Walk and Roll: WSDOT Active Transportation Update June 9, 2020

Washington State Department of Transportation sent this bulletin at 06/09/2020 08:33 PM PDT

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In case you missed recent editions of Walk + Roll: 

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ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION NEWS FROM WSDOT AND PARTNERS

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Active Transportation, Design, and Mobility Organizations Speak Out

As the nation's streets fill with demonstrations, a number of organizations working on active transportation have issued statements condemning racism and committing to work so that every person will someday be able to walk, bike, roll, and lead their lives free from fear of harm. Some of these statements also speak to how communities incorporate street reallocation to create more space for active transportation movements in the context of COVID19 and the complex interactions between race, mobility and safety. Several have links to more articles and resources that provide historical context.

Washington State

National

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Local Jurisdictions Expand Space for Active Transportation, Commerce

WSDOT Active Transportation Division seeks to track locations in the state where jurisdictions are taking action to expand space for active transportation use and to repurpose street space to be used for the social realm and commerce. Is your town doing something that should be on this list?

Bellevue: Healthy Streets program piloted in May, expansion announced

Olympia: New "Simplified Sidewalks" plan will expand its sidewalk vendor policy to various streets on a rotating basis, with provision for maintaining ADA accessibility. 

Port Townsend: Port Townsend streetscape changes to encourage social distancing

Seattle: Stay Healthy Streets program provided temporary traffic-calming measures on neighborhood greenways. The cityhas announced plans to make 20 miles of the changes permanent, making Seattle the first city in the US to commit to extension of changes beyond the pandemic. SDOT also made changes to signal timing to facilitate pedestrian movement.

Repurposing street and/or parking space for restaurant/commercial space is under consideration in a number of Washington towns, including Vancouver and Redmond, among others.

Related resources:

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Transportation During (and Hopefully) After a Pandemic

WSDOT Sec. Roger Millar recently delivered a keynote talk to the keynote speaker to the American Society of Civil Engineers' Transportation and Development Institute Leadership Summit. He covers WSDOT’s response to the virus, revenue challenges, the agency's response to challenges, the lessons we continue to learn from COVID-19, and what WSDOT's next steps are in this “new normal.” 

Some of the COVID-19 points:

  • No one is safe until everyone is safe.
  • Service workers are the keys to a prosperous economy and often live farthest from employment centers.
  • Affordable transportation and housing options are an economic necessity, not a social service.
  • "Telecommunity": Need to address equitable access to technology, rural broadbend, fully ADA-accessible conferencing.
  • Importance of complete neighborhoods with services and accessible active transportation facilities more evident than ever before.
  • You can get anywhere in the state in a car, but there are a number of places in the state where you can't walk to your neighborhood grocery store. We need to complete the active transportation network.
  • E-bikes contribute to decarbonizing the transportation system; e-cargo bikes have a role in freight delivery.
  • Biking/walking up significantly, motor vehicle traffic down, crash rates and speeding up.
  • Unique time to rethink our old models.
  • Need to emphasize resilience in the face of the pandemic and climate change, select flexible, adaptable investment strategies for now and the future.

The talk is available on YouTube. Closed captioning can be turned on using the controls at the bottom of the video screen (note that it doesn't render 100% of the words accurately; "COVID" in particular appears with a variety of misspellings).

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Mode-Neutral Usage: Changed/Repurposed/Reallocated, Not Closed/Open/Slow

As communities seek to provide active transportation space that enables social distancing, they apply various descriptions to their actions as they place temporary cones or barriers and put up signage.

The most common terminology—sometimes used by the cities themselves, often used by reporters—describes the action as "closing streets". This falls short of accurate mode-neutral usage on two fronts: It describes the street from the perspective of only one mode, and it isn't true.

These streets aren't closed to driving. Residents, delivery drivers, and essential services such as garbage pick-up or in-home care providers can still use the street. The changes give drivers more time in which to see and respond to movements of people walking, biking, and rolling, since these are intended to be spaces where more of that kind of use will be present.

