Photo: Ed Yourdan/Flickr

According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, only 8% of American households do not own a car. Vehicle ownership is strongly related to distance traveled. People in households with at least one vehicle travel twice far as those in households without a vehicle. They also use a car for more than 90% of their trips, while those without a vehicle travel on foot or via transit 57% of the time. Households with a vehicle walk or take public transit for only 1% and 8% of their trips, respectively.

In addition to a more pedestrian-friendly street grid than most Americans enjoy, most New Yorkers owe their car-freedom, of course, to the MTA. However, even as the city looks to expand sustainable transportation options to complement its overworked mass transit system, the majority of its citizens remain at the mercy of motoring class lawmakers who spew anti-MTA vitriol like so much noxious CO2.

It would have been nice this April 22 to wake up to headlines announcing that the Fare Hike Four and their ilk had come to realize that they could, and should, promote a healthy transit system while reducing congestion and pollution. Unfortunately, news that good only comes on April 1.

Photo: Dan Burden.

Road diets are anathema to traditional traffic engineering principles because they tend to reduce roadway capacity. However, in practice, road diets can cause vehicle speeds to readjust to a more optimal speed, increasing the throughput of vehicles per lane. For this reason, road diets sometimes reduce congestion, and generally always increase safety for all users of the roadway. Studies in Seattle found that road diets decreased the rate of crashes by 6%.

The need for road diets comes from the fact that multi-lane urban roads are built to handle large volumes of traffic during the morning and evening rush hours. Generally, during the other 22 hours of the day, the road is larger than necessary. This abundance of spare pavement encourages speeding, and places bicyclists and pedestrians at far higher risk than a typical two-lane road.

One of the references in this entry comes from Dan Burden and Peter Lagerwey's "Road Diets: Fixing the Big Roads," available as a PDF from Walkable Communities. It's a bit of an oldie but definitely a goodie if you're looking for more facts, figures, and stories about implementing road diets.

This week's featured StreetsWiki article is a detailed history of New York City community boards, by Lily Bernheimer. Evolving from then-Manhattan Borough President Robert F. Wagner's "Community Planning Councils" of the 1950s, the citywide system as we know it was established in 1975.

Ideally, community boards act to "foster community-based planning," but the very nature of the appointment process has often made them susceptible to top-down interference -- a reality that has more than once had an impact on the livable streets movement.

Board members are intended to convey community interests to their borough president (often in opposition to business or development), and yet are entirely beholden to him or her for their appointment. C. Virginia Fields served as Manhattan Borough President during her 2005 campaign for Mayor and was accused of "using her community board appointments as a kind of political club, selecting people who supported her in her race and firing those who did not." Still worse, in May of 2007 Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz "purged" Community Board 6 of nine members who had voted against the Atlantic Yards development he supports. After an even more dramatic purge of Bronx CB6 surrounding the Yankees Stadium proposal, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion was quoted to have said, "My very clear expectation is that these appointees are there to carry out a vision for the borough president and the leadership of this borough, and that's simply what I expect."

That said, as the entry notes, community boards are not without their success stories, even though they are limited to an advisory role. And if nascent efforts to reform the system take hold, the future may yield more benefits than setbacks.

In the meantime, this entry could benefit from a section on community boards and livable streets. There's certainly plenty of material. If you're game, the first step is setting up a Livable Streets account. 

Future StreetsWiki "Doomsday" graphic?

It's a heavy lift, for sure, but imagine the spin-off entries: Doomsday, The Fare Hike Four, bridge tolls, "so outside the box," MTA debt (with lead author Larry Littlefield, natch). The possibilities are endless.

Another chapter in the MTA saga will unfold tomorrow morning as transit riders fill out invoices addressed to David Paterson, Sheldon Silver and Malcolm Smith, "calling for commuters to be reimbursed for fast-approaching fare hikes." The event, sponsored by a coalition of advocacy groups, will run from 8:00 to 10:00 at Union Square, on the north side of 14th Street across from Whole Foods.

