1. GO Boulder
City of Boulder - Transportation
Net Zero Cities Conference
Fort Collins, Colorado
October 23, 2013
2. About Boulder
•
25 mi (40 km) NW of Denver
•
100,000 residents
•
98,000 jobs
•
University of Colorado –
30,000 students
•
25 sq mi (64 sq km)
surrounded by open space
•
1 mi (1.6 km) high, 4 seasons
2
5. Transportation Progress
Report on Progress
Work Mode Share
Boulder residents
2008-2010 (3 yr avg.)
American Community Survey
12%
Boulder
Denver Metro
Nation
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
bike
Jan 2012
walk
bus
5
18. How are we doing?
•
Over 160 centerline miles of bike facilities
• In comparison 305 centerline miles of roads
•
•
•
•
95% of Boulder’s arterial streets accommodate bicycles
Safe Routes to School program
Since 2009, constructed 2880 linear feet of sidewalk.
Add 3,585 linear feet of sidewalk by 2015
22. Moving Forward
•
•
•
Bicycle Mode Share of more than 15%
Bicycle Friendly Community Diamond Designation
Walk friendly community designation
23. Boulder Walks Program
A new initiative to encourage walking and build
awareness of what contributes to a walkable community.
•
Engage neighborhoods
•
Identify deficiencies and points of interest
•
Conduct walk audits
•
Develop walking maps
25. Living Laboratory
• Create interactive environment for
•
•
cyclists to experience and provide
feedback
All ages & stages of cyclists
Mobility, comfort and safety
26. Demonstration Projects
Summer – Fall 2013
• Cycle Track (Baseline)
• Back-in-Angle parking
• Advisory Bike Lane
• Bike Boulevard
• Bike Box
• Bike Parking
Regulations
• Buffered Bike Lane
Future – 2013-14+
• Spruce Street on-street
facility
•
•
•
•
•
Glow Paint
Slow Zones
Re-visioning 30th Street
Cycle Track (University)
Electric Assist Bike
Policy
27. 5 Es
Engineering. Evaluation. Enforcement. Encouragement. Education
Engineering
Evaluation
Enforcement
4,500
4,000
3,500
3,000
2,500
2007
2,000
2008
2009
2010
1,500
1,000
500
0
Bikes on racks
Bikes on
parking meters
Bikes on other
Freestanding
bikes
Total Bikes
Parked
29. Success Lies at the Intersection
Encouragement
Education
Walk Friendly
Community &
Engineering
World Class Bicycle
City
Enforcement
Evaluation
30. Transportation
Challenges & Opportunities
• Mode shift flattening, need to reach the
“high-hanging fruit”
• Local and regional land use patterns
• Integration with city-wide sustainability
& Climate Commitment goals
• Funding
• Multimodal choices to support
active, healthy lifestyles
• Easy & FUN
• Learn from International Best Practices
Sustainability Sweet Spot for TransportationGreater connectivity and multi-modal investmentsReduces car tripsWhich reduces emissions and congestionWhile encouraging trips by bike, by bus and by footWhich promotes healthier livingWhich makes for happier and more productive residents who interact more sociallyWhich makes Boulder a better place to live and work, thus enhancing our economic vitality
TMP fits under the Comp Plan, serves broader community goalsGuiding policy for multimodal transportation systemEstablishes funding prioritiesDeveloped through a extensive community input process Integration with city-wide planning initiativesClimate CommitmentNeighborhood Accessibility ToolSustainable Streets + Centers, CHS, E. Arapahoe Policy Foundation Investment StrategyHold traffic at 1994 levels Reduce SOV trips to 25% by 2025 Improve Air Quality Pedestrian is Primary Goal for Integration with Climate Commitment & Land Use Planning Initiatives
Report on Progress shows that the policy approach taken over the past 21 years has worked. The community survey and polling results reflect strong support for the travel options that are being provided and the importance of taking good care of those systems.
Reduce single-occupant-vehicle travel to 25 percent of trips
Based on 2012 estimates from Climate action plan and a pop of 100,000, boulder is on par with the US average listed in this summary.
