Rebalancing

Transportation
Gabrielle LePore
March 23, 2016
UAPP699 Policy Brief
School of Public Policy and
Administration

Problem Statement
Too many roads in America favor auto usage over
other means of travel such as walking and biking,
contributing to poor environment quality, traffic
congestion, decreased health of citizens, and road
safety issues.

Complete Streets Defined

Complete streets are roads for all
Principle in complete streets: considering
walking and biking as equal with automobiles

Complete streets can balance transportation in

the country

Why are Streets not

Complete?
Silos for transportation funding in the United
States
Curb ramps to nowhere

History, habits, and orientation of the

transportation industry in the United States
Interstate Highway Era (1950s-60s)

Complete Streets: Bicycling

Complete streets offer: bike lanes, shared
roadways, or bicycle boulevards

Low Stress Bicycling

A more complete definition of a bicycle network
is the set of streets and paths that do not
exceed peoples tolerance for traffic stress

Roger Gellers classification scheme of traffic

stress: LTS 1, LTS 2, LTS 3, LTS 4

Anchored on the Netherlands standards for

bicycle facilities
Proven acceptable to the mainstream population
and attracts equal male/female riders from all age
groups

Four Types of Transportation Cyclists in Portland

<1%
7%

Interested but
concerned, LTS2

33%

60%

No way, no how,
LTS1
Enthused and
confident, LTS3
Strong and fearless,
LTS4

Criteria for Bike Lanes

Complete Streets:
Pedestrians
Sidewalks are preferred by
pedestrians
Residential: 5 feet on both
sides of street

Commercial: 10 feet on
both sides of street

Zone System

Curb zone
Furniture zone
Pedestrian zone
Frontage zone

Additional considerations
when crossing streets

Increase the Gas Tax

Increasing the gas tax shows promising research
to rebalance transportation by making
Americans responsible for their gasoline usage

Increase tax by 35 cents equals $50 billion a

year in transportation funds

The Constituents Stop

Change in Tax
Raising the gas tax is a tough sell in Congress
Continues to be politically difficult to ask
Americans to pay more for gas, even when the
gas is at an all time low

Recommendation: Federal
Complete Streets Policy
All communities will benefit from complete
streets, which led to the recommended federal
complete streets policy

Benefits for:
Health
Environment
Economy
Safety

Benefits to Complete
Streets Policy
Health benefits:
For each hour spent in an automobile, obesity rises
by 6%
Obesity decreases 4.8% for each kilometer walked

Benefits to Complete
Streets Policy
Environmental Benefits:
Reduced carbon footprint
If every American in a community of 10,000 replaces
one automobile trip for a bike trip once a month,
carbon dioxide emissions would be reduces in the
community by over 3,000 tons a year

Benefits to Complete
Streets Policy
Economic Benefits:
Complete streets help revitalize the economy in
communities
Increased window shoppers will positively impact
business

Benefits to Complete
Streets Policy
Safety Benefits:
Traffic fatalities in New
York City, New York,
were reduced by 37%
after implementing
complete streets

In Seattle, Washington,
speeding by top-end
speeders was
reduced by 90% on
Nickerson Street

Implementation
Federal mandate for all state transportation
departments and local planning boards

Implementation strategies:
A new project development process
Charlotte Department of Transportations 6 step
process in the Urban Design Guidelines

Change design manuals

Turn to large road improvement projects

Thank You!