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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLAB-report-Bozeman_Fall20121 Fall 2012 BICYCLE FRIENDLY COMMUNITY FEEDBACK REPORT Bozeman, MT Photo: Trek The League of American Bicyclists has designated Bozeman, MT as a Bicycle Friendly Community at the Silver level, because Bozeman exhibits a strong commitment to cycling. The reviewers felt that notable steps are being taken to address the needs of current bicyclists and to encourage other residents to become regular cyclists as well: • Engineering: Bozeman has a local policy to engineer streets with the consideration of bicyclists and has adopted good implementation tools. Staff receive regular training in bicycle and pedestrian planning and engineering. The community has a bike parking ordinance. Parking facility guidelines conform to the currently recognized design standards. Public buses are equipped with bike racks. There is an extensive network of off-street facilities that can be used by cyclists. The street network is well connected and allows cyclists to choose among several routes to get to a destination. The majority of streets have posted speed limits of 25 mph or lower, which increases the safety of cyclists. There is a growing network of on-road bike facilities that encourage people of all ages and skill levels to bicycle for transportation and recreation. Path crossings have high visibility markings. • Education: Most elementary and middle schools have Safe Routes to School programs. Children and youth have the opportunity to learn cycling skills outside of school. • Encouragement: Bozeman celebrates Bike Month, Bike to Work Day and Bike to School Day with a variety of events and programs that target different skill levels. Several programs and events that encourage cycling are offered throughout the year. Signature cycling events include the Tour De Bozeman, Longest Day of Trails, Bohart Bash Mountain Bike Race, several cyclo-cross races and the Tuesday night race series. The events are actively supported by the local government. There are several bicycle clubs that cater towards a variety of cycling sports and skill levels. Bozeman has a BMX track and pump tracks to encourage recreational cycling. Visitors and residents can rent bicycles in the community. Community youth have access to recreation and/or intervention programs centered on bicycling. Bike maps are available to residents and visitors. • Enforcement: The community has an identified law-enforcement point person to interact with cyclists. There is a program that provides free helmets and lights to cyclists. Most arterials and non-arterial streets have street lighting. Bozeman has several local ordinances that protect cyclists. There are no major restrictions on cycling in the community. • Evaluation & Planning: Bozeman has a current bicycle master plan and an on-going bicycle counting and/or survey program that allows for long-term trend analysis of cycling trips. Bicycle mode share is above average for U.S. communities. There have been no cyclist fatalities in the last 5 years. Reviewers were very pleased to see the current efforts and dedication to make Bozeman a great place for cyclists. 3 Below, reviewers provided key recommendations to further promote bicycling in Bozeman and a menu of additional pro-cycling measures that can be implemented in the short and long term. We strongly encourage you to use this feedback to build on your momentum and improve your community for bicyclists. There may also be initiatives, programs, and facilities that are not mentioned here that would benefit your bicycling culture, so please continue to try new things to increase your ridership, safety, and awareness! To learn more about what funds are available for bicycle projects, please visit http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/overview/bp-broch.cfm and http://www.advocacyadvance.org/. The key measures Bozeman should take to improve cycling: • Appoint a staff member Bicycle & Pedestrian Coordinator or create a new position. A Bicycle & Pedestrian Coordinator works with advocates, state and local elected officials, business leaders, media, law enforcement, public health officials, transit providers and the general public to build partnerships providing leadership and vision so these groups may embrace and implement facilities and programs that increase the number of residents that are safely bicycling and walking. This staff Benefits of Further Improving Bozeman for Cycling Further increasing bicycle use can improve the environment by reducing the impact on residents of pollution and noise, limiting greenhouse gases, and improving the quality of public spaces; Reduce congestion by shifting short trips (the majority of trips in cities) out of cars. This will also make cities more accessible for public transport, walking, essential car travel, emergency services, and deliveries; Save lives by creating safer conditions for bicyclists and as a direct consequence improve the safety of all other road users. Research shows that increasing the number of bicyclists on the street improves bicycle safety; Increase opportunities for residents of all ages to participate socially and economically in the community, regardless of income or ability. Greater choice of travel modes also increases independence, especially among seniors and children; Boost the economy by creating a community that is an attractive destination for new residents, tourists and businesses; Enhance recreational opportunities, especially for children, and further contribute to the quality of life in the community; Save city funds by increasing the efficient use of public space, reducing the need for costly new road infrastructure, preventing crashes, improving the health of the community, and increasing the use of public transport; Enhance public safety and security by increasing the number of “eyes on the street” and providing more options for movement in the event of emergencies, natural disasters, and major public events; Improve the health and well being of the population by promoting routine physical activity. 