( Please note: This HTML file is a conversion of a PowerPoint presentation file for 508 compliance purposes. The text of the slides has been extracted below and extensive text descriptions have been included for graphics images, illustrations, photos and diagrams. In some cases, the presenter's notes have also been included to ensure that the intent of the images has been fully represented. )
Welcome
MEETING TRANSPORTATION'S 21st CENTURY WEB BRIEFING CHALLENGES
WEB BRIEFING
Housekeeping
Earn Course Credit
Successful completion of this Web briefing includes:
These requirements must be met to earn 1.5 PDH
At the conclusion of the course the course registrant will receive an email with directions to the complimentary online course evaluation to distribute to the site attendees.
Welcome
MEETING TRANSPORTATION'S 21st CENTURY WEB BRIEFING
CHALLENGES
WEB BRIEFING
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of the course, participants should be able to:
1) Review engineering design and performance measures for walkable communities.
2) Discuss successful methods for developing more sustainable communities through redevelopment and improved multimodal transportation systems.
3) Discuss opportunities to change level of service practice to enhance mobility for all modes.
Instructors
Jessica R. Schmidt, AICP
Urban Designer/Planner II
Sam Schwartz Engineering
New York, NY, USA
Morgan T. Whitcomb
Transportation Engineer
Sam Schwartz Engineering
New York, NY, USA
Rachel E. Hiatt
Sr. Transportation Planner
San Francisco County Transportation Authority
San Francisco, CA, USA
Agenda
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls Instructor: Jessica R. Schmidt
Abandoned Rail Lines Converted to Public Spaces
Instructor: Morgan T. Whitcomb
An Alternative to Auto Level of Service (LOS) for Transportation Impact Analysis
Instructor: Rachel E. Hiatt
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls
(Extended text description: Title graphic of Revisiting Pedestrian Malls by the Institute of Transportation Engineers 2010 Technical Conference and Jessica Schmidt Sam Schwartz Engineering with logo of a s-curving railroad and highway illustration. The title and company names are overlaid on a black and white image of a street with storefronts, street lights, trashcans, pedestrians, trees, grass, a pool and fountain with a small bridge over the pool. From Additional Notes: “Revisiting Pedestrian Malls” Background image is Kalamazoo, Michigan’s North Burdick Street.)
Institute of Transportation Engineers 2010 Technical Conference
(Extended text description: The Pedestrian Revolution: Streets Without Cars by Simon Breines and William J. Dean. Price of $3.95 in upper right corner. Cover art of the book with the title, subtitle and authors in red and blue. Illustration of people (one man in brown pants, white shirt, blue striped tie and briefcase, woman with long hair, red jacket and brown pants with shopping bags, African American man with blue shirt and jeans, young girls with yellow shirt, brown vest, purple skirt and books walking forward in the middle of the cover. To their left is a child in blue clothes riding a bike among trees. To their right is a woman in a red dress sitting at a cafe table under an umbrella with another woman in a brown pants suit. At the bottom of the cover art are groups of people (a man and woman couple, a father with a child, parents with small children, standing and walking in front of a yellow and purple striped tram. Several people are seated on the tram. There are trees and flowers around all the pedestrians. There are two large skyscraper apartment or office style buildings on the upper right and left of the cover art, on either side of the title. Additional Notes from the Presenter: “The Pedestrian Revolution” Image is of the cover of the book The Pedestrian Revolution: Streets Without Cars by Simon Breines and William J. Dean. The cover shows a number of illustrations of people walking, biking or using public transportation.)
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls
The Pedestrian Revolution
"A new day is dawning for the pedestrian.
Footpower has begun to challenge horsepower.
Worldwide action against unrestrained automobile use in congested urban centers heralds the arrival of the Pedestrian Revolution."
Simon Breines
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls
Mid-Century Woes
(Extended text description: Text from graphic: ANNUAL GROWTH RATE OF POPULATION AND PRIVATE AUTOMOBILES IN SELECTED CITIES: 1960-1970 - Setting goals for the implementation of a traffic ban requires the recognition of existing trends in car ownership. During the past 10 years, private automobile ownership in large cities has increased far more rapidly than the population. The number of private cars has risen an average of 10'per-cent a year, with even higher peaks in developing countries. Data obtained from World Bank Sector Policy Paper, Urban Transport (Washington: World Bank, May 1975). Bar chart in black, white and gray. There are two rows of bars, one in front of the other. The upper row represents Rate of Growth for automobiles. The lower row represents Rate of Growth for population. For Washington DC: Automobiles, 2.0; Population, 1.0. For London: Automobiles, 5.2; Population, 0.7. For Paris: Automobiles, 6.5; Population, 1.3. For Calcutta: Automobiles, 7.2; Population, 2.2. For Mexico City: Automobiles, 10.5, Population 5.8. For Istanbul: Automobiles, 12.2; Population, 6.6. For Teheran: Automobiles, 15.4; Population, 7.0. For Tokyo: Automobiles, 16.0; Population, 3.4. From Additional Notes by the Presenter: “Mid-Century Woes” Left image is the annual growth rate of population compared to private automobile ownership between 1960-1970. The chart illustrates that car ownership in large cities such as Tokyo, Teheran and Istanbul skyrocketed ahead of population growth. In Washington D.C., automobile ownership grew by 2% over the decade while the population only increased by .1%.)
(Extended text description: Overhead image in black and white (poor quality) of a neighborhood showing rows of houses along connecting and parallel streets. From Additional Notes by the Presenter: Image is Levittown, New York. Levittown was the first mass-produced suburb and is regarded as the archetype for postwar suburbs.)
