Title of Presentation Date

City to City Lessons For Building Protected Bike Lanes

3 CITIES

3 QUESTIONS

WHAT MISTAKES?

WHAT HINDSIGHT?

WHAT WORKED?

MEET THE CITIES

CITY OF MEMPHIS,

TN

Population: 655,155

Area: 325 sq. mi.

Bike Mode Share: 0.30%

Bike Lanes: 58 miles

Protected Bike Lanes: 1.5 miles

Buffered Bike Lanes: 0.5 mile

Austin, TX

• Population: 842,500

– Area: 272 square miles

• Austin Metro Population: 1.9 Million

– Area: 4,285 square miles

Austin on a bicycle

• Total Bicycle Lanes: 210 miles

– Buffered Bicycle Lanes: 21

– Protected Bicycle Lanes: 2.5

• City Wide Mode Share: 2%

• Central City Mode Share: 5%

Seattle

Population = 650,000 Area = 91 square miles Bike mode share = 3.6% (2010)

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“Riding a bicycle is a comfortable and integral part of daily life in Seattle for people of all ages and abilities.”

2014 Seattle Bicycle Master Plan

Goals: Safety Connectivity RIdership Equity Livability

WHAT WORKED WELL?

Community-Based Support for Each Project

• Provides city officials the necessary cover to move projects forward even if controversy exists

• Typically higher levels of public participation compared to traditional bike lane projects

• Engaged advocates, businesses, church/community leaders serve as spokespeople in public forums and in media to support these project

• Private fundraising helps to ease financial burden of city to fund all initiatives

Moving Projects Forward

With Pilot

Demonstrations

• Demonstrates a level of commitment towards implementation while still technically sorting through the details.

• Demonstrates a level of commitment towards implementation while still technically sorting through the details.

• Pilot projects help to engage new levels of participation in design process.

Institutionalizing Decisions that Lead to PBL Implementation

• Parks Division seeking solutions to trail connectivity problems utilizing PBL’s

• Storm Water group utilizing buffer zones as implementation of drainage solutions on selected routes

• State DOT implementing PBL projects when resurfacing state routes in Memphis

1. INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES THAT ARE FLEXIBLE

2. PROTECTED BIKE LANES WON’T SOLVE EVERYTHING, BUT THEY DO PROVIDE A PART OF THE SOLUTION

3. FAST AND CHEAP

Data Collection

Mix of High and Low

Safety Messaging and User Education

Safety for all users ◦ People biking – Support people of all ages and abilities ◦ People walking – Separate bicycles from pedestrians ◦ People driving – Provide predictability within the street

WHAT MISTAKES WERE MADE?

A Minimalist Approach to Separation on Early

PBL’s

• Too much treatment can be burdensome to maintenance efforts or aesthetically unappealing

• Too little separation allows for permeability of the buffer zone

• Erred on the side of being incremental in applying new treatments versus overloading the street with pavement marking and flexible posts

• Finding balance between too much an too little is difficult, but important to future implementation

First Project Not Highly Visible

• Even though ties to larger network vision, the phased implementation cast doubt on the efficacy of PBL’s

• Propagated conversations about the motives to install PBL’s when they weren't being used any more frequently than other bike lanes

• Easy to implement and test out new strategies, but little public pay-off in terms of use, mode-shift, etc.

Focusing on the Project, Not the Network

• Difficult to balance the need to take advantage of opportunities for implementation versus strategic implementation of network segments

• The demand to get projects on the ground can outpace the need to take time to develop a comprehensive vision for how PBL’s will work as a network

• Protection only eases concerns and allays fears as far as it exists. If either end of the route isn’t accessible, results can be limited

1. LACK OF PHYSICAL BARRIERS

2. COORDINATE WITH OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS

3. FOCUS ON NETWORK CONNECTIVITY

Creating a Network:

The 8 to 80 Test:

An 8 year old traveling with an 80 year old should be able to traverse the city

comfortable and safely.

Current Bicycle Planning Efforts: Urban Trails Master Plan and Bike Plan

Update 1998 2009

Bike Plan

Update

2014

Urban Trails Plan

Benefits of Short Term Network Significant Mobility Improvements

Our DRAFT Analysis Shows Of the 300k passenger vehicle trips that

enter the “Ring of Congestion” Daily

36% are less than 3 miles

If only 15% of these trips 0-3 miles and 7% of trips 3-9 miles

are converted to bicycle trips

There would be a total reduction of 7% all motor vehicle trips to the Ring of Congestion

The “Ring of Congestion”

Level Playing Field

Maintenance Plan

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Connections are Key

WHAT DO YOU WISH YOU

HAD KNOWN?

Design Takes Time and a Commitment to

Context

• Help from local consulting firms has been limited as city engineering staff seem to outpace the educational awareness of PBL design

• Engineering training has been robust, but application of design principals continues to be challenged and evolve

• There is no cookie-cutter design for every roadway – a higher level of involvement from engineering staff is necessary

What Materials Will Be Durable and Inexpensive

• New resources and peer experiences are now available that make decisions more informed than before

• Material choice involves as much consideration regarding context as the geometric and regulatory design

• Choosing the appropriate materials that are both cost effective and durable is important, but little information exists

How Easily People Would Grasp the Motivation for

PBL’s

• Once PBL’s become a part of casual expectations from community members, the political will to develop them increases

• The greater base of support for PBL’s exists outside of traditional advocates, riding clubs, and athletes

• The concepts behind PBL’s are intuitive and are intimately familiar to the experiences of individuals and families

1. NO TIENES PLAN?

2. ADA PARKING REQUIREMENTS

Van Accessible Parking Space Guadalupe Street Protected Lane

3. DON’T UNDERESTIMATE SUPPORT FOR PROTECTED BIKE LANES

I will admit that I was your biggest skeptic in regards to the bike lanes on North Plaza where I have lived for the last 16 years. I, however, was pleasantly surprised at the outstanding (and quickly done!) job. I commend the planners, the engineers and the workers.

Valet and Loading

Photo credit: Seattle Bike Blog

Three Dimensions

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Historic Districts

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