To help pen the story of the MTA, you'll need a Livable Streets account to get started. Like a drive over the East River bridges, it's totally free. 

The step-by-step process involves outreach to both the city and the neighborhood. As Schindler writes:

Our approach shifted some of the legwork from the DOT to the community, and as a result our request moved through the process rather quickly. Your neighborhood can do it too.

There is incredibly high demand for CityRacks these days around the city, so the more organized you are, the better. Understand that there may be a delay of several months before the racks are installed, especially during the warm season, but once you see orange dots at the proposed locations, racks will follow.

With makeshift bike racks in the form of parking meters rapidly disappearing and the possibility of more post-doomsday riders hitting the streets, demand isn't likely to drop anytime soon. Wonder if some of that stimulus cash could help hire more CityRacks installers.

The decline in driving makes the gas tax less reliable as a transportation funding stream. VMT graph: FHWA.

The Clean Low-Emissions Affordable New Transportation Equity Act is a bill that sets aside revenue from a cap-and-trade program in a future climate bill towards green transportation projects that reduce greenhouse gases. CLEAN TEA was introduced in the House of Representatives in the 2009 session as H.R. 1329 and in the Senate as S. 575.

Under CLEAN TEA, ten percent of the revenue would be used to create a more efficient transportation system and lower greenhouse gas emissions through strategies including funding new or expanded transit or passenger rail; supporting development around transit stops; and making neighborhoods safer for bikes and pedestrians.

CLEAN TEA is contingent on some pretty big ifs, like whether a cap-and-trade program will make it through Congress. But the Obama administration projects raising $80 billion a year from auctioning off carbon emissions permits, and CLEAN TEA has sponsors from both parties in the House and the Senate, so this is definitely an idea with some momentum.

Photo: Nicholas Kibre/Wikipedia

The first thing one notices about Zürich is that trams are ubiquitous downtown. The city considered changing its tram network several times (either placing the trams underground or replacing the trams with a metro system), but voters rejected spending money on these ideas. However, in 1977, Zürich voters did approve an initiative to make the existing surface transit system work better by providing transit priority for trams and buses.

Transit priority means that public transit vehicles are given priority over other forms of transportation through such measures as traffic signal control, transit-only lanes, and traffic regulations. Watch carefully as a traffic signal changes from red to green just when a tram arrives at the intersection. Transit priority was not a new idea, but Zürich has succeeded in implementing it to a greater degree than almost any other city in the world. Zürich's public transit priority program is described in Implementing Zurich's Transit Priority Program.

Combined with Zürich's regional rail network, the extensive implementation of transit priority techniques enables the city to provide subway-like service without a subway, Nash explains. If the Zürich article interests you, check out Nash's entry on optimizing traffic signals for surface transit -- he's looking to add information about other cities that have implemented such systems.

There's no place quite like Times Square, and no exact precedent for the reclamation of street space along Broadway that Mayor Bloomberg and NYCDOT unveiled last week. But London's pedestrian improvements to Trafalgar Square certainly invite comparison. DianaD describes those changes in this week's StreetsWiki entry:

Because it formed the intersection of some of London’s busiest roads (junction of Whitehall, The Mall, The Strand and Charing Cross roads), Trafalgar Square had become an "undignified traffic roundabout." Visitors had to cross several lanes of traffic, which carried 1500 cars per hour, to reach the central monuments.

The redesign, completed in 2003, transformed the space in front of the National Gallery from this:

To this:

We're walkin' here! Photo courtesy of Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center Image Library, Dan Burden.

A Crosswalk Sting or "pedestrian decoy operation" is an enforcement and public education action in which plainclothes police officers cross at marked or unmarked crosswalks, and drivers who fail to yield to them are given warnings or tickets. An important aspect of the action is notifying the media ahead of time to ensure good coverage of the crosswalk sting, providing broader community awareness. Crosswalk stings have been found to significantly increase yielding by drivers.