(Extended text description: From presenter's notes: Interstate system in America in 1965. This is an old map to illustrate what the interstate system looked like in America in 1965 - caption says Figure 2 -- Estimated status of improvement of the National System of Interstate Highways as to lane width, in 1965. The key indicates that open lines represent 2-lane highways, dotted lines represent 4-lane and over highways. About 3 percent of the mileage shown in 4-lane is wider than xxxxxx (unreadable), and is principally in those sections in the vicinity of heavily-populated urban areas. This map shows predominating type of improvement, it does not show shorter sections of variable width.)
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls
Southdale Mall - Edina, Minnesota
(Extended text description: Two side by side images from 1956. The right image is in color and shows the interior of the Southdale Mall in Edina, MN. The mall has two levels, with a large pedestrian area on the lower level with benches located throughout the lower level. The photo shows groups of shoppers of all ages and genders sitting on and standing near the benches. At the far end of the pedestrian area are two criss-crossing escalators, which are carrying pedestrians up to the upper levels. The upper level has walkways around the perimeter of the mall -- the entire center of the mall is open through both stories to the roof. There are six large round lighting fixtures hanging at various levels from the ceiling. The image on the left is an exterior birds-eye image in black and white, showing a portion of the mall building at the center top, a large parking area with many cars parked in rows, access roads leading out to the highway on the lower section of the photo image. From Additional Notes by the Presenter: “Southdale Mall - Edina, Minnesota” Left image is the interior of Edina, Minnestoa’s Southdale Mall. The mall featured amenities like plentiful seating, landscaping and airconditioning. Right image is a birds-eye image of the Southdale Mall. In the bottom of the image you can see the highway. The mall is surrounded by free parking, which appealed to suburbanites.)
1956
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls
North Burdick Street - Kalamazoo, Michigan
(Extended text description: Exterior street level image of North Burdick Street in Kalamzoo, MI. On the far side of the image are a row of shops, with storefronts, awnings in red and cream, street lights, trash cans, store signs for Woolworth's and W.T. Grant Co. There are shoppers walking along the street in front of the stores. There is a green space with trees in the middle of the street and then a large pool (shaped like a large capital letter "I") with a small fountain. A black iron curved pedestrian bridge crosses the pool at its narrowest point. From Additional Notes by the Presenter: “North Burdick Street - Kalamazoo, Michigan” The image shows Kalamazoo, Michigan’s North Burdick Street, the nation’s first pedestrian-only street. The mall featured meandering paths, a Japanese gardens and plentiful landscaping.)
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls
Mid-Century Pedestrian Malls
(Extended text description: Map of the United States in light gray, state boundaries indicated by white lines. Alaska and Hawaii are also shown at the lower left side of the image. There are green dots located throughout the main continent of the United States, mainly along the West Coast, the Mid-West, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and New England. There are a few dots in Texas, Florida and one in New Mexico and Hawaii. These dots depict pedestrian-only streets in the US, as of the middle of the 20th century. From Additional Notes by the Presenter: “Mid-Century Pedestrian Malls” The image is a map of the United States with the 200 mid-century pedestrian-only street distinguished by green dots. They are located in every region and climate of the country.)
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls
Mid-Century Pedestrian Malls Today
(Extended text description: Map of the United States in light gray, with state boundaries indicated by white lines. Alaska and Hawaii are shown in the lower left corner. The map has green, black and brown dots located around the entire US, mainly on the West Coast, Mid-West, Mid-Atlantic region and Northeast, with a few dots in Texas, Louisiana and Florida, with one dot each in New Mexico and Hawaii. The green dots represent pedestrian-only, black dots represent malls reopened to pedestrian traffic and brown dots represent malls that are currently being considered for reopening to pedestrians. From Additional Notes by the Presenter: “Mid-Century Pedestrian Malls Today” The image is the same map of the United States, now showing the current status of the pedestrian malls. Black dots indicate malls that have been reopened to pedestrian traffic, brown dots represent malls that are currently being studied to be reopened and only the green dots are still pedestrian-only. Of the original 200 mid-century pedestrian malls, only about two dozen are still closed to automobile traffic.)
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls
Mid-Century Pedestrian Malls Today
(Extended text description: Map of the United States in light gray, with state boundaries indicated by white lines. Alaska and Hawaii are shown in the lower left corner. The map has green, black and brown dots located around the entire US, mainly on the West Coast, Mid-West, Mid-Atlantic region and Northeast, with a few dots in Texas and Florida, with one dot each in New Mexico and Hawaii. The green dots represent pedestrian-only, black dots represent malls reopened to pedestrian traffic and brown dots represent malls that are currently being considered for reopening to pedestrians. There are two pull-out images on the map. The first is "Pedestrian-Friendly City: Queens, NY 165th Street" with a color image of a street with trees at one end, brickwork and asphalt road, storefronts and pedestrians walking along the street. The second is "Pedestrian-Friendly City: Denver, CO 16th Street" with a color image of a city scene, with trees overhead, a bus stop, pedestrians along the road, red metal structures on the right, and large skyscrapers and office buildings in the background. From Additional Notes by the Presenter: “Mid-Century Pedestrian Malls Today” Of the two dozen remaining pedestrian malls, some have common successful elements. Being located in a pedestrian-friendly area is one of these. Two examples are Denver, Colorado and Queens, New York. Denver’s 16th Street has a free shuttle bus that runs along the pedestrian mall, which takes people to the adjacent baseball stadium or to work. The 165th Street Mall in Jamaica Queens has a variety of small to medium sized retail shops.)
