THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, APRIL 27, 7 9 Editorial This week s sur vey on Bi cy cle and Pe des trian Is sues pro vides much-im proved re sults for ques tions re gard - ing re quire ments for the pro vi sion of pe des trian and/or bi cy cle fa cil i ties and the ex is tence of a bi cy cle/pe des - trian co or di na tor. Of lo cal ju ris dic tions that re sponded to the sur vey, % stated that they re quire pe des trian and/or bi cy cle fa cil i ties to be pro vided in new de vel op - ments. This num ber is up from 83% in 2 and up from 68% in 1998 when sim i lar sur veys were con ducted. When asked if their ju ris dic tion has a des ig nated bi cy - cle/pe des trian co or di na tor, 81% of the re spondents re - plied pos i tively in this lat est sur vey. In the 2 survey, only 5% of the respondents replied positively. De spite these re sults, there is sig nif i cant room for im prove ment. For ex am ple, when asked if avail able tech ni cal re sources (e.g., doc u ments and training) for the plan ning and de sign of pe des trian and/or bi cy cle fa - cil i ties are sat is fac tory, nearly half of the re spon dents re plied. Typical responses are: Im prove ments are nec es sary in ex ist ing guid ance doc u ments, such as the AASHTO Green Book, and the Man ual on Uni form Traf fic Con trol De vices (MUTCD). They are ei ther too pro scribed, in com - plete, and/or do t give clear guid ance for which treat ments are ap pro pri ate for which con texts. More guid ance is nec es sary for tran si tion places such as in ter sec tions. More guid ance is nec es sary on best prac tices. My city does n t seem to care (about bi cy cles and pe des trian fa cil i ties). All my state seems to care about is bas ket ball, bour bon, and horses. Might the name of the state start with a K? Dan iel B. Rathbone, Ph.D., P.E. Ed i tor/pub lisher This Week s Sur vey Re sults Bi cy cle and Pe des trian Is sues Ear lier this month, The Ur ban Trans por ta tion Mon i tor con - ducted a na tion wide sur vey on bi cy cle and pe des trian is sues. Sur veys were sent to bi cy cle and pe des trian co or di na tors in 3 dif fer ent ju ris dic tions in the U.S. A to tal of 73 com pleted sur - veys were re ceived, which rep re sents a re turn rate of 2%. The re spon dents are from cit ies of all sizes. The me dian pop u la - tion of the re spon dents cit ies is 6,. Do your street de sign stan dards re quire the pro vi sion of pe - des trian and/or bi cy cle fa cil i ties as part of the con struc tion of new high ways? 78 If, can you briefly ex plain what the re quire ments are? An - swers are listed in the or der of fre quency of re sponses. Bicycle Facilities Bike Lanes are re quired on all col lec tor streets and above. In clude bike lanes when roads are con structed or re con structed. Col lec tor streets must have bike lanes. Mi r and ma jor ar te ri als must have bike lanes At ten tion must be given to ad ja cent land uses to de ter mine what off-street fa cil i ties will en hance ac cess by bi cy cles. Bike lanes widths var ies from feet to 6 feet de pend ing on road sec tion. Bike Lanes are re quired on all col lec tor streets and above with over, ve hi cles per day. We cur rently add bike lanes where they fit dur ing any re sur fac ing. Must pro vide at least feet bike lanes in each di rec tion on col lec tors, ar - te ri als. Min i mum of 5 feet bikes lanes on all ar te rial and col lec tor road ways. Pedestrian Facilities In cludes side walks when roads are con structed or re con structed, but t when repaved. All streets are re quired to have side walks on both sides. Side walks are re quired on all col lec tor streets and above. Side walk width var ies from 5 feet to 15 feet de pend ing on lo ca tion. Sidewalks are required on urban sections, t rural sections. 22
