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The realization of the many benefits of bicycling will not be achieved in American regions until safer bike infrastructure and bicycling conditions are presented to a more general population. The Phoenix region—one of the nation's most populous—has sought policies and programs to increase bicycling rates. Yet, the region continues to have a small mode share, underscoring a need to motivate population-level bicycling adoption. This study examines 2015–2019 bicycle-vehicle crash data to identify those macro-level factors associated with bicycle-vehicle crashes and a subset of crashes where a serious injury or fatality occurred. Specifically, the effects of a robust set of socioeconomic and built environment factors, measured at three hexagon spatial extents, in negative binomial and spatial Durbin models were estimated for the two crash outcomes. Results show denser zones with a traditional network design experienced more bicyclist-involved crashes, as did zones with a higher percentage of low-income households and working-age adults. Findings, which also found spatial clustering of total and severe bicyclist-involved crashes, suggest that the targeted provision of safer bike infrastructure and a more complete network in zones exhibiting certain macro-level attributes holds promise in creating bike-friendly conditions that generate more utilitarian and recreational bicycling throughout the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a rush of privately-owned shared micromobility services has descended on many American cities. The increased availability in these emergent mobility options, which include dockless bikeshare and electric scooter systems, offers urban residents, workers, and visitors a convenient travel alternative to more established modes. However, with limited regulation and dedicated infrastructure, the rapid introduction of new micromobility services has come with rising safety concerns. This study provides new evidence on the spatial associations between e-scooter trip generation and vulnerable road user crash counts by investigating eight months of shared mobility data collected during a 2019 pilot program in Brookline, Massachusetts. The findings from traditional and spatial negative binomial models with a set of network and environmental predictors are presented and demonstrate a connection between shared e-scooter and long-term vulnerable user crash activity. Our results illustrate the need for policies that promote shared mobility services through safer infrastructure provisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Massachusetts and beyond, ambitious long-term initiatives seek to curtail increases in carbon pollution that contribute to climate change and carry detrimental impacts to population health and safety. Widespread electrification of the passenger vehicle fleet is celebrated as a fundamental strategy for achieving substantial long-term transportation-related greenhouse gas reductions. Unfortunately, in spite of this understood need, the number of EVs on our roadways remains relatively insignificant and the evidence base remains limited in its ability to inform decisionmakers as to what set of factors related to an individual, their surrounding context, or the new technology itself will contribute most to increasing passenger EV adoption. This study utilizes a unique data set enumerating passenger vehicle purchases and utilization in Massachusetts from 2008 to 2016 to (i) describe geographic and temporal patterns of EV adoption and (ii) identify the environmental factors that have predicted the purchase and utilization of EVs by these early adopters. Our study finds that early EV adoption in Massachusetts has largely been an urban phenomenon displaying a gradual and incremental increase in the consumer market share. At a neighborhood scale, early EV adoption in Massachusetts has been limited primarily to higher-income households residing in single-family homes. However, if policy actions follow, the significant association of public charging stations with EV adoption and other informative study findings can carry the potential to direct investments and incentives to ensure the Commonwealth's lofty legislatively-mandated targets are met in coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States, planning and design efforts to generate bike-friendly environments through the greater provision of safe, low-stress bike infrastructure in our cities continue to advance. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, construction of the Grand Junction Pathway – an envisioned shared-use pathway – is at the heart of a citywide effort to enhance its active transportation system. However, a challenge – shared by many public agencies given that data on cycling activity are rarely frequently systematically gathered – is the creation of a baseline estimate of cycling demand for this planned network link. Using short-duration manual data supplemented with long-duration count data, this study employs a state-of-the-practice method for generating annual average daily bicycle trips for current bike network facilities. A statistical modelling strategy is then undertaken to forecast the volume of daily cyclists that the proposed off-street, shared-use path could expect to attract given its physical context and the socioeconomic attributes of nearby residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]