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls
Mid-Century Pedestrian Malls Today
(Extended text description: Map of the United States in light gray, with state boundaries indicated by white lines. Alaska and Hawaii are shown in the lower left corner. The map has green, black and brown dots located around the entire US, mainly on the West Coast, Mid-West, Mid-Atlantic region and Northeast, with a few dots in Texas and Florida, with one dot each in New Mexico and Hawaii. The green dots represent pedestrian-only, black dots represent malls reopened to pedestrian traffic and brown dots represent malls that are currently being considered for reopening to pedestrians. There are two pull-out images on the map. The first is "University Town: Burlington, VT Church Street" with an image of a street with brick buildings and storefronts on each side, pedestrians walking through the asphalt street in the center, and a large red brick and white church at the far end of the street. The second is "University Town: Boulder, CO Pearl Street" with an image of a street with red and yellow flower beds next to a street of storefronts, benches, streetlights, trash cans. There are no pedestrians visible in this image. From Additional Notes by the Presenter: “Mid-Century Pedestrian Malls Today” Pedestrian malls are also successful when located in university towns. Boulder, Colorado and Burlington, Vermont’s pedestrian malls are both adjacent to the town’s university, giving the mall high numbers of natural foot traffic.)
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls
Mid-Century Pedestrian Malls Today
(Extended text description: Map of the United States in light gray, with state boundaries indicated by white lines. Alaska and Hawaii are shown in the lower left corner. The map has green, black and brown dots located around the entire US, mainly on the West Coast, Mid-West, Mid-Atlantic region and Northeast, with a few dots in Texas and Florida, with one dot each in New Mexico and Hawaii. The green dots represent pedestrian-only, black dots represent malls reopened to pedestrian traffic and brown dots represent malls that are currently being considered for reopening to pedestrians. There are two pull-out images on the map. The first is "Tourist Destination: Santa Monica, CA Third Street Promenade" with an overhead image of a tree-lined street with stores, median areas with pedestrian seating, a fountain. The second is "Tourist Destination: Cape May, NJ Washington Street" with an street-level image of a street with storefronts, a fountain and raised garden beds. Pedestrians walk among the fountain and raised garden beds. From Additional Notes by the Presenter: “Mid-Century Pedestrian Malls Today” A third common characteristic among pedestrian malls is that they often cater to tourists. In Cape May, New Jersey, the pedestrian mall is lined with plentiful seating and souvenir shops. In Santa Monica, California, the mall is helped by its proximity to the ocean and the Santa Monica pier.)
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls
Third Street Mall - Santa Monica, California
(Extended text description: Two side by side images in black and white from the 1950s of Santa Monica, CA. The image on the left shows a street with cars parked on each side and driving in both directions on the street. Stores with awnings, window displays and signs such as Kress and Europa line each side of the image. Pedestrians walk on a sidewalk on each side of the street, and in a cross walk that bisects the street. Taller buildings are occasionally located farther down along the road. The image on the right shows a scene of destruction/construction. A large pick-up truck is stopped in the center of the the street, which is littered with debris on both sides, and has a dug-up dirt road through the center. Storefronts line both sides of the street and look intact. From Additional Notes by the Presenter: “Third Street Mall - Santa Monica, California” The left image shows 3rd Street in Santa Monica, California in the 1950s. A wide boulevard, the street had been the town’s retail heart since the beginning of the 20th century. However, by the 1950s, the retail strip was beginning to show signs of age. The right image is of the street being torn up during construction to create the pedestrian-only street.)
1950s
During construction
Photos: Bayside District Corporation
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls
Third Street Promenade - Santa Monica, California
(Extended text description: Two side by side images. The left image is a street-level view showing a tree-lined street with storefronts, street lights, trash cans, benches and parked bicycles. Banner signs are stretched overhead down the center of the street. Pedestrians stand in the middle of the street, and many people walk up and down the sidewalks in front of the stores. The right image is a birds-eye view of the street at dusk/sunset. The streetlights, store signs and lights in trees sparkle against the darkened building silhouettes with a golden orange and rosy sky in the background. The street look bustling and lively, though it is hard to see pedestrians due to the distance of the perspective. From Additional Notes by the Presenter: “Third Street Mall - Santa Monica, California” The left image shows the revitalized 3rd Street Promenade. Opening in 1989, the street was physically reconfigured to reflect its pedestrian focus. The right image is of the promenade at night. The renovated mall featured improved lighting, and increased number of benches and trash receptacles and new plazas.)
Third Street Promenade today
Photos: Bayside District Corporation
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls
Best Practices
(Extended text description: Two images. The top image shows a waterfront street way with bright blue umbrellas over sand against a high cement wall. Tall thin blue streamer flags stand in rows along the barrier along the waterway. Palm trees are also growing in a row along the street. Pedestrians are walking and sitting along the street. A bridge over the water can be seen in the distance, and more trees and an awning are above the street on the high wall. The bottom image shows a street-level view of a busy street, with pedestrians on bike and on foot. Trees line the street, with a few stores, street lights and larger office buildings visible between the trees and in the distance. From Additional Notes by the Presenter: “Best Practices” The top image is of the Pompidou Expressway in Paris. Every August, the expressway is closed and an artificial beach with sand, umbrellas and a large walking promenade is created along the banks of the Seine. The bottom image depicts the Ciclovia in Bogota, Colombia. Every Sunday, the city closes 70 miles of city streets to traffic. People walk and bike along the streets and the event is very successful.)
1. Do Not Close Main Thoroughfare
2. Pedestrian-Oriented Scale
3. Location
4. Short Blocks
5. Allow Cross-Traffic
6. Late-Night Options
7. Transit
8. Creation of Agency to Oversee Mall
9. Intermittent Closures
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls
Best Practices at Work
(Extended text description: Street-level view of Pearl Street in Boulder CO, with square garden plots with flowers and a tree in each square, a red brick street and stores. Pedestrians walk in front of the stores. See Additional Notes below.)
