NYRestroom.com: Making it easier to go on the go in NYC
April 28, 2008
This weekend I participated in an event hosted by VERTICES LLC. and NYRestroom.com to locate and rate restrooms throughout New York City. The objective was to increase the resources for the website NYRestroom.com. NYRestroom provides an interactive mapping domain in which users can log in (free of charge) and locate different restrooms throughout New York City.
The event was a great success, compiling nearly 80 new bathrooms in 3 different districts throughout the city. What I found amazing, and really inspiring, was the need that this website fills. While finding/using a restroom is something that is not normally discussed in moder society (at least outside of fraternity houses) I was surprised to hear on every block a tourist or a child whispering to the person your with, “We need to find a bathroom”. It is dire situations like these that lead to less sanitary conditions throughout the city. If people were able to find a restroom whenever they needed to use the facilities or simply wash your hands, imagine how much cleaner New York would be.
NYRestrooms also has implications for alternative transportation. Imagine how many more people would decide to walk or ride their bike if they knew they could find a restroom to freshen up in once they reach their destination or in route to different locations.
The truth is, We’ve all gotta go, and in a place like New York City this basic biological function can be a daughting task. However, with the help of initiatives like NYRestrooms.com, cities across the US could seem a lot more managable.
Safe Routes around College: Applying SRTS principles to bikeing/walking around Rutgers-New Brunswick
April 24, 2008
As I biked home yesterday, I saw a man biking down a 3 lane highway (speed limit 55mph, cars doing 70mph) right next to a large concrete wall. This made me realize that know which routes are safe to bike and the conditions of the road are crucial. That is why I have provided safe routes to bike throughout the New Brunswick, NJ area with my mapping website Rutgers Bus to Bike. The website ha tons of information, pics, and videos to make people’s commute around the area more enjoyable. This website was made by VERTICES LLC and can be made for any organization looking to put info on the web in a clear and dynamic way. So before you make a new commuting route, look for information like that posted on Rutgers Bus to Bike because it could be a life saver.
A video from the Rutgers Bus to Bike Webstie
In the past year, the federal government gave over $145 million to different Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs throughout the country. A good portion of these projects are manual labor projects in which communities and organizations help rebuild areas surrounding areas to make schools more accessible by walking and/or biking. these projects mostly accomplish their goals and make schools more accessible.
The remaining SRTS projects focus on promoting alternate transportaion methods for children to go to school, and these efforts seem to be less successful in convincing kids to walk or bike to school. The majority of these promotional projects are events and activities that try to show students the benefits of walking or biking to school. However, these events are usually one day and have little effect on the children’s commuting habits. What is needed is a way to continuously inform students on the benefits of walking or biking to school each day.
Some organizations have begun using modern, Public Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS) to display walking and biking information for students. Projects like in West Windsor, NJ, where the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance has established a West Windsor Walkability and West Windsor Bikeability websites to show not just students, but adults as well, the benefits of walking or biking about town.
Maps like these are provided by the company VERTICES. VERTICES provides mapping applications through its online amppling application, Mappler, for non-profit and government organizations. One of the most noted features of Mappler is its interactive abilities. Anyone with the correct password can log on to a Mappler website and add or change information, which first must be checked for accuracy by and administrator. Route conditions, hazards, and highlights can be updated instantly. This interactive quality makes Mappler the perfect program for SRTS promotion because it will give the children the opportunity to become part of the map-making process, which invests them more in the walkability and bikeability projects. In the coming years, Mappler will be one of the pioneering SRTS applications the will help change how we get children involved in walk and bike friendly activities.
