Bike Backlash Overblown: Despite Opposition, Bike Lanes Prove Their Popularity in New York City

By Jay Walljasper, guest blogger

Editor’s Note: Thanks to Jay Walljasper for this new guest blog on the rise of bicycling in NYC, the latest of several cities to follow Minneapolis’s lead in launching a bike share system. Here in the Twin Cities, we’ve also experienced a significant increase in bike ridership as bicycling infrastructure has expanded and improved. Through TLC’s role in administering the Bike Walk Twin Cities nonmotorized transportation pilot program, we’ve fostered and documented these shifts. We’ve also seen firsthand the positive impact on safety and the culture change precipitated by real investments in active transportation. Join TLC Thursday, June 13, at Transportation on Tap for a closer look at another benefit: the economic impact of bicycling.

New York's City's bike share system launched for annual members on May 27 and opened for all users on June 2. Already, Citi Bike riders have pedaled nearly 365,000 miles on "New York’s newest public transportation system." Credit: Citi Bike

Former New York mayor Ed Koch envisioned bicycles as vehicles for the future, and in 1980 created experimental bike lanes on 6^th and 7^th Avenues in Manhattan where riders were protected from speeding traffic by asphalt barriers. Some people immediately roared their disapproval and within a few weeks the bike lanes were gone.

Twenty-seven years later, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and his transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan saw the growing ranks of bicyclists on the streets as a key component of 21^st-century transportation, and began building protected bike lanes in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

These “green lanes” were an immediate hit with the public but a noisy reaction came from a small group of well-connected people. New York magazine declared the situation a “Bikelash” on its cover.

Pressure mounted on Bloomberg to sack Sadik-Khan and rip out the green lanes. Anthony Weiner, then a Queens congressman and mayoral hopeful, told Bloomberg he would spend his first year as mayor attending “a bunch of ribbon cuttings tearing out your [expletive] bike lanes.” Bicyclists everywhere braced themselves for a setback, which would once again slow progress toward safer streets in New York and around the continent.  

Now two years later, Sadik-Khan is still commissioner and bike lanes continue appearing across the city, including 11.3 new miles of green lanes last year alone. Two-thirds of New Yorkers call bike lanes a good idea in the most recent New York Times poll, compared to only 27 percent who oppose them.

Another of Bloomberg’s and Sadik-Khan’s big ideas to improve New York is now sparking controversy: the Citi Bike bike sharing system, with 6,000 bikes available at 330 stations in Manhattan and Brooklyn. A member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board has called the idea—which is already up and running in Boston, Washington, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Denver, Chattanooga, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Houston, London, and Paris—“totalitarian” in an unintentionally hilarious “interview” here. But judging from the popularity of bike lanes and success of bike share in other cities, this brouhaha will blow over.

Tim Blumenthal, president of PeopleForBikes and the sister Green Lane Project, stresses, “Bike issues need to be framed in the context of what they mean to the city, not just what they mean to people who bike. In New York City, for example, more green lanes, better bikeway networks, and the new Citi Bike system will benefit all residents and visitors by reducing traffic, noise, and air pollution—making city life a little less frenetic for everyone.”

Other communities will no doubt face their own version of bikelash, but the high-profile debate in New York over bike lanes highlighted two key assets of protected lanes: 

1.  Bike lanes create safer streets for everyone. “It’s the safety stats that carried the day,” notes Ben Fried, editor of Streetsblog, which focuses on transportation in New York City. “They’re pretty indisputable.” Crashes for all road users (drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists) on streets with green lanes drop on average by 40 percent, and sometimes as much as 50 percent, according to a memorandum from Deputy New York Mayor Howard Wolfson. Green lanes also lead to significantly fewer bicyclists riding on sidewalks, Fried notes.
2. Bike Lanes are good for business. Businesses on 9^th Avenue, the first major green lane in the city, saw a 49 percent rise in retail sales, compared to 3 percent across Manhattan as a whole, according to research by the New York City Department of Transportation. Another study of consumer patterns by Portland State University researchers, found that shoppers who arrive by bicycle spend 24 percent more at stores per month than those who drive. 
    