Skeptical that this technique would have much of an effect in a big American city? It's certainly no substitute for automated enforcement, but in Miami, Andy reports, one study documented safer driver behavior in the wake of crosswalk stings:

Extensive anecdotal reports suggest police and residents find that crosswalk stings increase yielding by motorists to pedestrians in crosswalks. Very few controlled studies have been performed. A 2004 study of a sting operation in Miami, Florida, found that crosswalk stings did in fact increase yielding.  Further, the researchers found, "these increases were sustained for a period of a year with minimal additional enforcement, and that the effect generalized to untreated crosswalks... as well as crosswalks with traffic signals."

How great would it be if an NYPD sergeant tipped off the Shame Shame Shame crew (although maybe Arnold Diaz isn't the man for the job) and busted some crosswalk violators on New York's mean streets? That officer would be a hero in my book.

Bicycle boulevards are lightly-trafficked streets that prioritize bicycles. Although many routes have no bike lanes, bicyclists are free to use the middle of the street, sharing road space with cars. Motorists on these routes expect to see bicyclists and therefore travel with caution. Designated streets should be distinguished with uniformly colored signs and bold pavement markings.

For novices or younger riders, bicycle boulevards provide a transition between bike paths and high-traffic shared roads. But they are also quite useful for experienced riders because of their reduced traffic and connectivity.

The cost of implementing a bicycle boulevard network is significantly less than constructing bike paths or trails.

In Portland and Berkeley, transportation planners have created bike boulevard conditions by diverting automobile through-traffic and slowing down the cars that remain. The resulting bike-friendly corridors are a key component of Portland's strategy to increase bicycle mode share and expand the appeal of cycling beyond the "young and fearless" demographic.

Senators DeMint and Inhofe were two of the more brazenly backwards policy makers during the stimulus debate.

There were a number of discouraging setbacks for green transportation during the crafting of the Senate bill. First, the Senate version allocates more than $3 billion less to transit compared to the House version. Transit's future was looking even worse when Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Senator James Inhofe+ (R-OK) proposed an amendment to direct another $50 billion to highway projects. But several Democratic senators refused to support the amendment unless a significant proportion of the funds was shifted to public transit and clean water infrastructure; the amendment never passed. Furthermore, Senator Barbara Mikulski+ (D-MD) offered up an amendment that would give a tax break to new-car buyers to bring more people into dealer showrooms. This amendment passed 71-26.

Those car buyer tax breaks, by the way, appear to have shrunk in conference committee.

This is an important story to tell -- one we'll want to refer back to when the big multi-year transportation bill starts taking shape later this year. If you've got something to add to the entry, type it up while it's fresh in your memory. To write for StreetsWiki, all you have to do is sign up with the Livable Streets Network.

In July 2008, the British Medical Association called for the application of 20 mph zones throughout residential neighborhoods, not just in the vicinity of schools, where they are commonly applied. Stockport public health director Dr. Stephen Watkins stated that "a child hit at 20mph has a 5% chance of dying compared to 50% at 30mph." He noted the difference between a two mile journey at 20mph and a two mile journey at 40 mph was just three minutes. "We are killing our children for the sake of a couple of minutes," he said.

And since we're in stimulus mode, here's another excerpt:

The UK study of best traffic practices across the Europe and the U.K. concluded that 20 mph streets also increased pedestrian activity, bicycling, a sense of safety among residents, and economic activity.  The study cited evidence from the city of Horsham, U.K., where 20 mph speed limits, along with a bypass road, public arts, gardens, and other pedestrian amenities have lead to the opening of new shops and restaurants, and a higher level of overall economic activity.

Okay, I'm convinced. Let's get some shovels in the ground on those ped safety plans.