4 person should also work closely with the Bicycle Advisory Committee, review development proposals to ensure that local bicycle/pedestrian requirements are incorporated and to assess bicycling and walking impacts, develop and implement educational and promotional programs, write grant proposals, serve as the public contact for bicycling/walking inquiries and complaints, educate other staff about state and federal facilities standards and guidelines, and coordinate with neighboring cities, transit agencies and other departments to implement policies and projects. See this report on the importance of Bicycle & Pedestrian program staff. • Continue to expand the bike network and to increase network connectivity through the use of different types of bike lanes, cycle tracks and shared lane arrows. On-street improvements coupled with the expansion of the off-street system will encourage more people to cycle and will improve safety. Ensure smooth transitions for bicyclists between the trail network and the street network. Particularly, provide continual on and off street connectivity between suburban areas and downtown as well as Montana State. These improvements will also increase the effectiveness of encouragement efforts by providing a broader range of facility choices for users of various abilities and comfort levels. Particularly, provide continual connectivity to between the suburbs and downtown and Montana State. • Since arterial and collector roads are the backbone of every transportation network, it is essential to provide designated bicycle facilities along these roads and calm traffic speeds to allow bicyclists of all skill levels to reach their destinations quickly and safely. On roads with posted speed limits of more than 35 mph, it is recommended to provide protected bicycle infrastructure, such as cycle tracks, buffered bike lanes or parallel shared use paths. The downtown corridor of Main Street, Mendenhall Ave and Babcock Ave is in urgent need of safe bicycle facilities. • Ensure that new and improved bicycle facilities conform to current best practices and guidelines – such as the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide, AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities and your DOT’s own guidelines. • Offer Cycling Skills classes, Traffic Skills 101 classes and bike commuter classes more frequently or encourage a local bicycle advocacy group or shop to do so. Ideally, the instruction should incorporate a classroom portion as well as on-road training. The classroom portion of Traffic Skills 101 is now available online as well. For more information visit: www.bikeleague.org/programs/education/ 5 Menu of additional recommendations to further promote bicycling: Engineering Low hanging fruit and fast results • Develop and implement streetscape design guidelines that foster a pleasant and comfortable environment for pedestrians and cyclists. Beautiful streetscaping has also shown to increase community livability and pride, reduce crime and increase property values. • Ensure to provide ongoing training opportunities on accommodating bicyclists for engineering and planning staff. • Increase the amount of high quality bicycle parking at popular destinations such as major transit stops, schools, universities, recreational and entertainment facilities, retail stores, office buildings, and churches throughout the community. Residents of multi-family dwellings and public housing should have access to high quality bike parking as well. • Consider road diets in appropriate locations to make streets more efficient and safe. Use the newly created space for bicycle and pedestrian facilities. • Install a bicycle wayfinding system at strategic locations outside the urban core. Click here for some best practices from the Washington, DC area Council of Governments. • Implement broader transportation policies and programs that encourage alternative transportation choices, such as maximum/no minimum car parking standards or paid public parking to complement your community’s infrastructure invenstements and programs. • Adequatly maintain your off road bicycle infrastructure to ensure usability and safety. Increase the frequency of sweepings and address potholes and other hazards faster. Long Term Goals • Implement land use policies that minimize large lot/low density development to better facilitate bicycling, pedestrian and transit trips. Require a mix of uses throughout the community to further shorten the distances people need to bike. Consider a form-based code to allow for flexible land uses and to provide a comfortable and convenient built environment for pedestrians and cyclists. 