Capitol Tech U Doctoral Presentation - April 2024.pptx
AITPM Conference Presentation - Andrew Mc_Clurg
1.
2. WHAT IS A SAFE ACTIVE STREET?
Local connector to
amenities and higher
order cycle facilities
Family oriented
routes catering for
short/medium
local trips
Minimises stops or
delays for active
travel modes
Quiet, low
traffic, low
speed local
street
3. DESIGNING A SPACE FOR PEOPLE
DESIGN INPUTS
• International best practice examples
• Prioritise active travel modes in design
• Speed reduction, forward visibility, design widths traffic reduction
• Fit for local context
DESIGN OUTPUTS
• Street narrowing
• Slow points
• Legibility
• Continuity
• Intersections
• Enhanced crossings
4. EVALUATION
PRE & POST EVALUATION
e.g. Shakespeare Street
MIX OF QUANTITATIVE & QUALITATIVE
METHODS TO MEASURE:
• Vehicle traffic & speed
• Cycling & pedestrian activity
• On street parking demand
• Perceptions and behaviour change
7. EVALUATION RESULTS
• Shakespeare Street Stage 1
– Preconstruction Surveys:
• June-August 2016
– Construction:
• October-November 2016
– Post Construction Surveys:
• March 2017, June-July 2017, March-May 2018
8. Does the Safe Active Street attract more
people to cycle along the route?
- Increase in cycling numbers on Saturdays post SAS construction
- Inconsistent trends on weekdays post SAS construction
Average 65%
increase in
Saturday cycle
trips
26
36
65
72
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Jun 2016 Average Mar, July 2017, Mar 2018
North-South Cyclist Volumes on Shakespeare St
Green St
Hobart St
Construction
(Nov 2016)
9. Does the Safe Active Street attract people of
all abilities to cycle?
Increase in
‘other’ cyclists
on weekdays and
weekends
Increase in
‘on-road’ cyclists
on weekdays and
weekends
27%
73%
Jun 2016
28%
72%
Mar 2017
63%
37%
Jun-Aug 2017
Construction
(Nov 2016)
78%
22%
Jun 2016
87%
13%
Mar 2017
94%
6%
Jun-Aug 2017
84%
16%
Mar 2018
10. Are the pilot SAS corridors attracting more people to
walk, as local routes for people of all abilities?
Inconsistent
changes in
pedestrian trips
on the
SAS route
Increase in
‘on-road’
pedestrians on
weekdays and
weekends
Construction
(Nov 2016)
- Pedestrian demand has gone up and down in different survey
periods post-construction on weekdays and Saturdays – no clear
trends or reasons
- There has been an increase in the number of pedestrians
observed walking along the road (rather than footpaths) after
the SAS changes were implemented
7%
93%
Jun 2016
14%
86%
Mar 2017
18%
82%
Jun-Aug 2017
11. - Average (weekday + weekend) on-
road cyclist speeds on roads
without SAS intervention =
11km/h
- Average (weekday + weekend) on-
road cyclist speeds on SAS route =
21.3km/h
21km/h
21km/h
22km/h
June-July 2017
11km/h
Does the Safe Active Street prioritise and improve the
safe movement of active travel modes?
40% increase in
on-road cyclist
speeds
Green St
Ellesmere St
Hobart St
June 2016
12. Are the pilot SAS corridors having a ‘low impact’ on
local residential and visitor amenity ?
On-street
parking occupancy
has increased, but
still ≥40% within
each block
On-street
parking supply
decreased from
~200 to 86
Average 92%
increase in total
parked cars
(on-street and
verge)
13. Are the pilot SAS corridors having a ‘low impact’ on
local residential and visitor amenity
Average Parking Demand across surveyed periods
6
3
6
3
7
5
14
2
13
6
7
2
5
9
15
4
11
9
10
5
13
13
22
4
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Aug-Oct 2016
Jun 2017
Mar 2018
Aug-Oct 2016
Jun 2017
Mar 2018
Aug-Oct 2016
Jun 2017
Mar 2018
Aug-Oct 2016
Jun 2017
Mar 2018
GreenSt-
EllesmereSt
EllesmereSt-
WoodstockSt
WoodstockSt-
HobartSt
HobartSt-
Scarborough
BeachRd
On-road Verge
Pre-construction On-Road Supply
Post-construction On-Road Supply
62
40
75
31
26
21
28
11
14. Have the pilot SAS corridors achieved a 30km/h speed
limit and operating environment?
