G R O W I N G I N P L A C E : S U S T A I N A B L E U R B A N D E S I G N F O R C H I L D R E N & F A M I L I E S

M A R C H 5 , 2 0 1 0

R A L E I G H , N C

GROWING AN ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

Cynthia Hoyle, AICP

Hoyle Consulting

Urbana, IL

Community Design – Impacts on Children

Fewer children walk or bike to school

Unintended consequences

Solutions

Best Practices

Retrofitting our Communities

• In 1969 48% of students walked

or biked to school. (Nationwide

Personal Transportation Survey.)

• In 2001 less than 15% of students

walked or biked to school. (2001

National Household Travel Survey)

• Today 34% of students living

w/in 1 mile of school walk or

bike compared to 90% in 1969. (Center for Disease Control )

Picture courtesy of Dan Burden

http://www.pedbikeimages.org

School siting issues: A generation ago

Small schools

Located in community centers

(EPA, 2003)

School siting issues: Today

Mega-schools

Built on edges of towns and cities

Dorman High School, Roebuck, SC, photo provided by Mark Fenton.

Parents driving children to school:

20%-25% of morning traffic

(NHTSA 2003; Dept. of Environment)

Unintended Consequences:Traffic congestion

It’s not just distance

Students who live within 1 mile and walk or bike:

2001: 63%

1969: 87%

(CDC, 2005)

Destin Elementary School, Destin, FL, provided by Dan Burden, available from PBIC Image Library.

Most common barriers to walking and biking to school

Long distances 62%

Traffic danger 30%

Adverse weather 19%

Fear of crime danger 12%

Note: Sum of percentages is more than 100% because respondents

could identify more than one barrier.

(CDC, 2005)

Traffic Danger

If more children walked or

biked to school, it would

reduce the number of

cars near the school at

pick-up and drop-off

times making it safer for

walkers and bicyclists and

reducing traffic

congestion.

Parisi and Associates. Transportation tools to

improve children's health and mobility: Look

at what California is Doing. Accessed at

www.dhs.ca.gov/epic/sr2s/documents/SR2S

TranspoTools.pdf.

http://www.pedbikeimages.org/imageDetail.

cfm

Picture courtesy of Dan Burden

Walkable Urbanism

There's demographic evidence; there's consumer research evidence; but probably the most compelling evidence is the price premium people are willing to pay to live in a walkable urban place, that the survey's show anywhere from a 40% to 200% price premium on a price per square foot basis for a walkable urban place as oppose to a competitive near by drivable suburban place.

Christopher B. Leinberger

Visiting Fellow, Brookings

SOLUTION:

MODE SHIFT

Good News!We Can Fix It

How to Create Mode Shift

Provide people with choices:

Invest in bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure

Calm traffic

Create Safe Routes to School

Build Transit Supportive development

Retrofit sprawling neighborhoods

Revitalize walkable neighborhoods

Education and Encourage Measuring the Health Effects of Sprawl; Barbara McCann and Reid Ewing; Smart Growth America and Surface Transportation Policy Project, 2003

Mode Shift

Infrastructure

Appropriate land-use and design

Interconnect modes, land-use, and infrastructure

Social Marketing –encouragement for behavior change

TO SUCCEED YOU HAVE TO:

•ENGAGE THE PUBLIC

•CREATE PLANS WITH VISION

•PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION

•BE CREATIVE WITH FUNDING OPTIONS

You want this:

And this:

Disconnected Land-Use Peds/Bikes - Afterthought

Not This

Start with Plans

Long Range Transportation Plan 2025 (LRTP 2025) adopted in 2004 by Champaign-Urbana Urbanized Area Transportation Study (CUUATS)

big.small.all countywide visioning process called for more housing and mobility choices, less sprawl

More Community Transportation Plans

Champaign Moving Forward:

Transportation Master Plan 2008 – Update to Champaign’s Comprehensive Plan

Urbana Bicycle Plan –Adopted plan becomes part of Comprehensive Plan

LRTP 2025 Preferred Scenario calls for:

Express bus service between core and fringe areas of

the community

An enhanced arterial fringe road system that provides

improved mobility around the community

Transit intensive corridors

High capacity transit system in the University District

Mixed use, denser development and redevelopment

If implemented LRTP 2025 will:

Create higher population density, less sprawl

Promote alternative transportation modes

Save money on infrastructure

Create walkable activity centers and reduce reliance on

automobiles

Make travel safer for pedestrians and bicyclists

Increase mobility for motorists

Educate residents about alternative transportation

modes, safety, and new transportation concepts

HOW Do We Implement the LRTP?

Infill and having choices sounds good, but how do we get there while protecting new development and growth?

miPLAN asked the community to tell us what they want.

miPLANMobility Implementation Plan

miPLAN's Purpose - What mobility options does the community want, both now and in the future?

To implement the LRTP 2025. LRTP found: Cities do not have the $ to build and/or maintain new

arterial roads serving fringe development. (Champaign has $50 million deficit in funding for arterial construction.)

If we continue with our current growth design, e.g. travel by auto, our community will face serious roadway congestion problems in less than 20 years.

Public Engagement: Neighborhood Transopoly®

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Attribution: Jan Metzger, Center for Neighborhood Technology, 1950-2010

Summary of Public Input:

Strong consistency found for the following

top priority mobility improvements:

Improved bicycle infrastructure and routing

Better street lights

Additional sidewalks

Later evening MTD transit service

Additional direct MTD transit routes along

major arterials

Mobility Enhanced Development Report

Affordability Index Formula

Affordability Index =

Housing Costs + Transportation Costs*

Income *Transportation Costs include the modeled cost of Auto

Ownership, Auto Use, and Transit Use

Identified opportunities for mobility enhanced development , e.g. development with mobility choices.