Just one example of the growing network of bicycling infrastructure in NYC, this painted, buffered bike lane provides a highly visible, dedicated space for on-street bicycling.

 

New, unfamiliar ideas like green lanes always spark opposition—at first. “Push back is inevitable,” Fried explains. “It doesn’t mean the project is flawed. Once it’s built, the constituency for it will grow.”

Complaints about a “war on cars” have echoed around Seattle from a small but persistent chorus opposed to bike lanes. In response, the Cascade Bicycle Club commissioned a poll of Seattle voters (conducted by the independent research firm FM3 using a scientifically rigorous sample of 400 respondents), which found that 79 percent view bicyclists favorably, 73 percent want to see more protected green lanes, 59 percent support “replacing roads and some on-street parking” to build green lanes,” while only 31 percent believe Seattle is “waging a war on cars.”

Increasing numbers of Americans are embracing bicycling to commute, run errands, exercise, and have fun. Green lanes and other new bicycle infrastructure being built across the country are encouraging even more people to ride by making the streets safer for bicyclists of all ages and backgrounds.

 

Jay Walljasper writes, speaks and consults frequently about biking and other ways to improve our communities. His website: www.JayWalljasper.com

 

Still hope for a bold transportation bill this session!

By Dave Van Hattum, Senior Policy Advocate

Taking action: This week at the Capitol, supporters called on legislators to fund transportation now.

In a surprise move a week ago, freshman senator Melisa Franzen offered an amendment on the Senate floor to the Omnibus Transportation Funding bill to provide new funding for roads and transit. That amendment passed and, soon after, the entire bill was adopted.  HF 1444 (previously SF 1173) includes a phased-in half-cent increase in the metro area sales tax for transit, and a phased-in increase of 5 cents in the state gas tax. The amended bill also includes a small percentage for bicycle and pedestrian connections, and increases transit funding for Greater Minnesota, meeting 70 percent of the need. Together, these investments will put Minnesota’s transportation system on the right path for the future. The question now is whether these elements make it into law this session.

TLC and the Transit for a Stronger Economy coalition have advocated all session for a funding bill that will greatly expand transit, and safe, accessible bicycling and walking connections. This past Wednesday, the coalition gathered outside the Governor’s office and marched to Speaker Thissen’s office. The walls of the Capitol echoed with voices calling, “Transportation Now!”       

This week, the Minnesota House and Senate have been conferencing the bold Senate bill with a “lights on” House Transportation funding bill that offers no increase in funding, but rather keeps status quo transportation budgets in place.  The Conference Committee is comprised of the following legislators.

Senate	House
Dibble	Hornstein
Champion	Bernardy
Carlson	Beard
Jensen	Erhardt
Kent	Sundin

There is still hope that end-of-session negotiations will get the job done on transportation. One possibility is that the half-cent sales tax will be packaged with $300 million in trunk highway bonds and as yet unnamed additional funding for roads. Another funding effort is a House bonding bill, championed by Rep. Alice Hausman, with funding for Southwest light rail and other key transit projects. 

All session, Governor Dayton has remained committed to his budget proposal, which includes a half-cent increase in the metro sales tax to significantly expand the metro area transit system. Let’s thank the Governor (click here or call 651-201-3400) and inspire him and legislative leaders to get the job done in the final few days.

The Transit for a Stronger Economy coalition will remain engaged in legislative action right up to the final bell—in this case, Monday, May 20.  We encourage other transit, bicycling, and walking advocates to do the same, and to keep the pressure on your elected officials through the weekend!  

Take action: send a quick message to your state legislators right now.

