Podcasts about trailnet

In 2024, nearly 60 pedestrians in the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County were killed — the deadliest year on record since Trailnet began issuing its annual Crash Report. We discuss the reasons behind these crashes, the effects of traffic violence on the people who experience it, and the solutions being put in place to make our streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.

Charles Bryson, Policy Catalyst at Trailnet, and Matt Wyczalkowski, a co-founder of the St. Louis Coalition to Protect Pedestrians and Cyclists, join Megan Lynch ahead of a Mayoral candidate forum on Feb 10 at Paraquad.

Charles Bryson is a policy catalyst for Trailnet and he joined us to detail the 2023 Crash Report for St. Louis City and County.

Last year was the deadliest, on record, for people walking in St. Louis County. The data reinforces a reputation that St. Louis is not the safest place to walk or bike. The St. Louis-based nonprofit Trailnet recently released a report that presents key findings about STL's traffic violence during 2023.

Nearly 650 people were injured or killed while walking or biking in St. Louis and St. Louis County in 2023. That statistic signifies a lot of trauma that stems from traffic violence, according to Trailnet CEO Cindy Mense. She shares information and stories from Trailnet's 2023 Crash Report and suggests measures that regional leaders can take to protect all roadway users.

KMOX's Michael Calhoun talked with Trailnet's Charles Bryson to see if elected officials have done anything to make streets safer in the last year since the Janae Edmondson accident that left her without her legs.

In this meeting we hear from Trailnet on the progress of the Tower Grove-Cortex Connector and City of St. Louis Treasurer Adam Layne on the re-launch of the existing Parking Districts.

Today's interview is part 2 of our discussion with Charles Bryson, policy catalyst for Trailnet. In the episode, he continues to discuss his ideas for improving how city government can better serve the people in St. Louis, as well as what Trailnet is and how the organization makes a positive impact in the region through access to, and the creation of, walking and biking networks and infrastructure.

Charles Bryson is policy catalyst for Trailnet. Trailnet is a St. Louis nonprofit whose mission is to lead in fostering healthy, active, and vibrant communities where walking, bicycling, and the use of public transit are a way of life. Trailnet believes that everyone should have access to safe low-stress walking and biking connections where we live, work, and play in our communities.   To foster their mission, Trailnet works within the St. Louis region and across the state to respond to the demand for improved walking and biking networks that attract and retain talent, strengthen our economy, and connect people to the places they love.   Charles has extensive experience working in nonprofits and various positions within city government, including as special advisor to former St. Louis mayor Francis Slay, then as director of public safety, and finally as director for the Civil Rights Enforcement Agency.   In part one of our interview, Charles describes his experiences growing up in St. Louis, moving away to begin his professional career, and how these early experiences shaped his journey to become a leader.

Sam McCrory with Trailnet joins Carol Daniel talking about 2022 crash numbers in St. Louis and how to possibly fix them. 

The debate continues over ward capital funding in the city of St. Louis. Should aldermen get individual pots of money, regardless of the needs of other wards  -- or if they even plan to spend it or not? Charles Bryson, policy catalyst at Trailnet, joined Michael Calhoun on Total Information PM.

Michael Calhoun hosts Total Information PM and brings you today's top local and national news alongside long form interviews with notable people making headlines in the community. In today's feature story, hear from Charles Bryson, policy catalyst for Trailnet, to discuss why St. Louis City ward capital funds should be allocated to fixing St. Louis streets.

Charlie Brennan debates with Bill McClellan, Wendy Wiese, Alvin Reid, and Ray Hartmann. On Donnybrook Next Up, the panel is joined by Barry Matthews of Haul Hero and Charles Bryson of Trailnet to discuss travel safety.

St. Louis-area pedestrian deaths increased in 2021 from the prior year. And while car crashes with injuries slightly decreased, that's no reason to celebrate — 2020 saw record-high numbers. Trailnet's Sam McCrory discusses a new study outlining the problem and offering possible solutions.