1 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, APRIL 27, 7 Does your city have a plan or reg u la tions in place that re quire the pro vi sion of pe - des trian and/or bi cy cle fa cil i ties (on or off-road) at new de vel op ments? Has your city adopted stan dards/spec i fi - ca tions for the plan ning and de sign of pe - des trian and/or bi cy cle fa cil i ties? 81 19 If, can you briefly ex plain what the re quire ments are? (Re quire ments as pro - vided by re spon dents) Install 5 feet minimum sidewalks in new developments. All new com mer cial de vel op ment is re quired to have bi cy cle park ing, larger fa cil i ties are re quired to have more ame ni ties for bicyclists. Al low a re duc tion of im pact fees if more than the min i mum is pro vided, i.e. wider side walks, trail seg ments con nect ing to the net work, etc. Bike lanes are re quired on col lec tor and ar te rial streets, and off street bike paths as part of greenbelt improvements. We have a bike park ing re quire ment for all new build ings. Re quire de vel op ment to be pe des trian ori ented. Con nec tions to side walks and paths are re quired when a nexus ex its. De vel op ers of ten con struct paved paths and un paved trails. Bike park ing and shower re quire ments are in mu nic i pal code. Our plan is purely ad vi sory. Bi cy cle park ing is re quired as well as front age im prove ments for bike lanes and side walks. Side walks are re quired to be con structed in con junc tion with de vel op ment along most ex ist ing roadways, excluding limited access facilities. Lower vol ume col lec tor streets and lower vol ume lo cal streets re quire side walks only on the side of the street ad ja cent to the de vel op ment. If, how were these stan dards ob tained (e.g., de vel oped in-house, adopted from the AAHSTO man ual)? An swers are listed in the or der of fre quency of re - sponses. AASHTO, the MUTCD, Florida Greenbook used as stan dards. We use Caltrans High way de sign Man ual, Sec tion.2. AASHTO stan dards are used. Caltrans has stan dards that pro vide the ba sic in fra struc ture for bi cy cle and pe des trian fa cil i ties. We have de vel oped stan dards in-house for bi cy cle sig nal heads at high use in ter sec tions. Adopted GDOT s Pe des trian and Streetscape Guide book, which were de vel oped by con sul - tants who pre vi ously pre pared Wash ing ton state s guidebook. Typ i cally use 1999 AASHTO Guide. De vel oped in-house us ing AASHTO stan dards, ADA stan dards, and oth ers as a start ing ref er - ence. Use the Bike Guide and the Caltrans High way De sign Man ual but in clude best prac tices and les - sons learned. Also ex panded dis cus sion sec tions to in clude many ad di tional bike is sues such as free way in ter changes, road way de sign, sig nal tim ing, bi cy cle bou le vards, bike way sign ing, construction detours. Have de vel oped in ter nal stan dard for buf fered bi cy cle lane fa cil i ties. Are you sat is fied with the avail able tech - ni cal re sources (doc u ments, train ing) for the plan ning and de sign of pe des trian and/or bi cy cle fa cil i ties? 52 8 If, please in di cate what you con - sider to be the best re source(s). An - swers are listed in the or der of fre quency of re sponses. AASHTO re sources in clud ing their plan - ning and de sign guides for pe des trian and bike fa cil i ties, their Green Book, and their sign stan dards. On-line sources in clud ing the Ped/Bike In for ma tion Cen ter website, APBP Listserv, and the Na tional Cen ter for Bi - cy cling & Walk ing website. FHWA guid ance in clud ing the FHWA Pe des trian Fa cil i ties User Guide. The MUTCD. Re sources from the In sti tute of Trans - por ta tion En gi neers. PEDSAFE/BIKESAFE coun ter mea sure se lec tion sys tems. De sign ing Side walks and Trails for Ac - cess, US DOT. If, please ex plain briefly what are the main de fi cien cies in the ex ist ing body of doc u mented kwl edge. Im prove ments are nec es sary in ex ist ing guid ance, such as the AASHTO Green Book, and the MUTCD. They are ei ther too pro scribed, in com plete, and/or do t give clear guid ance for which treat ments are ap - pro pri ate for which contexts. Not eugh US re sources. Eu ro pean sources are used for cy cle-tracks and col - ored bike lanes be cause there are US stan dards. More in put and re view from bik ing and pe - des trian com mu nity is nec es sary. There should be more trans por ta tion pro fes - sion als ded i cated to n-mo tor ized traffic. There is a lack of guid ance on tran si tion places such as an in ter sec tion. There is a need for more user-friendly re - sources aimed at schools and de vel op ers.
THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, APRIL 27, 7 11 Do you have an ac tive cit i zens or other ad vi sory com mit tee(s) that makes rec - om men da tions about the pro vi sion, en - hance ment, and use of pe des trian and/or bi cy cle fa cil i ties? 7 3 Who con sti tutes the com mit tee(s) (e.g., cit i zens, elected of fi cials). An swers are listed in the or der of fre quency of re sponses. Cit i zens Lo cal plan ners and en gi neers Cit i zens ap pointed by the City Coun cil Bike shop own ers Rep re sen ta tives of state agen cies Rep re sen ta tives of bi cy cle and pe des trian ad vo cacy groups Com mu nity rep re sen ta tives Po lice and fire de part ment rep re sen ta tives Mayor Spe cial in ter est groups Bi cy cle and pe des trian staff/co or di na tors Rep re sen ta tives of lo cal and n-gov ern ment or ga ni za tions Elected of fi cials Does your city have a des ig nated bi cy - cle/pe des trian co or di na tor? If, what per cent age of that per son s time is de voted to bi cy cle/pe des trian matters? If, do you be lieve there is a need for such a per son at your city? Percentage of time devoted to bicycle/ped. issues 3 81 3 19 15 lowest average highest Note: The 3% in di cates that three in di vid u als are de - vot ing all their time. Has your city em barked in the past (or is it pres ently em bark ing) on pro - grams/tech niques to en cour age walk - ing and bi cy cling? If, briefly out line these pro grams/tech niques and in di cate if they were/are suc - cess ful in your opin ion? In di vid ual re sponses are shown. Programs Indicated by Respondents as Successful Bikes programs such as Bike to Work Day/Week, bicycle rodeos and other education/encouragement activities. Walk ing pro mo tion pro grams such as City Wide Walks or Walk ing Ad ven tures (lunch time walk ing down town and at se lect em ploy ers. Dis tri bu tion of maps, in clud ing mapped bi cy cle routes. In stal la tion of League of Amer i can Bi cy clist's Bi cy cle Friendly Com mu nity in-street cross walk pro - grams signs. Events spon sored by, and fa cil i ties in stalled by, busi ness im prove ment dis tricts and trans por ta - tion man age ment as so ci a tions. Safe Routes to School. Walk a Child to School Day. Com mu nity mo bil ity stud ies. An nual cam paigns to pro mote pe des trian and bi cy cle safety. De vel op ment of bike net works. Pro grams to en cour age all forms of al ter na tive trans por ta tion. Com mu nity traf fic man age ment plans (traf fic calm ing). Smart Choices (smart growth con cepts).
12 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, APRIL 27, 7 Have you ticed an in crease in bi cy cle and/or pe des trian us age in ar eas where your city has suc cess fully im ple mented traf fic calm ing tech niques? 52 8 If, briefly ex plain the main rea sons for such an in crease. (In di vid ual re - sponses shown as pro vided, in par tic u lar or der) Traf fic calm ing mea sures that lower traf fic speeds on neigh bor hood streets, which were be ing abused by through traf fic, cre ate safer neigh bor hoods and en cour age more walk ing and biking. In te gra tion of bike lanes and good bi cy cle fa cil i ties through out the road way network. Sev eral streets with road di ets have fa cil i tated added bi cy cling. Com bi na tion of re duc ing traf fic speeds, re duc ing num ber of traf fic lanes, and add ing bi cy cle fa cil i - ties has at tracted more bicyclists. New side walks and lower traf fic speeds en cour age walk ing by in creas ing safety. Small mea sures in the core of the city (land scape me di ans, curb-outs) ap pear to have in creased pe des trian ac tiv ity in sev eral neighborhoods. Re moval of ex cess road way ve hic u lar ca pac ity and re al lo ca tion of the space cre ated to bike and/or pe des trian uses. Pub lic kwl edge of avail able fa cil i ties. More bike lanes. Traf fic counts show qua dru pling of bike use on some streets af ter bike lanes were in stalled. Av er age miles of bi cy cle fa cil ity per city, by class of fa cil ity, as ob tained from re - spon dents 1 1 Miles 27 separate trails 5 shoulder improvements smaller cities 8 13 bike lanes larger cities (pop. >25k) 1 wide curb lanes Have you es tab lished a uni form sign - ing and mark ing sys tem for pe des trian and bi cy cle fa cil i ties? 85 15 If, do you think that it is nec es sary to es tab lish such a uni form sys tem? Eighty-five per cent of the re spon dents in di - cated that they see a need to have a uni - form sign ing and mark ing sys tem. Rea sons for this need as pro vided by re spon dents are as fol lows: Con sis tency of signings and mark ings helps mo tor ists, cy clists, and pe des tri ans kw what to ex pect, which in turn, in creases safety for all modes of travel. It is more pre dict able both for the driv ers and pe des tri ans/cy clists. It is less con fus ing for us ers. It avoids pos si ble con flicts be tween cit ies us ing dif fer ent stan dards and pro tects the agency from law suits. Con for mity helps va ca tion ers and trav el ers. What do you con sider to be the main im ped i ments that you face in cre at ing a more friendly pe des trian and bi cy cle en vi ron - ment? (Re sponses shown in or der of fre quency pro vided.) Lack of avail able fi nan cial re sources. The auto ori ented men tal ity, strong road lobby. Sprawl ing re gional de vel op ment. In an ex ist ing com mu nity, the dif fi culty in fill ing in the gaps in the sys tem. Plan ners and en gi neers do t in clude bike/pe des trian fa cil i ties in new de vel op ments and roadways. Ap a thy on the part of the pub lic. Lack of po lit i cal will. Im prop erly sited schools. Lack of sup port from the bike com mu nity and man age ment. The per cep tion that cy cling is un safe. Re stricted right-of-way. Prev a lence of multi-lane, high-speed road ways. Ed u ca tion Cul-de-sac pat terns of de vel op ment re quire cir cu itous pe des trian and bi cy cle trips and re quire wide ar te ri als that are ob sta cles to pe des trian travel. Lack of shoul ders/bike lanes/side walks/cross walks/safe cross ing op por tu ni ties. Older sec tions of town that do t have eugh width to make a bike lane.
THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, APRIL 27, 7 13 What is your city s pol icy on the pro vi sion of side walks? (Re sponses shown in or der of fre quency pro vided.) Al ways on both sides of the street. De pends on land use and func tional road clas si fi ca tion. We do al low pe des trian fa cil i ties on one side in low den sity de vel op ments (i.e. one unit per acre type). We do t have a pol icy. Side walks on lo cal streets are funded through a spe cial as sess ment, oth er wise the City s cap i tal pro gram in stalls side walks on at least one side of the road way on col lec tor and ar te rial roads. When fund ing and right-of-way are avail able, then side walks are con structed on both sides. Al ways ex cept on some lo cal streets in en vi ron men tally sen si tive areas. Multi-use trails are the fa vor ite thing here. Many con sid er ations are at play in de ter min ing the need and level of fa cil ity on a case by case ba sis. Side walks are rou tinely waived in res i den tial and com mer cial de vel op ments due to de vel oper pres sure and lack of will to en force or di nance re quir ing sidewalks. Al ways on both sides for ar te ri als and col lec tors. At least on one side for lo cal streets. Re quired with new de vel op ments and sub stan tive re-con struc tion. What, if any, reg u la tions do you have in place to in crease the pro vi sion of bi cy cle park ing? (Re sponses shown in or der of fre - quency pro vided.) All high den sity res i den tial and com mer cial/in dus trial de vel op ment must pro vide for con ve nient cus tomer/res i dent bi cy cle park ing and safe, se cure em - ployee bicycle parking. Pro vided in land de vel op ment code. We have a re quire ment for all new de vel op ments to in stall bi cy cle park ing (as a per cent age of ve hi cle parking). We have a bike park ing or di nance tied to off-street car park ing for n-res i den tial sites. Our Land De vel op ment reg u la tions give de vel op ers a credit for in stall ing bike parking. Bi cy cle park ing is re quired. It is es sen tially 1% of auto spaces with a min i mum of four bike spaces. Have you and/or your col leagues es ti - mated the po ten tial de mand for a new bi cy cle fa cil ity in the past? If, can you briefly ex plain the tech nique used to make the es ti mate? (In di vid ual re sponses shown as pro vided, in par tic u lar or der.) 1 59 Data gath ered with Cen sus work, which in di cates that bi cy cle use com bined with land use plan - ning, and the need to con tinue the de vel op ment of a bi cy cle fa cil ity net work that con nects trans - por ta tion des and ma jor em ploy ment cen ters to residential areas. Var i ous la tent de mand mod els. An nual bike counts and reg u lar sur veys of city cy clists. Cal cu lated la tent de mand and de vel oped la tent de mand maps, level of ser vice anal y sis, and iden ti fied gaps in the bi cy cle network. Looked at in di ca tors of la tent de mand; for ex am ple, 5 to bi cy cles chained up to ev ery tree or fence post around a sub way sta tion would in di cated a la tent de mand for ad di tional bi cy cle park - ing - both racks and lockers. Crude la tent de mand es ti ma tions us ing des ti na tion prox im ity, mode split and tran sit bus boardings as sur ro gate measures. Sur veyed em ploy ees on the far side of the rail road tracks to de ter mine la tent de mand of a cross - ing of the tracks. Ex am ined ex ist ing de mand and where de mand could go with better fa cil i ties and in creased raise in gas prices. Tracked and eval u ated re quests of lo cal ad vi sory, plan ning and com mu nity groups, de ter mined pri or i ties, then pur sued funding. An a lyzed cen sus block data within a given ra dius of the fa cil ity and iden ti fi ca tion of points of in ter - ests along or in the area of the fa cil ity (schools, parks, tran sit, large employers).