MPO to conduct traffic congestion and safety workshops

AAMPO Logo1The Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) staff will conduct Traffic Congestion and Safety Workshops at the Seguin-Guadalupe County Coliseum (950 S. Austin St., Seguin, TX) on June 16, at the New Braunfels Civic Center (375 S. Castell Ave., New Braunfels, TX) on June 17 and at the Boerne Civic Center (820 Adler Rd., Boerne, TX) on June 19. Residents that drive, walk, ride or use transit are encouraged to join the MPO at these important public meetings as we update the region’s long range transportation plan.

Each workshop will begin at 6:00 p.m. and all will be similar in content and format. Attendees will receive an MPO overview briefing and then will be asked to share their traffic congestion concerns during a mapping exercise. Participants will tell the MPO where, when and for how long they experience traffic congestion. Next, participants will do a second mapping exercise sharing their concerns about safety issues related to traveling throughout their neighborhood, city and the region.

In 2012, Alamo Area drivers suffered 52,990 vehicle crashes resulting in 23,179 injuries and 218 fatalities. The MPO has been working with the Texas Department of Transportation’s Crash Records Information System (CRIS) and now has 2010-2012 crash data available on its website under the safety section.

About MPOs: Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are created by federal law to provide a comprehensive, cooperative and continuous transportation planning process that brings our region over $200 million annually in state and federal transportation funding for roadway, transit, rideshare, bicycle and pedestrian projects. For more information on the MPO, please visit our website at www.alamoareampo.org.

The San Antonio-Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization

 

Let’s Walk&Roll to Work with the MPO!

WR 2014 logoThis May at the 18th Annual Walk & Roll Rally, the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, City of San Antonio and Bexar County will be celebrating walking and bicycling as desirable forms of transportation, exercise and recreation.

The Walk & Roll Rally pops up for one hour only at 8 a.m. Friday, May 2 at Main Plaza in downtown San Antonio! A Mayor’s Fitness Council-endorsed event, the Rally applauds residents who use active transportation in their daily routines as well as encourages others to consider what trips they could make by foot, bike, or bus. Join an organized walk or bike ride to the rally point and enjoy refreshments, door prizes, music and a flash fashion show featuring local bicycling and walking street styles. Robert Rivard reports in as Master of Ceremonies, and invited speakers include Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, San Antonio City Councilmember and MPO Chairman Ray Lopez and other transportation and health leaders. VIA Metropolitan Transit is again providing free bus transportation for cyclists with bikes on the day of the Walk & Roll Rally.

The Walk & Roll Rally kicks off a full calendar of events in May, recognized since 1956 as National Bike Month, that offers opportunities for everyone in the Alamo Area to learn more about or share their love of walking and bicycling. To keep track of all local bicycling and walking events going on during May, visit www.walkandrollSA.com or contact the MPO’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Planner, Allie Blazosky, at blazosky@sametroplan.org or 210-230-6911.

Active transportation in San Antonio is growing rapidly. Some of the joint transportation partnership initiatives that are helping fuel this momentum include:

  • The Bicycle Mobility Advisory Committee holds three Bike Night public meetings yearly. The next one will be 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 14 at the VIA Metro Center (1021 San Pedro).
  • The MPO’s Bicycle Travel Patterns Study showed that about 325,000 people – almost one in five Bexar County residents! – ride a bike at least monthly.
  • Recognized as a Bronze Level Bicycle Friendly Community, San Antonio has grown its on-road bike facilities mileage 800% from about 30 miles in 2000 to over 240 miles in 2013.
  • San Antonio Parks and Recreation has built 45 miles of off-road hike and bike trails along Leon Creek, Salado Creek and the Medina River as part of the Howard A. Peak Greenways. Another 40 miles are under design or construction.
  • The grand opening on October 5, 2013 of the Mission Reach concluded restoration and enhancement of 13 miles of the San Antonio River, popular with cyclists, walkers and kayakers.
  • San Antonio B-Cycle currently operates 52 bike sharing stations with up to 15 more locations to be added throughout 2014.
  • All VIA Metropolitan Transit buses have bike racks, including inside its Primo Bus Rapid Transit.