Walk This Way - Metromedia.metro.net/projects_studies/pedestrian_symposium/...Image source: Jan Gehl Image source Jan Gehl I see this as a dialogue, not a lecture, and I know that
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January 22, 2010 Walk This Way: May 12, 2010 LA Metro Pedestrian Symposium Pedestrian Planning in a Changing Environment Jeremy Nelson, Principal Nelson\Nygaard Consulting
• What are the barriers to walking in your community?
• How can communities plan as if pedestrians mattered?
• Case study
Image source: Jan Gehl
Image source Jan Gehl
Presenter
Presentation Notes
I see this as a dialogue, not a lecture, and I know that there’s a lot of expertise in the room that I can learn from, so let’s all put our transportation thinking caps on together… Image source: Jan Gehl Location: ?
General Plan Update
January 22, 2010
Why does walking matter?
Presenter
Presentation Notes
- I'll start by summarizing some of the literature that quantifies how multimodal transportation policies can reduce auto travel and increase "active transportation" modes like biking and walking (including walking to transit). - Then I'll talk about how reduced vehicle travel contributes to better public health outcomes and reduces a community's greenhouse gas emissions, using federal and State of California data. - I'll also be talking about how local jurisdictions can implement this research at the local level, by developing "healthy transportation" policies as part of their ongoing planning initiatives including General Plan updates and revisions to development regulations. As an example, I 've attached a summary of a relevant project I did in a rural context (Humboldt County, CA). I've also done similar work in several Southern California cities, including West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Glendale, Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara.
Obesity Trends* Among U.S. Adults BRFSS, 1991, 1995 and 2000
(*BMI ≥ 30, or ~ 30 lbs overweight for 5’4” woman)1991 1995
2000
Source: Mokdad A H, et al. J Am Med Assoc 1999;282:16, 2001;286:10.
No Data <10% 10%-14% 15-19% ≥20%
Physical health
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Image source: Peter L. Jacobsen
General Plan Update
January 22, 2010
Personal safety
Image source: Peter Jacobsen
0
5
10
15
20
0% 5% 10% 15%Journey to Work Share
Rel
ativ
e R
isk
Inde
x
WalkingBicycling
Presenter
Presentation Notes
This is a graph showing research done by Peter Jacobsen using data for 68 California communities. The graph illustrates the relationship between the number of people who bike or walk to work in that community and the “relative risk index” of being injured while biking and walking. The lower right hand corner means more people walking and biking, and fewer bicyclists and pedestrians being injured. The upper left hand corner suggests that where few people bike or walk, there is a much higher risk of being injured as a pedestrian or bicyclist. The conclusion Peter Jacobsen drew from this data is that there is safety in numbers and that doubling walking or bicycling: increases total injuries by 32% reduces your risk to 66% Image source: Peter L. Jacobsen
Personal safety (real and perceived)
January 22, 2010
Image source: Random House
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Google Books synopsis: “Three young boys out walking at night tell each other spooky stories about children who went out after dark and encountered ghosts and monsters.” Planners need to acknowledge that reducing the real or perceived risk of personal crime can increase walking among some demographics. (Jan Gehl often says he judges the success of any public plaza as a function of the number of women and children that use the space). Ground-floor transparency Pedestrian-scaled lighting Community building Education….. Image source: Random House
Image source: Peter Jacobsen
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Risk of being killed in a traffic collision is about the same as the risk of being killed due to a violent criminal act (homicide, aggravated assault). These rates are going down for a number of reasons, including improvements in the efficacy and access to trauma care, but the relationship between the two is the important point. Image source: Peter L. Jacobsen
January 22, 2010
Equity
Image source: Transact
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Less than 1.5 percent of federal transportation funds have been spent on pedestrians and bicyclists under SAFETEA-LU, even though pedestrians comprise 11.5 percent of all traffic deaths and trips made on foot account for almost 9 percent of all trips. Minority communities and the elderly disproportionately bear the brunt of this inequitable investment. This is a moral issue and its our professional and ethical obligation to address it. Image source: http://www.transact.org/PDFs/2009-11-09-Dangerous%20by%20Design.pdf
General Plan Update
January 22, 2010
Social costs
Image source: San Francisco Injury Center
Presenter
Presentation Notes
$75 million in health care costs from pedestrian injuries. In just 5 years. In just one city. This even excludes other social costs like lost wages, decreased life expectancy, etc. To put it in stark terms of economists: Dangerous conditions for bicyclists and pedestrians are economically wasteful and it is a breach of our fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers to allow these dangerous conditions to exist. Quote from report: “Pedestrian injury carries the intangible price tag of human life and the tangible price tag of health care expenditures.” Image source: http://calbike.org/pdfs/Auto-versus-ped_costs.pdf
General Plan Update
January 22, 2010
Consumer choice
• Most communities’ zoning and street design codes make it illegal to create walkable neighborhoods
• Walkable neighborhoods are undersupplied
• Housing consumers will pay a premium for walkable neighborhoods
Image source: RFF Press
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Image source: RFF Press
General Plan Update
January 22, 2010
Access to public open space
Image source: San Francisco Planning Department
Private parcels:- 57% of city land
Parks: - 18% of city land- 42% of public land
Streets: - 25% of city land- 58% of public land
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Image source: San Francisco Planning Department
January 22, 2010
The “Silver Tsunami”
Image source: National Institutes of Health
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Walkable neighborhoods will be increasingly important as the baby boomers continue to age -- the coming “silver tsunami” – and more of the US population can no longer drive but find themselves living in places that were not designed for walking. How do these folks get around? Image source: http://www.nia.nih.gov/NR/rdonlyres/A482C7E5-39D0-4D9C-8312-A575D974CD0A/2016/fig3rgb.gif
71.8%
20.0%
2.4%2.1% 1.9% 1.8% Passenger Vehicles
Heavy Duty Trucks
Ships & Commercial BoatsAviation (Intrastate)
Rail
Unspecified
38.4%
21.9%
9.2%
19.9%
1.3%3.1%
6.2%
0.04%Transportation
Electric Power
Commercial and Residential
Industrial
Recycling and Waste
High GWP
Agriculture
Forestry
California Total CO2 Emissions
California Transportation Emissions
Source: 2006 California Air Resources Board Greenhouse Gas Inventory
Climate change
Presenter
Presentation Notes
The single largest source of GHGe in CA is from the transportation sector… …and within the transportation sector, private vehicles are the single largest factor.