This might feel like “closing” the street if you’re in a vehicle and used to having both lanes to use, or if you’re an essential worker relying on transit or personal vehicles because housing isn’t available close to where you work.

If you’re walking or rolling the street may feel more open than ever. You have access to space that previously had been dedicated to the movements of people in vehicles. However, the street only feels “open” to you if you feel comfortable using it, safe from harm or the threat of violence.

Referring to a street as “open” or “safe” assumes each individual can have the same experience using the street, which isn’t an accurate reflection of our past history or our current reality. Racialized differences in arrest and citation rates for ordinances related to walking and bicycling and the outcomes of those contacts show up in city after city, as research shows us. Disabled people may also experience disproportionate enforcement, particularly when police fail to recognize a person’s disability in the course of an interaction. Other human characteristics such as gender or age affect an individual's experience of every street, whether or not the space has been temporarily reallocated.

Calling it a “slow street” also relies on the windshield perspective. For someone on a bicycle or tricycle, going 10 or 15 miles per hour can feel anywhere from easy to fast, depending on your level of experience. This same rate of travel feels slow for a driver, who can compare it to the sensation of going 35 or 50 or 65 mph.

A mode-neutral description of changes to the public right-of-way will describe it as changing, repurposing, or temporarily reallocating public space/right-of-way. As always, asking “for whom?” at the end of any description can help clarify who is affected and should be consulted.

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FIVE+ THINGS TO READ

Poor and Black ‘Invisible Cyclists’ Need to be Part of Post-Pandemic Transport Planning Too: "Design-related, infrastructural challenges, such as providing more bike lanes, or better still, protected bike lanes – paths separated from both road and sidewalk – are important. But the more fundamental barriers are political, cultural and economic in nature." 

‘Safe Streets’ Are Not Safe for Black Lives: "If we want to prevent unintended impacts as a result of our planning practices today, our solutions and responses to these crises (and the interlocking systems of oppression that they exacerbate) must be rooted in collective decision-making, with a special emphasis on those who experience and access “outside” from a disadvantaged position in society."

The Racial Injustice of American Highways: "Policies that on their face may have appeared to be about easing transportation barriers and revitalizing cities were — and still are — often rooted in longstanding racial prejudice, and carried with them cascading effects that worsened pre-existing inequalities."

Under the Banner of ‘Urbanism’: An Interview With Kristen Jeffers: "For me, “friend of the city” means being someone who advocates for every citizen to live in a just environment....there is very much a classist undertone to the word “urbanist.” It’s also biased; if you hear the world “urbanism,” you don’t automatically think of that as a term that includes rural communities."

Oakland’s Warren Logan on pursuing racial equity within a mobility framework: "It’s really rewarding to work with people who are so committed to their community and would do anything to help people feel safe and healthy. That’s what equity looks like: empowering community members in whatever way you can to give them the tools to make their lives better."

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TRAININGS, CONFERENCES, WEBINARS

We add new trainings as we find them so the list changes with every issue. Some of these offer continuing education credits. All times are shown in Pacific time zone. 

All webinars listed are FREE unless a price is noted. All items are webinars unless a location is noted.

June

GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

AWARDS, COMPETITIONS AND KUDOS

PLANNING AND PROJECTS

Have an upcoming project, open house, public comment opportunity? Construction projects people should know about as they relate to biking/walking? Compliments on a project? Send to barb.chamberlain@wsdot.wa.gov

PRESENT AND PARTICIPATE

RESEARCH AND RESOURCES

SURVEYS AND DATA COLLECTION

If you read this far, thank you! You're finding something of value here and you know someone else who should receive this kind of news and learn what's happening with the state Active Transportation Plan. Forward WSDOT Walk and Roll to others and share the subscription link on social media (tag it #WSDOTactive).