Photo Credit: Val Escher

Connecting the Dots: Transportation and Health

By Teresa Roark, TLC Intern, Graduate Student at U of M School of Public Health

 

Throughout this legislative session, Transit for Livable Communities has been facilitating the Transit for a Stronger Economy coalition. Our coalition’s name emphasizes the positive economic impact of increased transit, but the benefits of public transportation are broad. Not surprisingly, the list of Transit for a Stronger Economy’s 52 member organizations is equally broad, representing a variety of sectors, including public health. Earlier this spring, coalition partner Rachel Callanan, Regional Vice President of Advocacy for the American Heart Association and Chair of the Minnesotans for Healthy Kids coalition testified in favor of increased funding for transit, bicycle, and pedestrian improvements. In her testimony, Callanan made a strong connection between transportation and health. As she emphasized, greater investments in transit and active transportation options are likely to have positive health implications for Minnesotans, while also saving our state money in health care costs.

Lack of physical activity is associated with a number of chronic diseases, including heart disease, stroke, and obesity. The Surgeon General recommends that adults get at least 30 minutes of daily physical activity. Almost half of American adults do not meet this recommendation. But as  Callanan noted, “Increased access to public transportation may provide more opportunities for physical activity as most transit trips begin and end with walking.” In fact, Callanan said, “Public transit users spend an average of 19 minutes daily walking to and from transit. . . . This modest amount is significant enough that it could reduce the obesity epidemic and its related health costs.”

Improved physical health is not just important for individuals who currently don’t exercise. We will all benefit from lower health care costs. Callanan shared research conducted by the American Heart Association that predicts that the “healthcare costs from obesity alone could exceed $861 billion by 2013, which would account for at least 16 percent of U.S. health expenditures.” By acting now and increasing funding for transit, bicycling, and walking, we can prevent this astronomical increase in health care costs. 

Transit, bicycling, and walking are good for Minnesota’s economy, but these transportation options are also good for our health. As the diversity of our coalition members reminds us, the potential benefits we will see when the legislature passes a comprehensive transportation funding bill are many—hopefully too many for elected officials to ignore. 

Metro Red Line + MVTA = A Great Ride to the Zoo

By Hilary Reeves, Communications Director

When the Metro Red Line opens on June 22, it will be the region’s first station-to-station Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line. It will travel on bus-only shoulder lanes along Cedar Avenue, with stations at Apple Valley Transit Station, 147th Street, 140th Street, Cedar Grove station in Eagan, and the Mall of America, where connections can be made to the Blue Line (aka the Hiawatha light rail line). Unlike commuter bus service, the Red Line BRT will run frequently all day, every day—so frequently you won’t need a schedule, says the Metropolitan Council. The operating hours will be from 5 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Friday, and 7:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday and Sunday.

Metro Red Line buses will serve each station with level boarding, real-time signs, and other transit advantages, much like service on the light rail (LRT). Credit: Metropolitan Council.

 

When the Red Line opens June 22, some MVTA bus routes will change to feed to and from the Line. Commuter bus service will not change. Credit: Metropolitan Council.

 

With the expansion of the transit network in the south metro, the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority (MVTA) will adjust bus schedules to feed into the Red Line and back. While commuter buses from the MVTA will not change, the combination of bus, BRT, and LRT will make it easier to get to key destinations by transit.

One MVTA route adjustment will give families an affordable way to get to the Minnesota Zoo. Starting June 22, take the Red Line to the Cedar Grove Station (ask for a transfer) and catch the MVTA bus for a 15 minute ride to the Zoo, with hourly service every day of the week, from morning to early evening. Kids under 5 years old travel for free (the limit is three free kids per one adult). The off-peak fare is $1.75 per adult or child over age 5. And, use your transfer to get discounted admission to the Zoo. Given that regular Zoo admission is $12.00-$16.00 and parking for cars is $6.00, the Red Line-MVTA combo could be a money-saving option!

 

If you’ve got tickets to one of the summer concerts at Minnesota Zoo’s Weesner Family Amphitheater this summer, MVTA also is offering special express bus service (route 475) from the University of Minnesota through downtown Minneapolis to the Cedar Grove Transit station, arriving at the Zoo by 7:00 p.m. for 7:30 concerts. Buses will leave the Zoo at 10:30 p.m. The fare is $5.00 round trip, paid as riders board the bus to the Zoo. The Zoo concert series runs through the end of August. For more information about the special route, click here.

Thanks to Robin Selvig at MVTA for her help with details about changing service.

