DVRPC Presents New Agenda for Design Excellence in Philadelphia

Great cities have great civic design. Cities with a strong design culture are famous for their well-built and livable neighborhoods and their extraordinary public spaces. Civic design excellence not only creates a stronger city for its own residents, but is critical for a city’s development and business climate, tourism, and reputation. Philadelphia’s civic design is the result of hundreds of years--layers upon layers--of development decisions. As a result of Philadelphia’s recent urban renaissance and building boom, we are now faced with rapid development and revitalization.

DVRPC has released a new report which looks at the state of civic design in Philadelphia and makes recommendations on how the City can value civic design in all its departments and initiatives. The report focuses on some big ideas for promoting civic design excellence, among them design review, design guidelines, and design education and advocacy. It discusses the first critical steps to change policy to value civic design. It also examines civic design challenges in Philadelphia and looks at best practices from other cities, including Tampa, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Austin, and Los Angeles. This report is intended to be a starting point for discussion about the importance of civic design in Philadelphia’s future. To receive a copy of this report, contact Greg Heller, Planning and Design Analyst, at (215) 238-2810 or gheller@dvrpc.org.

DVRPC uses Transit Funding Board Game as a Unique Public Outreach Tool

Last spring, DVRPC was awarded a grant through the FTA’s Public Transportation Participation Pilot Program to enhance public outreach. With that grant, DVRPC developed a unique consensus-building planning exercise called Dots and Dashes: Piecing Together Transit’s Future. This fun, hands-on board game is designed for participants to discuss and express their priorities for future investments in public transportation, and to enhance the public outreach process.

The first event was held in November 2007. Almost 100 citizens, planners, and transportation stakeholders came together to discuss their priorities for future investments in public transportation. To "play" the game, participants were broken into groups of five or six. The task of each group was to agree on how to spend Dots and Dashes Dollars on transit projects in the Philadelphia region. Participants then affixed game pieces (“dots and dashes”) to identify preferred transit projects on a map. Throughout the game, participants engaged other members of their group in meaningful discussion to negotiate the group’s transit priorities. Each group ended the game with a list and map of future agreed-upon investment priorities that, together with the results of the other groups who played, will inform DVRPC’s 2035 Long Range Plan and be utilized in its Regional Transit Vision Project.

More information about this unique outreach event and results from the exercise are now available on the Dots and Dashes website, www.dotsanddashes.org. Also available on the website are resources for organizations interested in conducting a similar exercise.

DVRPC Takes an In-Depth Look at the Region's Bicyclists

New information about the habits, attitudes and desires of bicyclists in the Philadelphia region is now available. The report, Bicycling in the Delaware Valley in 2005, provides information about the behavior of adult bicyclists and the trips they make. Data was collected about trip purpose, length, and duration, use of supplemental modes of transportation (transit, vehicle), frequency of bicycle travel, reasons for riding, crash experience, safety habits, and more.

The survey drew from a sample of the region’s estimated 133,000 daily bicycle trips and one million adult bicyclists. To collect the data, field staff intercepted passing bicyclists at select locations across the Delaware Valley and administered a short interview. In addition, participants were given a postage-paid, mail-back questionnaire with more in-depth questions. In all, over 1,200 surveys were completed and 372 individual interviews were conducted.

The results of this survey, a “snapshot” of bicycling in the Delaware Valley, will help planners and policymakers better understand the underlying trends in bicycling and plan for future bicycling facilities. The report can be viewed at: www.dvrpc.org/asp/pubs/reports/07050.pdf. To receive a hard copy, please contact John Madera, Senior Transportation Planner at (215) 238-2854 or jmadera@dvrpc.org.

DRPA Wants to Hear from Morning Commuters about Vine Street Congestion

The Delaware River Port Authority is studying ways to improve morning traffic westbound on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and Vine Street Expressway (I-676). Morning commuters can participate in the study by completing a survey online at DRPA's website www.drpa.org/westside or requesting a survey be mailed to them by calling DRPA Customer Service at 1-877-567-DRPA (3772).

PANA Announces Sate Routes to School Academy Mini-Grant Program

Pennsylvania Advocates for Nutrition and Activity (PANA) invites all school, community, and municipal professionals to participate in the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Academy, a program that supports the national SRTS initiative, which aims to make walking and bicycling to school a safer and more appealing transportation alternative while encouraging health, physical activity, and safety. The SRTS Academy is a two-year mini-grant program that supports partnership development and coordinates planning and evaluation of SRTS efforts around schools that include kindergarten through eighth grade. The application period for the 2008 SRTS Academy runs March 3 - May 16, 2008. For more information and to download a sample application now, please visit www.srtsacademy.org. SRTS Academy mini-grant winners will be announced during the SRTS Academy Webcast on June 17, 2008. Please forward all questions concerning the SRTS Academy and mini-grants to Robyn Ricketts, Active Communities Director, at rricketts@psu.edu.