Sections
with narrow points
had almost double
the % of speed
reduction (32km/h
average speed)
Average speed
reduced from
41 to 34 km/h
across SAS route
Location
Pre SAS
(Jun-16)
Mar
2017
June-
July 2017
Apr-May
2018
Post-
SAS
average
Change
Shakespeare - Green Street and Ellesmere Street - - 30 35 32 -21%
Shakespeare - Ellesmere Street and Woodstock Street 41 34.8 36 38 36 -12%
Shakespeare - Woodstock Street and Hobart Street - - 32 33 32 -21%
Shakespeare - Hobart Street and Scarborough Beach Rd - - - 37 37 -10%
Shakespeare Street (SAS route) average 41 34 -16%
Average parallel local steets 43 44 44 44 44 3%
Shakespeare - Green Street and Ellesmere Street - - 33 42 37 -26%
Shakespeare - Ellesmere Street and Woodstock Street 50 44 40 46 43 -14%
Shakespeare - Woodstock Street and Hobart Street - - 37 41 39 -22%
Shakespeare - Hobart Street and Scarborough Beach Rd - - - 45 45 -10%
Shakespeare Street (SAS route) average 50 41 -18%
Average parallel local steets 51 51 50 51 51 0%
Average Traffic Speeds (km/h)
Average 85th
Percentile Traffic Speeds (km/h)
15. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
• Narrow/slow points needed to re-enforce reduced speed limits –
maximum spacing of 120 metres from initial evaluation findings
• ‘Wide’ carriageway, lack of buffer strip and reliance on parking or
low vegetation to add side friction (coupled with low cycling
numbers) – lower speed reduction and speed increases over time
16. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
• Provision for pedestrians –ensure
design include footpath
improvements (if missing links /
poor condition) or consider
designing safe space adjacent to
parking lane if preferable option
• Consult with residents on
alternative use of excess verge or
on-street parking spaces – better
community uses which fit the
‘Safe Active Street’ logo?
17. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
• Build it and they will come..
• Future SAS projects funded by DoT require early
engagement to be undertaken as part of the project
• Recognise the limitations in early stages of the SAS
program for achieving significant increases in cycling trips
– roll out of the Local Cycle Network over next 5 – 10 as
part of WABN
18. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Considered, well designed changes can work - even
when they are very ‘radical’ to the community!
• Reality has been different - varies by location
• The SAS design changes shown on plans raised significant community concern –
parking, safety (shared lanes/ narrow one-way point, intersection changes),
street being overtaken by cyclists (difficult for local traffic)
Editor's Notes
-Introduction to SAS program: Very brief overview of where its come from, year started, the pilot projects
Definition of a ‘Bike Boulevard’
Local road – reduced to 30km/h
Provides connections to local amenities and higher order cycling facilities
Maximum vehicle volumes approx. 1,500 per day
Catering for short to medium length trips
Targeting most ages and most cycling skill levels
Minimises stops or delays for active travel modes
On selected routes, in partnership with LGA’s, we are using the following design principles to implement SAS across Perth.
Further to the broader strategic goals (discussed in previous slide), the objective for the Safe Active Street Program is to implement the following principles in design:
Design speed of 30km/h, which is self-enforced through:
Restricted forward visibility - The trafficable part of the road is narrowed by formalising the on-street parking using different coloured pavement treatment to delineate between the carriageway and parking space, and or and/or landscaping and different line marking;
Vehicle traffic is calmed through the use of devices such as slow points, which create horizontal deflection and also reduces forward visibility.