# # #

 

Streetcars in the City

By Dave Van Hattum, Senior Policy Advocate, and Teresa Roark, TLC Intern

Energy around a streetcar revival has been steadily building in the Twin Cities—and with good reason. The modern streetcar is far more than an ode to the dominant transportation mode preceding today’s ubiquitous car culture. Streetcars provide a valuable transit option uniquely suited to dense urban settings and with strong opportunities for new commercial and residential development. But are streetcars likely to make a major comeback here in Minnesota?

Streetcars (referred to as trolleys outside North America) have been part of the U.S. transit system since the late 19^th century. By the 1920s, they were commonplace, even spawning the term “streetcar suburb” for their notable influence on development patterns and commuting habits.

As local authors John Diers and Aaron Isaacs describe in Twin Cities by Trolley, many older Minnesotans fondly recall riding the 520-mile streetcar network that once stretched from Stillwater to Lake Minnetonka, with dense grids of track serving Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

 

Passengers boarding a streetcar at Hennepin Ave. & 9^th St. in Minneapolis, part of the extensive network that once served the Twin Cities metro area.

After declining in the 1940s and 50s for a variety of reasons, including growing suburban development and the emergence of rubber tired buses, streetcars are reappearing in more and more cities across the country—not only as a way of moving people from one place to another, but as part of a comprehensive development plan.

Peer Cities Embrace Modern Streetcars

Today, modern streetcars operate in Charlotte, NC, Portland, OR, and the Seattle-Tacoma metro area.. New streetcar service will launch in Dallas and Washington, DC, later this year, and is under construction or procurement in Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Salt Lake City. Historic streetcars still operate in Boston, Memphis, New Orleans (replica), Philadelphia, and San Francisco.

  
Passengers about to board a modern streetcar in Portland, OR.

These streetcars operate in urban cores and make frequent stops. They are smaller and less expensive than light rail vehicles, but larger and more expensive than buses. Popular models can accommodate 41 seated passengers and 100 standing passengers. They can either operate with autos on existing streets or, like LRT, on their own rights of way.

STREETCARS
Key Differences from Light Rail Transit (LRT)	Key Differences from Buses
Less capacity (see graphic below)	More capacity (see graphic below)
Can operate in mixed traffic	Higher visibility
Shorter routes, more frequent stops	Often spurs more development
Less construction Impact	Electric powered
Less expensive $30 to $60 million/mile vs. $100 million/mile for LRT	More expensive $30 to $60 million/mile vs. $5 million/mile for arterial BRT

*Sources for cost estimates: Streetcars 101, City of Saint Paul website; LRT based on cost of Hiawatha, Central, and Southwest LRT cost, Metro Transit Arterial BRT Study.

 

Credit: City of Minneapolis

Streetcars, with their high visibility and fixed routes, encourage economic development and mixed-use land development. For example, since streetcar service began in 1996 in the historic South End of Charlotte, NC, property values have increased from $20 million to $360 million. The streetcar is now considered “the spine of the district.”

Portland, OR, first began operating Central City Streetcar in 2001. Since then, there has been $3.5 billion in development within two blocks of this streetcar line (over 50 percent of total downtown development). Much of this development has been mixed residential and commercial, with residential properties averaging just 0.6 parking spaces per unit. Not long after opening a streetcar line, Portland birthed United Streetcar, the only manufacturer of modern streetcars in the U.S.

It is easy to see why many American cities are choosing to invest in streetcars, but will the Twin Cities join them?

Studies are underway to evaluate streetcar feasibility and determine the best routes for streetcars in both Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

In Minneapolis, an Alternatives Analysis (AA) has narrowed the most feasible routes to a single starter line. From downtown, the line would travel south on Nicollet Ave. to Lake St. and northeast on East Hennepin and Central Ave. We imagine this starter line will have strong potential for future development and would attract visitors and downtown workers to a wide variety of restaurants, shops, and other attractions. The AA will also examine a longer route—from 46^th St. South to 41^st St. North—that may follow a successful starter line.