New Camden Region Trails Vision Poster

The Camden Trails Vision project was conceived by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) and DVRPC out of a desire to build upon the successful redevelopment of Camden's waterfront and to connect Camden City's trail/greenway plans to surrounding communities. RTC and DVRPC envisioned utilizing unused portions of the area's railroad infrastructure as the basis for an interconnected regional network of multi-purpose trails. Using a grant from the William Penn Foundation, DVRPC and RTC developed the "Camden Region Trails Vision Poster" with input from NJCF, Cooper's Ferry, the Burlington County Resource Conservation Department, the Camden County Improvement Authority, and the Gloucester County Planning Department. The Vision Poster is designed to be marketed to key stakeholders and the public in order to quicken the pace of trail development and to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. The poster depicts a network of over 200 miles of multi-use trail corridors and highlights the benefits of trails, including healthful recreation, open space preservation, non-motorized transportation, and economic and community revitalization. Emphasis was placed on gathering local statistics, data, imagery, and testimonials. The poster will be mounted on a fold-out display that can be used for either one-on-one briefings or larger community/business meetings.

The Vision Poster is meant to excite, educate, generate ideas, and be a focal point for conversation. The poster will be presented to traditional and non-traditional stakeholder groups to educate and garner additional support for the vision. It is hoped that partners will, at a minimum, lend their name to the vision. Future phases of the project (to be led by the RTC) will focus on next steps in creating a regional trail network, including making sure the public understands and supports the trail vision through public outreach work, and further advancing projects by conducting feasibility studies and identifying funding sources. For more information, please contact Chris Linn, Senior Environmental Planner, at clinn@dvrpc.org or (215) 238-2873.

DVRPC to Open Public Comment Periods for PA & NJ TIPs

In May, DVRPC will open the public comment periods for the FY 2009-2012 New Jersey Transportation Improvement Program (TIP); FY 2009-2012 Pennsylvania Transportation Improvement Program (TIP); and Air Quality Conformity Determinations for FY 2009 New Jersey TIP and FY 2009 Pennsylvania TIP.

The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) is the regionally-agreed-upon list of priority projects, as required by federal law. The TIP document must list all projects that intend to use federal funds, along with non-federally funded projects that are regionally significant. Also included are all other state-funded capital projects. The projects are multi-modal; that is, they include bicycle, pedestrian, freight-related projects, and innovative air quality projects, as well as the more traditional highway and public transit projects. DVRPC develops the TIP to implement specific projects for an economically viable and desirable region in the years ahead as contained in the region's long-range plan, Destination 2030.

DVRPC is seeking public review of the Draft FY 2009 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for New Jersey, which covers Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Mercer counties, and the Draft FY 2009 TIP for Pennsylvania, which covers Philadelphia, Montgomery, Delaware, Chester, and Bucks counties. The public comment period for the Draft TIPs will open on May 2, 2008, and all comments must be received by 5 p.m. on June 2, 2008.

In conjunction with the Draft FY 2009 NJ TIP and Draft FY 2009 PA TIP, DVRPC has issued a transportation conformity finding. Transportation Conformity is the process that ensures that plans and programs receiving federal funding are consistent with the region's air quality goals. The public comment period for the conformity finding of the TIPs will begin on May 16, 2008 and all comments must be received by 5 p.m. on June 20, 2008.

Please join us for a public meeting and information session on the Draft TIPs and the Conformity Findings:

May 14, 2008, 4PM to 6 PM , at DVRPC Conference Center, 190 North Independence Mall West, 8th Floor, Philadelphia, PA

May 28, 2008, 4PM to 6PM, at Cherry Hill Library, 1100 Kings Highway North, Cherry Hill, New Jersey

Copies of the Draft TIPs and the Draft Conformity Findings will be available in early May for review on the DVRPC website at www.dvrpc.org, at DVRPC's Resource Center, and at various libraries throughout the Delaware Valley. Written comments and questions may be addressed to Plan/TIP/Conformity Comments, c/o DVRPC Public Affairs Office, 190 N. Independence Mall West, 8th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106 or emailed to tip-plan-comments@dvrpc.org.

Smart Growth Online Tools

The Office of Smart Growth at DVRPC provides an array of resources to assist local governments in implementing smart growth solutions. Visit the Smart Growth section of the DVRPC website for links to Smart Growth scorecards and checklists, model ordinances and codes, and other information about Smart Growth in the Delaware Valley region. For more information, contact Evangeline Linkous, Planning Analyst, at (215) 238-2865 or elinkous@dvrpc.org.