Transcript GEOG 442 Day 9: Transportation/ Traffic Impacts Assessment

GEOG 442
Day 9: Transportation/ Traffic
Impacts Assessment
The Significance of Transportation
and Its Impact on Land Use
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Land Use Impacts refers to effects transportation activities and facilities can
have on land use patterns – on the location, design and use of landscape
features such as cities, individual structures, farms, parks and wildlands.
Land use patterns reflect various attributes, including the following
(Litman, 2001):
-Density - the number of people, jobs or housing units in an area.
-Mix - whether different types of land uses are located in the same area.
-Clustering - whether related activities are located close together.
-Roadway scale and connectivity – the size of roads and city blocks.
-Impervious surface coverage – the portion of land that is covered by
buildings and pavement.
-Greenspace – the portion of land dedicated to lawns, gardens, parks, farms,
woodlands, etc.
-Accessibility – the ease with which various types of people can reach
goods, services and activities (including motorists, non-drivers, people with
physical disabilities, etc.).
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Tendency for Over-Reliance on Automobiles to
Produce Sprawl
Smart Growth Patterns
 Higher-density.
 Infill and brownfield
development.
 Land use mix
 Smaller buildings, blocks and
roads; care to design details for
pedestrians.
 Multi-modal. Supports walking,
cycling and public transit.
 Streets designed to
accommodate a variety of
activities. Traffic calming.
 Planned and coordinated
between jurisdictions and
stakeholders.
 Emphasizes the public realm
(public streets, parks, walking
facilities).
Sprawl Patterns
 Lower density
 Peripheral (greenfield)
development
 Homogeneous land uses.
 Larger buildings, blocks, wide
roads. Less detail, since people
experience the landscape at a
distance, as motorists.
 Automobile-oriented. Poorly suited
for walking, cycling and transit.
 Streets designed to maximize
motor vehicle traffic volume and
speed
 Unplanned, with little coordination
between jurisdictions and
stakeholders.
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Emphasis on private space. 3
What is Transportation?
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According to Leung (p. 140), “transportation…
[is] a service which enables people, firms, and
institutions to carry out activities in separate
locations. The emphasis is on coordination of
activity patterns, activity centres, and
movement systems.”
Transportation planning deals with both landbased (pedestrians, bicycles, autos, taxis,
buses and trains) and water-based systems
(ferries and freighters, etc.).
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Land-Based Transportation
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The main purpose of land-based
transportation is to facilitate access and
mobility. The key point is access. If land
uses are close together, the need for
mobility is reduced.
A key element in land-based transportation
is the road system; roads exist in a
hierarchy: local roads, collectors, arterials,
and freeways (also rural roads) [see
description of their characteristics on pp. 7071 ].
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Data Needed for Transportation Analysis
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Traffic-related- As collected through vehicle counts and
observations (volumes, proportion between through and local
traffic, kinds of vehicles, congestion or bottlenecks, accident
rates, dangerous intersections, and sensitive areas).
Land Use- Types and volumes of traffic generated by different
land uses (see p. 72) based on vehicle counts entering and
exiting a site. May also look at source of traffic as determined
by license plates. Potential for impacts on uses or for conflicts
between different users of a road or an area serviced by
road(s). What are some examples?
Capacity- Maximum of vehicles that can be accommodated
based on number of lanes, road surface, and type and number
of intersections. Also: traffic conditions, such as traffic type,
speed, volume, direction, and presence of other road users
(buses, bikes, and pedestrians). Measured in terms of Level of
Service, rated from “A” to “F” (see descriptions on p. 73).
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A full traffic study should be completed if
development will generate 100 or more new
inbound/outbound trips during peak hours.
The following developments would be expected
to generate that much traffic:
 160 Single Family Homes
 200 Multi- Family Units
 60,000 sq. Ft. General Office Space
 10,000 sq. Ft. Retail Space
These are general guidelines.
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Why Is This Traffic Level Significant?
Magnitude can change level of service
of an intersection.
 Left or right turn lanes may be needed
to accommodate site traffic.
 An increased intensity of traffic can lead
to greater potential for accidents or
impacts on adjacent land uses, such as
residential.
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When Should an Impact Study Be
Completed?
At the following stages of planning process
(depending on the scale of the development):
 Rezoning applications
 Subdivision applications
 Building permit applications
 Formation of special planning areas
 Amendments to the OCP/Neighborhood
plans
 Permits for major driveways.
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How Large Should the Study
Area Be?
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It should include all site access points and
major intersections adjacent to site
The first signalized intersection on each
street serving the site, within 0.5Km
Additional areas based on local or site
specific issues.