Other promising routes include a streetcar along the Midtown Greenway connecting the Hiawatha LRT and the future Southwest LRT (a project being studied by Metro Transit) and a streetcar along West Broadway serving North Minneapolis. Particularly given that the proposed Bottineau LRT route skirts North Minneapolis, a new streetcar on West Broadway could bring welcome reinvestment potential to that area of the city along with more frequent transit service.  

These potential streetcar routes and many others are simultaneously being assessed as possible rapid bus corridors.

Saint Paul is also studying streetcars. By the end of 2013 when the City’s streetcar feasibility study concludes, it will have identified one to two priority corridors for implementation. Over a dozen corridors are currently being examined, including Snelling Ave., Payne Ave., Lexington Pkwy., West 7^th/East 7^th St., Rice St., Ford Pkwy., Robert St., Grand Ave., and several others. Evaluation criteria include ridership potential, development potential, and transit-supportive land uses.

Streetcar Funding

Both Saint Paul and Minneapolis still need to identify a funding source for any future streetcar lines. Streetcars are not currently identified in the Metropolitan Council’s Transportation Policy Plan, nor eligible for funding through the Counties Transit Improvement Board (1/4-cent metro area sales tax for transit), or by Metro Transit, which has had very limited resources to increase bus service over the past decade.

Given the potential of streetcars, however, a variety of new funding sources are being explored. These include: 1) allowing streetcar construction and operation as one use of an increase in the metro area sales tax (HF 1444), 2) value capture legislation (HF 617), which would allow Minneapolis to secure a portion of capital costs by borrowing against future property tax increases in locations served by a streetcar, and 3) federal funding from the Federal Transit Administration’s Small Starts program.

Want to get involved and learn more? Weigh in on bringing streetcars back to Saint Paul. Stay informed about ongoing Minneapolis streetcar planning efforts and upcoming opportunities to participate: Nicollet-Central or Midtown Corridor.

Find more on Portland’s streetcar system and development-oriented transit here.

 

This Spring: Influence Twin Cities Regional Development for the Next 30 Years

By Dave Van Hattum, Senior Policy Advocate

 

 

The Metropolitan Council’s new regional development plan, Thrive MSP 2040, will set the framework for how the Twin Cities metro area will grow over the next 30 years.  It will influence the footprint of the developed area, including how much land will be converted from farmland and open space to housing and employment sites. It will set targets for affordable housing and establish goals for parks and water quality. And Thrive MSP will also influence our region’s future mix of transportation options: Will we invest in more highway lanes and new interchanges? Or will our region shift investments to additional public transit, bike routes, and sidewalks along with the repair of existing roads?  

You Have the Power to Influence this Plan

This spring, the Metropolitan Council is seeking input on the plan. We strongly encourage you to tell the Council what investments matter most to you, and what kind of community you want to live in going forward. Your ideas matter! Share them online, or participate at an upcoming Thrive MSP Roundtable Discussion near you. These roundtables will focus on four issue areas: 1) Regionally significant economic places, 2) land use and transit, 3) affordable housing priority, location and need, and 4) water supply and a thriving region.

Upcoming Thrive MSP Roundtable Discussions:

• Tuesday, April 30, 6:30-8:30 PM, Eagan
• Saturday, May 4, 10 AM-Noon, Saint Paul
• Thursday, May 9, 6-8 PM, Shoreview
• Thursday, May 16, 6-8 PM, Minneapolis

Setting Goals for Land Use and Transit

With regard to land use and transit, here are three key points to keep an eye on when you comment on Thrive MSP:

** Affordability = Opportunity. Thrive MSP should make sure the entire region has convenient access to transit and safe, accessible bicycling and walking options.

The Thrive MSP Transportation Goal should include the word “affordably.” Today’s transportation system works pretty well for people who can afford to drive a car, largely connecting motorists with destinations safely and reliably. But it nearly requires owning a car—a huge cost to families in the region. For young adults, the elderly, people with a disability, or others without the means for car ownership, this burden limits opportunity and makes home ownership, educational advancement, and personal health harder to achieve.  We can advance Thrive MSP’s equity principle by prioritizing affordable transportation options. For example, materials for the Thrive MSP Roundtable discussions ask, “How could transit investment decisions enhance access to opportunity for low-income and people of color. . . . ?” We think the best way to enhance access to opportunity is to increase investment in transit, bicycling, and walking – affordable options.

