Walkable SchoolsHow Smart Growth How Smart Growth

Principles Can Principles Can Help School Districts Help School Districts

and Kids and Kids

Richard S. Geller Orange County District 1 Planning & Zoning Commissioner

Jürgen Duncan Transportation Designer, Canin Associates

Eliza Harris Urban Planner, Canin AssociatesOrlando Metro Coordinator, Congress for New Urbanism

Walkable Schools

% Walkers

05

1015202530354045

1969 2001

% Walkers

McDonald N. , “Active transportation to school: trends among U.S. schoolchildren,” 1969–2001. Am J Prev Med. 2007;32 (6):509 –516.

The State of the SidewalksThe State of the Sidewalks

Decline in Children Walking to School

Source: Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

Why Should We Care?: HealthWhy Should We Care?: Health

Childhood Obesity Increasing

“the opportunity for physical activity within the school day affected the students’ performance in both reading and mathematics achievement” The Impact of Physical Activity and Obesity on Academic Achievement Among Elementary Students, National Council of the Professors of Educational Administration

“there are consistent findings that overweight and obesity are associated with poorer levels of academic achievement.”Taras and Potts-Datema. Obesity and Student Performance at School Journal of School Health

Motor vehicle crashes are U.S. teens’ leading cause of death, amounting to more than one in three deaths in this age group.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.cdc.gov/MotorVehicleSafety/Teen_Drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html

Why Should We Care?: SafetyWhy Should We Care?: Safety

Why Did Kids Stop Walking?Why Did Kids Stop Walking?

Metro Orlando: #1 in Pedestrian Danger

Crossing guard's funeral is todayCrime ReportOctober 24, 2009|By Henry Pierson Curtis, Sentinel Staff WriterOrange CountyAn 80-year-old Orange County sheriff''s crossing guard fatally injured last week at his school-crossing post will be buried

Orange County Sheriff’s car hits 6-year-old pedestrian walking home from school2009-12-15

The young girl, Marqueasha Sabrii Henderson, was walking with two of her sisters…. A driver honked their horn at the girl, which scared her and caused her to dart across the roadway.

Roadways have been designed to move vehicular traffic as fast as possibleas fast as possible to increase roadway capacity.

Results: Unsafe and unpleasant for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Why Did Kids Stop Walking? Why Did Kids Stop Walking?

Roadways designed for cars, not kids

Old Winter Garden Rd. School CrossingLane Width = 12 ft. (same as an interstate highway)

Why Our Roads Are DangerousWhy Our Roads Are Dangerous

Speed/Fatality Relationship

Why Our Roads Are Dangerous: Why Our Roads Are Dangerous:

Road Width/Fatality Relationship

Source: Swift-Painter-Goldstein study of traffic accidents in Longmont, Colorado

Sidewalks are an important element of the Safe Routes to School program

BUT

There is much more to it.

Safe Routes to School: Safe Routes to School:

Not Just Sidewalks

A better and safer environment for kids to walk and bike.

• Separation of traffic from walkways

• Shade trees for buffer and comfort

What Do Safer Streets Look Like What Do Safer Streets Look Like

More Than Just Sidewalks

What Do Safer Streets Look Like?What Do Safer Streets Look Like?

Celebration Elementary

• Narrow, Slow Roads• On-Street Parking slows the traffic; • School Incorporated into Urban Fabric; • Windows place “eyes on the school” • Bump-outs shorten crossing distance

2121stst Century Walkable Century Walkable Smart GrowthSmart Growth

1960’s Era 1960’s Era Suburban SprawlSuburban Sprawl

oror

How Can We Get Safer Streets?How Can We Get Safer Streets?

Olympia High School — Parking lot consumes about as much land as the buildings; disconnected from adjacent subdivisions; four-lane arterial requires driving;

O.C. Code 38-755(1)(d): 65 acre H.S. sites (excluding retention) on

“roadways suitable for high volume traffic.” 38-1753(f).

