Download the White Paper Here The race to develop and deploy fully autonomous vehicles (AV) is on, but how does the safety of people outside of the vehicle factor in? How do current strategies to prioritize safe and convenient travel by walking, bicycling, and transit relate to a world involving AVs? The widespread use of […]
Central City in Motion is a Go This Thanksgiving, there’s a lot to be grateful for. Here at Alta, we’re celebrating the Portland City Council’s unanimous vote to adopt Central City in Motion, which will make downtown streets safer, more efficient, and equitable for all Portland residents. The November 15 decision pledged to build a series […]
Blog 3 of 3 — Reflections on the People and the Culture Between March and June 2018, my wife and I bicycled nearly 5,000 kilometers through six countries in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. My first blog post focused on bike safety and my second focused on bicycle infrastructure. In my third […]
Alta Planning + Design teamed with non-profit Amigos de los Rios to implement a unique walking program that addressed public health, safety, and environmental sustainability, as well as economic stability in El Monte, CA. After a full year of daily walking school bus trips, we can confidently say that the program built community, supported families, […]
Alta rewards employees at their five-year mark with a travel stipend to any international destination that provides experiences related to Alta’s business. This reflection recaps Ryan Johnson’s recent travels through SE Asia. At any other time and place, bicycling in a steady rain would be one of the least pleasurable experiences I can imagine. Yet […]
Left: Watching helplessly from the back of a motorbike as my friend takes on a typical rush hour intersection on one of Hanoi’s major roads. Right: In Hanoi’s maze of alleyways, motorbikes function better as family vehicles than, say, a minivan. When I first arrived in Hanoi, I was stunned by the seemingly lawless pandemonium of […]
Blog 1 of 3 —Reflections on Bike Safety Between March and June, 2018, my wife and I bicycled nearly 5,000 kilometers riding through 6 countries in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Before the trip started, one of my fears was that the roads were going to be really dangerous and […]
By nature, community planning is forward looking and speculative. In forecasting future investments, we tend to look at factors such as historic trends and growth projections. When designing streets, we turn to industry standards that tend to plan for extreme events. This ranges from multi-lane highways built for rush hour to parking standards requiring a […]
I know what you are thinking: “wait a minute, I thought Alta focused on active mobility. Why am I reading a blog post about motorcycles?” Yes, Alta’s mission is to create active communities, but in order to make streets safe for walking and bicycling, it is essential to understand the full transportation context of a […]
By: Marisa DeMull, EIT, Engineer, Alta Planning + Design Revelations are rare in our industry. Transportation engineers are not known for being swift and bold; instead we focus on precision and consistency. As designers, we design our projects using various guidelines such as the AASHTO Green Book and Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. We […]