Boulder, CO
Pearl Street
Opened: 1976 No. of Blocks: 4 Length: 1,500 ft Width: 65 ft Initial Cost: $1,850,000 Status: Intact
Not Main Thoroughfare Pedestrian-Oriented Scale Location Cross-Traffic Late-Night Options Overseeing Agency
(Extended text description: Street-level view of image of North Burdick Street in Kalamazoo, MI with pool in the shape of a capital letter "I" with a small fountain, a black bridge over the pool, a green lawn and trees, stores with awnings, store signs, street lights. See Additional Notes below.)
Kalamazoo, MI
N Burdick Street
Opened: 1959
No. of Blocks: 2 (expanded to 4 in 1970) Length: 1,200 ft (1959) 1,900 ft (1970)
Width: 66 ft
Initial Cost: $58,315
Status: 2 Blocks Reopened
Pedestrian-Oriented Scale Cross-Traffic
(Extended text description: Street-level view of Lincoln Road in Miami, FL with palm trees in the distance, storefronts along the right side, pedestrians walking in the middle of the sidewalk. See Additional Notes below. See Additional Notes below.)
Miami, FL
Lincoln Road
Opened: 1960
No. of Blocks: 8
Length: 3,000 ft
Width: 100 ft
Initial Cost: $596,000
Status: Intact
Not Main Thoroughfare Pedestrian-Oriented Scale Location Cross-Traffic Late-Night Options
(Extended text description: Street-level view of Main Street in Poughkeepsie, NY. The row of four-story buildings have colors in browns, yellows, greens and reds. A truck is parked in the shadows on the side of the street. No pedestrians are walking along the road. See Additional Notes below.)
Poughkeepsie, NY
Main Street
Opened: 1973
No. of Blocks: 3 Length: 1,600 ft
Width: 75 ft Initial Cost: $3,200,000
Status: Reopened
Cross-Traffic
(Additional Notes on Above 4 Images: “Best Practices at Work” Comparing four pedestrian malls and the list of best practices, certain malls have been much more successful than others. Boulder, Colorado has integrated most of the elements of a good pedestrian mall and is very successful. Miami, Florida’s Lincoln Road is lined with high-end retail and is also very popular. Kalamazoo, Michigan’s North Burdick Street sufferred from declining retail sales and Poughkeepsie, New York’s Main Street from a lack of natural foot traffic and both streets have reopened to automobile traffic.)
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls
Proposed Pedestrian Malls
(Extended text description: Birds-eye illustrated view of Times Square in New York City, with theaters (showing The Lion King), sidewalks with pedestrians walking, a large avenue with yellow taxi cabs and a bus, pedestrians walking in the crosswalk at the intersection, and a large area with black and red umbrellas in the middle of the square. From Additional Notes by the Presenter: “Proposed Pedestrian Malls” The left image is of New York City’s Times Square. Broadway has been closed in stretches near Times Square and Herald Square, diverting traffic onto 7th and 6th Avenues, respectively. Benefiting from high levels of foot traffic, the Theater District’s hours of operations and the lack of nearby open space, both malls were recently declared successful by Mayor Bloomberg and will become permanent. The Times Square pedestrian mall features tables and chairs, with more permanent elements to be introduced.)
Times Square's Pedestrian Mall
(Extended text description: This is a diagram entitled "Market Street traffic test" from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, presented by Todd Trumbull of The Chronicle. The diagram shows a diagonal road named Market Street moving from the lower left corner to the upper right corner, which is marked with a dotted red line and a black pull out box, "Most eastbound traffic banned." In the lower left corner, there is a pullout box showing a larger scale map of the San Francisco area, depicting the detail area of the diagram. On the main diagram, there are cross streets (11th, 10th, Ninth, Eighth, Seventh, Sixth streets) leading from the diagonal Market Street in parallel to the lower right corner. The corner of Market Street to 10th has a pull out box marked #1 "Eastbound Market Street traffic will be encouraged to turn right onto 10th Street." The corner of Market Street to Eighth has a pull out box marked #2 "Traffic that doesn't turn off will be required to do so at Eighth Street." On Market Street just before Sixth, there is a pull out box marked #3 "Any eastbound traffic entering Market from Seventh must exit at Sixth." There are also roadways (Van Ness Ave, Polk, Larkin, Hyde and Taylor) leading from Market Street to the upper left of the diagram in parallel to each other. Cross streets between Van Ness and Polk include Grove, Hayes and Fell. A cross street off Taylor is Turk. The City Hall, Civic Center Park and Library are located in the blocks between Van Ness, Polk and Larkin beyond Grove. The key of this diagram states: Under the test program beginning Sept. 29: >>Traffic traveling east on Market Street will be diverted as shown below. >>The ban will not affect westbound traffic, vehicles crossing Market Street, or Muni buses, delivery vehicles and taxis. From Additional Notes by the Presenter: The right image is of San Francisco’s Market Street traffic test. It is a map depicting how traffic will be diverted from Market Street and where cars can and cannot drive. Westbound traffic will not be banned, but eastbound traffic must turn at 10th Street, 8th Street or 6th Street.)
San Francisco's Market Street
Graphic: San Francisco Chronicle
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls
Best Practices at Work
(Extended text description: Street-level view of Pearl Street in Boulder CO, with square garden plots with flowers and a tree in each square, a red brick street and stores. Pedestrians walk in front of the stores. See Additional Notes below.)
