Ten Steps To Make Boston a World-class Bicycling City
Mayor Menino says he want to make Boston a “world class bicycling city.” And now that he’s been elected to an unprecedented fifth term, he says that he’s ready to take additional risks to bring significant improvement. So what needs to be done to realize the vision?
Here are ten ideas, and one over-arching concept: All these suggested actions will have a much greater chance of success, and have a much greater impact on local culture, if the city frames them as steps towards achieving an ambitious set of high-level goals – and then measures annual progress. Appropriate goals might include increasing the city’s total number of cyclists by 10% per year and cutting the number of traffic-related pedestrian and cyclist injuries in half every two years.
Read moreHow To Prevent Bridge Repair Gridlock
Except for the Mass Ave bridge, every bridge in the lower Charles River basin is going to get repaired over the next five years or so. Hopefully, the end result will be structurally sound structures within a transportation system finally able to serve pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit vehicles as well as cars — and that also provide improved access to the region’s river-side parklands. However, the construction period will cause a massive reduction in the system’s car-carrying capacity. The state needs to act, now, to encourage a significant shift from cars to transit, bikes, and walking. But how can this be done?
We already know, from bitter experience around the country and the world, that building more roads to relieve congestion will only attract more drivers until the new roads are over crowded as well. It seems that, in most transportation systems, if you build it they will come.
Read moreWhat is “Healthy Transportation” — Issues for a Health Impact Assessment
Massachusetts’ new Transportation Reform Act mandates that the Department of Transportation collaborate with Health & Human Services, Environment & Energy, and others to create a Healthy Transportation Compact. The law also requires that the state devise a way of conducting a Health Impact Assessment of new transportation projects. But what does it mean to have a transportation system that is healthy for the environment, for our climate, for the economy, for our communities and families, for the physical and mental wellbeing of those who are moving around and those who are being passed by?
The first thing that assessing “healthy” requires is that we look at transportation as a system rather than as separate modes or separate networks (rail, trolley, bus, cars, trucks, bikes, planes, boats, and feet). Massachusetts’ creation of a Department of Transportation that brings together many of the previously separate travel agencies (MBTA, Turnpike, Mass Highway, Airports) is a good first step, but true systemic thinking will require much more.
Read moreTen Ways To Transform Transportation — Part III
People are free to choose the way they get around. But the context shapes their likely choices. This is Part III of a three-part series suggesting high-leverage actions that would shift the context from one that makes getting into a car the default option to one where walking or cycling would be equally – and in some situations more – easy to do. Because mass transit is such a huge topic, I will deal with it separately in a later series of posts.
The ideas discussed in Part III include:
8. PRICE PARKING PROPERLY
9. CHANGE LIABILITY ASSUMPTIONS
10. SET GOALS AND MEASURE PROGRESS
Ideas 1-3 are discussed in Part I and ideas 4-7 in Part II. However, this is my list of the top ten ways to transform transportation. I’m sure readers have others. Please comment and add your own.
Read moreTen Ways To Transform Transportation — Part II
People are free to choose the way they get around. But the context shapes their likely choices. This is Part II of a three-part series suggesting high-leverage actions that would shift the context from one that makes getting into a car the default option to one where walking or cycling would be equally – and in some situations more – easy to do. Because mass transit is such a huge topic, I will deal with it separately in a later series of posts.
The ideas discussed in Part II include:
4. EXPAND SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL and SAFE ROUTES FOR SENIORS PROGRAMS
5. REQUIRE LOCAL CITIZEN’S BIKE/PED ADVISORY COMMITTEES
6. CHANGE REGIONAL & LOCAL DECISION-MAKING PROCESS
7. ENCOURGE SMART GROWTH
Ideas 1-3 are discussed in Part I and ideas 8-10 plus a list of the provisions of the new Bike Safety Bill in Part III. However, this is my list of the top ten ways to transform transportation. I’m sure readers have others. Please comment and add your own.