The Suburban DisconnectThe Suburban Disconnect

Winter Park High School—Built into the neighborhood; Small Parking lot compared to Olympia

Part of the NeighborhoodPart of the Neighborhood

High School Road(s) Walkable? Bus Eligible

Boone 2-lanes Yes 69.9%

Edgewater 3-lanes Yes 75.3%

Winter Park 2-lanes Yes 78.8%

Olympia 4-lanes arterial No 81.6%

Freedom 4-lanes arterial No 86.4%

Dr. Phillips 4-lanes arterial No 86.9%

Source: OCPS

Estimated annual operating cost per school bus: $62,000

Saving the $$$Saving the $$$

Walkability Can Reduce District Costs

Walnut Hills High School, Cincinnati, Ohio• Attractive architecture • Civic pride• Student motivation• Academic success

Respecting the Street & The StudentsRespecting the Street & The Students

Walnut Hills High School, Cincinnati, Ohio - back of school incorporated into neighborhood without fences

The Opportunity to WalkThe Opportunity to Walk

Faculty Parking

Bus Pick-up and drop-off

Senior Parking

On-street parking

Enrollment: 2,065

Walnut Hills High School, Cincinnati, Ohio

The AdvantagesThe Advantages

Alumni Funded Expansion

SolutionsSolutions

Orient the School’s Main Entrance to the Street

Windermere ElementaryWindermere Elementary: Architecture invites drivers

more than pedestrians

The side’s the front…

…and front’s the side

Which school would you walk to?

Vehicles travel at 15-20 mphVehicles travel at 15-20 mphReducing injuries 76% and

fatalities 90%Source: Federal Highway AdministrationSource: Federal Highway Administration

A Safer Alternative: The Modern RoundaboutA Safer Alternative: The Modern Roundabout

High Speed Turns, Right Turns on Red Lights, 43

crashes (in 2009) and 115 Feet of Pavement

View from Dr. Phillips YMCA. Dr. Phillips Elementary is caddy-corner.View from Dr. Phillips YMCA. Dr. Phillips Elementary is caddy-corner.

Windermere RoundaboutWindermere Roundabout

Pedestrian Crossing:

Current Plans: up to 115 ft.

Roundabout: 26 ft. to island

Two crossing guards can stop all traffic movement.

Sidra Traffic Simulation

Current motorist delays up to several minutes would decrease to between 17-55 seconds

A Safer Alternative: The Modern RoundaboutA Safer Alternative: The Modern Roundabout

Designing WalkableDesigning Walkable

Great Resources

• ITE-CNU: Designing Walkable Urban Thoroughfares

• “Safe Routes to School” program website: saferoutesinfo.org

• SmartGrowthSchools.org

• Walkability / Bikeability Checklist

What Can OCPS Do?What Can OCPS Do?

1. When the School District reviews master development plans

• Support interconnected, low speed, narrow streets and site new schools accordingly

• Allow on-street parking to absorb demand

2. Adopt Smart Growth Schools Policies

• Work with local governments to allow flexibility for setbacks, minimum acreage requirements and road types

• Consider the neighborhood, walkability, and transportation costs when choosing whether to renovate or relocate an existing school

What Can OCPS Do? What Can OCPS Do?

3. Seek Alternative Funding Sources• T1.3.3 Orange County shall consider all available funding sources, including

those at the State and Federal levels….

$29,116,392 granted to Florida (2006-2009)

http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/legislation_funding/state_apportionment.cfm

School Alumni Associations Developer Contributions

5. Look for partners• Plant free trees on Arbor Day on routes near the school• Do “walkability checklist” with the PTA members• Participate in land use and transportation planning exercises

4. Review Proposed Road and Intersection Changes and Advocate for Student Pedestrians

• Propose narrow lanes, on-street parking, and other road engineering to lower travel speeds to 30 mph or less in front of schools and where students will likely walk

• Support bike lanes

What Can OCPS Do: Be OpportunisticWhat Can OCPS Do: Be Opportunistic

• Support smaller curb radii for slower turns • Support bump-outs to shorten crossing distance • Consider roundabouts in lieu of road widening