Streetfilms on Highway RemovalSan Francisco:  Removal of the Embarcadero Freeway

During the 1960's and 70's, federally-subsidized elevated highways were built through the middle of every major U.S. city. For better or worse, these roadways provided quick access to the surrounding countryside, facilitating suburban expansion. But in the words of the Congress for New Urbanism (CNU), these structures:

"cut huge swaths across our cities, decimating neighborhoods and reducing quality of life for city residents. This massive concrete infrastructure had devastating effects on urban economies. It blighted adjacent property and pushed access to basic amenities further out. With the Federal and State Departments of Transportation confronting shrinking budgets and cities looking for ways to increase their revenues, it is an ideal time to offer less expensive, urban alternatives to the reconstruction of urban expressways."

CNU President John Norquist, formerly the mayor of Milwaukee, made the case for highway removal-as-economic development after releasing a list of 10 "Freeways Without Futures" last September. Since then, the top target on the list, Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct, looks like it's headed for demolition, but not to make way for a less-expensive, traffic-mitigating alternative. A group of state and city officials agreed in principle earlier this month to replace the elevated highway with an underground highway. Number two on CNU's teardown list, the Sheridan Expressway in the Bronx, is considered a candidate for removal by the state DOT, but plans to preserve the "highway to nowhere" may still prevail.

This entry also features something new on StreetsWiki -- videos from Streetfilms. Tell us what you think of the execution.

Post-stimulus, will this analogy still seem fitting?

Thanks to Adina for taking the initiative and kicking things off. If Streetsbloggers want to add a bit of narrative about how we got to this point -- a draft bill that shortchanges transit and imposes little oversight on highway spending -- any member of the Livable Streets Network can edit the entry, and joining is a cinch. There should be plenty to add soon enough. The House Transportation Committee meets at 10 tomorrow morning, and transit funding in the stimulus figures to be high on their agenda.

Visibility and eye contact are essential to avoiding conflict at a crossing, but visual communication between different street users is greatly impaired when parked cars crowd an intersection (see diagrams above).

Daylighting clears away this visual obstacle and improves safety, especially for children, who have difficulty seeing and being seen at intersections. Daylighting also shortens the crossing distance at intersections, which reduces pedestrians' exposure to traffic. For seniors and other street users with longer crossing times, this is particularly important.

This strikes me as a good opportunity to put StreetsWiki's collaborative power to use. When Robin posted the film, we heard from readers about variations on daylighting -- in the UK and in Queens. It would be great to work that information into this entry and start building a portfolio showing how different cities have implemented the technique.

In related news, on top of Clarence's preferred term, "Pedestrian Peek-a-Boo," we now have a bunch of alternate names for daylighting, including: pedestrian 20/20, exposed crosswalk, curb-sighting, wide-angling, and ped surprise. Got a favorite yet?

The concept includes a step by step methodology to identify and correct pedestrian safety hazards, as well as to plan a more walkable community from the ground up. FHWA developed a how-to guide, and contracted with pedestrian design experts to provide 2-day or 3-day trainings to state and local transportation departments around the country. This federal effort was initiated when it was recognized that most traffic engineers receive inadequate professional training to effectively address pedestrian safety concerns.

From 2005 to 2007, FHWA conducted 77 trainings in the 14 states that ranked highest in pedestrian crashes. In some states, the trainings resulted in almost immediate pedestrian safety improvement projects or evaluation efforts.

Implementing a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan is not usually a high priority for traffic engineering departments, and require consistent advocacy from neighborhood organizations or elected officials.

Here's something to chew on. These trainings began more than three years ago and have probably led to the creation of some actual safety plans, which can get off the ground quickly. Shouldn't a federal stimulus package fully fund all of these projects before giving highway-addled states like Texas a dime for anything else?

The Plan describes a set of policies for the City and County of San Francisco to follow to achieve a more livable streetscape environment. It creates a street typology system for making streetscape improvements, and describes appropriate standard and optional elements for each street type. For each element, there is a set of guidelines for appropriate location and design. Finally, the Plan will describe ways that the City can fund, maintain and enforce Better Streets improvements.

