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Marmot Watch

Photograph by Sebastian Wahlhuetter, National Geographic Your Shot

This photo was taken during a 100-kilometer [62-mile] trekking trip in Ladakh, India, at an altitude of 4,500 meters [14,763 feet]," writes Your Shot member Sebastian Wahlhuetter. "I was at Lake Tso Kar, one of the highest saltwater lakes on Earth. I [had been] watching the marmots for a couple of days, and I was wondering if I might be able to get a close-up shot from a very short distance, covering not only the animal but also the stunning environment these creatures were living in. It took me one desperate evening and a very successful morning for the final outcome. With literally hundreds of holes it was quite a task of observation to figure out where these animals would eventually appear next."

This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.

Hudson County recently completed the repaving of Willow Avenue from 11th Street to 13th Street. These two blocks, which had 64 vehicle collisions from 2008 to 2013, include an elementary school, a large senior housing population, and a pocket park. As a result, the City of Hoboken advocated that additional traffic and pedestrian safety measures be incorporated into the resurfacing of the street, and the City thanks Hudson County for working to make the street safer. The safety improvements included as part of this project include:

• Painted textured curb extensions at corners protected by vertical delineators (flexible bollards). They provide increased space for pedestrians waiting to cross intersections, reduce crossing distances, increase pedestrian visibility, reduce vehicle speeds by narrowing the roadway, and reduce illegal parking in crosswalks.
• High visibility, straightened out crosswalks to further shorten crossing distances and to be more visible to drivers at night. Reduced crossing distances also provide extra time for green lights.
• “Sharrows” (shared arrows) to guide cyclists and indicate to drivers that the roadway is to be shared with bikes.
• A striped buffer to keep bicyclists out of the car “dooring” zone.
• Reverse (or back-in) angle parking.

Reverse Angle Parking FAQ

Q: What is reverse angle parking?
A: Reverse angle parking is a safer type of angle parking. Instead of pulling into the parking spot, cars back into their spots, allowing them to make eye contact with oncoming traffic when exiting the parking space. The back-in maneuver is simpler than a parallel parking maneuver.

Q: Will this change the number of parking spaces?
A: There are the same number of parking spaces as before, but with the angle flipped.

Q: How does back-in angle parking work?
A: Reverse angle parking is just like parallel parking, except it’s easier (it’s actually just the first maneuver of parallel parking):
1. Signal: Use turn signal to indicate parking.
2. Stop: Pull past the space then stop to make sure no traffic is behind you.
3. Reverse: Reverse into the parking spot.

Q: What are the benefits of reverse angle parking?
A:
1. Improved visibility and increased field of vision. When leaving the parking space, motorists are able to see oncoming traffic.
2. Decreased number of collisions. Motorists no longer have to back out blindly from their parking space.
3. Improved safety for children. Car doors open in a manner that directs children to the back of the vehicle, ushering them towards the sidewalk rather than the street.
4. Improved safety for cyclists. Car doors that open will not result in “dooring” of cyclists, and as vehicles exit their parking stall, they are able to see cyclists in the roadway.
5. Improved loading and unloading. Trunks are adjacent to the sidewalk and open car doors offer protection from the street, allowing loading and unloading to occur at the curb instead of in the traveled roadway.

Q: Is backing into the stalls difficult?
A: The backing maneuver may be unfamiliar at first, but it is easier than parallel parking, a common task on Hoboken streets.

Q: It’s so easy just to pull forward into a standard angle stall. Doesn’t this convenience make it the best parking method?
A: It is a matter of safety and when you want convenience. With standard angle parking it’s simple to pull in, but difficult to pull out. You have to back your car entirely out into the traffic lane before you can even see the oncoming traffic. With back-in angle parking, exiting the space is more convenient because you don’t have to pull out very far at all to see the oncoming traffic.

Q: What about vehicle exhaust on sidewalks?
A: The State of New Jersey has strict anti-idling laws, and vehicles should not be idling whether they are in regular or reverse angle parking spaces. Vehicles idling more than 3 minutes can be reported to the Hoboken Police Department by calling 201-420-2100.

Q: Won’t reverse angle parking increase the number accidents?
A: Actually, one of the most common causes of accidents is people backing out of standard angled parking without being able to see on-coming traffic. Reverse angle parking removes this difficulty. The initial stopping and signaling required for back-in angle parking is similar to parallel parking. Many cities report a decrease in parking-related accidents after back-in angle parking is implemented.

For example, Tucson, Arizona tracked data for bicycle/car crashes before and after installing back-in angle parking, and found an average of three to four crashes per month with front-in angle parking compared to zero reported bicycle/car crashes for the first four years following implementation of back-in angle parking.

Q: Are any other cities using reverse angle parking?
A: As of 2005, these were some of the cities using reverse angle parking (the list is outdated and is much larger today):
Arlington, VA
Birmingham, AL
Burnaby, BC
Charlotte, NC
Chico, CA
Everett, WA
Honolulu, HI
Indianapolis, IN
Knoxville, TN
Marquette, MI
Montreal, QC
New York, NY
Olympia, WA
Plattsburgh, NY
Portland, OR
Pottstown, PA
Salem, OR
Salt Lake City, UT
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA
Syracuse, NY
Tacoma, WA
Tucson, AZ
Vancouver, WA
Ventura, CA
Washington, DC
Wilmington, DE (in use for almost 60 years)
And many, many more

Q: Where can I learn more about reverse angle parking?
A: The planning firm Nelson Nygaard conducted a report on the topic in 2005. It can be found here: http://www.hampdenhappenings.org/HCC_WEB/Zoning_Pdf/RAP/San_Francisco.pdf

Pyrgos Skies

Photograph by Laetitia Guichard, National Geographic Your Shot

A long exposure captures cloud movement over the coastal Greek village of Pyrgos. "The sky was perfect for this sort of treatment," says Your Shot member Laetitia Guichard. "Pyrgos is an authentic reflection of Greeceperfect for an artist and photographer."

Guichards picture recently appeared in Your Shot's Daily Dozen.

This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.

Free Fall

Photograph by Chester Boyes, National Geographic Your Shot

In the Bosnia and Herzegovina town of Mostar, a local dive club instructor jumps from the Stari Most, or Old Bridge, to the Neretva River below. "Divers have been leaping from the bridge for hundreds of years," writes Chester Boyes, a member of our Your Shot community. "On this day, we were going to try it for ourselves. Here, our instructor shows us how it's done before we try our luck."

Noticing the size and energy of the crowd, Boyes quickly ran down to the river's edge, hoping to catch his instructor in flight. "I arrived just in time."

Boyess picture recently appeared in Your Shots Daily Dozen.

This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.

Sahara's Edge

Photograph by Rafal Ziejewski, National Geographic Your Shot

A camel caravan journeys across the dunes of Morocco's Erg Chebbi desert on the edge of the Sahara. Before capturing this scene, photographer Rafal Ziejewski had trekked two hours into the desert by camel and spent the night at a Berber camp. "On the way back I wanted to take some interesting photos of this amazing place," writes Ziejewski, a member of our Your Shot community. "[So] instead of taking a camel, I decided to walk. Getting off the beaten track gave me a lot of opportunities for great shots."

50 Shades of Ray

Photograph by Eduardo Lopez Negrete

A large school of mobula rays fades into the waters of Baja, Mexico. The rays were moving quite fast and it was hard enough keeping up with them from the surface, let alone diving down to take a closer look, writes photographer Eduardo Lopez Negrete. Mobula rays are often referred to as flying rays due to their fondness for breaching.

This photo and caption were submitted to the 2014 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest. Winners will be announced July 31.

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