Read moreTen Ways To Transform Transportation — Part I
People are free to choose the way they get around. But the context shapes their likely choices. This is Part I of a three-part series suggesting high-leverage actions that would shift the context from one that makes getting into a car the default option to one where walking or cycling would be equally – and in some situations more – easy to do. Because mass transit is such a huge topic, I will deal with it separately in a later series of posts.
The ideas discussed in Part I are:
1. LOWER SPEED LIMITS
2. DESIGN FOR ORDINARY SITUATIONS AND ORDINARY PEOPLE
3. STRENGTHEN DRIVER TESTING and TRAINING
Ideas 4-7 are discussed in Part II and ideas 8-10 plus a list of the provisions of the new Bike Safety Bill in Part III. However, this is my list of the top ten ways to transform transportation. I’m sure readers have others. Please comment and add your own.
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The Magic Bullet of Road Design: Narrower Lane Widths
It isn’t often that a complex problem can be significantly solved by a single remedy. But when it comes to finding ways to make car-dominated streets more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly, narrowing the lane widths is a game-changer. Critics worry about safety and capacity, but new research refutes these fears.
It is for good reason that traffic engineers tend to be conservative. They understand that road design shapes driver behavior and bad design leads to confusion, accidents, and injuries – even deaths. When an engineer signs off on a design, he (and occasionally she) is putting his professional future on the line, if not exposing himself to potential liability claims. You avoid trouble by following proven established practice; being innovative or non-standard means increasing risk.
Read moreBroken Windows and Broken Streets – Livable Streets as a Strategy to Reduce Crime and Support Local Business
Police talk about the “broken window syndrome” when visible neglect creates a feeling that anti-social behavior is acceptable. But maybe there is also a “broken street syndrome” when the noise, smell, and danger of speeding cars and unfriendly public spaces scares people away and makes our neighborhoods ripe for decay.
What if intersections were redesigned so that it wasn’t so scary to cross the street? What if trees were planted down both sides of the well-lit block? What if commuters were no longer able to rush through the neighborhood? What if cars were slowed to 20 mph, but traffic lights were timed so that drivers could cover just as much ground in the same amount of time as before? What if bike lanes were located on major streets so cyclists didn’t have to ride on the sidewalk or in the middle of traffic? Isn’t it likely that more people would spend time outdoors, providing what Jane Jacobs described as “eyes on the street”? As Ms. Jacobs wrote in The Death and Life of Great American Cities, “A well-used street is apt to be a safe street. A deserted street is apt to be unsafe.”
Read moreTransforming Transportation: Four Challenges Facing Boston (and most other cities)
Mayor Menino, like politicians around the country, has been talking about the need to create a more energy-efficient, safe, health-promoting, and community-friendly transportation system that creates less noise, has lower costs, and releases fewer green-house gasses. He has begun a whole list of initiatives, from painting bike lanes to developing “complete streets” policies. But going from vision to reality on a systemic, long-term, city-wide basis will not be easy. There are at least four major challenges facing whoever takes over city hall.
Read moreWhy BRT Is NOT A Subway Line
The foundation for a healthy transportation system is a great public transit network. But public transportation is expensive, so might buses do the job?
What makes for a good Rapid Transit system? The basic characteristics are pretty straightforward:
- A dedicated travel corridor reserved for the transit vehicles, with minimal stops (except at designated passenger pick up/drop off locations), and engineered for a smooth and safe ride at relatively good speeds.
- The ability to provide limited stop express service as well as local service.
- Prepayment and vehicle door-level boarding at transit stations so passengers can quickly move on and off the vehicles.
- Capacity to move large numbers of people.
- Extended hours of operation across a wide area.
And the best systems also incorporate:
- Advanced technology to keep passengers informed of wait times or problems, to keep the vehicles moving closely but not dangerously behind each other, and to allow for tight alignment of vehicle doorways with boarding areas.
- Hybrid or electric engines to minimize pollution.
- Regular maintenance to sustain reliability and keep fares low.
The problem is that fixed rail systems – trains, trolleys, subways, and light rail – are incredibly expensive to build, and once constructed they are forever frozen in one location.
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