Walking, Bicycling and Public Spaces: Lessons from Bogota and Beyond

Gil Penalosa, Executive Director of 8-80 Cities, presents one of his celebrated lectures at Vancouver's Simon Fraser University as part of The City Program lecture series. Penalosa emphasizes the urgency with which cities must address pedestrian and cyclist issues to face the wide array of challenges facing this generation, including environmental degradation, rising obesity rates, and economic competitiveness, just to name a few. Included are examples of cities throughout the world that are implementing innovative solutions to globally faced transportation issues.

Cycling Friendly Cities - Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Houten

Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Houten are three cities that have opted to create and support infrastructure that integrates the bicycle into an everyday mode of transportation for its citizens.  The bicycle has become a part of everyday life, especially after the innovative changes to the streets in these countries over the past couple decades.  Whether it’s going to work, school, shopping or a night out on the town, people in Denmark and Holland have the means to use their bicycles for all their daily tasks throughout the entire year.  The video shows great examples of bicycle friendly infrastructure, bicycle safety education, and the importance of sharing public space between pedestrians, cars and cyclists in these three cities.

The Case for Physically Separated Bikeways

Streetfilms travels to New York City to look at the benefits of separated bike lanes. Includes interviews with local and international experts including Transportation Alternative`s Paul Steely-White, Caroline Samponaro, and Brooke Dubose, Project for Public Spaces` Andy Wiley-Schwartz, Open Planning Project's Mark Gorton and Clarence Eckerson Jr. and `Gridlock` Sam Schwartz, New York City`s Traffic Commissioner from 1982-1986.
Made by StreetFilms (8:30 min)

Cycling for Everyone: Lessons from the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany

John Pucher, professor of planning and public policy at Rutgers University, speaks at Vancouver's Simon Fraser University as part of The City Program lecture series.

Melbourne: A Pedestrian Paradise

Melbourne is repeatedly cited as one of the most liveable cities in the world. Watch interviews with Robert Adams, Director of Design and Urban Environment Melbourne, Eliot Fishman from the Institute for Sensible Transportation, Gilbert Rochecouste the Director of Village Well, Kevin Luten from Urban Trans and Jan Gehl founder of the revolutionary architecture firm Gehl Architects to see how this city doubled its pedestrian traffic and transformed into a vibrant community through restricting car access, and giving priority to pedestrians, cyclists, and public space.
Made by StreetFilms (9:54 min)

Portland: Celebrating America's Most Liveable City

It's not often that a Department of Transportation receives love letters, but in Portland it's a regular occurrence. Frequently cited as America's most liveable city, Portland has spent the last 20 years promoting walking and biking as activities, and building the infrastructure to make such activities safe and possible. The result has been a quadrupling of the number of cyclists in the city, increased property values, and an improved quality of life for residents. Hear from Tom Potter, Mayor of Portland, Sam Adams, City Commissioner of Transportation, Mia Birk, Portland Bike Coordinator from 1993-1999 and many others on what it takes to create and keep up America's most successful walkable bikeable community.
Made by StreetFilms (30:00 min)

Parks, Bikeways & Open Space in Bogotá

Gil Penalosa, Executive Director of 8-80 Cities and former Commissioner for Parks, Sports and Recreation in Bogota Colombia, leads Clarence Eckerson Jr. of Streetfilms, Karla Quintero of Transportation Alternatives, and Aaron Naparstek of Streetsblog around Bogota's parks, streets and trails. Residents discuss the social integration and economic boom that has resulted from Bogota's transformation into a city that focuses on pedestrians, cyclists, and public space. Today, Penalosa says, a person could not be elected to the smallest ward of the city without making parks, open space and bicycles and pedestrian issues a major part of their campaign.
Made by StreetFilms (9:58 min)

Summer Streets 2008 (NYC)

Streetfilms follows New York City's first Summer Streets event that saw 6.9 miles of the city's streets, stretching from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park, closed to cars and open to people. Aside from the walking and cycling that took place, art activities and aerobics classes were held along the route. Interviews with Aaron Naparkstek of Streetsblog, Mark Gorton, Executive Director of Open Planning Project, Noah Budnick of Transportation Alternatives, and Janet Sadik-Khan, New York City's Transportation Commissioner who spearheaded the project, discuss the benefits and success of the event that was so well received one participant said “every day should be summer streets!”
Made by Street Films (4:37)

Velib – Public Bicycles in Paris

Velib, standing for “Velo Liberte” (bike freedom), is the fitting name of Paris' incredibly successful public bike share program. In operation since summer 2007, Velib is the biggest bike share system in the world with 1451 stations and 20 600 bikes. With its large number of bikes and stations, and seamless integration with other forms of public transportation Velib has greatly increased bike commuting in the city and acted as a model for similar programs throughout the world. Hear from the City of Paris' Velib Project Manager, Celine Lepault, Eric Britton of the New Mobility Agenda, Thomas Valeau of JCDecaux and many enthusiastic Velib users about Velib's operations and contributions to city life in Paris.
Made by StreetFilms (8:25 min)