6 • Develop solutions to physical barriers in order to provide convenient bicycle access to all parts of the community. • Improve the connectivity of your street network. Both increased intersection density and additional street connectivity are associated with more walking, biking, and transit use due to greater directness of travel and more route choice options. • Develop a system of bicycle boulevards utilizing quiet neighborhood streets that creates an attractive, convenient, and comfortable cycling environment welcoming to cyclists of all ages and skill levels. Learn how to do it at http://www.ibpi.usp.pdx.edu/guidebook.php. Use the Bicycle Boulevards section of the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide for design guidelines. • Make intersections safer and more comfortable for cyclists. Include elements such as color, signage, medians, signal detection, and pavement markings. The level of treatment required for bicyclists at an intersection will depend on the bicycle facility type used, whether bicycle facilities are intersecting, the adjacent street function and land use. See the NACTO design guidelines and the AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities for recommended intersection treatments. Education Low hanging fruit and fast results • Consider offering more bicycle education for children and youth outside of school through youth recreation programs or a Safety Town program. • It is essential to make both motorists and cyclists aware of their rights and responsibilities on the road. Continue to expand your public education campaign promoting the share the road message. Take advantage of your local bicycle groups for content development and manpower. See the excellent “Look” campaign in New York City or the “Don’t be a Road Hog” campaign in Colorado. • Consider creating a Bicycle Ambassador program like Chicago’s. Ambassadors attend community and private events year round to talk to residents and visitors of all ages about bicycling and to give bicycle safety demonstrations. They also offer bike commuting presentations for area businesses. • Regularly host Traffic Skills 101 or bike commuter courses for city engineers and planners to better understand cyclists’ needs. For more information visit: www.bikeleague.org/programs/education/ 7 • Host a League Cycling Instructor (LCI) seminar to increase the number of certified LCIs in your community. Having local instructors will enable your community to expand cycling education, recruit knowledgeable cycling ambassadors, deliver education to motorists, provide cycling education to adults and kids, and have experts available to assist in encouragement programs. Visit http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/education/ for more information. Long Term Goals • Start a bicyclist and motorist ticket diversion program. Road users given citation are offered an opportunity to waive fees for violations by attending a bicycling education course. This should include a classroom and on-road component. See what Pima County and San Diego County have done. • Increase your efforts to ensure your bicycle education programs reach traditionally underserved populations, particularly seniors, women, minorities, non-English speakers and the disabled. Encouragement Low hanging fruit and fast results • Expand encouragement efforts during Bike Month in partnership with local bicycle advocacy groups. Proclaim May (or a month with mild and dry weather) as Bike Month. Host, sponsor and encourage bicycle-themed community events, campaigns and programs. Increase your efforts on Bike to Work Day and Bike to School Day. Ensure to widely advertise all bicycle-themed community events and programs. For ideas and more information, visit http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bikemonth/ or refer to question #47 of the BFC application. • Host, sponsor and/or encourage a variety of social and family-friendly bicycle-themed community events year-round, such as a bike movie festival, a 4th of July bike parade, an “increase-your-appetite” Thanksgiving community ride, a dress-like-Santa community ride before Christmas, a bicycle fashion show (stylish alternatives to lycra), a Halloween bike decoration competition, a bike to the arts event, etc. Work closely with local bicycle groups, bike shops and schools. Provide appropriate safety measures such as road closures or police escorts. • Consider offering a ‘Ciclovia’ or ‘Summer Streets’ type event, closing off a major corridor to auto traffic 8 and offering the space to cyclists, pedestrians and group exercise events. Check out LA’s CicLAvia! • Set up and promote a bicycle-themed community celebration or social ride each time a new bicycle related project is completed. This is a great way to show off the community’s good efforts and introduces new users to the improvement. • Ensure that your tourism board promotes bicycling in your area to boost your local economy. A survey of Portland, OR visitors found that the city’s bicycle-friendly reputation played a role for 78 percent of travelers in their decision to visit Portland. • Encourage more local public agencies, businesses and organizations to promote cycling to the workplace and to seek recognition through the free Bicycle Friendly Business program. Businesses will profit from a healthier, happier and more productive workforce while the community would profit from less congestion, better air quality, public bike parking in prime locations provided by businesses, new and powerful partners in advocating for bike infrastructure and programs on the local, state and federal level, and business-sponsored public bike events or classes. Your community’s government should be the model employer for the rest of