It's Keep the Cheer Here week! Now is the time to get out and shop local. One of the fantastic businesses you should visit is The Base Camp. In the meantime, enjoy this interview with the owner, Scott Brown, who has a fascinating and entertaining story about how he started the business and some great advice for business owners. Keep the Cheer HereShop Small TourAlso check out our episode with Lynn Harper on TrailNet and Billings Trails. Marya and Jack's answers to this week's Rorschach Questions. 1. What is your favorite trail in Billings?Marya: Norm Schoenthal Island – I love walking my dog, or playing by the river, or even snowshoeing in the winter. It's such a treasure.Jack: Zimmerman Trail. The views up there are unbeatable. 2. Where have you found inspiration lately? Marya: From my husband. He is always creating something new or building/designing things in his head and in reality. It reminds me that it's okay to create for the pure joy of it and not necessarily to achieve.Jack: This past City/County election gave me a lot of professional inspiration. After that, I feel like a lot more things are possible for us. 3. What are you looking forward to most this holiday season?Marya: Time off to spend with my family.Jack: I always look forward to shopping for Christmas . I love giving great people great presents.

This week, Billings TrailNet's Program Coordinator Lynn Harper joined us to talk about all things Billings trails and especially Ales for Trails! To learn more, volunteer, donate, become a TrailNet member, or buy tickets to Ales for Trails visit Billings TrailNet.org.   Marya and Jack's answers to this week's Rorschach questions: 1. What is your favorite trail food? Marya: So many things… Chocolate and peanut butter Cliff Nut Butter Bars, Keto granola/trail mix, Baby bel cheese… I just like to eat! Jack: They call it "trail mix" for a reason; that's because it's the perfect trail food. 2. What is your favorite trail in Billings? Marya: Norm Schoenthal Island with my dog Max Jack: Zimmerman Park. If you want, you can walk along the rims all the way through Indian Cliffs to the Back Nine trail, which goes all the way to the cliffs above the "Castle house" in Ironwood. There isn't a bad view the whole way. 3. What is your favorite ale? Marya: Street Fight Irish Red Ale from Angry Hanks, but I do also enjoy Cold Smoke from KettleHouse Brewing Co. Jack: My favorite beer in the world is Smithwick's, which everyone should try if they visit Ireland. I'll give an honorable mention to Moose Drool, but my favorite Billings beer is also Street Fight. It's just too good to argue with.  

Charlie Brennan debates with Wendy Wiese, Alvin Reid, Ray Hartmann and Bill McClellan. In the second half-hour on Donnybrook Next Up, the panel is joined by Cindy Mense from Trailnet and Sarah Arnosky from Greater St. Louis, Inc to discuss a bike-able St. Louis!

St. Louis Public Radio's Jonathan Ahl talks with Emma Klues of Great Rivers Greenway and Trailnet's Kevin Hahn about some of their favorite trails. Listeners share their suggestions, too.

In this episode Kristy and I talk about the exciting growth of the Billings trail system, the need for trails and her determination to make them a lasting part of the Billings Landscape.

Summer breeze past your helmet, streets fly beneath your wheels, intriguing sites interpreted by a leader of St. Louis' cycling scene.  Most years, this is one of the annual St. Louis Community Rides, hosted on a specific date by Trailnet, our town's cycling advocacy group. Staying safe and healthy for 2020, Trailnet invites you to ride Placemaking STL anytime July 25 to August 24, taking a new app with your refillable bottle, for cycling with a Scavenger Hunt twist, exploring some of our town's cool plazas. The app has clues to find ride locales. When you get into site proximity, a lovely virtual human will pop up to interpret the site for you. Fun on two wheels!             Dana Gray, community sustainability advocate and "Plaza-Making" tour guide, joins Trailnet's Mobility Coordinator Joe Windler talking these innovations with Earthworms host Jean Ponzi.              Trailnet is hosting a bunch of these summer 2020 DIY Community Rides, with themes ranging from  LGBTQIA+ History to celebrating Juneteenth to Biking the Vote. Events wheel through September. THANKS to Earthworms team of engineers, Andy Coco, Andy Heaslet and Jon Valley. Music for today's show is Measure Once by Matthew Von Doren. Related Earthworms Conversations: Trailnet's New Vision: St. Louis Gets Around Greener, Healthier, More Lively (Nov 2016)

June's meeting included the neighborhood crime report and presentations from Great Rivers Greenway on the Brickline Greenway, and from TrailNet on the latest about the Tower Grove - Cortext Connector project.