Boulder, CO
Pearl Street
Opened: 1976
No. of Blocks: 4 Length: 1,500 ft
Width: 65 ft Initial Cost: $1,850,000
Status: Intact
Not Main Thoroughfare Pedestrian-Oriented Scale Location Cross-Traffic Late-Night Options Overseeing Agency
(Extended text description: Street-level view of Lincoln Road in Miami, FL with palm trees in the distance, storefronts along the right side, pedestrians walking in the middle of the sidewalk. See Additional Notes below.)
Miami, FL
Lincoln Road
Opened: 1960
No. of Blocks: 8
Length: 3,000 ft
Width: 100 ft
Initial Cost: $596,000
Status: Intact
Not Main Thoroughfare Pedestrian-Oriented Scale Location Cross-Traffic Late-Night Options
(Extended text description: Birds-eye view of a photo of Herald Square in New York City, showing a pedestrian walking street meeting a roadway (both are laid out in intersecting diagonals). There is a park area with trees and a tall monument in the triangular area between the pedestrian walkway and road. There are tall store and office buildings on the outer perimeter of both the walking area and roadway. See Additional Notes below.)
New York
Herald Square
Opened: 2009 No. of Blocks: 2 Length: 600 ft Width: 65 ft
Initial Cost: n/a Status: To be Made Permanent
Not Main Thoroughfare Location Cross-Traffic Late-Night Options Transit
(Extended text description: Street-level view of a photo of Market Street in San Francisco, CA. A main roadway with a bus in the background and a streetcar to the near side are on the road. To the left is a walking sidewalk of red brick. There are trees, street lights, a store, and pedestrians in that area. On the other side of the street are tall apartment and office buildings. See Additional Notes below.)
San Francisco
Market Street
Opened: n/a No. of Blocks: 8
Length: 6,500 ft
Width: 115 ft Initial Cost: n/a Status: Under Consideration
Cross-Traffic Transit
(Additional Notes on above 4 images: “Best Practices at Work” This slide compares the New York and San Francisco proposed pedestrian malls to the mid-century pedestrian-only streets in Boulder, Colorado, and Miami, Florida. Despite very different conditions from either of these predecessors, the New York malls contain many of the same successful elements. San Francisco’s Market Street, however, may have similar problems to many pedestrian-only streets of the past.)
Revisiting Pedestrian Malls
Conclusion
(Extended text description: A series of six pictures of pedestrian areas. Image 1) City intersection with many pedestrians, red umbrellas, and tall office buildings on either side. Image 2) Street-level view of a tropical area street and pedestrian area. The street gently curves to the right as it moves away; there are trees, bushes and palms trees. A large topiary dinosaur is in the front yard area of a building on the right side of the image. There is a portable hot dog stand in front of that building and pedestrians walking up the center of the street toward the building. Image 3) Street-level view of photo of a street with brick buildings and storefronts on each side, pedestrians walking through the asphalt street in the center, and a large red brick and white church at the far end of the street. Image 4) Street-level view of a photo of a red brick sidewalk with large trees in a row, planters with small trees, benches, streetlights, white umbrellas in the distance, stores and buildings in the distance behind the trees. Image 5) Street-level view of a photo of a street with red and yellow flower beds next to a street of storefronts, benches, streetlights, trash cans. There are no pedestrians visible in this image. Image 6) Street-level view of color photo of a city scene, with trees overhead, a bus stop, pedestrians along the road, red metal structures on the right, and large skyscrapers and office buildings in the background. From Additional Notes by the Presenter: “Conclusion” The images are a collection of successful pedestrian-only streets around the country. From top left, clockwise: New York’s Times Square; Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade; Charlotteville’s Downtown Street; Denver’s 16th Street; Boulder’s Pearl Street; and Burlington’s Church Street.)
"Think of a city and what comes to mind? Its streets.
If a city's streets look interesting, the city looks interesting;
if they look dull, the city looks dull."
Jane Jacobs
Questions?
(Extended text description: Entitled "Converting Abandoned Rail Lines into Public Spaces" with Morgan Whitcomb presented by Sam Schwartz Engineering. The yellow and black title is overlaid on a black and white schematic of an urban area (New York City) on the left and another darker urban area on the right side. There are yellow lines through some of the roadways on the map. At the bottom is a wide yellow line with the company name and logo of an s-curved railroad and highway.)
Public Space: Linear parks
(Extended text description: Overhead view of a photo of cyclists on a pedestrian and cycling roadway. There is a double yellow line down the roadway with a white painted symbol of a cyclist and an arrow on the upper side of the road, and a white painted pedestrian figure and arrow on the lower side. There are bushes and dirt on the upper edge of the roadway. There are stone pavers and a black chainlink fence on the edge of the lower side. From Presenter's Notes: *Picture: Bird's eye view of West Side Greenway in new York City, showing a 2-way protected bike lane with bicyclists using it.)
West Side Greenway, New York
Why Abandoned Rail Lines?
(Extended text description: Entitled "The High Line: New York City" in yellow and black overlaid on a black and white map of urban area (New York City). There is a yellow bar at the bottom with the Sam Schwartz Engineering logo, an s-curved railroad and roadway.)
Background
The Rail Line
(Extended film description: Vintage photo of a railroad car on a track, with a man wearing a coat and a cowboy hat and riding a horse in front on the train car on the tracks. From the Presenter's Notes: *Picture: “West Side Cowboy” riding a horse in front of the train.)