Land Use Determines VMT
Image source: John Holtzclaw
Presenter
Presentation Notes
“Low traffic” density puts more origins and destinations within walking distance. Since traffic congestion is a non-linear phenomenon, a little bit of reduction in local trips goes a long way. In other words, a small reduction in total volumes can result in a larger reduction everyone’s travel time delays (including bus passengers traveling in mixed flow lanes). Image source: John Holtzclaw
Image source: San Francisco Bay Area MTC
Leveraging transit $
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Research shows that residents of the most walkable areas drive 26 percent fewer miles per day than those living in the most sprawling areas. �Image source: San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) Other resources: - Frank, L., S. Kavage, and B. Appleyard. “The Urban Form and Climate Change Gamble.” Planning, Vol. 73., No. 8, August/September 2007. - “Growing Cooler: The Evidence of Urban Development and Climate Change." Urban Land Institute Press. Reid Ewing, Keith Bartholomew, Steve Winkelman, Jerry Walters, and Don Chen. 2008.
Community health
Image source: UC Press
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Image source: Scan from Livable Streets (UC Press)
Community health
Image source: UC Press
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Image source: Scan from Livable Streets (UC Press)
General Plan Update
January 22, 2010
What are the barriers to walking in your community?
Presenter
Presentation Notes
- I'll start by summarizing some of the literature that quantifies how multimodal transportation policies can reduce auto travel and increase "active transportation" modes like biking and walking (including walking to transit). - Then I'll talk about how reduced vehicle travel contributes to better public health outcomes and reduces a community's greenhouse gas emissions, using federal and State of California data. - I'll also be talking about how local jurisdictions can implement this research at the local level, by developing "healthy transportation" policies as part of their ongoing planning initiatives including General Plan updates and revisions to development regulations. As an example, I 've attached a summary of a relevant project I did in a rural context (Humboldt County, CA). I've also done similar work in several Southern California cities, including West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Glendale, Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara.
• Promote affordable housing• Create mixed-used neighborhoods• Add appropriate density near transit• Encourage alternative modes • Create “ped-friendly” streets• Promote bicycle safety• Reduce vehicle travel• Honor motherhood• Enjoy apple pie
Typical General Plan polices….
Image source: Diabetes Daily
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Here’s a list of typical General Plan policies that are all wonderful and lofty goals- the problem is that often cities’ adopt these goals and then do very little to realize them. What’s the old cliché about CA General Plans?: Written by one, read by none, ignored by all?
Image source: Dan Burden
Presenter
Presentation Notes
So everyone says we want to encourage walking and be a more ped-friendly community, but sometimes the on-the-ground reality often sends a different message…I actually don’t know where this is exactly, but it could be in your community…. Image source: Dan Burden Location: ?
Presenter
Presentation Notes
When I’m speaking in LA I pick on the Bay Area, and when I’m speaking in the Bay Area, I also pick on LA…. This is the pedestrian conditions outside the CIVIC auditorium in San Francisco, just a block away from Market St, San Francisco’s major transit and pedestrian corridor. Image source: Jeremy Nelson, Nelson\Nygaard Location: San Francisco
Mixed message?
Image source: Diabetes Daily
Image source: Carbolic Smokeball
Presenter
Presentation Notes
I read the general plan or pedestrian plan of a community and these plans talk about “encouraging walking” and “becoming more pedestrian friendly” – the “motherhood and apple pie” policy framework. Then I walk around that community and oftentimes see pedestrian conditions that are at best immoral and at worst illegal (ADA Transition Plan?). A decidedly mixed message!
Why are we fiddling around?