Video on vancouver.ca

This video presents a vision concerning how inclusive planning – that puts on walking and cycling – can create world class cities such as Copenhagen, Denmark, and Amsterdam. Due to its recognition as one of Canada’s greatest cities, Vancouver is now striving to compete with these cities, and become one of the best places to live in the world. By creating a complete grid of safe bicycle and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, as well as public places for people to enjoy, Vancouver will be able to showcase the opportunities and benefits that can come from focusing city planning around active transportation.

Articles

Walking and Cycling to Health by Pucher et. al., 2010
This article uses a comparative analysis of city, state and international data to determine the magnitude, direction, and statistical significance of the relationship between active travel and rate of physical activity, obesity, and diabetes. A growing body of evidence suggests that differences in the built environment for physical activity (e.g., infrastructure for walking and cycling, availability of public transit, street connectivity, housing density, and mixed land use) influence the likelihood that people will use active transport for their daily travel. People who live in areas that are more conducive to walking and cycling are more likely to engage in these forms of active transport and Walking and cycling can provide valuable daily physical activity.

Cycling in New York: Innovative Policies at the Urban Frontier by Pucher et al., 2010
New York has made impressive progress at improving cycling conditions and raising cycling levels in recent years, especially in Brooklyn and Manhattan. The number of bike trips has almost doubled since 2000, thanks to vastly expanded cycling infrastructure, including innovative treatments such as cycle tracks, buffered bikes lanes, special bike signals, bike boxes at intersections, and bright green lane markings. Cycling safety has improved, with steady or declining number of cyclists’ injuries and fatalities in spite of rapidly rising cycling volumes. Some serious deficiencies remain, however. Integration of bicycling with public transport is almost non-existent. There is not nearly enough bike parking, and virtually no secure bike parking at all. Moreover, the police and courts in New York have failed to enforce the many traffic laws intended to protect cyclists. Comprehensive traffic calming is needed in New York's residential neighbourhoods to reduce travel speeds and thus encourage more cycling, in particular, by children, seniors, and women. Cycling has come a long way in New York, but it still has a long way to go before it becomes a mainstream way to get around.

Active Transportation for America: The Care for Increased Federal Investment in Bicycling and Walking
Active Transportation works in creating the transition between car-oriented infrastructures to pedestrian-friendly land use in order to increase a far more efficient use of transportation resources. It is clear that the current car-centered transportation policy has lead our communities into chronic congestion, disastrous gas bills, and highly inefficient transportation systems that lead to major health problems. The implementation of active transportation will allow us to create sustainable communities, by promoting physical activity and more liveable settings.

City Transportation Language Policy
The City of West Palm Beach has implemented a new transportation language policy in order to remove biases and discrepancies from the wording used around the city. Objective language will now be used in signage, resolutions, future plans and correspondences in order to further and accurately inform the staff and public. West Palm Beach is progressively gearing their community infrastructures to be better suitable for pedestrians and cyclists. 

Q.&A.: Transportation Secretary on Biking, Walking and 'What Americans Want' by Leora Broydo Vestel
The United States transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, recently caused a stir when he
proclaimed that bicycling and walking should be given the same consideration as motorized
transport in state and local transit projects. Critics, conversely, believe the secretary is taking the country in the wrong direction. Mr. LaHood, formerly a Republican congressman from Illinois, spoke with Green Inc. about his reasons for introducing the new policy, the impact it will have on transportation financing, and why bike paths are a good bang for the buck.

Denmark: Bicycle Parking Manual
Denmark is a country who strongly promotes and demonstrates the public’s consistent use of bicycle, however, a growing issue has been the accessibility of good bicycle parking. Little attention has been paid to this issue, which is therefore deterring people from cycling due to risk of vandalism or theft. This manual illustrates step-by-step recommendations on how and where to create great facilities to encourage even more people to incorporate the use of bicycles in people’s everyday lives.

A Footprint of Delight: Exploring Sustainable Happiness
A magnificent study was conducted by Catherine O’Brien and the National Center for Bicycling and Walking, investigating the factors that contributed to the delightfulness and sustainability of a city, reflecting on the residents’ overall happiness. The majority of people’s results projected a significant desire for a more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly community, with peaceful and beautiful green spaces that are appealing children, youth, and seniors.