In an age of crumbling infrastructure across the U.S., sidewalks have been no exception to the pattern of decay. The city of St. Louis alone is home to roughly 2,000 miles worth of sidewalks, and both the physical condition and suitability of those streetside pathways vary widely. David Newburger, St. Louis' commissioner on the disabled, is constantly working with colleagues to update sidewalks and maintain ADA compliance, and they’re also thinking about sidewalks within the context of streets as a whole. Meanwhile, local municipalities including both St. Louis and Kirkwood are participating in the National Complete Streets Coalition, which is focused on making roads better for all types of users rather than prioritizing drivers. U.S. Department of Transportation statistics on pedestrian deaths show there’s still much work to be done. For Kirkwood City Councilwoman Kara Wurtz, the fact that Missouri ranks among the more dangerous states for pedestrians is a problem. She’s made addressing it within her municipality’s borders a focus. In this episode of the talk show, Wurtz and Newburger join host Sarah Fenske for a discussion about the state of the region’s sidewalks and what needs to happen to improve pedestrian comfort and safety. Also participating in the conversation is Cindy Mense, CEO of Trailnet. The discussion also includes listeners during the show who call in and post messages on social media with their thoughts on sidewalks.

On Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Don Marsh led a conversation on the topic of bike safety in light of the recent arrival of the bright yellow and green bikes around town and the presence of more cyclists in general on local streets as temperatures climb. Joining the conversation were Taylor March, advocacy and education manager for Trailnet; St. Louis Public Radio digital reporter Kae Petrin; Sam Sadle, director of strategic development for LimeBike; and Lori Winkler, an injury-prevention nurse and coordinator of Safe Kids St. Louis at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital.

Topic:Making Urban Streets More Bicycle and Pedestrian Friendly In This Episode:[01:07] Guest Grace Kyung describes Trailnet. [01:16] Grace shares what motivated her to become a bicycle and pedestrian planner. [02:31] Grace tells what she’s learned and what we need to do to make communities more bikeable and pedestrian friendly. [05:18] Grace explains what traffic calming is. [06:25] Grace states how, at a local level, to start making communities more pedestrian friendly. [10:05] Grace addresses the obstacles to redesigning bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly streets. [14:42] Does St. Louis have a capital improvement plan that tells where the city will invest in infrastructure and when it will happen? [15:41] Grace continues with strategies for making communities more pedestrian friendly. [18:12] Grace tells where people can go to learn more about Trailnet. [18:24] Grace mentions how communities can learn about becoming more pedestrian and bike friendly. Guest and Organization:Grace Kyung is the Special Projects Director at Trailnet, a non-profit improving walking, bicycling, and transit as a way of life. Grace provides technical assistance on how to improve the built environment to increase accessibility for all ages and abilities throughout the state of Missouri. Grace enjoys the challenges and opportunities of using tactical urbanism approaches to engage and educate stakeholders about safer street designs. Grace is interested in using place-based approaches to create healthy equitable communities. Before moving to St. Louis, Grace received a Masters in Public Health and Masters in Urban Planning from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. While a student, Grace ran a successful campaign to bring in a permanent funding source for bicycle-related projects at the university, led social justice campaigns, planned student service trips, and served on a local non-profit board. Grace serves as co-chair on the Healthy Communities Collaborative an interest group of the American Planning Association. She is focused on bridging the connection between public health and urban planning to address transportation and equity concerns. Grace enjoys conversations about how to create livable communities where people come first. Grace is a multi-modal commuter who loves riding her bike to find doughnuts and a good book to read. For more than 25 years, Trailnet has brought together friends, organizations and people from many communities to create positive change in the St. Louis bi-state region by encouraging healthy, active living. Trailnet works to improve the quality of life for our families, neighbors, and communities. Their work and their partnerships directly impact local citizens, schools, businesses, communities, and nonprofit agencies throughout their region. Take Away Quotes: “So with how we’ve built our cities, and especially within the city of St. Louis, our streets are just overbuilt. We just have really wide travel lanes, and it’s just what people have gotten used to, so more people don’t feel comfortable walking or biking outside because it’s not as safe.” “With the paradigm of how things have been, if we’re going to make actual shifts to address what the larger concerns are, we need to start looking at, from a community’s perspective, more of a grassroots level what’s going on with these communities, how are decisions made that the cities are built that way; and if we are trying to promote more walkable or bikeable infrastructure, is that through changing policies or is that how the city funds these sort of projects, and how do we work with the city in creating new structures?”  “In St. Louis, we’ve been having these deeper-level discussions of talking about ways that we can work with the community to understand even what they want in the first place and seeing how we can bring them the resources in order to walk or bike places.” “It’s shown...