** Connect the Dots to Climate Change. Thrive MSP should help achieve Minnesota’s goal to reduce climate change by setting and measuring goals for the percent of trips by transit, bicycling, and walking in our region.

If our region is to dramatically reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, Thrive MSP needs to include a specific goal (as is already in state statute) for the share of trips made by public transit, bicycling, and walking that will help to achieve the state climate goals. To make progress toward those goals, the Met Council needs to explicitly advocate for the funding and policy change necessary to expand the availability of these transportation options.  Transit emits a fraction of the pollution of driving alone, and bicycling and walking are emissions free.

** Transit-Supportive Land Use.  Thrive MSP should encourage most new development inside the I-494/I-694 beltway and along transitways or near high-frequency transit.

As Thrive MSP Roundtable materials state, “Over the last 60 years, our rapidly expanding region built a network of highways and grew outward around them. This new development provided jobs, homes, schools, and recreation for the region’s residents. However, this development pattern is not sustainable.”  We agree with the Metropolitan Council. Planning for the majority of new growth (housing and employment sites) to occur where there is current infrastructure (roads, utilities, schools, etc.) in place, along major bus corridors and transitways, and inside the I-494/694 beltway where density levels are favorable for providing efficient transit makes good economic and environmental sense.

These materials also ask, “How could local land-use decisions improve the future viability of transit?” The Council can do this by ensuring that Thrive MSP is more specific, with clear goals, identified growth areas, and by channeling incentive funding into investments that help to achieve the plan’s goals.

Stay Informed, Get Involved

The Metropolitan Council will be working on Thrive MSP through the end of 2013, with adoption planned for February 2014. Because this plan will provide a strategic vision for the Twin Cities for decades to come, we encourage you to get involved, online or in person, throughout the process.

For more on this topic, don’t miss our other recent blogs in the Thrive MSP series:

Top Ten Elements in Regional Plans: Our Peers Have Set a High Bar

Thrive MSP 2040 – Why and How to Create a Shared Vision

Update from the Capitol: Senate Introduces a Bill that’s Good for Transit, Bicyclists, and Pedestrians

By Dave Van Hattum, Senior Policy Advocate 

 

Supporters of comprehensive transportation funding filled the Capitol Rotunda at a lively rally Wednesday morning.

 

Comprehensive transit /transportation funding bills are still alive in the Minnesota Senate and House. The metro area transit funding package that TLC has advocated includes substantial new funding for buses, rail and bicycle and walking options. There have been numerous ups and downs (as is typical for a major bill). A Senate bill being voted on today, however, gives us renewed hope. See more detail below.

Transit advocates appreciate Governor Dayton’s leadership. His proposed budget  includes a ½ cent increase in the metro area sales tax for transit. There is consensus by Capitol experts, however, that this plan will only be passed by the House and Senate if it is combined with significant new funding for roads and bridges. The logic for this is that Minnesota legislators have always addressed transportation as a statewide issue. Greater Minnesota legislators are more likely to vote for a package that addresses road, bridge, and transit needs in their districts.  

Moving separately in the House is a capital investment bill championed by Representative Hausman that includes significant bonding for public transit, Safe Routes to School, local roads, bridges, and trails. The Senate has yet to take up a bonding bill this session, so the path for adoption is still unclear.

 

Minneapolis Mayor R. T. Rybak with supporters at today’s rally for transportation funding.

 

Transit advocates are joining with proponents of funding for roads and bridges, working hard at the Capitol, reaching legislators through phone banks, and hosting a Rally at the Capitol today.

All these efforts reflect the strong support for major transportation investments this session. We believe the Governor and legislative leaders (speaker Thissen in the House, and Majority Leader Bakk in the Senate) should pass into law a balanced transportation bill that addresses the statewide need for transit, roads, bridges, and bicycle and pedestrian connections.