Analyzes costs of housing and transportation to households.

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MED Findings:

Transportation costs in core significantly less than fringe. Average $/month spent on transportation: Core=$832 or less Fringe=$1372 or less.

MED Recommendations:Build on current density and urban form.

Maximize options and choices in alternative forms of mobility.

Provide tools to create mixed-use, mixed-income market-rate developments through infill and redevelopment.

Maintain affordability through community development programs and by factoring in both household housing and transportation costs.

C-U Encouraging Mode Shift

Zipcar- car share program launched 2009 with 6 cars now have 8 cars

Safe Routes to School

Bike route maps, bus wrap, bike counts, etc. work with cycling community

Marketing to public on options for mode choice

RETROFIT STREETS

CONTROL ACCESS

COMPLETE STREETS

ROAD DIETS

SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL

Best Practices

Complete Streets

What are complete streets, and complete streets policies?

Complete streets are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities must be able to safely move along and across a complete street.

Creating complete streets means transportation agencies must change their orientation toward building primarily for cars. Instituting a complete streets policy ensures that transportation agencies routinely design and operate the entire right of way to enable safe access for all users.

Source: National Complete Streets Coalition - http://www.completestreets.org

Source: National Complete Streets Coalition

Road Diets

What is a Road Diet?

Bridgeport Way, University PlaceWashington

Major road 23,000 VPD

High speed limits, no sidewalks, high number of access points and uncontrolled access – high number of crashes many with injuries

After Road Diet:

Transformed into Complete Street with bike lanes, sidewalks, and 8 roundabouts

Flared intersections accommodate U-turns for large vehicles at signalized intersections

Lighted landscaped medians improved access management and pedestrian safety – reduced crashes

Bridgeport Way, University Place, Washington

Pictures courtesy of Dan Burden

Bike lanes installed to reduce bike-automobile conflicts and crashes

Interconnected signalized mid-block crossings optimized traffic progression while minimizing pedestrian-vehicular conflicts and crashes

Road diet reduced crashes by 60% and speeds by 6%

Bridgeport Way, University Place, Washington

Pictures: Cynthia Hoyle, AICP, Hoyle Consulting

SRTS programs – part of the solution

Improve walking and biking conditions around schools

Reduce congestion around schools

Increases physical activity (10 minutes to school and 10 minutes home=20 minutes of daily physical activity)

Can lead to cost savings for schools (reduce need for “hazard” busing)

Others: increase child’s sense of freedom, help establish lifetime habits, teach pedestrian and bicyclist skills

Elements of SRTS programs

Education

Encouragement

Enforcement

Engineering

Evaluation

Pictures: Cynthia Hoyle, AICP, Hoyle Consulting

Education & Encouragement

Bike Rodeos

Light the Night Bike

Light Campaign

Traffic Safety Workshops

Potential Issues

IssuesNo Sidewalks on way to schoolUnsafe intersection/street to crossDistances too great

SolutionsPark and walk – use a local park or church parking lot Have school buses drop kids at designated location to walk to school with volunteersWalk around your school track/playgroundHave your local police dept. assist with walkOrganize a Walking School Bus

WEBINARS

REPORTS

ORGANIZATIONS

PROGRAMS

Resources

Webinars

Safe Routes to School: Improves the Built Environment

SRTS State Network Project: Final Report

Reports

Report recommends combining strategies to significantly reduce GHG emissions:

Local and regional pricing/reg. that increase cost of SOV travel

Regulations to encourage eco-driving behavior/better fuel efficiency

Land use/smart growth that reduce travel distances

Expansion of multimodal travel options

Moving Cooler – Report on Transportation and Reducing GHG

Moving Cooler: An Analysis of Transportation Strategies that Reduce Green House Gas Emissions; Cambridge Systematics; July 2009

Organizations

http://www.saferoutespartnership.org/home

http://www.completestreets.org

http://www.ite.org

http://www.planning.org

http://www.apbp.org

Programs

http://www.walktoschool.org/index.cfm

http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/index.cfm

http://cufitfamilies.blogspot.com

http://frc.illinois.edu/c-ufitfamilies.htm

ProgramsInteragency Partnership for Sustainable Communities

1. Provide more transportation choices.

2. Promote equitable, affordable housing.

3. Enhance economic competitiveness.

4. Support existing communities.

5. Coordinate policies and leverage investment.

6. Value communities and neighborhoods.

HUD, DOT and EPA Partnership: Sustainable CommunitiesJune 16, 2009

http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/partnership/index.html

CUMTD Support for Mode Shift Includes

miPLAN Expansion of “unlimited access” to transit Lead agency for Car-Share program Major supporter of Safe Routes to School

program and projects (International Walk to School Day)

First transit district in US to be certified as Bicycle Friendly Business by League of American Bicyclists

Major supporter of community bicycling campaigns (Bike to Work Month/Week/ Day, education campaigns, etc.)

Invested in the development of a community bike share program

Sponsoring plans for “Green Corridors” in the community

Community visibility promoting safety, healthy lifestyles, sustainability

Coalition building

Increases mode shift

Benefits for Transit

It’s About Our Future:Active Transportation Benefits Everyone

http://www.ccrpc.org/planning/transportation/lrtp2/index.html

Cynthia Hoyle, AICPHoyle ConsultingUrbana, ILwww.cynthiahoyle.comcynthia@cynthiahoyle.com

www.cumtd.comwww.ihavemiplan.comwww.cu-srtsproject.com