THE HIGH LINE
Background
The High Line
(Extended text description: Map diagram of mid-town Manhattan (Chelsea neighborhood) showing the Chelsea Piers development (as well as Pier 54, 57, 64 and 66 in the Hudson River side). The diagram starts with the Canal Street at the bottom of the diagram, leading up to West 34th Street at the top. Hudson Street leads from the bottom to Ninth Ave which leads straight to the top of the diagram, in parallel with 10th and Eleventh Avenues. There is a purple line that begins in the upper left side, curving around the West Rail Yards, cutting across the city on 30th Street through the Section 3 (Development Pending) and curving down in parallel to the avenues, just to the left of Tenth Ave. This is also marked as Section 3 (Development Pending). The purple line transforms into a green line that follows a slightly curving line from 20th Street to Ganseyvoort St. There are points along the green line marked for Restrooms, Stairs, Elevators moving past the Chelsea Market and Meatpacking District. From the Presenter's Notes: *Picture: Schematic map of the High Line, with Phase 1 highlighted.)
THE HIGH LINE
Development & Zoning
(Extended text description: The High Line, Special West Chelsea District, Proposed Zoning + FAR. There is an illustrated elevation diagram of buildings between 11th and 10th avenues. Some of the buildings (at each end and in the middle) seem to have a area added on to them to make them higher. There are two blue arrows moving from the middle elevated area to each of the elevated ends. The middle section is designated as the High Line Transfer Corridor. The left side of the diagram is an overhead diagram, showing different sections between 11th and 10th street near 18th street. Sections marked C6-3 are in tan, C6-4 in blue, C6-2 in red, M1-5, C6-2A, C6-3A in white. Surrounding areas are designated in faded out gray/white for M1-5, R8, R8A, R7B, M2-3, M1-6. The green line is shown under the colored sections. From Presenter's Notes: *Left Picture: shows High Lines Transfer Corridor between 11th and 10th Aves -- *Right Picture: map of Special West Chelsea District Proposed Zoning & FAR.)
Connections
(Extended text description: Overhead satellite image of New York City from 12th Ave at the lower edge of the Hudson River (as shown) up to Eighth Ave at the top of the image. There is a green line overlaid on Riverside Highway/12th Ave past all the piers, as well as on the other Avenues and a few of the cross streets. Several subway lines are noted, including A, C, E and L. There is a yellow line showing the designated High Line from between 12th and 11th near 34th Street then toward downtown near 10th Ave. There is an orange oval at the junction of the yellow line and Gansevoort. Key: Yellow Line: Trail; Green Line: Bike Lane; A Circular Symbol: Subway Access; Orange Oval: Gansevoort Plaza. From Presenter's Notes: *Picture: Map of the High Line, nearby subway stations, bike lanes, and Gansevoort Plaza.)
THE HIGH LINE
(Extended text description: The Bloomington Trail, Chicago with Sam Schwartz Engineering logo, an s-curving railroad and roadway. The yellow and black title is overlaid on a black and white map of an urban center (New York City). There is a yellow line down the center of the map graphic, on a road.)
Background
The Rail Line
(Extended text description: A photo of an abandoned rail line and industrial area. There is an elevated track, a ground track with grass growing between rails, some concrete barriers and grassy gravel area. There is an abandoned building to the right of the image, and some other buildings in the background behind the elevated track. From Presenter's Notes: *Picture: Bloomingdale rail line today, overgrown with grass.)
THE BLOOMINGDALE TRAIL
Background
The Bloomingdale Trail
(Extended text description: Overhead black and white photo with a color illustrated landscape designed area through the middle of the photo. The illustration shows trees, winding sidewalks, and colored sections showing different activity areas. From Presenter's Notes: *Picture: sketch of proposed access park.)
THE BLOOMINGDALE TRAIL
Development and Zoning
(Extended text description: An overhead illustrated diagram of The Bloomington Trail in Chicago near Milwaukee and Leavitt streets. It shows roadways (Winnebago, Wabansia, Wilmot, Churchill), a railway, movie theater, New City Park, Retail/Housing, Food Market/Housing, Bike Cafe and The Hill (Trust for Public Land Parcel). Winnebago, Milwaukee and Wilmot are all parallel to each other, and are moving diagonally from the upper left to the lower right of the image. Churchill moves across the top of the image and Wabansia moves across the bottom. Leavitt moves directly through the center of the image. The Bloomington Trail moves across the image just under Churchill. From Presenter's Notes: *Picture: map of proposed development at Milwaukee and Leavitt.)
THE BLOOMINGDALE TRAIL
Design
(Extended text description: Four side by side diagram. Diagram 1) Trail Width 30'. Walk/Run 5' on left. Plantings/Gardens 15' with Seating through center. Active Trail (cycling) in each direction, 10'. Diagram 2) Trail Width 30'. Open Field 15' in lower left. Walk/Run 5' starts on lower center and moves to far left. Seating and Plantings 15' through the center above the Walk/Run. Active Trail (cycling) in each direction 10' on far right. Diagram 3) Trail Width 30'. Open Field 15' with Butterfly Garden on left side. Walk/Run 5' in the center, Active Trail (cycling) in each direction 10' on right. All the trails start more center at the bottom and move toward the right side. Diagram 4) Trail Width 40'. Walk/Run 5' on left side. Active Trail (cycling) in each direction 10' between left and center. Open Field with Playground and Dog Run 25' on right side. From Presenter's Notes: *Picture: 4 proposed sections of the Bloomingdale Trail, one with a garden, one with open space, one with a butterfly garden, one with a dog run and playground.)