Intersections are modified with reduced curb radii and raised plateau treatments
Physical barriers are removed to assist active travel modes
Continuity - the movement of people on bikes is prioritised at intersections along the route by reversing priority to make the bike boulevard the through route. Where this isn’t possible, such as at major arterial roads, the bike boulevard improves the crossing through the use of wide refuges, pedestrian/bike signals (i.e. pelican crossing) and the provision of off-road paths at difficult intersections; and,
Legibility and visibility of the bike boulevard is improved through pavement treatment such as red asphalt, pavement marking and distinctive on-road bicycle symbols and “Safe Active Streets” markings to enhance route wayfinding and increase awareness of the routes for all street users.
Active travel modes prioritised
Non-local traffic and rat running is discouraged through turn restrictions and closures, whilst allowing full access for people riding and walking.
Visibility of bike boulevards
A key principle is to ensure that bike boulevards are easily recognisable for people visiting the street or non-local traffic. This relies on a combination of the above mentioned features in conjunction with adopting a naked streets approach. The program encourages minimal use of traffic signs or line
Street narrowed to 4.2m – 4.8m; Formalised parking; water sensitive design with street greening a priority – eg: Shakespeare St
Slow points to calm traffic and support 30km/h environment; Separation sometimes appropriate eg: Surrey Rd
Legibility – Surface treatment & pavement marking eg: Shakespeare St
Continuity – SAS route continuity is prioritised through design eg: May St dog leg treatment
Intersection treatments to prioritise the SAS route and slow traffic (plateaus and reversed priority) eg: Surrey Rd
Enhanced crossings at major intersections eg: Shakespeare St/Green St
Discussion of what we are monitoring in each project. Critical to determining the affect of the changes to the streets. We are collecting the following data to determine whether Aims in slide 3 are being achieved/if things are progressing, as well as considering the potential impacts of the changes
To evaluate the affect of these design measures, we are monitoring the following:
Vehicle traffic/speed
Active travel usage
Change in parking behaviour
Perceptions ,behaviour change and economic impact will require a qualitative approach
Discussion of the broad intentions of introducing bike boulevards or Safe Active Streets
Use this slide to briefly explain the changes that have been introduced:
Green Street to Scarborough Beach Road (900 metres)
Reduced speed limit from 50km/h to 30km /h
Formalised parking lanes (reduced total supply of unrestricted parking)
Added single lane ‘slow points’ in 2 blocks
Added red pavement surface, cycling and SAS markings along shared carriageway (trafficable width varied from 4.7m to 5.2m)
Change of priority at one intersecting road (to give priority to SAS route)
Priority for intersecting road with bus route (Woodstock Street) retained
Some traffic restrictions at start and end of route (removed right turn in from Green St, right turn out to Scarborough Beach Rd
Quick summary of what type of data we collected for these evaluations
Still too early to determine the impact on WABN goal of doubling overall cycling trips; context of decreasing weekday cycle trips in Perth metro area
Surveying one section of a longer route (still waiting on Stage 2) – wait until have data from a number of sites before can get conclusive impacts on volume of cycling trips
Weekends (Saturdays) – consistent increase above pre-construction cycle trip numbers, other than final count at one of the sites (Hobart) – consider this to be an anomoly at this stage.
Weekdays – not clear what the reason is for decrease, other than overall trend of decreasing commuter / weekday cycling trips on PSP and into Perth CBD routes (may simply be reflecting this broader trend – SAS route not enough to halt this decline on its own – needs large scale cycling campaign as well.
Breakdown of other/recreational vs commuter/sport - Summed for both weekday and weekend and overall at all sites – supports a greater range of cyclists – this data is subjective - but may help understand the trends in cycling volumes, potentially more for local trips to shops / everyday cycle trips including some commuting / to recreation activities (this trend even more pronounced for weekdays – potentially supporting theory that overall reduction in commuting cyclists)
Support for SAS making it a safer on-road environment for all abilities - with a clear increase in the proportion of cyclists choosing to ride on-road after the SAS route was constructed
-No pelotons observed: only singles and groups of less than 4.
-Observations over gender split.