Image source Dzobel Blog
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Nero fiddled while Rome burned? Why are fiddling around with improving pedestrian conditions when there’s so much to be done in light of climate change, the silver tsunami, etc. For more fundamental reform than can be accomplished on corner at a time. Image source: http://www.dzobel.com/Blog_shots/sign_road_fire.jpg
General Plan Update
January 22, 2010
How can communities plan as if pedestrians mattered?
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Whatever the barriers are in your community, it’s probably not a lack of pedestrian policy statements….
Step 1: Establish Multimodal Street Types
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Different types of streets do different kinds of work Adopt multimodal street typology: decide what each street wants to be and give it an appropriate classification Adopt transportation performance measures for all modes on all streets Assign range of acceptable standards for each mode Standards tied to priority modes for different street types, city-identified transportation networks, surrounding context All streets have minimum level of service, safety and amenity (no “pedestrian sacrifice” streets)
Step 2: Establish Multimodal Performance Goals
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Adopt transportation performance measures for all modes on all streets Assign range of acceptable standards for each mode Standards tied to priority modes for different street types, city-identified transportation networks, surrounding context All streets have minimum level of service, safety and amenity (no “pedestrian sacrifice” streets)
Step 3: Measure Impacts on All Modes
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Throw out the old auto-centric yardstick Supplement LOS impact measures with multi-modal impact measures (e.g. person delay) Measure LOS/QOS for transit, bikes, and peds, OR… Use ATG (Auto Trips Generated) as a proxy for impacts on all modes
Step 4: Mitigate Impacts to Sustainable, Efficient Modes
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Encourage low-traffic development and discourage high-traffic development Establish a traffic impact fee for new development Base traffic impact fee on the development’s projected car trips Provide fee credits for development’s demand management programs Use fee revenue for improvements to multi-modal infrastructure or programs Political/financial offset: reduce or eliminate parking requirements (a hidden impact fee)
Develop streetscape design standards consistent with multimodal street classification (Step 1) and performance measures (Step 2) Upgraded street design standards are triggered whenever any street is improved This is the icing on the cake- it is a necessary but not a sufficient stand-alone reform.
Be at the table when decisions are made about the built environment.
General Plan Update
January 22, 2010
Case study
General Plan Update
January 22, 2010
Presenter
Presentation Notes
These graphs are based on SCAG’s data on current and projected jobs and population for the region. The circles on the left are 2005 numbers, and the circles on the right are project for 2025. The size of the circles shows the relative growth in jobs (blue) and population (green) for different areas of the region. As the graphs show, regional strategies for reducing vehicle trips are important. But reducing locally-generated trips is the best way to take control of your communities transportation destiny. Especially important because almost all walking trips are short local trips. So the question before you as policymakers is how much do you want to control your own destiny by reducing local trips? Image source: Nelson\Nygaard Data source: SCAG
San Dimas15,810 miles per person
West Hollywood8,948 miles per person
(40% less)
Annual VMT per Person
Presenter
Presentation Notes
And as these graphics show, the City’s efforts to encourage alternative transportation and residents willingness take transit, walk, and bike for many of their trips is having an effect. This slide isn’t to pick on San Dimas, we just selected it as an example of a Southern California city, but just to show the comparison that residents of West Hollywood already drive less than their counterparts in other Southern California communities.
26 lbs/vehicle(33% less)
San Dimas West Hollywood
Annual CO2 Emissions
per Household and Vehicle
39 lbs/vehicle
77 lbs/HH30 lbs/HH(61% less)
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Largely as a result of West Hollywood’s reduced VMT, look how much greener West Hollywood is compared to San Dimas! This is CO2 emissions from VMT shown on a per HH basis to equalize for differences in population and/or geographic size- and still West Hollywood is significantly greener than San Dimas. (As a multimodal transportation planner, I encourage civic rivalries over which community can get to the lowest vehicle trips).
General Plan Update
January 22, 2010
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Start with improvements on primary pedestrian districts, corridors, and nodes. Ex: West Hollywood is a relatively low-traffic community for Southern California: Drive Alone: 75% Carpool: 6% Transit: 5.4% Walk: 5.5% Bike: 0.3% Worked from home: 6.8% As you can see from these maps, there are already a significant number of West Hollywood residents who commute by non-auto modes. These maps are from Census data on commute trips, so they likely underestimate the non-auto modes for a number of reasons that I won’t get into here. One other important thing to note on this slide is the diversity of neighborhood transportation, even in a geographically small City like West Hollywood. One implication of this is that patterns is that trip reduction strategies will need to be tailored to different neighborhoods and different markets- there is no one size fits all strategy that will serve all travel needs. Image source: Nelson\Nygaard Data source: 2000 US Census
We can do nothing and just take our chances…
…or we canplan for change.
The latter requires a willingness to improve upon the status quo.
Image source: The New Yorker
Presenter
Presentation Notes
We can do nothing and just take our chances… or we can plan for change. The latter course of action requires a willingness to improve upon status quo practices. Image source: The New Yorker
It’s been a pleasure presenting to you, and, just like this happy green signal in Mexico City, I’d be happy to talk with you further about this important topic. Image source: Jeremy Nelson, Nelson\Nygaard Location: Mexico City
