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Tobin Frost: That house was a secure location. Whoever crashed it didn't stop by a gas station and ask for directions to the nearest safe house. They were invited. Someone told them, Matthew. Think about it. Someone you know, so you better ask yourself, can you trust your landlord?
Tobin Frost: I already am in your head. They're going to isolate you, Matt. They're going to be real nice to you at first. They're going to put their arm around you and tell you things like, "You did a decent job, son. We'll take it from here." That's when you know you're screwed. Forget about me, they're going to focus on you. They're going to try and make a connection between you and I. So that if this all goes wrong, they'll have something to fall back on in their little Senate hearings. I'm not your only enemy tonight.
For decades, the purpose and goal of street design in the United States was to move as much motorized traffic as expeditiously as possible from point A to point B, regardless of whether the traffic was moving along a major freeway or commercial arterial, or through a city center, village main street, or even a residential neighborhood. Applied speed limits and street design standards would vary from route to route, but in general street design and traffic engineering were all about moving cars and trucks from their origins to their destinations. Even as early as the beginning of the 20th century, officials in New York City mandated the narrowing of sidewalks to create more numerous and wider lanes to accommodate motorized traffic. Pedestrians, planners thought, did not need much room to maneuver.
However, developing a transportation system primarily for motorized vehicular traffic has failed to meet the travel needs and preferences of large segments of the country's population. Among the many factors influencing the planning, design, and operation of today's streets are concerns about accommodating the needs of an aging population, improving public health and fitness, reducing dependence upon foreign oil, minimizing transportation costs, creating and maintaining vibrant neighborhoods, reducing the fossil fuel emissions that contribute to climate change, and adopting greener and more sustainable lifestyles. Ensuring that roads provide safe mobility for all travelers, not just motor vehicles, is at the heart of a new approach to envisioning and building surface transportation facilities known as "complete streets."
According to the National Complete Streets Coalition, established in 2005, complete streets are those designed and operated to enable safe access and travel for all users. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, transit users, and travelers of all ages and abilities will be able to move along the street network safely.
"Complete streets policies help communities make a clear commitment to planning all future transportation projects to provide for the safe travel of everyone using the road," says Barbara McCann, director of the National Complete Streets Coalition. "Once that commitment is made, planners and engineers have a clear direction to develop new processes, design manuals, and on-the-ground solutions that welcome everyone."
Although the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) does not have an official complete streets policy, the concept is closely associated with the principles promoted by the Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities, a joint endeavor involving the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The partnership aims to provide more transportation choices; support existing communities through transit-oriented, mixed-use development and land recycling (that is, reuse of abandoned, vacant, or underused properties for redevelopment); and value communities by investing in healthy, safe, and walkable neighborhoods.
As stated by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, "President Obama has challenged us to transform the way transportation serves the American people by creating more choices and encouraging less carbon-intensive transportation, and we are working hard on that challenge...It turns out that a complete streets approach offers the perfect intersection of my twin guideposts: safety and livable communities."
In the first of a two-part series on street design, this article looks at how complete streets policies can help make the transportation system more accessible to all travelers. An upcoming article will focus on concepts and practices for designing streets to be more environmentally responsive and sustainable. Combining these two perspectives using a multidisciplinary approach will help maximize the effectiveness and sustainability of the Nation's transportation network.
Although the guiding principle for complete streets is to create roadways and related infrastructure that provide safe travel for all users, each complete street has to be customized to the characteristics of the area the street serves. A complete street also has to accommodate the needs and expectations of the travelers who want to access or pass through the surrounding neighborhood, community, or region.
According to the National Complete Streets Coalition, typical elements that make up a complete street include sidewalks, bicycle lanes (or wide, paved shoulders), shared-use paths, designated bus lanes, safe and accessible transit stops, and frequent and safe crossings for pedestrians, including median islands, accessible pedestrian signals, and curb extensions. Certainly, a design for a complete street in a rural area will look quite different from one in an urban or suburban area. For example, a complete street in a rural area could involve providing wide shoulders or a separate multiuse path instead of sidewalks. The common denominator, however, is balancing safety and convenience for everyone using the road.
Transit, including bus and fixed-rail services, can become a more attractive option when access points that comply with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act are integrated into roads, sidewalks, and parking areas to allow easier, safer access for all users.
Several Federal laws and FHWA regulations pertaining to transportation planning and project development support the concept of complete streets. A current Federal statute, United States Code, Title 23, Chapter 2, Section 217 (23 USC 217), mandates that "bicycle transportation facilities and pedestrian walkways shall be considered, where appropriate, in conjunction with all new construction and reconstruction of transportation facilities, except where bicycle and pedestrian use are not permitted." To elaborate on that requirement, FHWA developed bicycle and pedestrian guidance (available at
www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bikeped/bp-guid.htm) that further explains how and when FHWA requires or encourages accommodation of pedestrians and bicyclists in Federal-aid highway projects.
On March 15, 2010, Secretary LaHood announced the release of an updated "Policy Statement on Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodation Regulations and Recommendations." The policy statement reemphasizes USDOT's support for the development of fully integrated transportation networks and encourages States, local governments, and other organizations to adopt similar policy statements and commit to accommodating bicyclists and pedestrians in the transportation system. The policy statement also calls on transportation agencies and communities to go beyond minimum design standards and requirements to create safe, attractive, sustainable, accessible, and convenient bicycling and walking networks, and offers recommendations on how to do so.
The design and construction of bicycle and pedestrian facilities are eligible to receive funding through core Federal highway funding categories, such as the Surface Transportation Program, the National Highway System, and the Highway Bridge Program.
To take only a single example out of many, school officials at Murch Elementary School in Washington, DC, engaged community partners in a Safe Routes to School program and, in a single school year, made a number of improvements to help ensure a safer walking and bicycling environment. Specifically, the program reversed a school policy prohibiting students from bicycling to school without special permission. The school also secured neighborhood support for construction of new sidewalks, reduced barriers to walking in surrounding neighborhoods, and implemented a 17-member student safety patrol program to enforce safe driving and parking behaviors around the school.
In October 2009, U.S. Congressman James L. Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, recognized the school with the 2009 James L. Oberstar Safe Routes to School Award for outstanding achievement. The award acknowledges the school's success in building partnerships within the school and with the surrounding community and the District Department of Transportation (DDOT).
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