On-road - Average ratios across all sites (both weekday and weekend)
Some increase also in pedestrians travelling on road instead of path
Reasoning for ped increase on –road ; attractiveness of new paving / landscaping on-road? Parked cars across footpath? Uneven footpaths? Not clear – needs to be investigated further to see if trends at other sites, but also an important design consideration
i.e. without SAS intervention – includes adjacent streets -Fairfield St, Edinboro St, Shakespeare St pre-construction) = 15.3km/h
The SAS interventions included
Parallel streets average pre-contruction – 19km /hr Edinboro, 16km/hr – Fairfield St
Decrease in on-street parking supply to match low demand pre SAS construction, however total parked cars (on-street and verge) have increased post SAS construction
Average on-street parking occupancy along the route is still ≥40% within each street section at all surveyed periods post- construction (cars also parked on verges)
On-street parking within a street block reaches 100% occupancy at only 3 times – and only on 1 side of a block (minimum of 30% of spaces available on other side of road)
Considerations for use of on-street parking to add side-friction, and to address community concerns on impact on parking
Important to note that initial count of parking was based on available space between driveways – unlikely to be feasible for all parking spaces to be occupied on both sides of road at the same time. Post SAS construction – parking spaces formally marked
Most importantly Council hasn’t had a lot of feedback on parking issues post construction – no news is good news.
Makes it very difficult to assess longer term parking demand along residential streets – also need to consider how people will adapt parking in response to reduced number of spaces – using angled verge parking as likely to fit more spaces than on-street parking (and closer to their house rather than using available parking on other side of road).
Increase in parking demand; broad range of factors influencing residential street parking demand
Greater number of vehicles parked on verge rather than on-street; potentially allows for 90degree rather than parallel parking supply
Minimal feedback / complaints from residents post construction on parking issues (formal surveys still to be undertaken by Council).
Influence on vehicle speeds (assumed the parked cars would provide side friction)
Sections where 100% occupancy was recorded (total of 3 instances) – those with lowest parking supply: Hobart to Scarborough (2x – Saturday midday, and weekday school PM peak and Ellesmere to Woodstock (weekday PM - 6.00-7.00pm)
Surveyed over minimum of 4 periods in 3 survey times - 1pre construction, 2 post-construction (Weekday AM, 6 – 7pm, Weekday school PM peak, 2.30-3.30pm, Weekday evening, 6.00-7.00pm, Saturday Midday 11am-12pm)
There wasn’t one survey period which could be identified as the ‘peak’ period; varied between sections at different times and in the final survey (March 2018), similar average demand (85 - 89 parked cars) and average occupancy of on-street spaces (40%) across all sites was recorded for the Weekday AM, weekday School PM and the Saturday midday – only the weekday evening was lower at average of 79 parked cars, and 34% average on-street parking occupancy.
Overall decrease in traffic speed on SAS route, with average speeds between 32 – 38km/h between post construction (parallel control sites – 3% increase); average 85%ile speed of 41km/h
SAS sections with narrow points, achieved lower speed reduction; average speed of 32 km/h, average 85%ile speed of 38km/h
Speeds increased in 2018 after the initial decrease in 2017
Users are becoming familiar with the changed road environment (local streets – mostly local users); sections with narrow points still achieve lowest speeds
SAS corridor hasn’t (yet) had the large increase in cyclists
Consistent with
Road calming measures installed on Shakespeare Street have had a positive effect on reducing both the average vehicle speed and 85th percentile vehicle speed
Approximate 5km/h decrease in the average speed at the Shakespeare Street south of Ellesmere survey location (35km/h), which is still above the 30km/h speed limit – this section of Shakespeare St doesn’t include the narrow road points.
Other locations on Shakespeare St have reduced average vehicle speeds of 30-32km/h
Approximate decrease in the 85th percentile vehicle speed of 8km/h and 15km/h for the weekday and weekend speeds respectively. However the 85th percentile speed is above the target 30 km/h speed limit
Lack of physical barriers will reduce impact of road changes over time – unless have a lot of side friction / cyclists to continually reenforce changes
Add footpaths where there aren’t any – image is from SAS route under construction on Moorland Street (to be replaced with a still image of pedestrian walking on street for Shakespeare Street corridor).
Whilst the plans presented seemingly significant changes to the road environment; the actual impact on the community has been minimal – very little feedback to council (no news is good news)
Credit to the DoT and City of Vincent for a strong vision, very thorough design process (including design peer review sessions) , consultation and evaluation – assists future roll out of Local street cycling and pedestrian projects