Pedestrians & Walkability

The Alliance for Biking & Walking's Benchmarking Project is an ongoing effort to collect and analyze data on bicycling and walking in all 50 states and at least the 50 largest cities. This is the second biennial Benchmarking Report.

Potential for Conflict—When motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians compete for the same section of roadway,conflicts and collisions are bound to occur.Anyone who's walked or bicycled Southern California's streets and roads can cite instances of near misses with impatient or distracted drivers, perhaps cutting them off in crosswalks or bike lanes.

This field survey attempts to identify the number and location of "regional-serving" walkable urban places in the 30 largest American metropolitan areas in the U.S, where 138 million, or 46 percent, of the US population lives. This field survey determines where these walkable urban places are most prevalent on a per capita basis, where they are generally located within the metro area, and the extent to which rail transit service is associated with walkable urban development. The first section defines the key concepts used in the survey, providing relevant background information for those who have not read The Option of Urbanism. The second section outlines the methodology. The third section, which is the heart of the report, outlines the findings and conclusions of the survey.

BTS published data to show that availabilities of sidewalks coincided with increased rates of walking.

School districts/COEs can begin developing Safe Routes to School programs by establishing a multidisciplinary team with parent organizations, students, school administrators and staff, local law enforcement, city planners, health officials and other stakeholders. The group can assist with realizing a community vision, developing project proposals and implementing those projects if selected for funding.

10 Principles:

1. Mobility Balance,
2. Street Connectivity,
3. Community Character,
4. Forecasting is not Planning,
5. Transit will not Alleviate Congestion,
6. Active Living,
7. Multimodal Streets,
8. Sustainable Mobility,
9. Empowerment,
10. Monitoring & Reporting

As part of the City of Charlotte's Smart Growth strategy, staff and consultants are developing comprehensive new urban street design guidelines to be applied to all new and modified streets. The design guidelines provide for all travel modes, while explicitly considering land use context, street function, and allocation among competing uses for often-limited right-of-way. The design guidelines offer direction on planning and designing for five street types and their intersections. As important as the "ideal" cross-sections developed, however, is the information provided to guide the tradeoff decisions inherent in street design, particularly in retrofit or modification situations. To that end, the guidelines include a step-by-step approach to their application.

These Urban Street Design Guidelines are intended to ensure that the best aspects of Charlotte's transportation network are re-cretaed as the city and its street network continue to evolve.

This presentation by Mark A. Cole of the Charlotte Department of Transportation lays out the necessity of implementing Complete Streets in Charlotte, as well as the goals of those initiatives.

Studying transporation trends, the City of Boulder attempt to document a change in the use of modes in their city using gathered data and surveys.

The corridor analysis advocated by the Neighborhood Horizons Plan looked at redesign opportunities to create a
pedestrian and bicycle friendly community-oriented
commercial corridor in a safe, quiet neighborhood.

GOAL M 4.2 — Complete Streets. Provide complete streets that balance the diverse needs of diverse users of the public right-of-way.

This design guide provides information on creating narrow, streets in cities, villages, and hamlet centers with buildings close to sidewalks and other pedestrian-friendly features.

Designing accessible pedestrian signals, including key features, location, placement, policies

The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) is providing this Policy Statement to reflect the Department's support for the development of fully integrated active transportation networks. The establishment of well-connected walking and bicycling networks is an important component for livable communities, and their design should be a part of Federal-aid project developments. Walking and bicycling foster safer, more livable, family-friendly communities; promote physical activity and health; and reduce vehicle emissions and fuel use.

Pedestrians have a right to cross roads safely, and, therefore, planners and engineers have a professional responsibility to plan, design, and install safe crossing facilities." —Zegeer, et al., 2001 FHWA Crosswalk Study

With communities across the country now recognizing the importance of "complete streets," what does implementation of a city or county's complete streets policy actually look like? While bike lanes and sidewalks are an important component of making a complete street, the underling design guidelines and policies for roadways and parking are equally influential in creating livable communities.

Accommodating Bicycle and Pedestrian Travel: A Recommended Approach is a policy statement adopted by the United States Department of Transportation. USDOT hopes that public agencies, professional associations, advocacy groups, and others adopt this approach as a way of committing themselves to integrating bicycling and walking into the transportation mainstream.

The goals of this study were to examine the differences between pedestrian and bicycle crashes in urban and rural settings in North Carolina and to identify problem areas.

A team of 12 transportation professionals from the United States with expertise in bicycling and walking visited five countries in Europe to identify and assess effective approaches to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety and mobility.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) strongly encourages the use of raised medians in curbed sections of multi-lane roadways in urban and suburban areas, particularly in areas where there are mixtures of a significant number of pedestrians, high volumes of traffic and intermediate or high travel speeds.