THE BLOOMINGDALE TRAIL
Connections
(Extended text description: Overhead satellite image of the Bloomington Trail in Chicago. Heavy green lines mark several roadways including W. Division, N. Damen, Leavitt, Milwaukee, and Armitage. The Chicago River is marked with a blue line in the upper right corner. The Bloomington Trail is marked in yellow moving from left to right through the upper middle of the image. There is a metro symbol near the Chicago River. Key: Yellow Line: Trail; Green Line: Bike Lane. From Presenter's Notes: *Picture: map of the Bloomingdale Trail, nearby L and Metra stations, YMCA, bike lanes, and connection to Chicago River.)
THE BLOOMINGDALE TRAIL
(Extended text description: The LaFitte Corridor New Orleans, with Sam Schwartz Engineering logo, an s-curved railroad and highway on a yellow bar at the bottom of the image. The yellow and black title is overlaid on a black and white overhead image of the an urban area (New York City). There is a yellow line moving from the top to the bottom through the center of the right side of the image.)
Background
(Extended text description: Photo of a run-down outdoor area. There is a large grassy area with dirt and mud, and few trees and bushes and bits of trash. The left side has chain link fences and small buildings. The right side has a larger industrial building that appears to be abandoned or in poor repair. In the distance, there are several tall electrical poles visible. From Presenter's Notes: *Picture: Corridor as it is today, overgrown with grass.)
THE LAFITTE CORRIDOR
Neighborhoods
(Extended text description: Large overhead satellite image of neighborhood in New Orleans. The image is faded out except for a darker area in the middle of the map, labeled CBD, with several neighborhoods marked (Navarre, City Park, Mid City, Tulane/Gravier, Iberville, Vieux Carre', Treme', Sixth Ward, Bayou St. John). There is a green line through this darker section (the section is somewhat diagonal from upper left to lower right). From Presenter's Notes: *Picture: map of the Lafitte Corridor with neighborhoods outlined: from SE to NW: CBD, Vieux Carre', Iberville, Treme', Tulane/Gravier, Sixth Ward, Bayou St. John, Mid City, City Park, Navarre.)
THE LAFITTE CORRIDOR
Connections
(Extended text description: An overhead satellite image of the LaFitte Corridor in New Orleans. On the upper half of the graphic, there is a black and white map with a key: yellow line for Greenway, green lines for bike lanes and orange lines for streetcars. At the lower half of the graphic, the satellite image is overlaid with green lines along certain roadways including Canal (along the lower edge of the graphic) and N. Galvez. There are orange lines on two roadways including Canal. There is a yellow line that moves from left to right across the middle of the image, along N. Galvez. From Presenter's Notes: *Picture: map of Lafitte Corridor, nearby bike lanes, and streetcar lines.)
THE LAFITTE CORRIDOR
Conclusions
(Extended text description: Image of a sidewalk near a large apartment building on the left side. The sidewalk is lined with grasses, trees and benches on either side. There are more buildings in the distance. There are pedestrians walking toward the buildings in the distance. The sky is very blue and clear. From Presenter's Notes: *Picture: the High Line, open for business.)
Questions?
An Alternative To Auto LOS for Transportation Impact Analysis
6.9.10
SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY
Background
ITE Webinar, June 09, 2010
Background
The Problems with LOS
LOS does not capture environmental impacts
LOS does not capture environmental impacts
(Extended text description: Graph of Environmental Impact, Automobile Delays (LOS) and Automobile Trips Generated (ATG). The first row shows Air Quality with column 1 a green plus sign (CO hotspots rare in Bay Area) and column 2 two dark green plus signs (ROG, NOx, PM10). The second row shows Greenhouse Gas with column 1 two red minus symbols and column 2 two dark green plus signs (From cold starts). Third row shows System Efficiency with column 1 a green plus sign and column 2 a green plus sign. The fourth row shows Traffic Intrusion with column 1 a green plus sign and column 2 two dark green plus signs. The fifth row shows Noise with column 1 an orange minus sign (At congested intersections only) and column 2 a green plus sign (Captures noise conditions). The sixth row shows Safety with column 1 two red minus signs (Delay unrelated to safety) and column 2 dark green plus signs (SF DPH Vehicle-Pedestrian Injury Collision model). From Presenter's Notes: * Picture: a table that compares how well auto LOS captures environmental impacts relative to ATG. It shows that while LOS could be considered a proxy for air quality, transportation system efficiency, and neighborhood “traffic intrusion” impacts, ATG is an equal or, in the case of air quality and neighborhood impacts, better proxy. In the case of greenhouse gas emissions, noise impacts, and safety, auto LOS is an inferior proxy to ATG. For example, LOS also is not related to greenhouse gas emissions; these are also correlated with overall automobile trips and not with delays. In addition, it is overall volumes of traffic, and not traffic delays, that are related to San Franciscans’ perceptions of the quality of their neighborhoods, what I’ve called here traffic intrusion. Noise impacts, too, are much more related to overall volumes of traffic. Finally, pedestrian safety is not at all related to levels of motorist delay. However, the SF Dept of Public Health has developed a pedestrian collision model that shows the relationship between overall ATG and pedestrian collisions, making ATG a better indicator of safety effects as well. This slide shows a table that compares how well auto LOS captures environmental impacts relative to ATG. It shows that while LOS could be considered a proxy for air quality, transportation system efficiency, and neighborhood “traffic intrusion” impacts, ATG is an equal or, in the case of air quality and neighborhood impacts, better proxy. In the case of greenhouse gas emissions, noise impacts, and safety, auto LOS is an inferior proxy to ATG.)
