Working within the System to Create Active Streets

Working Within the System to Create Active Streets

“Walking Institute” America Walks

Project for Public Spaces Walkable and Livable Communities Institute

“Why Walking and Walkability? The Latest Info to Make the Case” “Core Principles of Walkable Places and Lessons Learned” “Creating Programs that Get People Walking” “Working within the System to Create Active Streets” “Talk with Walking/Walkability Experts” 3PM, Room 318 “Funding Community-Based Walkability Efforts” 4:15PM, Room 311

Kelly Morphy Executive Director Walkable and Livable Communities Institute Gary Toth Senior Director of Transportation Initiatives Project for Public Spaces Heidi Hansen-Smith Community Programs Coordinator Healthy Hawaii Initiative, Hawaii Dept. of Health Molly O’Reilly Board Member of America Walks President of Idaho Walk Bike Alliance

PROJECT FOR PUBLIC SPACES

Working with Street Designers & Engineeers

Gary Toth

Project for Public Spaces

Pro Walk Pro Bike Pro Place May 2, 2014

PROJECT FOR PUBLIC SPACES 2

34 years at the New Jersey Department of Transportation

7 Years Director of Transportation Initiatives at PPS

Invested Career working at the community/agency interface

Bachelor’s Engineering Stevens Institute of Technology 1973


Engineers are not bad people!


Engineers as problem solvers!








Pre-Automobile Era We Had a Different Problem to Solve

Street design HAD to accommodate all users Relationship of land use to streets was critical for survival

PROJECT FOR PUBLIC SPACES Graphic courtesy of Andy Singer


The Problem Engineers Were Asked to Solve Changed

And we all stopped viewing Streets as Places


How to Partner to Get What You Want


How to Partner


Getting hit in the head with a rock is a bad way to start an open minded conversation

General Principles


Don’t be afraid to escalate If Respectful Communication Doesn’t Get You What

You Want

General Principles


“If you can’t beat them, arrange to have them beaten!”

When all else fails, then you can get tough

General Principles


“If you can’t beat them, arrange to have them beaten!” George Carlin

When all else fails, then you can get tough

General Principles


Observe/gather information at different times of day. Do not seek solutions—stick to “building a case” for the government jurisdiction to solve the problem!

Define the problem, not the solution How to Partner


The PPS Street Audit Tool

Define the problem, not the solution Resources

How to Partner


Do Your Homework How to Partner

Do Your Homework

Do Your Homework


PPS Rightsizing Web Resource http://www.pps.org/reference/rightsizing/

http://www.pps.org/reference/rightsizing/


Asking the Right Questions regarding Roadway Design Flexibility


Where is the flexibility?





• Functional Classification

• Design Vehicle

• Design Speed

• Ranges in tables

• Level of Service is NOT a mandate


“You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar” Rose Toth, circa 1960

General Principles

Gary Toth

David Nelson

212-620-5660

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Working Within the System to Create Active Streets

Pro Walk/Pro Bike/Pro Place

Pittsburg, PA 2014

Hawaii State

Department of Health

Chronic Disease Prevention & Health Promotion Division

Healthy Hawaii Initiative

Paradise?

We want more of this!

• Build Partnerships – Relationship building

– Education

– Persistence

• Recruit Champions

• Partner with Transportation

Agencies & Officials

Passing & Implementing Complete Streets Policies

Reality Check: Policy change is hard work – Implementation is harder

Build Partnerships

• Elected Officials – Mayor

– State Senators & Representatives

– Councilmembers

• State Agencies

• County Agencies

• Advocacy Groups – AARP

– Hawaii Bicycling League

– Hawaii Public Health Institute

– Nutrition & Physical Activity

Coalitions

Champions need support

– Provide political cover

– Rally the advocates

– Provide funding support

Recruit Champions

• Ask how you can support THEM – don’t tell them what to do or what YOU need

• Find the common ground and language that you both speak

– Safety

– Perception

– Funding – leverage opportunities

• Bring solutions – not problems

• Incorporate the HEALTH

message

Partner with Transportation

Agencies & Officials

Challenges

• There will be many!

• Change takes time – it’s all about seizing opportunities

• Not everyone is ready at the same time

– State DOT

Mahalo!

Stopping a Proposed Freeway

A Grassroots Victory -- Portland, OR 1989-1995

How We Won • Persistence! • Organize/Strategize • Build support widely • Analyze independently • Offer better alternatives • Find and support allies within the

system; Find the ones who can say “YES”

Portland’s Unbuilt Freeways

Proposed Western Bypass

The Early Days • Good Luck: Premature Press Coverage • One Thousand Friends of Oregon

– Connected those concerned – Ultimately a crucial ally

• Organized from the first meeting – Chose a name: STOP – Sensible

Transportation Options for People – Divided tasks – Coordinated regularly

Who Decides?

Metro Council

Cities

JPACT TPAC

Counties

Voters; the Public

We Deemed Important: • Independent Analysis

– Reinterpreted study numbers to show project not needed, effective

– Published and cited • Grassroots activation and education

– Countless community meetings along alignment

– Built membership ~500, newsletter list of 2,500

– “If Freeways Were the Answer, Los Angeles Would be Paradise”

We Deemed Important, 2

• Offering alternatives – People felt they couldn’t be “nimby” without an

alternative (or two) – A new paradigm

Eight Myths of Traditional Traffic Planning

Myth 1: Traffic projections are important in deciding what roads are needed.

Myth 2: Planners are not responsible for how much people want to use their cars.

Myth 3: Predicted traffic growth must be provided for.

Myth 4: Bigger roads are safer roads.

Myth 5: Bigger roads increase people’s mobility.

Myth 6: Bigger roads advantage more people than they disadvantage.

Myth 7: It is not the job of traffic planners to look at wider social, political and environmental trends.

Myth 8: Planning should be left to the experts.

The LUTRAQ Principles: 1. Focus the community

toward transit.

2. Encourage a variety of uses.

3. Create streets for people.

4. Provide public open spaces.

5. Design the community for livability.

6. Involve citizens in the creation of their community.

Our Work:

• Working from the inside – Members of ODOT’s Citizen Advisory

Committee – I served on Metro’s Transportation Policy

Alternatives Committee (TPAC) – I became president of my Neighborhood

Assn. to oppose from that platform – Others did similarly

Our Work

• Swaying decision makers – Educating!! Copies of Traffic Calming Sharing news of developing LUTRAQ study – Attending hearings Large crowds, well identified – Behind the scenes

An Enduring Victory

• Light rail has been extended throughout the Portland Metro region

• Metro now takes walking and bicycling seriously

• Portland’s newest bridge has no automobiles!

• Smart Growth organizations are now serious players in transportation

Lessons Learned

• Persistence! • Organize/Strategize • Build wide support • Analyze independently • Offer better alternatives • Find and support allies within the

system; Win the ones who can say “YES”

Presentations & Public Speaking

Working within the System to Create Active Streets