Context Zones—Every thoroughfare has an immediate physical context created by buildings and activities on adjacent properties and is also part of a broader context created by the surrounding neighborhood or district. While the elements of context can combine in almost infinite varieties, this report uses four context zones to define and categorize urban areas: suburban (C-3), general urban (C-4), urban center (C-5) and urban core (C-6).

Definition of Boulevard—In highly urban areas, boulevards can be "grand boulevards"— streets that help form a city's identity, a formal street designed to beautify and be a primary public space, a promenade. Boulevards can also serve as the urban core's spine, a major commercial corridor served by rail or bus transit having a primary mobility rolecollectors). The report was a joint effort between the Institute of Transportation Engineers and the Congress for the New Urbanism, sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Definition of Avenue—In all contexts, but particularly in urban centers and cores, avenues make up the majority of thoroughfares comprising the network. Avenues are moderate-speed (30 to 35 mph) urban arterial or collector thoroughfares, generally shorter in length than boulevards. They are primary pedestrian and bicycle routes and may serve local transit. Avenues do not exceed four lanes. Generally, avenues are undivided but some feature a raised landscaped median.the Congress for the New Urbanism, sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Creating Quality Main Streets—Main streets may be located in any context zone, but are most commonly found in suburban (C-3), general urban (C-4) and urban center (C-5) contexts. They are usually short segments of arterial or collector streets, often only a few blocks in length. They are within a grid or interconnected system of local streets serving the commercial center of town.

The publication provides a resource for practitioners working in the challenging practice of urban thoroughfare design. The principles are based on the evolving practice of context sensitive solutions (CSS), which integrates CSS principles into existing processes to facilitate informed decision-making that considers the needs, interests and constraints within a project. The publication describes:

• The importance of integrating the principles of CSS in urban roadway improvement projects,
• How CSS principles can be used in the transportation planning and project development processes, and
• Specific guidance on thoroughfare cross-section and intersection design.

Information contained in the report uses urban context to describe adjacent surroundings, then uses context to help select compatible thoroughfare types and design criteria. Context zones are used to categorize urban development density and intensity.

There are several design controls in the application of CSS principles that may be used differently than in the conventional design process. These controls include speed, location, design vehicle and functional classification.

The thoroughfare designer is challenged by the need to balance automobile mobility with the needs of pedestrians, bicyclists, transit, public space and urban design elements. While this report emphasizes CSS primarily in walkable, mixed-use residential and commercial urban areas, there are many urban areas with corridors or large districts that, by their nature, are low intensity and low density and do not provide the mix of uses, development patterns, or roadway networks conducive to walking.

Strategies for Metropolitan Atlanta's Transportation and Air Quality aims to develop a framework for reducing auto dependence and vehicle emissions in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area, while maintaining economic vitality . The data analysis from this study shows that in order for Atlanta to achieve their regional goals of clean air, decreased auto dependence, and a high quality of life, a land use plan to focus growth into existing and emerging urban centers was needed.

This article highlights the impact the bicycle industry and bicycle tourism can have on state and local economies, describes the need for bicycle facilities, discusses the cost effectiveness of investments, points out the benefits of bike facilities for business districts and neighborhoods, and identities the cost savings associated with a mode shift from car to bicycle. The evidence demonstrates that investments in bicycle infrastructure make good economic sense as a cost effective way to enhance shopping districts and communities, generate tourism and support business.

In the two years since the Local Government Commission's Smart Growth Zoning Codes:A Resource Guide was first published,the movement to reform zoning codes has gained momentum. Today, form-based codes have become an increasingly popular approach to achieve these reforms and create communities where people want to live,work and play.

The Local Government Commission's Smart Growth Zoning Codes: A Resource Guide is intended to help local officials improve community livability through code reform. It is meant for jurisdictions that already have developed a broad vision for making their communities more livable.

Benefits of road diets for bicyclists and pedestrians?

• Provide space to add bicycle lanes
• Reduce crossing distance
• Eliminate or reduce "multiple threat" crash types
• Install crossing island to cross in 2 simple steps
• Reduce top end travel speeds
• Buffer sidewalk from travel lanes (parking or bike lane)
• Reclaim street space for "higher and better use" than moving peak hour traffic

This chapter describes the design considerations for shared use paths and greenways.

This resolution sets forth MTC's regional policy for accomodation of bicycle and pedestrian facilities during transportation project planning, design, funding and construction. Also included is pedestrian accomodation checklist.

Across the country, a growing number of commumities are using the deceptively simple tool of complete streets policies to change the way they approach transportation. Adopted as state law, local ordinance or even as a city council resolution, these policies set a new vision for transportation investments. Most than 85 states, regions and cities have adopted such policies, including new state laws passed in Calfornia and Illinois and policy resolutions or ordinances in major cities including St. Paul, Miami, Chicago, Seattle, Sacramento and Charlotte.

