Establishing A Modern Multimodal Transportation System

Context-sensitive design/context-sensitive solutions recognize that roadway improvements should not incorporate a one-size-fits-all approach, but should instead reflect their surrounding land use. Depending on whether the roadway is in an urban, suburban, or rural area affects the roadway width, presence of parking, and appropriate speed limit.

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Community shuttle programs can complement existing public transit service by providing services to special populations, such as senior citizens, or by circulating within neighborhoods that are not served by transit. Community shuttles can be operated by transportation management associations or other nonprofit organizations and are often funded through job access or elderly programs.

Park-and-ride programs encourage the use of transit and car pooling, thus lowering congestion on roadways by providing parking areas near transit stops. Park-and-ride facilities are sometimes located in the parking lots of businesses or institutions and are based on negotiations between the municipality, the transit provider, and the landowner.

Sidewalk standards in a municipal subdivision and land development ordinance require that sidewalks be included on all subdivision and site development plans. Developers may argue that it does not make sense to build unconnected "sidewalks to nowhere," but unless they are included in subdivision and site development plans, a sidewalk network will never get started.

Sidewalk management ensures that sidewalks are free of obstacles and well maintained. Sidewalk design should follow Federal Highway Administration and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials recommendations of a 10' minimum width divided into four zone system: frontage zone (30" next to building), pedestrian zone (60"), planter/furniture zone (24" minimum, 48" with street trees), and curb zone (6").

A sidewalk assessment program should document conditions, prioritize improvements, and determine where maintenance is needed. Maintenance should ensure that the sidewalk remains as even as possible. In Pennsylvania, maintenance responsibility is largely on property owners. Some jurisdictions have adopted alternative ways to fund sidewalk maintenance, such as the municipality performing the construction and the resident paying for materials in Charlotte, North Carolina; and Madison, Wisconsin, has a 50/50 plan in which repair costs are split between the city and property owners. In both cases the property owner must make the repair request.

Municipalities can ensure that transit access, stop placement, and bus stop design issues are considered for new development and/or redevelopment by utilizing a transit development review checklist. This checklist can be used as an advisory document or strengthened by codifying it into municipal zoning ordinances.

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• Central Jersey Transportation Forum Development Review Checklist for Consideration of Transit [pdf]

Traffic calming techniques can reduce traffic speeds by incorporating physical elements (speed humps, narrow lanes, wide sidewalks, diagonal or parallel street parking, and central medians with landscaping) into roadway design to modify driver behavior. These are most desirable on residential streets, commercial streets, or areas with high pedestrian traffic.

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• Case Studies

A road safety audit is a formal safety performance evaluation of an existing or future road or intersection by an independent, qualified safety team. It qualitatively estimates and reports on potential road safety issues and identifies opportunities for safety improvements, while determining if the needs of all road users are being safely met.

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Complete Streets design standards make roads safer and more user-friendly for bicyclists, pedestrians, the disabled, the elderly, and drivers by including wide sidewalks, bicycle lanes, raised crosswalks and medians, audible traffic signals, bus pullouts, and any other design elements that support safe, alternative transportation.

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• New Jersey Department of Transportation Complete Streets Policy
• National Complete Streets Coalition
• Philadelphia Complete Streets Handbook

Municipalities with Complete Streets Ordinances or Resolutions

Road diets are usually conversions of four-lane undivided roads into three lanes (two travel lanes and a continuous two-way left-turn lane). The remaining pavement width from the eliminated lane can be converted into bicycle lanes, sidewalks, on-street parking, or some combination of these elements.

A living street is a street designed primarily with the interests of pedestrians and cyclists in mind and as a social space where people can meet and where children may also be able to play legally and safely. These roads are still available for use by motor vehicles; however, their design aims to reduce both the speed and dominance of motorized transport by minimizing demarcations, such as curbs, road surface markings, traffic signs, and regulations.

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• Model Design Manual for Living Streets

Traffic signal systems use timing and signal coordination to manage the flow of traffic volumes along a corridor. In municipalities where congestion is a serious concern, the possibility of implementing closed-loop traffic signal systems should be explored in coordination with the pertinent state department of transportation.