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Traffic Impact Study Will Help To
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Identify contribution a particular site makes to
the traffic patterns
Provide a credible basis for estimating road
improvements required by a project
Assess compatibility with local transportation
plans
Provide guidance for short term/long term
planning of site access
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Resources
City of Nanaimo: Traffic Access and
Impact Study Guidelines
Traffic Access and Impact Studies for Site
Development, prepared by the
Transportation Planners Task Force on
Traffic Access/Impact Studies
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Transit Planning
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Transit’s fortunes have risen and fallen with the
times, but in general it has been the Cinderella stepsister to the favoured daughter, the automobile.
Transit is more commonly used for trips to work (it is
not always as convenient for shopping), and its use is
heaviest at peak hours.
Its use is lower on the weekends, and in the summer.
Trips are more common to the CBD because of the
disincentives of auto travel there.
Rail trips are the longest, followed by subway, and
bus. Trips to the CBD tend to take longer. All transit
trips tend to take longer than auto trips, and often
involve getting on more than one vehicle, which is a
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disincentive to its use.
Recent Stats on “Modal Split” in the GVRD
Modal Share, 1994-1999, and 2004
Modal Share
Mode of Travel 1994
1999 % change 94-99 1994
Auto Driver 2,728,500 3,127,600 14.6
57.1%
Auto Passenger 914,100
935,300 2.3
19.1%
Transit
488,200 566,200 16.0
10.2%
Walk/Bike
608,300 783,500 28.8
12.7%
Other
40,900 65,800 60.9
0.9%
1999 Change 94-9 2004
57.1% 0.0%
---17.1% -2.0%
---10.3% 0.1%
10.8
14.3% 1.6%
12.8
1.2% 0.3%
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Source: Glen Leicester, Vice-President, Planning. June 16, 2005. Memo, To: GVTA Board
of Directors. Subject: Transit Capacity Study. Burnaby: GVTA.
In addition, 13.4% of all GVRD residents on average take transit at
least once for a one-way trip each week. Dense mixed use areas like
the West End and Downtown Vancouver have close to 50% of all
trips to work occurring through walking, cycling or transit. Data on
modal split is collected by Statistics Canada through the Census.
Other data can be generated through trip diaries.
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Characteristics of Transit Users
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Use usually inversely proportional to
income with some exceptions (e.g.
suburban commuter rail users)
Also inversely related to car ownership,
though depends partly on people’s location
More likely to be used by minorities and
women, and sometimes seniors
Because of the central location of offices,
sometimes more used by white collar than
blue collar workers.
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Attitudes of Transit Users
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Desirable qualities of transit: easy access,
frequency, reliability, minimum number of
transfers, cost (hidden vs. out of pocket),
availability of seating and climate control,
security, etc.
Priorities vary depending on the class and
individual.
Transit agencies faced with challenges, including
“bread and butter” service vs. “luxury” transit,
and maintaining or establishing service in lowdensity suburbs. Also: establishing more flexible
services, such as mini-buses.
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Planning for Pedestrians
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People tend to walk about 3 mph (or 4.8
kmh), except in conditions of congestion or
depending on purpose (e.g. windowshopping, strolling).
Sidewalks optimally require two 3-foot
“lanes,” each of which would have a
capacity of about 1000 persons per hour.
Ideally people should have 15 feet (4.5
metres) clear space in front of them.
People will walk different distances for
different purposes, but a five-minute (1300
foot) radius is optimal.
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Planning for Cyclists
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Different types of bike infrastructure: bikeways,
bikeway network, bike paths, bike lanes, bikepedestrian lane, bicycle trail, bike route [see pp.
76-77].
Other facilities can include: bike parking, bike
lockers, showers at destination points.
Cyclists need a 5 foot (1.5 metres) wide space,
10 feet for a two-way path.
Depending on wind conditions and slope,
velocity will range from 12 to 30 mph (20 to 50
kph).
Bikes can handle grades of 10%, 15% in the
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case of touring bikes.
Characteristics of Cyclists
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More than 75% are under 30, most of them
20 to 29.
Males outnumber women 3 to 1.
Families with older children make more bike
trips than those with small children.
Children probably used to bike more when
their parents were less concerned about
safety issues.
Most cycling trips take place in central city
areas, though cycling enthusiasts exist in all
different environments. Typically, cycling trips
account for only 0.3 of all trips to work.
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Exercise
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Currently, the vast majority of trips to
Malaspina occur through singleoccupancy vehicle trips. Design a plan
whereby this dependence on the
automobile could be reduced. Use more
than one strategy, and consider
possible funding sources for the plan.
You can consider only one target group
(e.g. students) or all commuters.
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