Streets for Chicago: Complete Streets Policy
Streets for Chicago is a campaign that has been implementing the concept of Complete Streets, in where the infrastructural space is safely shared by pedestrians, cyclists, and motor vehicles at all times. The Chicago Police Department launched the Pilot LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) speed gun system and increased the number or Red Light Cameras in order to deter excessive speeding by motor vehicles, as well as to increase awareness at cross-walks to infer safer facilities for pedestrians.

Ciclovia: the Car-free Zone
Daniel B. Wood writes an inspiring article illustrating the growth of car-free days all throughout America, in where the city closes down the streets to cars, in order to allow pedestrians and cyclists to exclusively enjoy the outdoors. This concept is very popular in many places around the world including Bogota, New York, and Paris. Alongside, many cities such as New York and Atlanta are now prohibiting the entrance of vehicles into the city’s public parks.

American Planning Association: Complete the Streets!
A complete street is defined as a road that accommodates motorists, bus riders, bicyclists, and pedestrians, including people with disabilities. More than 2 dozen jurisdictions in the US have now adopted laws in where all main roads must mandatorily be built to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists, with the exception of streets where they are prohibited, where the costs are excessive, and where there it’s not necessary (residential).

Copenhagen’s Bicycle Account: City of Cyclists
Copenhagen created an account for its citizens that illustrate concerns, updates, and records in the field of cycling. The Bicycle Account is consistently surveying cyclists in order to better improve and accommodate their facilities, as well as assuring that the objectives set forth for the Cycle Policy 2002-2012 are met. The Bicycle Account contains advice in how to implement these programs into other cities to increase bicycle-use.

Cycling for Everyone: The Key to Public and Political Support
John Pucher’s magnificent powerpoint presentation provides insight into sustainable communities across the world, whether urban or suburban, that have been successful in encouraging many people to take part in active transportation. The presentation outlines strategies, suggestions, and guidelines on how to construct the facilities as well as maintaining them in order for people to live better and healthier lives.

Cycling In Netherlands
 Netherlands has one of the highest percentages of bicyclists in the world. Due to the fact that 70% of all journeys in the city are no longer than 7.5km, the majority of the population prefers the bicycle as the most popular means of transport. This brochure describes the link between bicycle policy and bicycle use, incorporating traffic and infrastructure regulations that ultimately promote the increase in cyclists of all ages.

World Transport Policy & Practice: Cycling Policy Innovations in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany
The WTPP launched a special-issue monograph on cycling geared to influence decision makers, politicians, and bureaucrats to construct safe facilities for pedestrians and cyclists. The WTPP is encouraging at least 30% of the population in all cities to take part in active transportation. This report illustrates examples from the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, as they represent the very best in coordinated policies and programs to make cycling safe, convenient and attractive.

 

Melbourne Bicycle Account- Cycling Census 2007
After tremendous improvement in their pedestrian and cyclist facilities, Melbourne has agreed to launch their first annual publication of the Melbourne Bicycle Account, following the lead of Copenhagen. This report will include the city’s progress in their Bike Plan of 2007-2011, as well as a summary of cyclist behaviour. The Bicycle Account will conclude with a cyclist opinion survey which will assist in accurately writing future reports.

Active Living by Design: Parks Trails Greenways Factsheet
Active Living by Design establishes and evaluates innovative approaches to increase physical activity through a more suitable infrastructure, in order to increase health. The report provides a list of promotions, policies, projects, and programs that are being implemented. Programs range from promoting bike safety, to creating after school and summer program to enhance physical activity.

World City Bike Collaborative
The World City Bike Collaborative Program offers assistance in screening and preparing city projects generated around the concept of sustainable cities, which includes place-making, parks, as well as pedestrian and cyclist-friendly infrastructure. Help is offered at 4 different levels and is guaranteed to plan, design, and advice projects that will create and connect phenomenal communities.

Making Cycling Irresistible: Lessons from The Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany
This article shows how the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany have made bicycling a safe, convenient and practical way to get around the cities, while making driving expensive as well as inconvenient in the downtowns. The analysis and data is obtained from numerous studies from large and small communities, and all demonstrate that separated bike facilities along arterials and traffic calming in residential areas are the key concepts to achieve high levels of cycling.

Cycling Advocacy

Toronto Cyclists Union

San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

Bicycle Transportation Alliance : A non-profit membership organization working to promote bicycling and improve bicycling conditions in Oregon and South West Washington

Vélo Québec : A non-profit organization that works to build cycling as a prominent aspect of Quebec and its culture.

National Center for Bicycling & Walking : A program of the Bicycle Federation of America created to promote healthy, walkable and bikable communities.

Pedestrian and Bicycle Publications : A list of publications to provide individuals with valuable pedestrian and bicycling resources

Pedbikeimages.org : PBIC works to improve community walkability and bikability through promoting these transportation methods.