators collaborated to identify countermeasures to address risks to pedestrians. Proposed countermeasures varied by intersection and included vegetation removal and line-of-sight improvements, new lighting, crosswalk improvements, Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons with advanced warning signs, ADA-compliant ramps, pedestrian education programs, realignment of intersections, and at one intersection a Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon. Prospects for implementation of countermeasures vary by intersection and reservation and are contingent on Tribal and transportation agency budgets, state and county plans for roadway improvements, and categorical grant programs such as Minnesota's Transportation Alternatives Program. Some countermeasures are being implemented, and MnDOT is extending the approach to additional reservations.