 

In her remarks at today’s rally, transit advocate and North Minneapolis resident Kenya McKnight emphasized that all communities need transit options, safe roads, and bicycling and walking connections.

 

The bill supported by TLC and the Transit for a Stronger Economy coalition earlier this session included increased transit funding as well as substantial new dedicated funding for bicycle and pedestrian improvements in the metro area. We’re happy to report that these elements remain in place in both the Senate transportation bill (which will be heard Wednesday evening in committee) and in a House bill that is working its way through various committees.

 

  

The resounding message at the Capitol today: transportation is essential for a stronger economy, transportation bills are jobs bills.

 

Senate Transportation Bill includes the following:

Transit/bike/walk

•          ½-cent increase in the metro area sales tax for transit (buses and trains), which will rapidly accelerate the build out a 21-st century transit system.

•          Dedicated funding for bicycle and pedestrian improvements, and planning studies for streetcars.

•          $10 million additional funding per year for Greater Minnesota transit.

Roads/bridges

•          A tax at the distributor level on fuel (this exists already in more than a dozen other states) combined with a reduction of the gas tax.

 

 

After the rally, TLC and Transit for a Stronger Economy coalition partners headed to Governor Dayton’s office to deliver hundreds of postcards and messages supporting increased funding for transit and safe, accessible bicycling and walking.

 

The message is clear: we need a comprehensive transportation bill and the Senate has a good plan. The Senate bill will be heard in committees over the next week. We are hopeful that the House will take up a similar bill. Please help us keep the pressure to pass a strong and balanced bill this session (take action here). It’s essential for a stronger economy for all Minnesotans.

 

Crash Facts

Report: Motor vehicle crashes that involve a bicyclist or pedestrian represent 3 percent of all crashes, but 12 percent of fatalities.

By Barb Thoman, Executive Director

Every year, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety releases a report about death and injuries on Minnesota’s roads. The 100-plus page report, with the title Minnesota Motor Vehicle Crash Facts, contains information and statistics about crashes—who is involved (car, motorcycle, pedestrian), the likely causes, when and where they occur, etc. I’m always surprised that the annual release of this report isn’t more widely covered in the media.

TLC took a look at the most recent report and summarized the information about bicycle and pedestrian crashes in a new policy brief. The latest report, Crash Facts 2011, found that motor vehicle crashes that involve a bicyclist or pedestrian were 3 percent of all crashes, but 12 percent of fatalities. Over the last 10 years, an average of 40 pedestrians and 8 bicyclists died on Minnesota’s roads annually.

 

TLC’s policy brief also addressed information on bicycle crashes that occur, but are not included in Crash Facts. Because of federal reporting protocol, bicycle crashes that occur on public roads but do not involve a motor vehicle are not included. A separate database maintained by the Minnesota Department of Health showed that five times as many people were injured in a bicycle crash as were reported in the 2011 Crash Facts. One of the people injured was my husband, who fell after hitting a rock in a bike lane in Saint Paul. He had surgery to repair several bones in his hand.

Despite ongoing safety concerns and growing rates of bicycling and walking, bike and pedestrian safety has long been underfunded. The new federal transportation law, MAP-21, increases funding for traffic safety. TLC hopes that the state’s new traffic safety plan, which will be developed in 2013, will increase attention and funding for programs and projects that improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians. Bicycling and walking are good for public heath, the environment, and community livability. The safer it is to walk and bicycle, the more people will participate.

To learn more, including the leading causes of bicycle and pedestrian crashes, read our brief on Crash Facts here.

Read the full Crash Facts report here. 

 

Northfield garners national recognition for policy to create streets that work for everyone

Nearly 130 communities across the United States adopted Complete Streets policies in 2012, and Northfield, Minnesota, was one of the best.

That’s according to the National Complete Streets Coalition, a Washington-based organization dedicated to Complete Streets advocacy. On Monday the Coalition released its list of Top 10 policies of 2012, and number 5 on the list was Northfield Policy Resolution 2012-017.

