Policy Implications and Next Steps
Over the last six years, PBRI’s count program has expanded in ca- pacity to provide local and regional stakeholders with valuable data for dozens of locations throughout the city, and into neighboring parishes. Meanwhile, the New Orleans region has made significant progress toward becoming a more walkable, bikeable city for all its residents and visitors. Between end of 2010 and August 2015, the city of New Orleans expanded its bicycle infrastructure network by 172%, and as the data in this report indicates, this expansion has been rewarded with increased bicycling and safer cyclist behavior, particularly on corridors where such improvements have occurred.
In recent years, Jefferson Parish adopted a bicycle master plan to guide the development of their own bikeway network, which outlines cyclist priorities and promotes a range of context-sensitive infrastructure solutions well-suited to more suburban areas of the metro area. Meanwhile, the city of New Orleans and the Regional Planning Commission have adopted complete streets policies that have begun to institutionalize consideration of high-quality accom- modation for non-motorized road users whenever roadway projects are planned and developed. Efforts are underway to expand such policies to other parishes in the region.
As this report (and those which preceded it) demonstrate, change
in who walks and bikes, where they travel, and what behavioral choices they make does not occur evenly, predictably, or instantly.
In some cases, when new facilities are constructed, user counts have increased substantially right away, clearly reflecting latent demand for a safer or more convenient route in that area. In other cases, it has taken several years for impacts to be fully realized as residents and commuters adjust their transportation habits in response to new options. In particular, measurable impacts on usership also appear to depend on the development of a contiguous network of linked facilities, creating safer, more comfortable access to various neighborhoods and destinations.
During the six years of the PBRI count program, New Orleans’
bicycling network has developed from a series of largely disjoint- ed bike-friendly corridors to a reasonably well-connected series of neighborhood links and cross-town connections, including an expanding off-street trail network. More such connections need to be made; the network is still incomplete and some neighborhoods are better served than others.
National data indicate that New Orleans leads the state, as well as the South region, in active transportation, and is an emerging leader nationally, ranked highly in walking and bicycling mode share. As more and more connections between existing facilities for cyclists are developed, and the region focuses (through the implementation of the Strategic Highway Safety Plan, New Orleans Pedestrian Safety Action Plan) on improving pedestrian safety, New Orleans has the opportunity to maintain and improve its reputation as a walkable, bikeable city.
However, other cities across the south and the nation are signifi- cantly outpacing New Orleans in the growth and quality (in terms of dedicated, protected facilities) of their active transportation networks. Enhancing the bikeway network to include more facilities
that are separated and protected from automobile traffic is essential to expanding bicycling to new people and improving the safety and comfort of those who are already on the streets.
In addition to infrastructure and policy change, efforts to educate citizens and enforce laws pertaining to pedestrians and bicyclists, and to evaluate regional successes and identify opportunities for fu- ture growth contribute to the current state of walking and bicycling in the New Orleans area and should be supported and expanded.
This includes regional outreach and informational campaigns, da- ta-focused programs like the Pedestrian Bicycle Resource Initiative, advocacy efforts, and implementation of new advisory bodies (e.g., the City Council’s recently formed Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Advisory Committee) to identify issues and priorities, guide new policy and strategy development, and oversee the implementation of existing complete streets policy.
Decision-making processes regarding the prioritization and place- ment of future bicycle facilities, as well as improvements to the pedestrian environment, should take quantitative data sources into account, where available. Timely and ongoing collection of multi-modal data to evaluate the effects of individual projects, as- sess potential demand for various transportation modes, and iden- tify overall trends in usership and behavior is essential to promoting a data-driven planning culture and fostering economically com- petitive, vibrant communities. Such data collection efforts should be expanded throughout the region in order to more accurately identify network gaps and identify user needs. Critically, the count data collected in this study reflect a limited subset of all current and potential active transportation users in the region, predominantly in Orleans Parish. These findings should not be interpreted to suggest a lack of interest in or opportunity for improving conditions for walking and bicycling elsewhere in the region, where less robust data is currently available.
Importantly, for the last ten years, infrastructure change has been largely undergirded by federally-funded programs aimed at sup- porting the city’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina. Decision-making regarding active transportation investment has been, to a signif- icant degree, influenced by the opportunities presented by (and investment parameters set by) the availability of these funds. As the city and region enter a new, post-recovery phase of planning for the future, it is essential that the positive changes in the built environ- ment continue through institutionalization of processes that sup- port multi-modal planning and engineering. Development of com- prehensive, multimodal transportation plans at the local level that emphasize a complete streets policy approach, prioritize projects that will help to equitably expand access for active users and create more cohesive route networks, and integrate multi-modal data in decision-making processes is an essential next step to advancing and prioritizing active transportation goals.
Finally, the identification of dedicated funding sources to support the ongoing improvement of walking, bicycling, and transit, includ- ing both infrastructure and non-infrastructure-based strategies, is critical. Advance planning in support of a clearly prioritized multi- modal infrastructure plan for active transportation will help ensure that as funding becomes available, jurisdictions can effectively prioritize investments and determine which projects meet crite- ria established for various funding sources. Only by a strong and fiscally-supported commitment to prioritizing people who walk and bicycle will we advance toward becoming a safer, healthier, more sustainable city, region, and state.
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Appendix A: Bicycle Facility Network Maps, 2005-2015 Appendix B: 2015 Manual Count Site Characteristics Appendix C: Manual Count Observation Protocol
Appendix D: Manual Count Observation Recording blank space Templates
Appendix E: Manual Count Weather Data
Appendix F: PBRI EDT Extrapolation Methodology Appendix G: NBPD Project Count Adjustment Detail Appendix H: Electronic and Manual count EDT blank space Extrapolation Comparison and Evaluation