the community. See what the Colorado based New Belgium Brewing Company is doing here. • Encourage local institutions of higher education to promote cycling and to seek recognition through the Bicycle Friendly University program. Many colleges and universities have embraced the growing enthusiasm for more bicycle-friendly campuses by incorporating bike share programs, bike co-ops, bicycling education classes and policies to promote bicycling as a preferred means of transportation. The community could potentially profit as well: Communities near a BFU such as Stanford or University of California at Davis have a very high number of regular bicyclists (as many students bike to campus, shops and restaurants), less congestion around campus, safer streets and university-hosted public bicycle events, programs and classes. Learn about what Stanford University is doing for cyclists here. Long Term Goals • Develop a series of short (2-5 mi.) (themed) loop rides around the community and provide appropriate way-finding signage. Integrate these rides into local bike maps. • Consider launching a bike share system that is open to the public. Bike sharing is a convenient, cost effective, and healthy way of encouraging locals and visitors to make short trips by bike and to bridge the “last mile” between public transit and destinations. 9 See what is being done across the country at http://nacto.org/bikeshare/ Enforcement Low hanging fruit and fast results • Invite a police officer to become an active member of the Bicycle Advisory Committee. This will actively facilitate stronger connections between bicycle advocates, the wider bicycling community and law enforcement, which will improve road safety for all users, and improve fair enforcement of motorist and cyclist infractions. • Ensure that police officers are initially and repeatedly educated on the “Share the Road” message and traffic law as it applies to bicyclists and motorists. Training is offered by the International Police Mountain Bike Association, the Law Enforcement Bicycle Association and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Here are some recommended Law Enforcement Products: Bicycle Safety seminar; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration video; Law Enforcement's Roll Call Video: “Enforcing Law for Bicyclists”; and Enhancing Bicycle Safety: Law Enforcement’s Role (CD-ROM Training). • Enforcement practices could also include positive enforcement ticketing. Police officers could team up with local stores to reward safe cycling practices by handing out gift certificates to cyclists who are “caught” following the law. • Increase the number of officers that patrol streets on bikes, as it gives officers a better understanding of the conditions for cyclists. Also ensure that secluded off road paths are regularly patrolled to improve personal safety and encourage more people to take advantage of this amenity. • Provide safety amenities such as adequate path lighting and emergency call boxes, and offer services such as non-mandatory bike registration and missing bike recovery assistance. • Pass more laws that protect cyclists, e.g. implement specific penalties for motorists for failing to yield to a cyclist when turning, implement penalties for motor vehicle users that ‘door’ cyclists, specifically protect all vulnerable road users, formalize a legal passing distance of 3 feet, and make it illegal to harass a cyclist. Evaluation/Planning Low hanging fruit and fast results • Ensure that there is dedicated funding for the implementation of the bicycle master plan. 10 • Better coordinate city efforts with county planners to ensure consistency of standards and best practices. • Routinely conduct pre/post evaluations of bicycle-related projects in order to study the change in use, car speed and crash numbers. This data will be valuable to build public and political support for future bicycle-related projects. • Adopt a target level of bicycle use (e.g. percent of trips) to be achieved within a specific timeframe, and ensure data collection necessary to monitor progress. • Expand efforts to evaluate bicycle crash statistics and produce a specific plan to reduce the number of crashes in the community. Available tools include Intersection Magic and PBCAT. See the report Bicyclist Fatalities and Serious Injuries in New York City 1996-2005 • Consider measuring the bicycle Level of Service (LOS) on community roads and at intersections, to be able to identify the most appropriate routes for inclusion in the community bicycle network, determine weak links and hazards, prioritize sites needing improvement, and evaluate alternate treatments for improving bike-friendliness of a roadway or intersection: http://www.bikelib.org/bike-planning/bicycle-level-of-service/ (roads) and http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/library/details.cfm?id=4425 (intersections). • Implement a community-wide trip reduction program or ordinance. See good examples here. • Consider individualized marketing to identify and support current and potential bike commuters in your community. See what Bellingham, WA is doing: https://www.whatcomsmarttrips.org/login.aspx • Consider conducting an economic impact study on bicycling in your community. Read about what Portland, OR has done. • Establish a mechanism that ensures that bicycle facilities and programs are implemented in traditionally underserved neighborhoods. For more ideas and best practices please visit the Bicycle Friendly Community Resource Page.