the value of great streets - matthew roe, new york city dot
DESCRIPTION
Matthew Roe is a Senior Planning and Research Manager for the New York City Department of Transportation. This presentation from August 26, 2013 comes from a seminar on effective street design to improve safety and economic vitality. The seminar was hosted by EMBARQ Turkey at the Istanbul Technical University.TRANSCRIPT
The Value of Great Streets: Safety, Mobility, Vitality Istanbul, 26 August 2013
• plaza • Bike lane
Urbanity Vitality
Great Streets – Great Cities
Mobility
Safety
Mobility
• Basic Urban Form + Street Design
– Death & injury are largest cost of automobile transport for most cities – rivaling congestion
– Traffic crashes are a leading cause of death worldwide, esp. young adults
– Dumbaugh & Rae found that traditional urban neighborhoods were safer than suburban areas with large, fast arterial streets
– 1 in 5 of Turkey’s road deaths are pedestrians
10.8
3.3
13.4
1.6
0.0 10.0 20.0
US
NYC
Turkiye
Istanbul
Traffic Fatality Rate per 100,000 Inhabitants
Safety
Dense cities are much safer than car-oriented cities and rural areas
• Strong benefit : cost ratio • Safety projects can outperform
pure mobility projects • Fast implementation with ordinary
materials • Measurable results • Most cost-effective to implement
as a continuing citywide program
Safety
• Above: person-capacity per hour of a typical 3.5m lane • Walking and cycling save space – the scarcest urban resource
Graphic: Asian Development Bank
Mobility
• In New York City, bicycle commuting rose as bike network expanded from 2008 to 2013
• Has risen by 300% since 2000.
Graphic: NYC Dept. of Transportation
Mobility Bicycling grows as bike networks are improved
A Virtuous Cycle
• Walking and biking households spend more locally than drivers
• Presence of local businesses improves attraction of street
• Result: more and safer walking
Improved Street Design
Improved Safety
More Walking/Biking
Stronger Local Retail
Support for Street Design
Economic Vitality
• Projects are not intuitive to all businesses
• Working closely with groups of small retailers or with primary stakeholders can overcome these concerns
Economic Vitality
Pedestrian space and bike connec7vity at a transit hub and park
Union Square North, Manhattan
Retail vacancies cut in half
Travel times unchanged
Injury crashes down by 26%
Source: NYC Dept. of Transportation
Pearl Street Plaza, Brooklyn
Retail Sales up 172%
Locally-‐designed plaza replaces empty asphalt, providing focal point for a neighborhood in transi7on from industrial to mixed-‐use
Source: NYC Dept. of Transportation
9th Avenue Protected Bike Lanes
Retail Sales up 49%
Injuries down 58%
2,200 bikes per day
Source: NYC Dept. of Transportation
Protected Bike Lane replaces one lane of mixed traffic, adding pedestrian refuges and greening the street.
Palmer Street, Cambridge MA
Brighton New Road
Pedestrian volume up 62%
Car speeds down to 20 kph
“Staying acQviQes” up 600%
Source: Gehl Architects
Shared Street design allows deliveries and bicycling on a pedestrian-‐dominated retail street
West Palm Beach, Florida
Retail occupancy at 80%
Downtown revitaliza7on with safe street designs as a centerpiece