Ralph Pfremmer & Marielle Brown; Trailnet by Andrew Davis

In this town of so many great places, what if we could get around to them easily, confidently - low-carbon and on two wheels? St. Louis' longtime active living non-profit, Trailnet, says Sure! Let's do it!  This is a vision of interconnected destinations, in many great neighborhoods, along "calmer" travel routes, planted and built with eco-sense. Trailnet announced it in mid-November. The plan is to serve cyclists and pedestrians, of all ages and abilities. Now their team is taking this vision to the community, to find out what WE would like to experience, in this greener - saner! - travel vision. Earthworms guests from Trailnet are Taylor March, Education and Encouragement Coordinator, and Director of Policy and Strategy Marielle Brown. They'll come to your community group, seeking planning input broadly. Word up: this vision is catching! Music: Cadillac Desert, performed at KDHX by William Tyler, July 2013. THANKS to Josh Nothum, Earthworms engineer, with help from Jon Valley. Related Earthworms Conversations: Get Around Greener - On Two Wheels, March 2016.

Move over, motors. In 2015, St. Louis ranked 5th among the 50 largest US cities where bike commuting is growing fast. Ranks of two-wheeled regular travelers here have swelled 270% since 2000. Cycling is a real commuter option, plus being anytime FUN. Taylor March takes this Earthworms podcast on a try-cycling tour. He rides to work as Education and Encouragement Manager for Trailnet, STL's long-serving active living non-profit org. You'll be encouraged to get around Greener by Taylor's perspectives on cycling safety, confident commuting, and how this region is truly transforming travel routes to support low-carbon, high-health alternative transportation. Find Trailnet on Facebook for special events, from get-togethers like Bikes & Brews to regional amenities on Bike To Work Day (May 20, 2016), which generates miles of data to make the case for civic investing in cycling infrastructure. Memberships support Trailnet's advocacy, work that's cranking' vitality for St. Louis bicycling culture. See you in the bike lanes! Music: Hunter's Permit by Mr. Sun, recorded live at KDHX-St. Louis. Related Earthworms Conversations: Elizabeth Simons of Great Rivers Greenway previewed STL potentials for BikeShare, a program working in cities like Portland OR and Washington DC (May 14, 2014). We're not quite there yet, but the upticks in cycling Trailnet supports are laying foundations for this urban amenity. 

In this episode we speak with Ralph Pfremmer Executive Director of Trailnet. The organization's mission is to “lead in fostering healthy, active and vibrant communities where walking, bicycling and the use of public transit are a way of life” through programs, transportation planning, and policy initiatives. Most recently, Trailnet weighed in on plans to repave and add bike lanes to Gravois Avenue. Under former Executive Director Ann Mack led Trailnet's effort to oppose the South County Connector, a MoDOT road widening project also opposed by the communities through which it would pass. Prior to joining the staff at Trailnet in October 2014, Ralph was the CEO and founder of Pfoodman Holdings, a multi-unit food service management company serving education, business/retail, and senior living sectors. He used active living and sustainability as a platform for business development, promoting his company's culture by establishing a unique presence in communities. The Trailnet challenge, and now Ralph's, is to work with partner organizations – Great Rivers Greenway, East-West Gateway, Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation, MoDOT, St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and others. Ralph joined the cycling community after a health scare in 1998 that motivated him to incorporate exercise into his daily routine and begin a healthier way of life.  nextSTL began as the St. Louis Urban Workshop in 2009. Since then, the site has continued to incorporate more voices across more platforms to tell the story, past, present, & future, of St. Louis. Now it's time to launch the Future Great City podcast.