LOS & environmental impacts: Air Quality
LOS does not reflect City policies
LOS does not reflect City policies
LOS does not reflect City Policies
(Extended text description: On the right side, there is an image of a small silver car turning at a street corner, marked by a sign "No Ped Crossing and Use Crosswalk" with an arrow. There is a street that continues into the distance, with stores and buildings, cars driving, stop lights, street signs such as "One Way" and "Do Not Block Intersection." On the left side of graphic, there is a text box with an arrow pointing to the No Ped Crossing sign in the photo: Providing a Pedestrian Crossing here would increase delays for right-turning drivers, potentially triggering significant LOS impacts... Minimizing automobile delays takes precedence over minimizing pedestrian delays. From the Presenter's Notes: Picture: an intersection in San Francisco taken from the sidewalk. A “No Ped Crossing” sign prevents pedestrians from crossing one leg of the intersection. Cars are turning right across what would otherwise be a crosswalk. This image shows an example of how this conflict appears in San Francisco. The volumes of pedestrians in Hayes Valley continue to increase, yet there are many double left and double right turns that funnel high volumes of traffic through the neighborhood. Pedestrian crossings are removed from some of these intersections because if peds were allowed to cross, they would create delay for the right turning vehicles. A project such as installing the missing ped crosswalk at this location might significantly impact LOS, and would be considered an environmentally negative project.)
LOS results in inefficient CEQA review
The "last-in" problem
(Extended text description: Illustration of Project #1 LOS = B No Impacts. There is an illustration of a criss crossing road intersection (gray with dotted yellow lines through the center of both roads) with three blue cars on it. On the road that runs from the upper left corner to the lower right, there is a blue car facing the lower right corner in the upper half of the road (before the intersection). That car is duplicated at the end of that road at the lower right corner. There is a third blue car on the road that runs from the upper right corner to the lower left corner. That third car is facing the lower left corner and is located in the road in the upper right corner (before the intersection). From Presenter's Notes: * Picture: a cartoon of two intersecting streets with three cars. Here’s how the “last-in” problem works. Project #1 adds some new trips onto the system, resulting in an LOS B at an intersection; there are no environmental impact from these new trips.)
The "last-in" problem
(Extended text description: Illustration of Project #2 LOS = D No Impacts. There is an illustration of a criss crossing road intersection (gray with dotted yellow lines through the center of both roads) with seven blue cars on it. On the road that runs from the upper left corner to the lower right, there are two blue cars facing the lower right corner located in the upper half of the road (before the intersection). There are two identical blue cars at the end of that road at the lower right corner. There are two more blue cars on the road that runs from the upper right corner to the lower left corner. Those cars are facing the lower left corner and are located in the road in the upper right corner (before the intersection). There is a single blue car on the lower part of the road (after the intersection), facing the lower left corner. From Presenter's Notes: Picture: a cartoon of two intersecting streets with seven cars. A second project adds significantly more new trips onto the network, but LOS drops only to D, so there are no significant effects that the project sponsor must mitigate. Even so these additional automobile trips contribute toward noise, water quality, and greenhouse gas emission effects.)
The "last-in" problem
(Extended text description: Illustration of Project #3 LOS = F Significant Impacts! There is an illustration of a criss crossing road intersection (gray with dotted yellow lines through the center of both roads) with seven blue cars on it. On the road that runs from the upper left corner to the lower right corner, there are two blue cars facing the lower right corner located in the upper half of the road (before the intersection). There are two identical blue cars at the end of that road at the lower right corner. There are two more blue cars on the road that runs from the upper right corner to the lower left corner. Those cars are facing the lower left corner and are located in the road in the upper right corner (before the intersection). There is a red car on the lower part of the right right after the intersection, followed by a blue car on the lower part of the road, both facing the lower left corner. From Presenter's Notes: * Picture: a cartoon of two intersecting streets with eight cars. The new car is highlighted. Finally. a third project adds additional new trips and just pushes the intersection LOS over the threshold to F. This project sponsor must address the mitigations even though previous projects all contributed towards the LOS condition.)
Constraints to Change
State CEQA Guidelines Revisions
XVI. TRANSPORTATION/TRAFFIC -Would the project:
a) Conflict with an applicable local plan, ordinance, or policy that establishes a measure of effectiveness for the performance of the circulation system, taking into account all relevant components of the circulation system, including but not limited to intersections, streets, highways and freeways, pedestrian and bicycle paths, and mass transit?
San Francisco's New Proposed Approach
ATMF improves mitigation effectiveness
Process for Applying ATG Measure
(Extended text description: Flow Chart starting with the question: Will the Project generate new auto trips? There are arrows pointing to Yes and No options. Under Yes, there is an arrow leading beneath to: Determine Impact: Estimage automobile trips generated or induced by the project. This has an arrow leading underneath to: Determin needed mitigation: Calculate Impact mitigation fee payment based on volume of trips generated/Induced. Under No, there an arrow leading underneath to: Stop. No impacts in this area. From Presenter's Notes: The first question asked in this approach to transportation impact analysis is, will the project generate net new automobile trips?
If the project is a downzoning or a less intensive land use, then there will be no traffic impact.
If the project is a transportation project that will not induce new driving trips (such as a sidewalk widening or bus bulbs), then the project will not have a traffic impact.
Such projects will still need to obtain other relevant legislative approvals, but would not be considered to have an environmental transportation impact.
Projects that will generate new auto trips would determine level of impact by preparing a trip generation estimate.
A trip gen estimate is already part of the existing LOS impact analysis process, so it will not be an unfamiliar task for project sponsors. The Planning dept already has trip gen methodologies in place.
After determining the number of auto trips that would be generated by the project, the project sponsor would pay the per-trip TIMF fee. The project sponsor’s role ends here. However, there would be a process for determining what mitigation measures to implement in the local area.
The Benefits
Implementation Roadmap
Thank you!
rachel.hiatt@sfcta.org
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