Introduction to Safe Routes to School: the Health, Safety and Transportation Nexus, including: Overview, History of Safe Routes to School, The Decline of Walking and Bicycling, Health Risks, Safe Routes to School Programs are Part of the Solution, Elements of Safe Routes to School Programs, Take Action Now, Promising Examples and Community Success Stories

A look at baseline results from parent surveys and student travel tallies, including: introduction, parent survey analysis, student arrival and departure travel tally analysis, discussion.

Everyone benefits from walking. These benefits include: improved fitness, cleaner air, reduced risks of certain health problems, and a greater sense of community. But walking needs to be safe and easy. Take a walk with your child and use this checklist to decide if your neighborhood is a friendly place to walk. Take heart if you find problems, there are ways you can make things better.

Incomplete streets a barrier for children—When streets are designed only for cars, they become barriers for children, who cannot safely walk or bicycle along or across them. Unfortunately these safety fears are well founded—pedestrian injury is a leading cause of unintentional, injury-related death among children, age 5 to 14. As a result, many children end up in the back seat of the car, missing out on opportunities for independence and physical activity. One recent survey found that, while 71% of adults walked or rode their bicycles to school as a child, a mere 17% of their own children currently do so.

Incomplete streets a problem for older Americans—Even when roads have basic pedestrian facilities, they often do not consider the needs of the growing population of older Americans. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2025, the portion of Americans over 65 will increase from 12% to nearly 20%, totaling 62 million Americans. As people age, many give up driving for safety's sake.

Incomplete streets put people at risk—Streets without safe places to walk, cross, catch a bus, or bicycle put people at risk. Over 5,000 pedestrians and bicyclists died on U.S. roads in 2008, and more than 120,000 were injured.2 Pedestrian crashes are more than twice as likely to occur in places without sidewalks; streets with sidewalks on both sides have the fewest crashes. While the absolute numbers of bicyclists and pedestrians killed has been in decline for the decade, experts attribute this in part to a decline in the total number of people bicycling and walking.

Incomplete streets a barrier for riders, good service—In too many cases, road design is out of sync with the needs of the people who are riding buses, trains, and trolleys. Poor design slows transit service and discourages people from using public transportation. Even in communities served by public transportation, incomplete streets may discourage residents from fully using the service. Many users are unable to get to transit stops in a safe and convenient manner.

Complete streets are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users. Complete streets policies direct transportation planners and engineers to consistently design with all users in mind. They have been adopted by a few states (OR, VA, SC), and a number of regions and cities. Places that adopt complete streets policies are making sure that their streets and roads work for drivers, transit riders, pedestrians, and bicyclists, as well as for older people, children, and people with disabilities.

Incomplete streets are a constant source of frustration and danger for people with disabilities. A recent study found that blind pedestrians waited three times longer to cross the street, and made many more dangerous crossings than sighted pedestrians. A significant portion of paratransit trips are necessary, not because people are too disabled to use public transit, but because the street network is so poorly designed that they cannot reach the bus stop or train station.

This research has been undertaken to explore how sidewalks in New Jersey are constructed, maintained, reconstructed and financed. Sidewalks are a complicated issue due to multiple jurisdictions (local, county, and state), ambiguous responsibility for construction, reconstruction and maintenance, and contested liability. The research methodology included interviews with New Jersey planners and engineers at the state and local levels, a review of state and national guidelines, consultation with national professionals regarding practices outside New Jersey, and a legal analysis of sidewalk-related caselaw.

Provide guidance for the design of urban thoroughfares that is consistent with CSS principles

The objective of this research was to investigate whether a relationship exists between street network characteristics and the choice of transportation modes selected in a neighborhood. In this study, we controlled for factors such as street characteristics, vehicle volumes, activity levels, income levels, proximity to limited access highways and to the downtown area. The results suggest that all three of the fundamental characteristics of a street network — street connectivity, street network density, and street patterns — are statistically significant in affecting the choice to drive, walk, bike, or take transit.

Through interviews with architects, planners, developers, and property managers of case study multifamily developments from Oregon, Arizona, Florida, and Massachusetts, this report focuses on the ways regulation, typical development practice, and design culture have propagated the typical disconnected and enclaved forms of suburban multifamily development. The report then proposes ways in which current planning, development, and design practices might shift in order to take advantage of this growing housing trend and create more livable, less congested, and multi-modal suburban communities.

This PBIC Case Study Compendium contains a collection of brief, original case studies developed by the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center and the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP). The case studies, or success stories, cover pedestrian and bicycle projects and programs from across the US and abroad, including engineering, education, enforcement, encouragement, planning, health promotion, and comprehensive safety initiatives.

