HOUSTON BIKE PLAN: SUPPLEMENTAL OUTREACH RESULTS & FINDINGS

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1 HOUSTON BIKE PLAN: SUPPLEMENTAL OUTREACH RESULTS & FINDINGS Wylie Mao, Outreach Coordinator Mary Blitzer, Interim Executive Director IN PARTNERSHIP WITH: Houston Bike Plan Team, Office of Council Member David Robinson & Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County MAY

2 INTRODUCTION The Houston Bike Plan is the first bicycle master plan to have been written in the City of Houston in over 20 years. This publicprivate partnership creates the plan for over 300 miles of on-street bikeways and 80 miles of trails to be built in the short term. In order to ensure the Houston Bike Plan meets the needs of all communities in Houston, The City s Planning and Development Department partnered with the nonprofit BikeHouston to conduct targeted outreach to supplement the public engagement efforts of the Planning Department s Bike Plan team. This targeted outreach focused directly on communities less likely to participate through traditional outreach methods, such as cyclists in the labor force, university and college students, community members who typically do not attend public meetings, and residents from council districts with lower participation rates in the first round of engagement on the Houston Bike Plan. OUTREACH AT NORTHLINE TRANSIT CENTER 2

3 METHODS Performed outreach using four guiding strategies: 1. Hosting discussion about the Bike Plan at community meetings, such as super neighborhood councils and civic clubs a. BikeHouston reached out to the super neighborhood or other community group and asked to present at an upcoming meeting. Community meetings were selected based on council members suggestions and mainly targeted council districts with lower participation rates. In some council districts, no meetings were scheduled due to existing high participation rates, scheduling conflicts and/or lack of response from the community group. b. Presentations were given using the city-created slides as an aid, adapted to each locale. For example, screenshots of neighborhood maps from HoustonBikePlan.org showed what the neighborhood currently looks like and will look like with the Bike Plan completed. c. Feedback was collected through Houston Bike Plan feedback cards and submitted directly to the Houston Bike Plan team. 2. Riding the Metro during labor force commuting hours, engaging workers in conversation and asking survey questions a. During the hours of 6am-8am and 5pm-7pm, many workers in construction, the restaurant industry, and other skilled labor fields ride to transit centers and load their bikes onto busses and trains. There, outreach involved approaching riders with bikes and talked to them about their experiences biking in Houston and made resources on the bike plan available. More formally, surveys were conducted using the question set outlined below. b. Survey feedback was then organized in terms of percentages and made available to the Houston Bike Plan consulting team. 3. Speaking at events and tabling in student centers at colleges and universities a. On college campuses, through coordinating with professors, student clubs, and campuswide events, BikeHouston was able to find opportunities to lead discussions about the bike plan. This category spanned speaking to an urban planning seminar to tabling in the University of Houston student center. b. Feedback given orally during question-and-answer periods was recorded and submitted to the Houston Bike Plan online map. 4. Going to community destinations a. This category was designed to reach the general public in low participation areas, not particularly targeting cyclists. The underpinning motivation for this category was especially intended to reach people who are unlikely to attend CIP meetings or be involved in a super neighborhood council. Consequently, BikeHouston volunteers set up booths at music festivals and public parks, talking about the bike plan with interested Houstonians. b. Feedback was collected through Houston Bike Plan feedback cards and submitted digitally through HoustonBikePlan.org. 3

To reach these targeted groups, BikeHouston used: Houston Bike Plan brochures, feedback cards, and flyers for relevant bike to work and bike awareness events.

4 To reach these targeted groups, BikeHouston used: Houston Bike Plan brochures, feedback cards, and flyers for relevant bike to work and bike awareness events. BikeHouston cycling map, bike lights, bells and Houstonians for Bikes petition. All participants were invited to provide input themselves online at HoustonBikePlan.org. Survey questions for the labor force group: 1. Do you feel safe while riding? 2. Why do you ride a bicycle? 3. How far did you ride to get here? 4. What kind of facility do you prefer? 5. Do you support the bike plan? RESULTS This four month long effort reached 1512 people through 172 hours of outreach. Estimation of people reached at events within following council districts: 1 A. 30 B. 119 C D. 325 E. N/A 3 F. 75 G. 85 H. 130 I. 246 J. 145 K. 114 OUTREACH AT KASHMERE TRANSIT CENTER 1 Estimations done by the location of the outreach event; people may live in districts different from where the event was held of District C residents are students at Rice University or the University of St. Thomas. Outreach to non-student District C residents was de-emphasized in this targeted outreach project due to high participation in existing outreach. 3 Residents of District E were reached via the Houston Bike Plan team directly at CIP meetings and other council district meetings. 4

5 Overview of work by category: A. Community events 741 people reached 77.5 hours worked B. University events 325 people reached 19 hours worked C. Labor force 186 people reached 54.5 hours worked D. Community destinations 245 people reached 19 hours worked Overview of survey responses: 52 responses in 26 ZIP codes and 5 city council districts. All survey respondents are from the labor force category. 1. Do you feel safe while riding? a. 74% reported feeling unsafe on their daily commutes 2. Why do you ride a bicycle? a. 63% bike to get to work b. 8% bike to get to school c. 29% bike for pleasure or exercise 3. How far did you ride to get here? a. Most respondents reported biking between 0.5 mile and 4 miles to get to the surveying location 4. What kind of facility do you prefer? a. 11% had no preference b. 15% preferred on-street bike lanes c. 48% preferred off-street trails or paths 5. Do you support the bike plan? a. 100% of surveyed respondents support the Houston Bike Plan 5