Community Generated Transit Design & Market ResearchCommunity Access Shuttle – community design process, blank sheet of paper except for primary activity centers, first round of ISTEA – becomes HOP – doubled ridership goal within 6 monthsTransit System – community survey, focus groups – shift from hub and spoke, more emphasis on elements learned from HOP Created new vision for transit servicesHOP and SKIP – such as…So frequent no schedule neededDirect serviceIdentity that is attractive, describes purposeInviting vehicles – Music, Automated Stop AnnouncementsDrivers as ambassadorsAddress “exact change” barrierSKIP service – next test – from 2000 riders a day to close to 6000
Moving forward – listening and learning from the community to enhance transit service for the future
65% prioritize real time information55% prioritize expanded Eco Pass54% prioritize enhanced regional service49% prioritize enhanced local service53% prioritize increased bike capacity
The City of Boulder has a robust network of facilities for biking and our bicycle mode share is one of the highest per capita in the nation. We also have an equally impressive portion of people choosing to walk and ride transit in our community.And our efforts have been recognized by the League of American Bicyclists which awarded Boulder a Platinum Bicycle Friendly Community award in 2008 and renewed our standing in 2012. For a north American City is this great. Yet, while we have made progress, we need to accelerate the rate of change to both achieve the objectives of the TMP and the greater challenges of sustainability and greenhouse gas reduction.It’s true that oulder is one of the leading communities in sustainable transportation in the U.S., But, international examples show that we can achieve much more. From this perspective, Boulder is the “best of the worst”, and we need to compare ourselves to the best at the international level.
- 22 stations / 150 bikes in circulation - 1,170 annual members, 6000 24hr passes sold - Estimated 55K miles over 18,500 trips - Compatible with Denver & national B-cycle systems
Go through this quicklyChanged to “Serve areas of change”“Emerging” Themes for Transit – There’s more work coming
With respect to cyclists we believe that in order to significantly increase bicycle mode share we need to better accommodate “interested but concerned cyclists”. According to research conducted in Portland, survey after survey and poll after poll has found again and again that the number one reason people do not ride bicycles is because they are afraid to be in the roadway on a bicycle. When they say they are “afraid” , it is a fear of people driving automobiles. Their study states that has been documented and reported in transportation literature from studies, surveys and conversations across the US, Canada, and Europe.While we haven’t polled the Boulder community yet. We are pretty confident that our population would be more or less representative of Portland’s findings. So, who are the interested but concerned? We think that women likely comprise a significant share. According to 2012 Travel Diary Study results, which is based on approximately 1,100 Boulder Valley resident’s records of their travel, Men bicycle at a rate that is two times that of women. Twice as many women as men are completing multi-occupant vehicle trips with childrenApproximately 42% of single occupant trips are completed by women in comparison to just 29% completed by men. So, we’d like to focus on a target market that engages of all ages and stages in their life and solicit their participation in focus groups that will convene a few times over the next several month. Drawing from work completed by our peer city of Portland, OR – we believe that in order to significantly increase bicycle mode share we need to better accommodate “interested but concerned cyclists”. Based on travel diary surveys men bicycle at a rate that is two times that of women. Twice as many women as men complete drive alone trips and So, we’d like to focus on a target market that engages
Performance monitoring of the living laboratory bike innovation demonstration projects will include several qualitative and quantitative measurements:Bike and Walk Audits, Focus Groups and a Feedback Panel are forums that have been established to offer community interaction and public input before, during and after treatments are installed.Transportation data will be collected and analyzed to provide a before/after comparison of modal traffic volume, vehicle speeds, and collision experience.Field observations to track driver and bicyclist behavior also will be conducted.Federal Highway Administration FHWA authorization is required to experiment with advisory Bike Lane innovation(s). Note: Evaluation criteria and Installation of this treatment depends on FHWA review and approval.A Low-stress bicycle network analysis will be conducted to evaluate before/after level of "traffic stress" and define whether treatments reduce stress level for bicyclists. High-stress streets are measured as those with high speed limits, limited or non-existent bike lanes and signage, and large distances to cross at intersections.