This report is the third status update to the National Bicycling and Walking Study, which is an assessment of bicycling and walking as transportation modes in the United States.

The purpose of this guide on "How to Develop a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan" is to present an overview and framework for state and local agencies to develop and implement a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan tailored to their specific problems and needs. Pedestrian Safety Action Plan is a plan developed by community stakeholders that is intended to improve pedestrian safety in the community. An objective of the guide is to help state and local officials know where to begin to address pedestrian safety issues. it is also intended to assist agencies in further enhancing their existing pedestrian safety programs and activites, including identifying safety problems and selecting optimal solutions.

Regardless of their size, communities can realize three major benefits from better connectivity: shorter trips, a winder variety of travel choices, and more cost-effective public services and infrastructure. Creating more direct connections shortens travel time, which effectively brings people closer to their destinations. With more available connections, community residents can get to schools, shopping centers, and other spots that may have simply been off their radar before—not because these places were too far away, but because they were too far out of the way.

Complete streets are not limited to a few designated corridors. Many communities have launched main street initiatives, adopted bicycle plans, or undertaken special planning processes for nonmotorized travel in specific places. In contrast, complete streets policies strive for diversity on just about every thoroughfare. And the process of creating complete streets is leading planners and engineers across the country to approach street design in fundamentally new ways.

These chapters cover many of the basic elements that can help create good places and enhance community life, including traffic calming, an innovative approach to the design and management of streets that redistributes street space more equitably for all users and, in doing so, acts as a Placemaking catalyst.

Incomplete streets a problem for older Americans—Even when roads have basic pedestrian facilities, they often do not consider the needs of the growing population of older Americans. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2025, the portion of American

This report analyzes the travel patterns of K-12 students in Gainesville, Florida. The data indicated that students were more likely to walk in neighborhoods with sidewalks on main roads; another significant factor is distance of the school from home.

This document outlines an approach to designing streets that are more "complete" in the sense of accomplishing all of the goals associated with the dominant form of public space in urban societies — our streets. The purpose of this booklet is threefold:

1. To provide suggested street standards for use when designing new streets and developments and when planning for future transit corridors
2. To provide guidance when dealing with a constrained right-of-way
3. To illustrate local examples of streets that work or do not work for various user groups

This section presents best practices pedestrian master plans for consideration and possible adoption by the Collaborative. Unlike, the bicycle master plan, there are no required pedestrian master plan elements in the State of California. The contents of a pedestrian master plan presented here represent best practice content gleaned from pedestrian plans of cities like Oakland and Portland that are recognized as being exemplary. The first section presents best practice content in a sample plan outline format, elaborating on key elements of the plan.

Universal Design (also called Inclusive Design or Accessible Design) refers to facility designs that accommodate the widest range of potential users, including people with mobility and visual disabilities and other special needs. Although Universal Design standards address the needs of people with disabilities, it is a comprehensive concept that can benefit all users. For example, people who are unusually short or tall, carrying packages or pushing a cart are not disabled, but their needs should be considered in facility design.

A diverse group of more than 100 citizens from all walks of life came together in 2001 as the Sacramento Transportation and Air Quality Collaborative. These participants represented businesses, the environment, public agencies, community groups, underserved populations and local neighborhood areas. For five years, these community leaders and agency staff contributed countless hours to education, dialogue, deliberation and consensus building in this civic engagement effort.

As this report will show, there still is a long way to go to repair the damage done to communities in the past, even as we begin to shift policies and design philosophy to build streets that are safer for pedestrians and motorists alike. However, there are a growing number of excellent models to build on and thousands of communities eager to move forward.

For four decades, activists for greener, safer NYC streets have scrounged at the margins of this automobilized streetscape. A few feet of traffic lanes converted to bike lanes, the occasional sidewalk extended to relieve a dangerous intersection — all important changes, but all within the context of streets that serve cars, first and foremost. But what would our streets look like if they were redesigned, building-to-building, to first accommodate walkers, bicyclists, the disabled and surface transit? The days of living at the margins are over: the Complete Streets revolution has begun.

Connectivity (also called permeability) refers to the directness of links and the density of connections in path or road network. A well-connected road or path network has many short links, numerous intersections, and minimal dead-ends (cul-de-sacs).

As connectivity increases, travel distances decrease and route options increase, allowing more direct travel between destinations, creating a more Accessible and Resilient system.

What rights do non-motorized modes have to use public roadways? Do nonmotorized modes receive a fair share of roadway resources? Do motorists really subsidize walking and cycling? This report explores these questions.

1. Ditch concurrency
2. Code form
3. Get network
4. Complete streets
5. High Speed Rail: Again? Local?

A telephone survey provided to evaluate the design and funding of facilities for bicycle and pedestrian users as part of the state highway network.