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• Green Light-Go: Pennsylvania's Municipal Signal Partnership Program

Roundabouts are circular intersections with specific design and traffic control features. Key features include yield control of entering traffic, channelized approaches, and appropriate geometric curvature to slow speeds. Roundabouts provide substantially better operational and safety characteristics than older traffic circles and rotaries and are safer than comparable signalized intersections.

Access management provisions improve safety and efficiency on roadways by limiting and controlling access points. Access management can reduce congestion and accidents without major capital improvements by linking land use and transportation planning strategies. Access management tools may involve shared driveways for local businesses, improved signage, parallel access roads, or similar techniques. Access management can often be accomplished in conjunction with the state department of transportation's Highway Occupancy Permit process.

• For More Information
• Access Management: Model Ordinances for Pennsylvania Municipalities Handbook [pdf]

Vision Zero is a multi-national road traffic safety project that views any loss of life or serious injury from road traffic as unacceptable. Vision Zero places responsibility for achieving no deaths or injuries on the design of the transportation system, not the system users.

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• The Vision Zero Initiative

Revisit Minimum Parking Standards to ensure that required parking supply does not exceed demand and is sensitive to the local context. In some cases, such as in TODs or historic villages, Parking Maximums may be needed.

Provide alternatives to conventional parking standards by allowing flexible parking provisions, such as shared parking, reserve parking, and fee-in-lieu of parking.

Municipalities with Shared Parking Ordinances Municipalities with Reserve Parking or Fee-in-Lieu Parking Ordinances

Implement pricing or metering strategies in locations where the amount of available parking is scarce and/or parking turnover is encouraged.

• Best Practices

Provide dedicated and/or preferred parking for bicycles, vanpools, carpools, car- sharing, and low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles.

Encourage sustainable practices in parking design, including the use of recycled concrete and asphalt, pervious paving, stormwater best practices, and heat island-preventing treatments. Redesign existing parking lots to support walkability and improve aesthetics.

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TDM programs work to reduce traffic at peak hours by changing the driving habits of commuters. Strategies include employee subsidies for the use of transit, such as RideECO, preferred parking for car-poolers, parking fees for employees who drive alone, flex-time, telecommuting, and similar measures.

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• RideECO

TROs use municipal regulatory authority to limit trip generation from development sites. They usually cover an entire local political subdivision rather than just an individual project, spreading the burden more equitably between existing and future development. They may be less vulnerable to legal challenges than conditions imposed on development approvals. Also known as Employee Trip Reduction, such approaches may be voluntary or mandatory.

Fleet vehicle audits allow local governments to inventory current fleet vehicles and driving practices to determine where the best opportunities lie for reducing energy use in fleet vehicles. A fleet audit will assess the availability, costs, benefits, and barriers to implementation of alternative fuels and vehicles, and will help identify other fuel-saving opportunities, such as improvements to the existing fleet through vehicle maintenance and the feasibility of an early retirement program.

School districts and municipalities may benefit from replacing diesel school buses and refuse vehicles with compressed natural gas vehicles, which have significantly lower operating costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Municipalities may encourage electric vehicle charging in a number of ways. They can ease the permitting of installing residential charging stations. Some municipalities have encouraged developers to install electrical conduits in parking lots of newly constructed commercial or multi-family buildings to facilitate meeting future demand for electric vehicle charging.

Cool pavement denotes materials and construction techniques selected to reduce the absorption, retention, and emitting of solar heat. It reduces the heat island effect and helps to lower air temperatures, improve air quality, and quality of life during the heat of summer. This porous/permeable paving also reduces stormwater runoff and the need for stormwater retention.

Walking and biking encouragement programs advocate sharing the road in a safe and equitable way, and promote walking and bicycling as viable transportation modes. Common efforts include Safe Routes to School (SRTS), walking school buses or trains (with parent and teacher supervision), and share-the-road campaigns.

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