Lunch - Presentation on "Prioritize Pedestrians" by Harriet Tregoning, Director, DC Office of Planning
Board of Directors Chair Charlie Deegan introduced Harriet Tregoning from the District of Columbia’s Office of Planning. During his introduction Mr. Deegan laid out his vision for WMATA, specifically that the agency should focus on three things: safety, accountability and customer service, concluding that every year at WMATA should be "The Year of The Customer". Mr. Deegan also committed to transforming Metro into a facilitator of transit-oriented development.
Lunch time speaker, Harriet Tregoning, DC Planning Director talked about "Prioritize Pedestrians".
Ms. Tregoning proposed that the term "Pedestrian Friendly" is too vague. Instead, we need to focus on:
- What is the problem?
- What is "pedestrian-friendly?"
- How do we set priorities?
- Pedestrian-supportive activities that the District of Columbia Office of Planning will be undertaking, including retail planning.
"Pedestrian-friendly" depends on the type of pedestrian/type of walking happening:
- Rambling
- Utilitarian walking
- Strolling/lingering
- Promenading
- Special events walking
Types of pedestrian environments can be described along a continuum:
- Pedestrian Place or District
- Mixed use with retail
- Gathering place
- Significant pedestrian presence
- Motor vehicles present but not dominant
- Pedestrian Supportive
- Mixed use including residential
- Gathering places – not always pedestrian-lively
- Pedestrian Tolerant
- Pedestrian Intolerant
Key factors in making place pedestrian-friendly:
- Relationship between street and pedestrian zone
- Urban scale/proportion of street room
- Proportion – Height:Width ratio
- Character of street – blank walls, etc.
- Traffic buffering
- Connectivity/fine-grained-ness of connections – 250’ – 350’ ideal
- Weather protection
- Land use mix – mix that has people at all times/day
- How far will people walk to transit? If street is "pedestrian environment", people will walk 2x as fare to transit (+/- 3000 ft.)
Q&A
Q: The worst part of day for pedestrians is between 3-4pm when schools let out; kids are "terrorizing" pedestrians during these time periods. Money needs to be allocated to campaigns to encourage more responsible behavior among students.
A: Campaigns need to educate about "behavior in general" – drivers, pedestrians, etc. D.C. can be described as "almost lawless" in all aspects of the transportation network, and there need to be education campaign and greater enforcement to address these types of safety issues.
Q: Neighborhoods can be "self-selecting" where people will choose neighborhoods if they are willing to walk, creating a "walkshed" to transit.
A: There has been a cultural shift and that it’s "no longer normative to walk" – parents think that it’s unsafe, etc. We have to make a "cultural change" to encourage walking. Washington is well-suited to this change: great transit system, lots of good pedestrian places, health benefits.
D.C. is starting "Carbon Offset" Program and will be investing in things like energy efficiency, and pedestrian/bike facilities.
Q: Pedestrian safety spot improvements are things that local pedestrian planners get calls about and are items that they can control. To create a place, there needs to be additional buy-in from business community, planning community, etc.
A: Planners shouldn’t exclude pedestrian safety spot improvements, but don’t make them the only thing that local governments should do - creating places is also important.
For an interview with Danish Architect Jan Gehl on pedestrian spaces,
see Episode 44 of "Perils For Pedestrians":
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2755806460769521444
Courtesy of John Z Wetmore
john@pedestrians.org
Producer of "Perils For Pedestrians"
A television series on satellite, cable, and the Internet.
www.pedestrians.org