The folks at local advocacy org Livable City say the street types in the plan are a step up from the traditional, car-centric classification system, but caution that the current draft lacks critical components:

Important tasks, like identifying which streets are of what type, and creating standards for essential elements of successful streets (street lighting and pedestrian-friendly building fronts, for example) are missing so far. The Better Streets project also shied away from addressing the speed and volume of traffic, two critical elements for creating safe and livable streets. Governance (how city agencies plan and coordinate street projects) and a strategy for funding and implementation also need to be addressed.

Starting in January you can read about the evolution of Better Streets in the cyber pages of Streetsblog SF. In the meantime, members of the Livable Streets Network familiar with the plan should feel free to dive in and flesh out this wiki entry.

South Bronx Greenmarket. Photo: Susan Donovan

Another key element to such an economy could be locally-grown food, available at farmers' markets -- the subject of this week's featured StreetsWiki article. In this entry, Streetsblog regular Susan Donovan writes:

By reducing the distance that food travels, fewer fossil fuels are used and fewer greenhouse gases are released. On average, an American meal travels 1,500 miles to reach the dinner table. Farmers' markets also avoid some of the costly packaging found in some stores. Many farmers' markets are accessible by foot or bicycle, providing another way to reduce your carbon footprint.

Ironically, as demonstrated in Upper Manhattan earlier this year, easy access can be a double-edged sword in neighborhoods where some consider parking more precious than fresh food. After all, Tom Joad didn't walk to California, now did he?

Bike trails in San Jose, CA, on OpenStreetMap

As a kid I used to periodically raid my grandparents' stash of National Geographics. Not for photos of women in scant native dress, but for the way cool maps, with which I would wallpaper my room.

Ironically, the maps did eventually give way to Paulina Porizkova posters, and the years have also seen them outmoded -- in function, if not aesthetically -- by amazing advances in cartography. (If you haven't seen it, this New Yorker piece from 2006 is an excellent primer.)

The latest and greatest innovations have brought about a renaissance in community mapping, the subject of this week's StreetsWiki entry.

Community Mapping is the creation of a map via a community-driven process, usually done to map non-traditional features, such as safe biking or walking routes, local trees and parks, and other aspects of community life. Community mapping has existed for hundreds of years, but recent advances in technology, such as GPS's and online mapping portals like Google Maps, have allowed the creation of better and more detailed maps, and have expanded their reach beyond small groups.

OpenStreetMap, for instance, functions like a Wikipedia for maps. Unlike proprietary services like Google Maps, OpenStreetMap operates under a Creative Commons license, and allows users to add and edit information collaboratively. Google Maps is of course also widely used for community mapping, Transportation Alternatives' CrashStat and the burgeoning Boston bike network being two examples.

Other projects employ more conventional means -- the still-viable, highly-mobile print product -- from Bay Area watershed mapping to New York's official cycling map (now available in PDF form).

Streetcar-served TOD in Dallas, TX

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) grew popular in the 1980s and 1990s as a response to suburban sprawl and a means of regenerating economic growth in central cities. The development is likely to include housing and/or offices as well as retail stores. A TOD also usually has relatively easy access for people on foot and bikes, while cars and other vehicles are discouraged from parking too close to the station. As a result, TODs are often friendlier to pedestrians and bicyclists than other forms of land development, and they encourage people to ride trains and buses rather than drive. The concept was slow to take off in the United States, but has gained strength in the first decade of the 21st century as fuel costs rise and traffic causes many Americans to rethink where they want to live and work.

Despite evidence that "drive 'til you qualify" sprawl presents an unsustainable drain on financial and natural resources, planners have been reluctant to abandon it. Even in relatively transit-rich metro NYC, TOD has been slow to catch on beyond the realm of private-sector advocacy, though recent remarks indicate the concept is at least on the radar of state-level officials in Connecticut and New York.

Photo: RACTOD/Flickr