6 DISCUSSION 1. Community meetings Successes: Shortening the presentation to inspire more of a discussion rather than a one-sided monologue, offering to stay after the presentation to continue discussions, and having plenty of outreach materials (particularly lights, bells, and maps). Areas for improvement: important to avoid technical language to avoid feelings of condescension, more beneficial to take questions during presentation to start a sort of a conversation throughout the time. Presentations under 15 minutes felt rushed. 2. Labor force outreach Successes: A tone of how can I help? is an immensely powerful thing. With that rapport, Metro riders were nearly always very happy to have long conversations about cycling. Day labor locations and transit hubs, including Kashmere TC, Northline TC, and Wheeler Station, were the most time-efficient areas to do outreach with high traffic and riders willing to have conversations. Areas for improvement: Avoiding technical jargon is also particularly important here, as it can quickly alienate some people. 3. College and university events Successes: Using the Houstonians for Bikes petition was an effective icebreaker as college students were eager to sign on to petitions. Setting up a table at a busy common area was an excellent way to start conversations. Perhaps most effective was presenting as a guest speaker in classes, as professors were able to add particularly good points to the discussion. Areas for improvement: Having more students to present and table with BikeHouston would have been beneficial in order to reach more people and answer more questions. Further, college and university events were the highest volume in terms of people reached, and required more outreach materials than others. 4. Community destinations Successes: Useful for raising the profile of the Bike Plan and spreading awareness to noncyclists. Petitions were less effective as non-students were more reluctant to sign on without significant knowledge and especially reluctant to add on an address. Areas for improvement: Similar to college and university events, more volunteers and outreach workers would have made the outreach more effective at times, as large numbers of people had questions simultaneously. 6

7 CONCLUSION The supplemental outreach expanded the breadth of voices contributing to the Houston Bike Plan. Having the broad base of contributing voices informs the plan with a richer base of information, ensuring that the plan is backed by support that can be measured and qualified in various ways. Through surveys and conversations, two things are certain: Houstonians feel largely unsafe while riding and are overwhelmingly supportive of the Houston Bike Plan. Equally apparent is the willingness Houstonians have in sharing about their experiences and desires for a safer future in Houston. This was facilitated most by having an attitude of helping and being willing to have patient and nonjudgmental conversation. The work demonstrates the importance of outreach at a slower and more personal pace, where empathy drives interactions. It underscores the importance and insight that some of the most underrepresented Houstonians have to offer. SOUTHEAST HOUSTON POP-UP BIKE LANE 7

8 APPENDIX 1. Spreadsheet overview of events attended and actions performed: Event Name A: Community Events Date Council District People Reached Hours Worked East End Outreach 2/13 I CIP Meeting 3/10 K 12 4 Westbury SNC meeting 3/16 K Acres Home 3/17 A & B 30 8 SN 16 Memorial 3/21 G 50 4 SN 18 - Briar Forest 3/22 G Sharpstown Civic Club 3/24 F & J Brays Oaks SNC meeting 3/8 K 15 4 Inwood Forest 3/9 A 15 3 SN 17 3/9 G 15 4 Kashmere Gardens 4/12 B & H 50 3 Sharpstown KIPP 4/12 J 60 3 SE Houston Greenway 4/23 D Harbach Ripley 4/30 I 40 3 Tour de Hood 5/4 D Category total B: University Events Tabling at Rice 3/28 C Speaking at TSU Doctoral Seminar 3/29 D 5 2 Tabling at UST 4/1 C 40 4 Tabling at UH 4/2 D 80 4 Tabling at HCC 4/21 D 40 3 Speaking at UH Health Event 4/3 D 10 2 Category total C: Labor Force Kashmere TC 2/10 B 12 3 Northline TC 2/10 H 15 3 Kashmere TC 2/18 B 17 5 Wheeler TC 2/18 C 8 3 Northline TC 2/18 H 10 4 Workforce Solutions 2/22 I 6 2 Fannin South TC 2/25 K

9 Red line 2/8 C & D Fannin South TC 3/11 K Fannin South TC 3/14 K from Beltway 8 to Bissonett 3/24 J 10 1 Ride Purple Line 3/31 D 25 3 Category total D: Community Destinations Willow Water Hole festival 3/15 K 30 3 Columbia Tap Trail 3/21 D 15 2 Leonel Castillo 3/24 H 80 6 MacGregor Park 3/26 D 60 4 Fiesta Foods on Wheeler 4/28 C 25 2 Dixon Library 5/14 B 50 4 Category total Grand Total Photo documentation of work via BikeHouston Flickr account: 9

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Chapter Table of Contents THE 2017 HOUSTON BIKE PLAN 1-1 HOUSTON BIKEWAYS PROGRAM 1-2 HISTORY OF BICYCLE PLANNING IN HOUSTON 1-3 BICYCLE LEVEL OF COMFORT 1-3 EXISTING PLANS, PROGRAMS