 

 

“Northfield’s policy should be a national standard,” said Stefanie Seskin, Deputy Director of the National Complete Streets Coalition. “It takes a strong stand for everyone who uses our streets, including people young and old, walking, driving, or bicycling, riding a bus or out shopping.”

“This award is partly about recognizing Northfield’s leadership on this issue. It’s also about showing other cities what a great Complete Streets policy looks like. Northfield has done that extremely well,” Seskin said.

“Transit for Livable Communities is a strong supporter of Complete Streets,” said Barb Thoman, executive director. TLC participated in the MnDOT study of complete streets in 2009 and was a member of the statewide Complete Streets Coalition that worked for passage of the state Complete Streets policy in 2010. TLC staff member Steve Clark currently serves on MnDOT’s Complete Streets Advisory Group. Many of the projects funded through the federal program Bike Walk Twin Cities that TLC administers are projects that work to make streets, segments of streets, or intersections “complete.”  

Complete Streets policies help make sure everyone—regardless of age, ability, income, or ethnicity, and no matter how they travel—can get around safely and conveniently. In many cities that means changing how roads and sidewalks are designed and built, to be “complete” streets.

See the full list of this year’s Complete Streets policies and learn more about what makes a great Complete Streets policy at www.smartgrowthamerica.org/complete-streets-2012-analysis. Also of local interest, Maplewood, Minnesota, a Twin Cities suburb with a population of 38,000, recently adopted a Living Streets policy, the culmination of an extensive stakeholder process to establish a common vision for the community's future.

Learn more about recent steps toward statewide Complete Streets policy adoption in Minnesota at http://www.bikewalktwincities.org/news-events/news/mndot-leaders-consider-draft-complete-streets-policy. 

 

The Trend of Less Driving Continues

By Barb Thoman, Executive Director

New data from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) show the average American drove 9,360 miles in 2012—44 fewer miles than they drove in 2011. More surprising is that the peak in miles driven per person (aka vehicle miles traveled, VMT) occurred back in 2004, when Americans, on average, drove 10,118 miles. Driving per person is down 7.5 percent over the last 8 years. This persistent decrease in driving is occurring as transit ridership, bicycling, and walking are all increasing (e.g. The American Public Transit Public Association just announced a record 10.5 billion rides on US public transit in 2012; the 2012 Bike Walk Twin Cities Count Report shows that in the Twin Cities over the last 6 years bicycling is up by 51 percent and walking by 24 percent).

Looking at this trend in a different way, the FHWA also reports total miles driven in the US rose slightly in 2012, but the percentage of the increase was less than the increase in population for the year. Total miles driven in the US peaked at 3 trillion in 2006 and 2007, and hasn’t hit the 3-trillion-per-year mark again since.  

A recent article from the State Smart Transportation Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Madison offers some reasons for this decline:

A variety of factors have been cited for the decline, including retiring Baby Boomers; less enthusiasm for cars among Millennials; a move in many places toward more compact and mixed-use development; and demand-side policy efforts, including TDM [travel demand management], tolling, and market-pricing of parking. In addition, some trends that fueled VMT growth in the last century have eased: The transition toward women working outside the home is essentially complete, car-ownership has gone from rare to common, and people’s time budgets for car travel may have reached their maximum.

As we await the release of Minnesota’s own 2012 numbers this May or June, what might the national decline in driving tell us about the future?

It’s good for the air, public health, and community livability. 

This decline in driving should give us pause about adding to the size of our state highway system. Minnesota already has a large road network (the 5^th largest road system in the US, and 8^th largest regional highway system in the US), and in the future we could have trouble maintaining a highway system that doesn’t align with driving trends.

Our state should also consider and respond to the preferences of residents as we make investments. A recent statewide poll found widespread agreement among Minnesotans that transit is a good investment for the state, and also that building more roads will not solve traffic congestion alone.

We hope these changing travel patterns will mean a greater focus on investment in transit service and repair of the roadway system we have. The trends also reinforce the goal of retrofitting more of our roadway networks as complete streets—safer for people who are choosing different ways to get around.

For more on driving trends in Minnesota see information from MnDOT here (PDF).

 Updated 4-19-13.